That is because on Friday, the Centerville, Ohio resident will join more than 1,000 graduates at Miami’s fall commencement and be handed a college diploma from her old school Brown may have been forced to leave but it had never departed her heart.
“This has been one of the biggest highlights of my life,” Brown told Miami officials.
More than 1,000 degrees are expected to be conferred at Miami University’s Fall Commencement on Friday, said Miami officials.
The ceremony is at 3 p.m. at Millett Hall and Allen McConnell, University Distinguished Professor of Psychology and the 2025 Benjamin Harrison Medallion recipient, will deliver the commencement address.
Friday’s event is also a life bucket list finish line for Brown, who retired in 2020 at the height of the Covid pandemic, but never forgot about Miami or that bachelor’s degree she pursued shortly after graduating from the former Fairmont West High School in Kettering.
Retirement five years ago saw her fully commit to earning an undergraduate degree in history before her coming 70th birthday in May.
It wasn’t just a stroll down her collegiate memory lane. A number of big changes at her former school initially gave her pause.
The biggest at Miami is learning technology and its impact both in and outside of classrooms, said Brown, who is married with two grown children and two grandchildren.
Her freshman classmates in 1974 interacted more, she said, since mobile devices were decades away from being so ubiquitous.
Brown was disappointed by the lack of face-to-face conversations among her modern-day college peers.
And the classrooms she entered usually had their lights turned off, with only natural lighting flowing in.
“At first, I couldn’t figure that out. But a professor explained to me the students prefer the lighting that way so they can better see their mobile devices.”
Her husband, Jim Brown, said he is extremely proud of his wife of 45 years. They met when she was a student at Miami and he was a student at the University of Dayton, so he’s familiar with the commute to Oxford.
“She jumped into it with both feet,” he said, likening her to “a wide-eyed freshman” with everything in front of her.
He has seen her study at their dining room table for three to four hours a night, books open and laptop on. She has even taken on extra hours as a substitute hygienist to help pay for tuition, according to Miami officials.
Helen Sheumaker, teaching professor of History and Global and Intercultural Studies and lead departmental advisor for the Department of History, has been inspired by Brown’s journey.
“I’m very proud of her work as a student at Miami University. She has excelled at this new challenge she set for herself,” Sheumaker said, adding that Brown has been “a joy to work with, an asset in the classroom, and has added a note of grace and energy to the department.”
Brown said her return to undergraduate studies cheered her heart as she immersed herself, first in online courses during the pandemic, and then driving from Centerville to the Oxford campus for live courses in recent years.
She especially liked popping open her laptop at the expansive Armstrong Student Center in the heart of campus and soaking in the college ambiance.
Credit: Jeff Sabo
Credit: Jeff Sabo
“I loved going in there and doing my homework and sitting at a table and listening to the students around me because they are delightful as are the students in the classrooms. They are so smart,” said Brown, who will graduate with a 3.6 GPA.
Earning an undergraduate degree “has been on my bucket list in the back of my mine since I first left Miami.”
“The campus looks the same and it’s so gorgeous, And I’m still, after so many years, so happy when I walk around the campus.”
About the Author