The Andrew Brown Humanitarian Scholarship
"Education is the gift that will last a lifetime."
Honoring the Future of Humanity
The Andrew “Wiggie” Brown Humanitarian Scholarship is awarded annually. Andrew Brown, (1944 -1993), believed, “Education is a gift that will last a lifetime.” Since 1995, in his memory, scholarships are offered to graduating high school seniors.
The youngest of his siblings, he graduated summa cum laude of his high school class in Ferriday, Louisiana and he was the first in his family to attend college. A 1966 graduate of Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is also where he obtained his master’s degree in education. Mr. Brown believed character development should be a true goal of education. He was a proud member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. He believed youth with determination and perseverance could achieve their goals in life and would be the force for positive change.
Brown was employed by Southern University before becoming the first Director of the Upward Bound program at Mills College - the prestigious liberal arts college located in Oakland, CA. Mr. Brown was later employed by Stanford University’s Athletic Business Department. While at Stanford he was encouraged to pursue the opportunity to become the first full-time Commissioner of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). The SWAC office was established in New Orleans in 1973. He was instrumental in the first game of the Bayou Classic [Southern University vs. Grambling University] in the newly constructed New Orleans Super Dome. As commissioner, Brown tirelessly advocated for SWAC colleges and universities to receive television revenue and was successful in this mission. He was posthumously inducted into the NCAA Hall of Fame. After his tenure with the SWAC. Brown became Director of the Recreation Department for the City of New Orleans. He organized the first Biddy Basketball play-off game in Helsinki, Finland in 1979. As an entrepreneur, Brown was CEO of A&L Enterprises, an export and foreign trade company. He was acknowledged as Louisiana’s international business ambassador to West Africa as he pursued business opportunities, promoted trade missions, and hosted dignitaries from West Africa and as far away as the Pacific Island country of Papua New Guinea. Mr. Brown believed in communities organizing to meet the needs of the people which lead to Mr. Brown becoming a delegrate to the Republican National Convention. His involvement in politics was to address the socio-economic needs of the community he lived in. He was the first Black mayoral candidate for the City of Jeanerette, LA. He valued every human being. A philantropist at heart, Mr. Brown believed integrity, mutual respect, empathy, and gratitude were key leadership qualities to be espoused because, “Children live what they learn and are indeed our future leaders.”