Christopher Bruce
Political Director, ACLU of Georgia
Georgia State University BA ’07, University of Georgia JD ‘12
Atlanta, Georgia
In high school, Chris would not have considered himself an attentive student. “I used to be a class clown, not really worried about my grades or anything else.”
It was a high school sweetheart who encouraged Chris to get serious about studying and his academic goals. “I saw a love for education like I had never had before. So, I took a 2.1 GPA and turned into a 3.1 in a year and a half…The skills that she helped me to develop, as far as studying and learning, actually carried over in school. As a freshman, I made a 4.0.”
Chris went “from a kid who had absolutely no hopes or desires to go to college, who used to get kicked out of class, to a kid was the head of the class.”
With the help of the HOPE Scholarship, Chris enrolled in Georgia State University, eventually becoming a Resident Assistant, an avid community volunteer, and a tutor to his peers. “I can’t tell you enough about how great of a program it is. It has completely shaped my life. Without the HOPE Scholarship, I would actually argue that I would not have been able to go to college. And would not have able to complete my degree with honors. Because not only did it give me the opportunity to get in, it gave me the opportunity to really focus on my studies instead of focusing on how to pay the bills.”
The biggest thing that Georgia State taught Chris was how important people are. “People matter. Intelligence is definitely key for things. Hard work, ethics, but really? Knowing how to treat people...People are the key to getting things done. You may be right, but if you don’t have the right people around you? Nothing happens.”
Chris is now the Policy Director for the Georgia branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, with his primary focus falling on voting rights. “I’m in a position of power to make change for people who typically don’t see it. The first campaign I ever did, they were going to close polling places in south Atlanta during the mayoral election. There was a senior home right there. The seniors would have had to walk uphill for three miles to get to the next closest polling location, because they really didn’t have transportation. We launched a campaign to keep that polling place open, and we won. It was one of the biggest joys of my life, because these 8,000 people in the area will now be able to vote. No one was paying attention, there was no cameras, but we got in and made a change…I love my job. I love what I do.”
In the future, Chris hopes to continue to protect voting rights and to have the opportunity to mentor youth.
“I would really like to find that little Black boy at a no name high school who is a goofball and tell them, ‘I know you. I see you. And I can help you do better. You may not realize it or see it in yourself, but I see it in you.’ That’s why I like to do volunteer work with young African American males, because I really think that they can make a difference, as long as we give them the opportunity and resources to do it.”