FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Kevin Brown of Adams Central High School has been named the recipient of the University of Saint Francis Pay it Forward Scholarship.
The full-ride scholarship to USF is awarded annually to a student who represents going above and beyond to serve others and “pay it forward.”
Brown was selected after submitting an essay, reaching the finalists stage and being profiled in a feature video by WANE-TV.
Brown was awarded the scholarship during an assembly Thursday at Adams Central. USF President Sister M. Elise Kriss presented the award along with WANE’s Terra Brantley.
The other finalists, Margaret “Maggie” Kelly of Bishop Dwenger High School and Alex Yoder of Eastside High School, will receive half-tuition scholarships. Brown’s essay detailed his work with Adams County Cares, including Recreation Nation Athletic Camps for at-risk students, and the Drug and Opiates Symposium.
“As a high school athlete, it was important to me to see athletics utilized in a manner that reaches at-risk youth in my community rather than just as a competition and winning,” Brown wrote. “Over the last two years, I have gotten to know many of these kids and have tried to be a good mentor to them because I know that having just one person in a kid’s life that cares for him or her may be a game-changer for that kid.”
Founded in 1890 in the Catholic Franciscan tradition, the University of Saint Francis offers more than 70 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs through the School of Health Sciences, School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Keith Busse School of Business and Entrepreneurial Leadership and School of Creative Arts. In addition to its traditional programs, USF designs focused curricula for working adults in Fort Wayne, Crown Point and online. USF Downtown houses the university’s business and music technology programs while offering enhanced internship and networking opportunities for students. The University of Saint Francis campus experience includes 16 athletic programs boasting two individual and four team NAIA national championships, and is recognized as an NAIA Five-Star Champion of Character institution. Approximately 2,200 students from a broad geographic region attend USF.