Annual Loeschner Lecture Features Lacrosse Alums
Former Northwestern lacrosse teammates and School of Education and Social Policy alumnae Selena Lasota and Nicole Beardsley Montag will headline the 2026 Ray and Nancy Loeschner Lecture Series on Leadership, speaking at 6 p.m. Sept. 30 in Galvin Recital Hall.
In conversation with Dean Bryan Brayboy, the two will reflect on teamwork, giving back and the culture of winning that has defined the Wildcats' lacrosse dynasty — which includes nine national championship titles.
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Learn more about our speakers:
Selena Lasota
Lasota (BS18), who recently earned her Master of Social Work in Indigenous Trauma and Resilience at the University of Toronto, is of mixed European and Indigenous Coast Salish heritage and a member of Katzie First Nation. She was raised in the nuučaan̓uł (Nuu-chah-nulth) people’s traditional territory, spending time between Ka:’yu:’k’th’ (Kyuquot), Che:k’tles7et’h’ (Checleset) and Hupačasath (Hupacasath), on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
An all-around athlete who also loved soccer and basketball, Lasota played full-contact box lacrosse, an indoor sport held in hockey arenas with no ice and smaller goals. For most of high school Lasota was relatively unknown to field lacrosse programs in the U.S. It wasn’t until 2012 when she played in a field lacrosse showcase in Naples, Fla., that former assistant coach and SESP alumna Danielle Spencer (BS10) took notice. "In Lasota she saw a player with superior stick skills and a free-flowing, creative offensive game. She saw a potential star,” Northwestern Magazine wrote.
At Northwestern, Lasota made an immediate impact despite never having played field lacrosse, earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors and scoring the most goals in program history as a freshman. She went on to become a two-time All-American and played for Canada's national team, where she earned most valuable player honors in the semifinals of the U-19 World Cup and led the team to the gold medal against Team USA.
Lasota earned a master's in counseling at Northwestern's Family Institute after graduating and then returned home in 2020, where she began working alongside nuučaan̓uł Nations in Tofino, British Columbia, as a child and youth mental health counselor. She currently lives on the traditional territory of the ƛaʔuukʷiʔatḥ (Tla-o-qui-aht) Ha’wiih (hereditary chiefs) and finds joy in surfing, walking her dog on the beach and spending time with her community.
Nicole Beardsley Montag
Beardsley Montag (BS18) is assistant coach for Northwestern’s lacrosse team, which won the 2026 national championship. She is also currently an assistant coach for Team USA's U-17 National Development Team.
From 2018 to 2021, she served as director of lacrosse operations for the Wildcats, a period when the team compiled a 50-15 record, capturing two Big Ten Tournament titles (2019, 2021) and the Big Ten regular-season title in 2021. They made three NCAA Tournament appearances (2018, 2019, 2021), reaching the Final Four in 2019 and 2021.
Beardsley Montag previously served as an assistant coach at Stanford University, the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Colorado Boulder. The New York native also served as a film coach for the Women's U-20 USA National Team leading up to and during the 2024 World Championship in Hong Kong.
As a student-athlete, she was selected to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team and served on the team’s leadership council. Always interested in psychology and the mental aspects of the game, she earned her master’s degree in sport and performance psychology from the University of Western States and a certificate in coaching and leadership development through Kellogg Executive Education.
Dean Bryan Brayboy, Moderator
Brayboy, Northwestern's first Native American dean and a citizen of the Lumbee tribe, studies how Indigenous people learn, teach, and see themselves within larger systems of power. An anthropologist of education, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2026. His most influential work is Tribal Critical Race Theory (TribalCrit), a framework he developed in 2005 examining the intersection of race, power, and Indigenous tribal sovereignty.
In 2023, he received the George and Louise Spindler Award from the Council on Anthropology and Education for lifetime contributions to educational anthropology, K-12 schools, and higher education. He is a member of the National Academy of Education and a fellow of the American Educational Research Association, where he was elected to the Council and Executive Board in 2024. Brayboy has authored more than 110 scholarly works, including 10 edited or authored volumes, along with articles, book chapters, and policy briefs for the Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, and the National Academy of Sciences.