Nationwide — RuQuan “Ru” Brown, a 17-year old high school senior from Seattle who has excelled in his classes and sports, has been recently accepted into 24 colleges including Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Earlier this year, he also launched his own apparel brand called Love1, a venture that aims to put an end to gun violence.
At school, Brown earned a 3.9 GPA and 1320 on his SATs, served as the SGA president and was also a track and football champion.
Brown managed to achieve all those despite the tragedies that happened in the past year. His teammate and friend was murdered in September 2017. His step-father was also murdered a year later. That’s when he thought of launching a clothing line with a cause.
“My company is called Love1. I started it to honor the lives of my teammate and stepdad who were murdered a year apart. I wanted to beat gun violence to the punch so that our families don’t have to continuously fall victim to tragic losses,” Brown told Because of Them We Can.
Love1 allocates 20% of its profit to donate to a New Jersey-based organization called One Gun Gone, which buys guns and turns them into art.
Brown dedicates his successes in school and business to his fallen friend and step-dad. He is also grateful to his mother, his biological father, and his family in supporting him.
“I think about my family when I want to quit. I am a leader in my family and its important that I do the hard work so that I can be the example for my younger siblings. [Then] my parents [won’t] have to work as hard.”
Brown has yet to decide which school to attend for college, but he said he plans to pursue a degree in business with a minor in African American studies.
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