MANSFIELD — Almost 15 years after her death, Emily Brown is still empowering Richland County youth in their pursuit of higher education.
The Emily Campbell Brown and Dr. Charles Gailey Brown First-Generation-to-College Scholarship Fund has awarded 69 scholarships totalling more than $70,000 since its inception in 2009 — including five $2,00 scholarships last spring.
Scholarships are awarded exclusively to first generation college students. When establishing the fund, Emily stipulated that student need be a primary factor when considering applicants.
Emily’s sons, who maintain the fund in their late parents’ honor, said students can apply each year, regardless of whether they have received a scholarship in the past.
“For students with limited financial resources, staying in school is often more of a challenge than starting school — so the Brown fund prioritizes funding upperclassmen and upperclasswomen in good standing on a path to completion of the degree,” said Charles Gailey Brown III.
Daisjah Brown, a political science major at Baldwin Wallace University, said the scholarship will support her goal to spend her last semester in Washington D.C.
“Long-term I intend on working with voter behavior analysis,” said Daisjah, a 2021 Mansfield Senior High School graduate who is not related to the Brown family.
“This is where you look at how different demographics are voting and apply it to elections, political ads, and news sources.”
Jade Craighead, a senior at Kent State University, plans to attend graduate school at the University of Akron to study marriage and family therapy.
“My college experience has been anything but conventional due to the pandemic but with the help of so many great people, Dr. and Mrs. Brown included, I have made it this far and continue to reach milestones I previously thought impossible,” she said.
North Central State College and the Ohio State University Mansfield recently donated $500 each to the fund.
Emily and Charles’ son Bob Brown called it gratifying to see the community’s continued support of the fund.
“Many of the students who get these scholarships are likely to go to school locally because this is the first experience that anyone in their family has had with higher education and they have two terrific opportunities here,” he said.
North Central State College President Dorey Diab and OSU Mansfield Development Director Cindy Wood said they were proud to partner with the fund to provide accessible education in Richland County.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, less than 20 percent of Richland County residents age 25 and older held a bachelor’s degree.
“It is our complete honor to be a part of a greater community solution,” Wood said. “About 40 to 50 percent of our student body at Ohio State Mansfield is first generation.”
Diab said his college experience not only gave him career opportunities, but allowed him to build the life his parents had imagined for him and his brothers in the United States.
“We’re very thankful for that opportunity to enjoy the quality of life that the United States have provided for us, especially as an immigrant in this country,” Diab said.
“In order to maintain our standard of living and quality of life as a nation, higher education attainment is a key.”
