User:Cbeasley
From Social Justice Wiki
Chaz Michael Beasley, the son of Sherry Bruner, was born on October 24, 1985 at Iredell Memorial Hospital in Statesville, NC. Raised by a single mother, he spent most of his childhood living in Taylorsville, NC, a rural farm and factory town of a few thousand people, around his extended family. Heavily influenced by his grandparents, Chaz was raised in a loving, devout home that instilled in him crucial life skills. At the age of ten, Chaz moved with his mother to Conover, NC, a more suburban town about 45 minutes from Charlotte, where his mother and he became members at Covenant Christian Church.
In August 2000 he enrolled at Newton-Conover High School in Newton, NC. While in high school, Chaz was heavily involved in his school and community. From 2001-2003, he was elected class president for three straight years and was elected student body president in 2004. In a four-year track career, Chaz lettered in varsity all four years and qualified for regionals in his junior and senior years. During his sophomore year he was chosen to attend the North Carolina 4-H Youth Conversation in Raleigh, NC. His hard work there led to his selection as one of 30 state delegates to the National 4-H Youth Conversation in Washington, DC. He was integral in creating the national youth agenda at the event. During the summer of 2003 Chaz attended the American Legion Tarheel Boys’ State program and was chosen to attend Boys’ Nation, an opportunity afforded to 96 young men across the country every year. Chaz also worked as an intern for Central United Methodist Church in Asheville, NC, where his tasks included working with mentally handicapped adults, supervising young people, and helping on mission trips. Upon graduation, he became the first black valedictorian in his school’s history.
Chaz is currently a student at Harvard University, where he is the Co-Director of the Students Taking on Poverty (STOP) Campaign, Political Action Chair of the Black Students Association, and a member of the Black Men’s Forum, Institute of Politics, and Democratic Legislative Committee. He is an economics concentrator living in Eliot House.