Ross Brown is a senior consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton and a Washington University graduate who double majored in economics & strategy and finance. He was a nine-time NCAA Division III All-American and 14-time All-Association honoree in swimming. Brown, a two-time College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) first-team Scholar All-American, earned the 2018 Arthur Ashe, Jr. Swimming and Diving Scholar Award by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education Magazine.

The UAA “Conversations About Race and Racism” series seeks to lift the voices of people of color and recognize the challenges faced in both athletics and academics at the collegiate level. By sharing personal stories, we hope to elevate the conversation about race to raise awareness and bring about change.

Throughout his life, Ross Brown has lived in the dichotomy of being viewed as either Black or not Black enough. “Most people get to know me and they don’t consider me ‘Black enough’, yet in certain situations, they see me as just Black,” he described. It takes me aback sometimes. I am either seen as Black or not Black enough. I get a little distraught by it. You know it’s not right, but at the same time, it is hard to explain.”

Growing up as a Swimmer

With his father in the military, Brown moved every two years before college. “Every time we moved, I was placed in a lower swimming group before I started swimming and then as soon as I started swimming, they realized I needed to be in a higher level,” he explained. “At times, I was trying to fit in and make friends since I was moving place to place. There are not too many African-American officers in the military, so I knew my family’s experience was unusual.”