The Point Foundation has announced a new scholarship to honor the memory of the Rutgers University student who killed himself last fall as a result of the bullying he encountered at the school. It's called the Tyler Clementi Point Scholarship and it will benefit one LGBTQ student for the entire four years of his or her education at an institute of higher learning.
"We spoke with Tyler's parents to make sure we had their support and endorsement," said Jorge Valencia, Point Foundation executive director and CEO since 2007. "They have been extremely gracious throughout the whole process. In speaking with them we let them know that, organizationally, we would provide the scholarship with $25,000 for the first year and then open it up to some donors and individuals that may want to support this scholarship in Tyler's name for the next three years, assuring them that if any Point money was needed to fund that named scholarship we would step in and fund the remainder."
Valencia added that "we are happy to report that just from the release of this scholarship we have had number of people from throughout the United States that have contributed to the scholarship already."
The foundation chose to name this new scholarship after Clementi was to provide the family with something positive to remember him by and to have someone benefit from his life through this scholarship.
"I have a passion for anything that has to do with young people feeling out of sorts with their environment and not feeling a part of the community they live in," Valencia said. "I grew up in Texas as a Mormon in a Latino household and when you are Texan, Mormon, Latino and gay you have a lot of strikes against you in the eyes of many people," Valencia shared with us. He said that in his work he has always tried to "minimize some of the pain or alienation that young people have felt" and the work he has done with Trevor Project and now with the Point Foundation has done just that.
So how does an individual go about getting a Point Scholarship? All scholarships are funded through a combination of the foundations funds, individuals and organizations who want to help LGBT youth attend college who might not otherwise be able to do so. Each scholar has to have at least a 3.3 GPA, a commitment to academic excellence and leadership skills, along with financial and emotional needs. Some scholars have been kicked out of their homes or are couch surfing however there are some who have the support of their families but the family does not have the resources to send their child to college. This is where the Point Foundation steps in. To help students who are determined to go to college despite whatever obstacles life throws at them.
The foundation is in its semifinal round of choosing its next class of scholars, and one of them will receive the Tyler Clementi Scholarship. Valencia noted that of the 4,500 young people who have started the application, about 1,800 of them have submitted everything on time and will be competing for the next batch of scholarships—with 20-28 young people being awarded new scholarships.
Valencia said that "many people think we are just a scholarship-granting organization but we don't just hand out a check to scholars for books or tuition or whatever they need for their college education. We make sure each scholar is paired up with a mentor. These mentors are professionals who are highly regarded in their professional fields and can guide them through their studies and education. In addition to their mentors they come up with a community service project which they have to complete every year they are Point Scholars. The community service project the students do benefits the LGBT community so these young people are giving back immediately from the support of the organizations and their generous donors."
To date Valencia said "we have supported over 160 young people. Currently we support 66 scholars and we hope to support between 66-72 scholars during the next school year. When we started 10 years ago we started with just eight scholars."
Valencia hopes that in the future the foundation will have an endowment that will fund all of its scholarships, with any fundraising dollars designated to keeping the rest of the organization going. They also want to have Point Scholars in every state and be able to help more students each year.
For more information on the Point Foundation, including ways to donate to the Tyler Clementi Scholarship, visit www.thepointfoundation.org .
