Chavis has the distinction of being the first African American to serve as President of the USTA PhiladelphiaArea Tennis District (1994) and the first to referee a USTA national championship tournament. He is a Life Member of the USTA, the ATA, and the International Tennis Hall of Fame. He serves on the Board of Trustees at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania and the Center for Urban Theological Studies (CUTS). In 2005, Chavis was named a “Living American History Maker” by the Berean Institute in Philadelphia.

He resides in the Philadelphia suburb of Meadowbrook, Pennsylvania. With his wife Mila and son Bernard, 3rd.