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Hank Aaron left an incredible legacy on and off the baseball field. One of his many offthe-field contributions is benefiting a UWM senior, Hawa Brema. For the past four years, Brema’s academic studies at UWM have been funded through gifts to an endowment created by Aaron’s Chasing the Dream Foundation 4 for 4 Scholarship. The scholarship at UWM is in memory of Aaron’s longtime friend and UWM alumnus, the late Joseph Kennedy.
Babeball legend Hank Aaron ended his career with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Even a few weeks after Aaron’s death Jan. 22, Brema wipes away tears as she talks about him and what the scholarship has meant to her. “He changed my life. He literally changed a lot of people’s lives,” said Brema, who is a senior in human resources management. She is also earning certificates in real estate and cultures and communities, and plans to graduate in May. In September 2019, she had the opportunity to meet Aaron and his wife, Billye, in person when he invited all his foundation’s scholars from across the U.S. to his home in Atlanta for a barbecue and an Atlanta Braves game. The Aarons paid for the students’ expenses. “They were so nice, just really genuine people,” Brema recalled. Family came to U.S. Brema was born in Sudan and spent 12 years in Kenya before her family emigrated to the United States. “My dad’s big on education. He wanted us to come here for a better education,” she said. A graduate of Bradley Tech High School, Brema has five siblings, so college tuition was a challenge for her family.
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She connected with the scholarship through a program she was involved with through the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee. She has been a Hank Aaron scholar for all four years at UWM.
