Liberia's President, William V. S. Tubman, for help; he was so impressed by her determination that he arranged payment for her trip. While in North Carolina, Brooks was so outraged by segregation that she refused to ride the bus and instead drove everywhere. In 1963, while an appointed UN Delegate, Brooks visited Raleigh once again to deliver a speech at North Carolina State University. While there, the restaurants she attempted to dine at refused her service because she was black. Even her status as a diplomat could not protect her from the effects of segregation. North Carolina governor Terry Sanford later apologized to Brooks for the incident. Education While at Shaw University, Brooks was a member of the Eta Beta Omega international chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Black sorority. She partially financed her studies by working as a dishwasher, laundress, library assistant, and nurse's aide. In 1949, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in social science from Shaw University. She then went on to receive a Bachelor of Law degree and a Master of Science degree in political science and international relations from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She also did graduate work in international law at the University College Law School of the University of London in 1952 and 1953, and she obtained a Doctor of Civil Law degree from the University of Liberia in 1964. Additionally, Brooks earned Doctor of Law degrees from Shaw University and Howard University in 1962 and 1967 respectively. Career Brooks returned to Liberia where she served as Counsellor-at-law to the Supreme Court of Liberia. She was the first woman to serve as the Assistant Attorney-General of Liberia from August 1953 to March 1958. She also founded a Department of Law at the University of Liberia to ensure that other Liberians would be able to earn law degrees without having to leave their country. From 1954 to 1958, she served as a part-time Professor of Law at the University of Liberia. Brooks trained as a diplomat with the United States Foreign Service, a skill she put to good use when, in 1954, she was asked to fill a last-minute vacancy in the Liberian delegation to the United Nations. While Brooks became a delegate almost by happenstance, she served as Liberia's permanent representative to the United Nations every year thereafter until being elected President of the UN General Assembly in 1969. Brooks was cognizant of