A Series of Firsts
Bret Alexander AA ’17 BA ’19, 2019–20 student body president, turned tribulation to inspiration
People ask why student body president Bret Alexander gets excited to go to the dentist.
“Because I never went to a dentist appointment in my life until I was 19,” he explained. “In eighth grade, I realized other people had nice teeth and were wearing braces, and I was like, I want nice teeth. So, I started brushing my teeth. It wasn’t something instilled in me.”
For many reasons, Alexander’s new habit has served him well.
“My mantra throughout my whole life has just been to smile — period,” he said. “I tell people all the time, if you can smile one time in the day, you have already made yourself happier.”
That simple mantra seems extraordinary for Alexander who had to navigate much of life on his own. As a child, his biological father walked out, and his young mother turned to drugs. His family bounced from place to place until, at age 16, Alexander moved out. He lived for a short time in his car, until finding a permanent home with his older cousin Jennifer and her three children.
When things were rough at home, Alexander found security and belonging in education, eventually graduating as a senior class officer from Ogden High. But with bills to pay, and no example to follow, he had no plans for college.
Two weeks before fall semester 2015, his friend insisted he register for classes at Weber State.
Once he arrived, Alexander thrived as a Wildcat. He participated in student government and the American Democracy Project. He earned his associate’s degree in two years and his bachelor’s degree in political science in four. He was the first Weber State student to graduate with the newly created leadership minor. He is now completing a master’s degree in another new emphasis area — higher education leadership in the Jerry & Vickie Moyes College of Education. Alexander is also recognized as the university’s first openly gay student body president.
Of all his firsts, though, there’s one Alexander takes the most pride in. “I’m the first in my whole family — aunts, uncles, cousins, anyone — to come to higher ed and graduate with a bachelor’s,” he said.
Alexander has inspired Jennifer, who, at age 36, returned to Weber State to study social work. The oldest of Jennifer’s three children, Brookelynn, is now a freshman, and the younger two are planning to enroll.
“They see higher education as a possibility,” Alexander said. “That has been the biggest blessing.”