Charles Whitley
Year: 2021
School of Study:
Santa Clara University
Major/Minor:
Undeclared
I am completing my junior year at Santa Clara University (“SCU”) in Silicon Valley, CA and expect to receive a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Mathematics in June 2025. I am proud to have received a Waugh-Watkins Family Scholarship in 2021 as well as a substantial 4-year academic scholarship from SCU.
In addition to taking a rigorous course load at SCU, I have also served for the past 3
years as a member of the National Society of Black Engineers at SCU (“NSBE”) and
been engaged in outreach efforts to promote STEM education and diversity within
engineering by actively engaging in NSBE events.
In addition to my studies and student professional organizations, I have been able to
express my passion for music. Beginning in high school and continuing through my
college sophomore year I worked part-time as an Assistant Music Technician at Youth
Radio Media in Oakland CA (“YR”) in the “Remix Your Life” Program. There I was able to create musical pieces spanning a variety of genres to be used on podcasts and
documentaries such as Adult ISH as well as songs. Working cooperatively, we
established a biweekly competition among music producers called “Type Beat” which
involved developing music based on specific requirements and/or focal points. The by-
product of this enabled me to build a licensing library on DISCO.ac for convenient
access to 70+ individual tracks, each of which has been licensed and is ready for legal
use. I am also very proud of my work with Media team to incorporate live streaming of productions on platforms such as Instagram and Twitch Community.
My other extracurricular activities have included competitive travel baseball
tournaments, table tennis, and traveling - with the latest trip in December 2023 to
several cities in Japan.
Also, community service is something I started as a teenager working as a Kitchen Aid
at Emeryville Citizens Assistance Program in Emeryville, CA. While there I implemented automated check-in and check-out processes for individuals through the use of person-specific ID cards. I also collaborated in organizing several fundraising events and seeking donations to support further operations.
Finally, I am very, very fortunate to have a wonderful family. I spend as much time as I can with my mom and dad and my 2 older sisters. We are a very happy family and I am pleased to be a small part of my larger Waugh-Watkins family. Stay tuned – more to come!