Educational consultant Donald Brown, who served as director of Boston College’s Office of AHANA Student Programs for 27 years and led efforts to support first-generation, underrepresented students, will be the keynote speaker at the 40th Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Banquet on February 22 at 5:30 p.m. in the Yawkey Center Murray Function Room.
During the banquet, University President William P. Leahy, S.J., will nnounce the winner of the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship, which recognizes Boston College junior who has demonstrated superior academic achievement, extracurricular leadership, community service, and involvement with the African American community and African American issues.
This year’s scholarship candidates are Lubens Benjamin, Tamara Hyppolite, Kudzai Kapurura, Michael Martins, and E’Sachi Smalls.
Donald Brown
Brown is founder and president of Brown and Associates Education and Diversity Counseling, which aids in developing and facilitating diversity dialogues as part of strategies aimed at preparing young people for the challenges of the 21st century. He also developed Christian Soldiers Inc., an innovative education program that aims to improve the quality of life for young people by focusing on their academic, social, cultural, and spiritual growth and development.
In 1978, Brown came to BC as director of what was then the Office of Minority Student Programs. He changed the office’s name to incorporate “AHANA,” an acronym for “African-American, Hispanic, Asian, Native American” created by BC undergraduates Valerie Lewis-Mosley ’79 and Alfred Feliciano ’81 as an inclusive alternative to the term “minority.,” The office is now part of the Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center.
Brown is credited with championing initiatives such as the Options Through Education Transitional Summer Program, the Thea Bowman Scholars Program, the Benjamin E. Mays Mentoring Program, and the Jaime Escalante Tutorial Program.
Interviewed by the Boston College Chronicle in 2004—the 25th anniversary of the “AHANA” acronym, which was adopted by other higher education institutions and programs, and eventually trademarked by BC—Brown said, “Dr. Martin Luther King talked to us about the need for people of good will coming together, and the need to launch coalitions. What Alfred and Valerie talked about back then was the need for Blacks, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans and progressive whites coming together. That’s what undergirds this AHANA concept.”
In 2007, the University established the Dr. Donald Brown Award, presented annually to a senior who, throughout his or her undergraduate career, has made extraordinary contributions to the BC community in ways that have benefited AHANA students in the areas of leadership, service, and academic development.
February 15 is the deadline to register for the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Banquet. Send email to mlkjr@bc.edu.
University Communications | February 2022