ACADEMY 37 PUBLIC SPEAKING INSTITUTE
June 20, 2025
Dear Friends:
I feel overwhelming gratitude to have served as the Founding Executive Director of Academy 37 since March 2023. When I first started this organization alongside friends and mentors, I had a big dream—expanding access to forensics education—but little idea of what was to come next. I didn’t dare to imagine the community we’ve built in the two years since. Through our summer programming in 2023 and 2024, we’ve directly instructed more than 200 students from across the United States and around the world.
Speech and debate has changed my life—and that of many of my fellow competitors. The opportunity to participate in extemporaneous speaking has taught me about esoteric current events and political philosophy—but, above all, it’s reminded me of the importance of carefully considering and engaging with ideas with which we disagree. It is a volatile time in American politics, one where too many people assume bad intentions and refuse to participate in the marketplace of ideas, instead choosing to badmouth and cancel their ideological opponents behind closed doors. From our online summer camp to in person classes taught at the Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena, I’ve been fortunate to witness the incredible intellectual growth young people experience when exposed to the rich viewpoint diversity of their communities.
As we look to the future, I write to inform you that Academy 37 will not offer programming this summer as we undergo an organizational shift. Many of our directors, myself included, are heading to college this fall, and we believe that leadership of this organization is best left in the hands of high school students who share our mission. We are recruiting and mentoring younger leaders in the Extemporaneous Speaking community to restart the Academy 37 operation when they are ready. While I am stepping down from my role as Executive Director, I will remain Board Chairman to welcome our new leadership in the coming months.
I would like to extend my gratitude to my fellow camp directors, instructors and students for ensuring Academy 37 lives up to its mission of offering a rigorous, intimate and joyful learning environment. I welcome you to contact me if I may be of assistance to you or if you are interested in getting involved with the next stage of Academy 37; my email address is brandoncheng@college.harvard.edu. I hope you will join me in supporting the next generation of Academy 37 leaders.
Brandon Cheng
Board Chairman
Academy 37
