A well known and popular figure on campus, Kenneth Brown, Jr. ’19 is excited to empower students through a career in higher education after graduation.
After announcing games at his Greensboro, North Carolina, high school, Kenneth Brown Jr. came to Elon excited to pursue a career in communications. But after just one semester, he realized what he really wanted to do was help others. “Since ‘helping people’ wasn’t a major, human service studies was the closest option,” Kenneth jokes. He will receive his degree this spring, having helped the Elon community in many ways: serving as student body president, planning events for the Black Student Union and adding his voice to the cheering Phoenix Phanatics at athletic events.
Elon was the only university Kenneth wanted to attend, and the Odyssey Program, a merit- and need-based scholarship program, made it a reality. The oldest of eight, he took note when people helped his family through difficult times, and it made a deep impression. “People are kind, and people can help each other. I understand that my life is bigger than just what I want to do, and it’s not always about me. I want to help us be a better society,” he says.
Kenneth has served as his class’ student body president for three of his four years, skipping last year to spend a semester studying in Scotland. Now the executive president of the Student Government Associations executive council, he says, “I see student government as a sports team, and I’m the head coach. I work with everyone to create strategies to help us win.” Kenneth, a ubiquitous presence around campus, loves connecting with people: meeting the students he represents, participating in panels or just listening to the concerns of folks he runs into. “In my role, I’m the face of the student body, and people know me. It’s the best part.”
Kenneth says his friends would describe him as kind and enthusiastic, a good listener and adviser. Those attributes should serve him well as he pursues working in higher education, possibly even as a university president, after graduation. “I want to do my part to help students with a background like mine come to places like Elon and thrive.”
Kenneth is Elon and one of many stories that are part of our “I Am Elon” series.