Hank Aaron left an incredible legacy on and off the baseball field.<\/p>\n
One of his many off-the-field contributions is benefiting a UWM senior, Hawa Brema. For the past four years, Brema\u2019s academic studies at UWM have been funded through gifts to an endowment created by Aaron\u2019s Chasing the Dream Foundation 4 for 4 Scholarship. The scholarship at UWM is in memory of Aaron\u2019s longtime friend and UWM alumnus, the late Joseph Kennedy.<\/p>\n
Even a few weeks after Aaron’s death Jan. 22, Brema wipes away tears as she talks about him and what the scholarship has meant to her.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe changed my life. He literally changed a lot of people\u2019s lives,\u201d said Brema, who is a senior in human resources management. She is also earning certificates in real estate and cultures and communities, and plans to graduate in May.<\/p>\n
In September 2019, she had the opportunity to meet Aaron and his wife, Billye, in person when he invited all his foundation\u2019s scholars from across the U.S. to his home in Atlanta for a barbecue and an Atlanta Braves game. The Aarons paid for the students\u2019 expenses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were so nice, just really genuine people,\u201d Brema recalled.<\/p>\n
Brema was born in Sudan and spent 12 years in Kenya before her family emigrated to the United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad\u2019s big on education. He wanted us to come here for a better education,\u201d she said. A graduate of Bradley Tech High School, Brema has five siblings, so college tuition was a challenge for her family.<\/p>\n
She connected with the scholarship through a program she was involved with through the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee. She has been a Hank Aaron scholar for all four years at UWM.<\/p>\n
In high school, she played softball, so had some familiarity with the game and learned more about Aaron\u2019s baseball career when she applied for the scholarship.<\/p>\n
Aaron, a Hall of Fame player who began and ended his legendary baseball career in Milwaukee, had numerous ties to the city and to Wisconsin. He started his minor league career in Eau Claire, and went on to play for the Milwaukee\/Atlanta Braves for 21 years, including for the 1957 Milwaukee Braves world championship team. (The franchise moved to Atlanta in 1966.) He returned from Atlanta to play for the Milwaukee Brewers for two years to wind up his career.<\/p>\n
Brema is the second student at UWM to receive the four-year renewable scholarship.<\/p>\n
At his funeral in January, Aaron was honored for his contributions on and off the baseball diamond.<\/p>\n