Broad Ripple High School Senior Receives Full-Ride to Butler
Writer / Jon Shoulders
Photographer / Brian Brosmer
When Broad Ripple High School senior Ty Brown learned that he had been accepted to Butler University last November, the news came as a pleasant surprise. However, a bigger shock was still to come some three months later.
After becoming accepted, Brown had been nominated for a full tuition scholarship to Butler along with a few other accepted applicants and sat for an interview with school officials. A few weeks later in February, he was called to the front offices of BRHS in the early morning of what was, until then, a routine day at school. As he descended the staircase, his mother Jennifer and girlfriend Alexa, a few Butler representatives, a Fox 59 news crew and even Trip the bulldog, Butler’s official mascot, awaited. Brown found himself on live television accepting a scholarship worth $40,000 per year.
“At first, I was kind of speechless and shocked, and then when it set in I realized that this was something that would affect my life for a long time,” Brown says. “Right after it happened my phone was blowing up all day with family members texting and calling. I was telling everyone that I was at school but they were saying, ‘We don’t care, we just wanted to congratulate you.’ Everyone was really excited.”
Butler awards its academic scholarships each school year based on grade point average, extracurricular activities and community service involvement.
A native of Danville, Illinois, Brown moved with his family to Indianapolis during his second grade year, attending Crestview, Indian Creek and Skiles Test through his elementary school years. After a freshman year at Lawrence North High School he transferred to BRHS, and has since stayed busy keeping his grades up and participating on the school’s football, baseball and swim teams. The senior is currently participating in Tufts University’s EPIIC (Education for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship) Symposium, a program through which students represent individual countries and work to solve simulated global problems.
Brown’s response when asked how he celebrated on the night he received news of the scholarship is itself a testimony to the sort of work ethic that landed him the scholarship in the first place.
“I actually had a sectional meet for swimming that night, so I had to gear up for that,” he says. “So, there wasn’t much time for celebrating. My schedule is always pretty busy.”
After graduating this June, Brown plans to stay busy working as a lifeguard and spend time with Alexa, who will also attend Butler.
“My downtime is very limited, but I do like to play and watch sports,” Brown says. “I’m a big basketball and football fan. Other than that, I enjoy hanging out with friends and playing video games.”
While undecided on a university major, Brown is interested in studying criminology and political science. He says Butler’s size, in addition to the range of coursework it offers, is what attracted him to the university.
“When I moved to Broad Ripple I went from around 1,000 students per class at Lawrence North to around 100 per class,” he says. “I like the small-school feel much better and wanted that going into college, and Butler will give that to me. Everyone is super friendly on campus, and that family-feel drew me to it. I’m really excited.”
