Montclair State University Graduate Khara Brown Defies 3% Survival Odds to Uncover Hidden Histories Through Anthropology and Archaeology

This story is part of a series celebrating Montclair State University’s Spring Commencement 2025 graduates – students who embody the University’s mission to broaden access to exceptional learning opportunities and contribute to the common good.

When Khara Lillian Brown walks across the stage at Montclair State University’s Spring Commencement, she’ll be celebrating more than earning her bachelor’s degree in Anthropology – she’ll be celebrating a victory against extraordinary odds.

While in college, Brown was given just a 3% chance to live. Defying that prognosis with courage and determination, she not only survived but thrived, finding her purpose and passion through research, community and storytelling.

Her resilience carried her through multiple surgeries and intensive rehabilitation. Today, she is presenting original research, receiving prestigious scholarships, and exploring the complex history of free and formerly enslaved African American communities.

Maybe I didn’t do as well as I wanted – I’m a perfectionist and hard on myself – but I’ve met people, changed lives, touched people with my story. And that’s all a person can ask for – to be a catalyst for change.” — Khara Brown

A Newark native, Brown majored in Anthropology with minors in Archaeology and Native American and Indigenous Studies. Throughout her time at Montclair, she combined scholarship with activism, volunteering in the campus Archaeology Lab, co-founding the club LadiesFIRST, and participating in organizations such as the Native American and Indigenous Studies Club and the Coalition for Collective Liberation.

She also helped launch the Women’s Leadership Conference, organized by the University’s Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) Program. At this year’s conference, she was honored with a Triumph Over Trauma Award, recognized before more than 350 high school students, educators, community leaders and artists.

Balancing academics with health challenges wasn’t simple.

In 2015, Khara Brown faced a devastating diagnosis after being hospitalized with catastrophic intestinal failure, leaving her paralyzed and barely able to speak. Doctors told her mother there was a 97% chance of fatality. Brown, determined to survive, whispered: “If God created the world from nothing, imagine what He could do with 3%.”

Reflecting on her journey, she says, “To be able to say that I’m in three honor societies, doing my best, graduating – He obviously did some magic with that 3%.”

But overcoming the odds wasn’t easy.

“Maintaining a steady momentum that allowed for proper mental and physical care was the hardest part,” Brown shares. “Finding that balance between what I want to do and what my body can allow me to do was hard as well. You want to be at the same pace as everyone else, but it’s okay if your path is different.”

Achievements and Future Plans

Brown’s academic work focused on free and formerly enslaved African American communities of the 18th and 19th centuries, research she presented at the Archaeological Society of New Jersey Conference.

With the help of her advisor, Christopher Matthews, Anthropology chairperson, Brown researched and compared three archaeological sites in Northern New Jersey and New York. She also participated in the prestigious James Madison’s Montpelier Archaeological Field School, working alongside descendants of enslaved people to map the Burial Ground for the Enslaved. This summer, she will continue that work through an internship with Montpelier’s Archaeology Department.

In addition to her archaeological work, Brown deepened her commitment to Indigenous studies through hands-on experiences at the Munsee Three Sisters Medicinal Farm, which provides traditional foods for the Turtle Clan of the Ramapough Lunaape (Lenape) Nation. The tribe can no longer safely farm its ancestral land in Upper Ringwood, New Jersey, due to industrial contamination.

Brown credits her success to a wide network of supporters.

“Big shout out to my EOF family, Dr. Danny Jean and the whole gang, my professors Chris Matthews and Mark Clatterbuck, and the whole Anthropology Department,” she says.

She also expresses deep gratitude to Chief Mann of the Turtle Clan and the Munsee Three Sisters Farm, her co-workers who kept her nourished during long study sessions, and her family and prayer communities.

“Khara is such an amazing person who has not only overcome so much to complete her college degree, but continues to see serving the greater good and, especially, underserved and marginalized communities as her purpose. Her impact as a student, archaeologist, educator and person will be profound,” Matthews says.

Words of Reflection

After graduation, Brown plans to move to Virginia for the summer and celebrate her 30th birthday – grateful for all she has overcome and excited for what lies ahead.

“Now that I’m at the finish line, I can sit back and say it was worth it. In some moments, it didn’t feel possible. But perseverance – that tenacity – is what keeps me going.”

The University will celebrate its graduates at Commencement exercises on Wednesday, May 7 and Thursday, May 8, 2025, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Story by Marilyn Joyce Lehren, University Communications and Marketing

Ready to Start Your Montclair Journey?

Prospective Students and Parents: Learn more about Montclair admissions, our Anthropology major and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Journalists: Contact our Media Relations team to request assets or schedule an interview with a member of the Class of 2025.