On Aug. 17, 2014 at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Dunbar Brooks, Morgan State alum died of an Agent Orange related infection. Brooks was 63.

Brooks graduated from Morgan State in 1968 and was very well accomplished. Brooks served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and also became the first African-American president of the Baltimore County School Board. Soon after that, he served as president of the Maryland State Board of Education from 2007 to 2008.

Though the death of Brooks has left family and friends of the Morgan State community somber, he managed to provide hope and a helping hand for students like his goddaughter, Morganite Ashley Coar.

“I want Morgan State to be honored that I have a godfather who graduated from our school during the years of the civil rights movement,” says Coar, who plans to walk across the stage in May of 2015. “He tried his hardest to fight and stay alive to see me graduate,” she continues.

According to Coar, the Continuing the Legacy of Dunbar Brooks Educational Fund, which is a Maryland wide foundation created in Brooks’ name, will be implemented to help students further pursue their education through financial assistance.

Placing an angel in her godfather’s casket at his funeral was her Coar’s last memory of Brooks, but she intends to fulfill her goal of graduating to honor her godfather’s legacy.

Brook’s legacy is carried on by his wife of 37 years, Edythe; daughter, Cheryl Renee Brooks; stepson, Gary Arthur Young; stepdaughter, Tracey Young Williams and his three grandchildren.