Victor Brooks moved a lot growing up in a military family, but he eventually found a permanent home at Rice. He played varsity football, was a member of the mock trial team, led an alternative spring break trip and immersed himself into the spirit and family at Jones College.
Victor has served as co-chair of the 5- and 10-year reunion committees for the Class of 2009, where he helped raise six figures for each reunion year. He is a member of the Rice Annual Fund Steering Committee, which helps Rice support raise philanthropic support for incoming students and future alumni. Outside the hedges, Victor has served as a member of Rice Alumni Volunteers for Admission and is always eager to tell his Rice story to prospective students. Recently, he became co-chair of Rice Alumni Pride, which supports the interests of the university and its alumni with an emphasis on issues specific to the LGBTQIA community.
As a first-generation college student, Victor was keenly aware of the sacrifices made to ensure his success. After graduating, he wanted to give back and galvanize support for other students like himself, so he pursued a career in fundraising. During his eight-year career in the Texas Medical Center, he helped to secure over $5 million in support of medical student scholarships, research and clinical trials. Victor recently joined Dini Spheris, a Houston-based management and fundraising consultancy with non-profit clients across the United States – but he’s never too far from campus.
What inspires you to remain so engaged with Rice?
Rice taught us everything we needed to know to survive young adult life — time management, how to ask for help, perseverance, humility, and how to take control of our learning and destinies. Whenever you have an issue at work or in life, think back to managing finals, your social life, and a job hunt, all while being a college student earning little or no money. You'll make it! I look back at how tough and capable Rice helped me to be, and I can't help but to continue to love it and want to give back.
How have you evolved in your Rice journey since receiving the award?
Too soon – just received the award.
Victor’s advice:
Don’t lose track of your friends. Keep the group text going. Find ways to visit. Skype together. Send stupid memes. The magic of Rice is how close we are, and you will come to rely on your Rice friends to get you through the rough patches (there are lots of them after graduating), and also to celebrate your inevitable victories!
What’s next for you?
At a certain point in your life, you wake up and you have a network —that weird thing that you’re supposed to magically create at happy hour events. But really, it’s former co-workers, great mentors, friends of friends, and people you were nice to along the way. That’s when you get to become a connector. That’s when you get to open doors and help other people pursue their goals and ambitions. That’s the best part of being an alum!