MORGAN LEGACIES
(left to right) Samuel, Troy and Avonnee Brown
Becoming the Browns Troy Brown recalls growing up in Baltimore County, Maryland, in a “Heathcliff and Claire Huxtable-like” environment, where Mom and Dad were accomplished professionals who loved each other and their children; big brother was intelligent and athletic; education, advocacy and self-confidence were highly valued; and an HBCU was near the center of the family’s life. A Harvard-trained lawyer with a long track record of success in large and small law firms, government and academia, Brown is part of Morgan State University’s powerful history within his family. His late mother, Avonnee Burge Brown, was a stellar history major at Morgan, Class of 1967, who leveraged her prodigious talent and the knowledge and skills she acquired in college to make a positive difference in her community through social service. His father, Samuel Brown, earned his Bachelor of Science in mathematics at Morgan, also in 1967, before his 38-year, Hall of Fame career as a teacher and administrator at
Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. Troy followed in his parents’ footsteps, earning a Bachelor of Science in political science and government at Morgan, in 1999. His parents’ experience at Morgan was clearly a major influence on him, Troy says: “I grew up hearing stories about their time at Morgan, how they met at Morgan, the impact of their…fraternity and sorority on their development, the pride of being young, Black and in college, the pride of being educated and why that was important for my brother and me and how it would be important, too, in terms of dealing with other people, matriculating through education…. My aunt as well as my parents’ friends were people that they went to college with.” The civil rights movement was the context of many of his parents’ stories about Morgan, Brown adds. “I heard about them doing sit-ins. My father marched. Both my parents did. This was still very much during segregation for them, or right on the edge of it.”
Social Growth
Samuel Brown (circa 1971)
www.givetomorgan.org
Sam Brown, retired for nearly 17 years now, is happy to talk about his time at Morgan. The first-generation college student arrived on campus from his hometown in rural Frederick County, Maryland, in September 1962, with an outstanding high school record.
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