Maybe it was the skills he learned as a U.S. Army supply sergeant. Supply sergeants know how to find stuff. Maybe it was something he learned as a business administration student at CMU. Business people know how to make things happen.
Wherever he acquired the skill and knowledge, John Beezley said he was inspired to start the Veterans Laptop Project after seeing a fellow student-veteran working every day at a work station in the Tomlinson Library because he didn’t have a computer of his own and couldn’t afford one on the stipend he got through the GI Bill.
So Beezley, who served 21 years in the Army, including four combat tours, reached into his own pocket for $1,000 as seed money for a program to acquire laptops that could be rented to qualifying student-veterans for $50 a semester.
Beezley needed 20 laptops. With support from Amanda Herron, CMU veterans benefits and services coordinator, he went to CMU’s Associated Student Government. They liked the idea and ponied up the money to buy six laptops.
Working with CMU Information Technology staff, the laptops were ordered. Hewlett Packard donated one, as did the distributor who works with IT staff on the university’s computer purchases. Now there were eight.
Beezley told the story of his efforts to get laptops in the hands of student-veterans to the CMU Board of Trustees at the board’s April meeting. The trustees appeared moved by Beezley’s mission and unanimously agreed to pay for 12 more laptops — bringing Beezley to his goal of 20 laptops for student-veterans.
“I’m just trying to do my part to make sure they have the tools they need,” Beezley said. “I know (the trustees’ donation) will go a long way in changing the lives of veterans.”