Student Life Dedication and Service Award
Damon Brown '06
2026 Student Life Dedication and Service Award:
Damon Brown
2006, The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow College of Health Professions, M.S., Sports Management
The Division of University Engagement and Student Affairs honors an outstanding graduate who served as a student leader or employee while on the Mount Pleasant campus. The recipient is distinguished for their campus contributions and post-graduation commitment.
For Damon Brown, M.S. ’06, giving back to CMU has always been about one thing: creating spaces where students feel like they belong. His most lasting contributions to the university — creating the IMPACT program and managing MAINSTAGE while he was the director of the Office of Student Activities and Involvement — have done exactly that for years.
Damon’s relationship with CMU runs deep. He arrived on campus as a graduate assistant in University Recreation, immediately establishing himself as a collaborator and community builder. He went on to serve as coordinator of intramural sports and summer camps before being named director of student activities and involvement, a role he held for 12 years. Throughout, he was building the kind of campus culture he believed in: one where students feel seen, supported and challenged to become their best selves.
Those years produced two signature programs. IMPACT was designed to help incoming students build confidence and forge meaningful connections on campus. MAINSTAGE extended that vision further. Together, the programs reflect something Damon has always understood about student success: that belonging is not a byproduct of education — it is a prerequisite. “IMPACT became more than a program,” he said. “It became a community where students felt seen, supported and empowered to succeed both personally and academically.”
Damon is completing his doctorate in educational leadership at Youngstown State University and serves as vice president for student experience at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, bringing the same investment in student belonging that defined his years at CMU to a new community. He is also a certified Clifton Strengths trainer — a credential that reflects his enduring belief in the power of helping people discover and build on what makes them uniquely capable.
He continues to invest in CMU students through mentorship and his ongoing connection to the university he calls home. “CMU will always feel like a place where I belong,” he said. Staying connected, for Damon, is not an obligation — it is a privilege.
The Central Michigan University Alumni Association is proud to announce Damon Brown, Ed.D., as the recipient of the 2026 Student Life Dedication and Service Award.
