Harvey Beech Scholarship Recipients

2019 Harvey Beech Scholarship Recipients

LUIS CARLOS AMAYA-VILLA

Luis was born in La Junta, Colorado, but claims Henderson, NC as his home. He is a rising junior, majoring in Sociology with a minor in Education. Luis is a first-generation college student and the first person from his family to graduate high school in the U.S., as well as the first out of his entire family to make it as far as he has in education. He prides himself on working hard and being the best at whatever he does. “My adjustment to UNC has been long and hard,” he says, “but I am forever blessed by God to be in the situation that I am in. I am honored to receive the Harvey Beech Scholarship and [continuing on] his legacy. Go Heels!

 

CAMARYN RICHMOND

Camaryn is a rising junior majoring in Business Administration in the Kenan-Flagler Business School. She was a Hayden B. Renwick Academic Achievement Awardee and made the Dean’s List in Fall 2018 and Fall 2019. Camaryn is a part of the Carolina Union Activities Board (CUAB) Entertainment Committee, the Black Student Movement and the Minority Student Recruitment Committee. She served as an Achieving Carolina Excellence (ACE) Legacy Leader and is also involved with Queen in You, which is a club to mentor young girls in professionalism, self-esteem, scholarship and service. Camaryn is pursuing a career in financial services because she has a passion for increasing financial stability among the African American community. She will be interning with Wells Fargo in Charlotte, NC in summer 2019.

 

MAGGIE STEIN

Maggie Stein is a rising junior honors student, hailing from Dallas, TX, and  majoring in Biology (BS) on the pre-med track. Her advocacy and tenacity has filtered into her service, creating a vibrant masterpiece of positive and long lasting change in her surrounding communities. As a girl scout, Maggie completed the most prestigious award, the Girl Scout Gold Award. Her project, Tell Your Story, focused on the elderly community. She and a dedicated team of volunteers interviewed residents of the Waterford Retirement Home in Mesquite, TX and documented their unique lives in digital and physical story book. At UNC, she is involved in a number of organizations on campus, allowing the themes of her life to guide her journey. She is a member of UNC Flourish, leading grocery store tours at a local Food Lion. Food security is an important cause for her and she volunteers regularly at Carolina Cupboard and with Hope Cooks, preparing weekly meals for the HomeStart Women’s Shelter. Maggie is a mentor and advocate, and being intensely involved with the Black Student Movement has given her the opportunity to lead as the 2019-2020 Co-Chair of The Celebration of Black Womanhood Committee. She will also act as a Spark Counselor for the 2023 Cohort during her junior year. Maggie’s time in high school at The Hockaday School gave her the ability to blossom as a young, empowered woman of color and UNC is her canvas.

2018 Harvey Beech Scholarship Recipients 

 

HOLDEN COX

Major: Exercise and Sports ScienceHolden is a Morehead-Cain Semifinalist, made the Dean’s List in Spring 2017, and is a Hayden B. Renwick Academic Achievement Awards Participant. He is the co-volunteer Chair with the Carolina Cupboard’s Community Food Pantry, Minority Advising Program (MAP) Mentor, Buckley Public Service Scholar, Spring 2017 Athletic Training Football Observer, member of UNC-HOSA’s Future Health Professionals; NC-HCAP Health Careers Club, Impact Religious Group, and Intramural Basketball.Holden is pursuing a career in physical therapy. A high school football player who suffered a tibial plateau fracture requiring surgery and rehabilitation, he was inspired by the passion and drive of the physical therapists who led him back to health. After interning with Pivot Physical Therapy last fall, he realized that physical therapy was his career path. “Mr. Beech’s journey laid the foundation for me to have the ability to attend this great institution,” says Holden. “The Harvey Beech Scholarship will help me obtain my career goal.” 

 

GABRIELLE JAMES

Major: Political Science and American Indian & Indigenous Studies

Minor: Social & Economic JusticeGabrielle earned a Renwick Academic Achievement Award in Spring 2018, made the Dean’s List in Fall 2017, was presented with FAITH Award in Spring 2017 and was named Sister of the Year in Spring 2017. She is the Vice President of the Carolina Indian Circle and Service Director and Social Director for Alpha Pi Omega Sorority, Inc. She has worked at the American Indian Center and been on the Planning Committee for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Week. She is also a mentor for Movement of Youth, an organization that mentors local middle and high school students, has worked with both Project Uplift and Uplift PLUS programs, and has been an employee of her tribe, the Lumbee.

“All of this involvement mostly just relates back to my immense passion for giving back to people, specifically those who have been historically marginalized, such as my people…my success is their success. Everything I am gaining here  at UNC, I am bringing back to my people ten-fold…my love for my people and the family I have created here at UNC has totally changed my life.” 

 

MADISON LANGSTON

Major: EXSS Sports Administration

Madison is an AmeriCorps Scholarship Recipient, made the Dean’s List in both Spring 2016 and Fall 2017, was a Summer Health Professions Education Program Scholar in 2017 and winner of the Hayden B. Renwick Academic Achievement Award in 2016, 2017, and 2018. She is currently the Vice President of We Wear the Mask, an organization that targets the negative stigma regarding mental health in the Black community. She’s also served as a counselor for Healthy Girls Save the World (HGSW), a member of the Minority Student Recruitment Committee, and has worked on the Student Government Student Safety and Wellness Committee. Last year, she was selected to be a member

of the Tar Heel Beginnings Board, which develops programming for over 4,000 incoming Carolina students. She is also an office assistant for Carolina Football and a bookseller at UNC Student Stores.

“I have loved being part of [the aforementioned] organizations because I get to directly assist and mentor minority students like myself. HGSW gives me the opportunity to mentor middle school, low-income African American girls in order to create healthier minds, bodies, and relationships. With the Student Government Student Safety and Wellness Committee, I was able to successfully create a Professor Guidebook in order to crate a better, safer classroom environment.” 

2017 Harvey Beech Scholarship Recipients

L-R: Nicole Ward (’19), Afi Bello (’19), Marquise Drayton (’19)

Nicole Ward

Nicole is a rising junior majoring in Exercise and Sports on the pre-Nursing track. Her passion for healthcare and her community has lead her to volunteer with several organizations on and off campus. She regularly spends time as a pediatric cuddler at UNC hospitals and as a childcare volunteer at the Compass Center for Women. She also volunteers as an after school tutor at a local community center. As a member of the Minority Nursing Student Association (MNSA), she works to provide information, recourse and opportunities for minority students that wish to pursue nursing.  While working to improve her GPA, she received her Certified Nursing Assistant license and plans to further volunteer in nursing homes in the community.

Marquise Drayton

Marquise is a rising junior majoring in African African-American & Diaspora Studies and Dramatic Art.  As a Carolina Millennial Scholar through D&I, he has had the opportunity to take part in seminars and workshops that aid in the personal development of minority men. Marquise is dedicated to making UNC a safe and welcoming place through volunteering as a tour guide with the Minority Student Recruitment Committee. He is also a student ambassador with the Carolina Black Caucus and works to bridge the gap between students and faculty to provide educational opportunities for students of color.

Afi-Apefa Bello

Afi is a rising junior majoring in African & African-American & Diaspora Studies and Communication Studies. She is an active volunteer within several programs in D&I. She has given campus tours for programs such as Dia de Bienvenidos, helped teach classes during Tar Heel Decision Day and even returned to her high school to recruit minority students through Tarheel Target. After struggling to find her place at UNC after her first year, Afi decided to dedicate her time to making incoming minority students feel comfortable in their transition to college. As an Achieving Excellence at Carolina (ACE) legacy leader, she set out to make a positive impact on incoming freshmens’ Carolina experience.