Hometown Hillsdale: On Air and in the Classroom with Andy Brown, ’97
Written by Monica VanDerWeide, ’95
If you’ve spent any time in Hillsdale County in the past 30 years, chances are you have heard the voice of Andy Brown calling the play-by-play at a local athletic event or on Radio Hillsdale WCSR 92.1 FM. And while that alone is delightfully entertaining, those who have met him in person find an equally energetic, outgoing personality, a man devoted to making his community a better place through his roles as an educator and broadcaster.
Born and raised in nearby Camden, Michigan, Andy has called Hillsdale County home all his life. His mother, a longtime secretary at the College, encouraged him to consider Hillsdale. “I didn’t need to look anywhere else after visiting Hillsdale,” he said. “It was a fantastic school.”
Originally intending to major in chemistry, Andy soon found himself gravitating toward an English major, something he credits to the influence of his advisor, retired Professor of English Dan Sundahl. “Dr. Sundahl was larger than life,” he recalled. “He really drew me in during my freshman English classes.” Conversations with friends further cemented his interests in literature and writing, a skill he honed as a sports writer for The Collegian.
By the second semester of his freshman year, Andy was earnestly blending his other passions—sports and radio—into a budding broadcasting career. “I’ve loved radio since I was a kid,” he said. He got a part-time job working at WCSR, getting the chance to develop his radio chops and learn the industry. As a student, he, alongside classmate Greg Corombos, ’97, and under the mentorship of Director of Sports Broadcasting Ted Matko, began to do play-by-play for Chargers football and basketball games. Andy went on to be the longtime “Voice of the Chargers,” calling football games for 20 years and basketball games for 15 years. “It was a thrill to do that,” he recalled.
In addition to his work with the Chargers, Andy continues to this day working for WCSR, hosting a sports show, Time Out with Andy Brown, on Saturdays, and a big band show on Sundays. As much as he loves broadcasting, however, Andy’s radio work is a side gig to his primary career—education.
In the fall of 1997, Andy began teaching high school English and coaching football at his alma mater, Camden-Frontier High School, just four years after being a student there himself. “I thought it was cool,” he said of being on the teaching side of his old school. “Everyone was very welcoming. There were many veteran teachers who mentored me as I began my teaching career.” He spent 22 years at Camden-Frontier. During that time, he earned an M.A. in English from Western Michigan University. He also served as an adjunct professor for several years at Jackson College and Hillsdale College, teaching writing and freshman English, respectively. Those experiences at the collegiate level inspired Andy to pursue teaching at a college full time, and that opportunity came in 2019 as he left Camden-Frontier to teach in the communications department and broadcast sports at Trine University in Angola, Indiana.
As satisfying as college teaching was, Andy had always thought about going into school administration. In 2022, he learned of an administrative opportunity—K-12 principal at Pittsford Community Schools on the east side of Hillsdale County. “I knew Pittsford’s superintendent and knew it would be a good cultural fit,” Andy said of the district, which, at 380 students, is slightly smaller than Camden-Frontier. He started there in the fall of 2022. “It’s a challenging job, but we have excellent teachers and great kids,” he said. I’m excited to help shape the vision of the school and do everything I can to make it better.” And what does he think of working for Camden-Frontier’s rival school? “It was a bit surreal at first,” he laughed, “but I consider myself a Wildcat now!”
While his Pittsford job certainly keeps him busy, Andy continues to enjoy his other interests, teaching one class each semester at Trine University and broadcasting their sports, as well as his shows on WCSR. He will also call Hillsdale County high school football play-by-play on WCSR this fall. His family includes wife Carie, Hillsdale Academy’s kindergarten teacher, and three sons. Owen and Wade are both engineering students at the University of Michigan, and Sam is a junior at Camden-Frontier High School.
As he devotes his life to education, be it teaching others about literature, football, or the merits of Harry Connick Jr.’s big band music, Andy is forever grateful to the mentors he had at Hillsdale. “Hillsdale’s professors are so accessible,” he said. “They really want to help you. You don’t get that at every school. I feel blessed and fortunate to have attended Hillsdale.”
Monica VanDerWeide is Director of Marketing Content for Hillsdale College. She graduated from Hillsdale in 1995 with a degree in English and German.
Published in August 2023