From Surviving to Thriving to Leading the Way: Point Scholars

Though it has been a few years since I was in school, the sensation hits me just the same every fall: cool autumn winds pitch my heart rate up a beat, hasten my steps a moment, and fill my head with excited plans for the new year. <!--break-->Yes, I am still living on Back-to-School time, still dazzled by visions of ivory towers, paid healthcare, and a safe place to pursue knowledge and, perchance, understanding. I am also thrown headlong into memories of a time in my own life when school was the only safe place, when the air at home was poisoned with abusive words and I worked multiple jobs to afford an escape into my mind for those few hours a day. That is why it was so easy to slip into conversation with Point Foundation Scholarship recipients (Point Scholars) Julie Schell and Marcie Fisher-Borne—and so hard to stop. Julie, Marcie, and 45 fellow scholars are living the campus life with the generous support of The Point Foundation whose full scholarships were designed to enable students such as them to be able to concentrate on greater pursuits than paying the rent or avoiding harassment. Their expected contribution is merely to create the scholarship that will define and protect the LGBT community for future generations.

Point Foundation Executive Director Vance Lancaster and the Board of Directors explain it a bit more broadly in the foundation mission statement: “The Point Foundation attempts to identify students who are physically, intellectually, and morally capable of leadership to play an influential part in the betterment of society… By identifying and supporting these scholars, The Point Foundation hopes to provide a greater level of acceptance, respect, and tolerance within future generations for all persons, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.” In other words, they are funding the next generation of queer leadership whose responsibility it will be to protect our rights and communicate our identities. If Julie and Marcie are a decent indication, the foundation is doing its job. These two women are the poster children for all that is good about academia: smart, caring, focused individuals with a plan and a purpose utilizing the university environs to pursue risky, history-making, and future-defining research and action. They are incredible women who are using their harrowing coming-out experiences as inspiration to be the leaders they wish