A Jackson State University man known for his contributions with the school’s NAACP chapter was found dead in his apartment Monday, The Clarion Ledger reports.

Michael Teasley, 40, made history after being the first white president of NAACP at an HBCU, according the Clarion-Ledger.

Teasley reportedly served as 2nd vice president of JSU’s NAACP chapter in 2008-09 and 2009-10 before being elected by the 60-plus-member chapter last spring as president for the 2010-11 term.

Teasley had rough beginnings where he grew up in rural Rankin Country. The civil rights activist once dropped out of school during junior to sell drugs, but changed his life around following the death of his mother.

Close friend Gavin Christian Brown recounts how Teasley “walked the streets of Jackson” and “counseled troubled youth” and “confronted gang members.”

“He called out anyone and everyone who had the nerve to judge others in various places and under various conditions without actually seeing those conditions and being in those places as he had and continued to be,” Brown said, according to the Ledger. “He had a killer instinct when it came to his commitment to doing what he felt was right.”

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