2006 POINT SCHOLARS

Ben Harvey

Harvard University

Medicine and Law

Ben grew up in rural Virginia where conservative pressures created a looming threat of exclusion. Despite this challenge, Ben committed himself to achieving the highest levels of academic success. Graduating among the top of his high school class, Ben attended Virginia Commonwealth University where he served as Student Government President, researched stem cell therapies for traumatic brain injury, and graduated summa cum laude. Ben went on to earn a medical degree at the University of North Carolina and a law degree at Harvard Law School. During his graduate studies, Ben participated in multi-faceted efforts aimed at addressing socioeconomic-based health disparities through work with free medical clinics, a legal services center serving low-income clients, and legislative efforts in Washington DC. Ben is grateful to have received the support of the Point Foundation and continues to support the important mission of the organization as an Alumnus.

In Ben's own words: “As the barriers preventing access to healthcare become even more impenetrable, the people left without look less like stereotypical images of poverty, and more like a cross-section of middle-America. Through policy driven efforts rooted in social justice, I hope to help create a national health care model that is more accessible to the populace no matter race, orientation, or income.”