FAYETTEVILLE : Former Razorbacks star gives back with donation to UA academic program
Posted on Thursday, September 4, 2008
FAYETTEVILLE — Former Razorbacks basketball player Ronnie Brewer chose an academic program as beneficiary of his first private gift to the University of Arkansas.
He is contributing $ 50, 000 to the Fayetteville campus’s African-American studies program, UA officials announced Wednesday.
Brewer, 23, who entered the 2006 NBA draft after playing three seasons for the Razorbacks, is now a member of the Utah Jazz.
“I’m sure some people think athletes only give back to athletics, so I guess I’m going out on a limb,” Brewer said during a news conference on the campus Wednesday.
“I would not be here today without the University of Arkansas,” he said, describing the program, part of the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, as “really up and coming.” The entire amount will fund an endowment supporting scholarships for students in the program who also demonstrate an interest in journalism.
“The world is so diverse,” said the soft-spoken Brewer, who answered wide-ranging questions confidently with thoughtful, on-point answers. “In my opinion, you don’t really see that many minority journalists.” He added he believes the field can only benefit if people from all races and all walks of life are part of it.
But there’s another reason for Brewer’s interest: He was majoring in broadcast journalism when he left school.
He was about 40 credits shy of a degree, and he intends to fulfill a promise to his mother by finishing school through online courses or possibly through a combination of online and summer school studies, he said.
UA spokesman Steve Voorhies said Brewer’s gift marks the first time that an active professional athlete and a former UA student-athlete has donated to an academic program.
Also attending Wednesday’s news conference were Brewer’s parents, former Razorback basketball player Ron Brewer Sr. and Carolyn Brewer of Fayetteville.
Ronnie Brewer’s first step into philanthropy happened last Christmas, his mother said.
He bought food and toys for nine Fayetteville families he found through an Operation Blessing Basket effort, a number chosen to match his Utah Jazz jersey No. 9 she said.
Then, earlier this year, her son donated a $ 5, 000 scholarship to a student from Fayetteville High School, said Carolyn Brewer, who confessed her college background in speech pathology and communications led her to coach her son in the past on how to speak in public. In August, Ronnie Brewer helped Arvest Bank in Fayetteville raise about $ 1, 000 for Habitat for Humanity by signing autographs and a Utah Jazz jersey that was part of a silent auction at the $ 1-per-person event.
Reporters asked Brewer how he manages to stay out of trouble when so many other athletes don’t.
“I think it’s all about the crowd that you keep,” Brewer said, plus he wants to do his family proud. “I try to keep my name out of trouble.”
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