Alexia Koritz
Point Scholar 2010 – 2012
Alexia grew up in Connecticut, graduating as valedictorian of her public high school in 2002. While an undergraduate, Alexia ran the Columbia Political Union and co-founded Project Democracy at Columbia University, a non-partisan campus organization devoted to politically empowering and engaging young people (funded with a grant from MTV).
Though Alexia long knew she was gay, she had resisted coming out for many years for fear of alienating her family. When Alexia graduated from Columbia summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in History and departmental honors, her family did not allow her girlfriend to attend the ceremony. While her family initially struggled to accept that she was gay, Alexia is tremendously proud that in the years since, they have come to understand and support her.
After college, Alexia worked on Wall Street for three years, doing private equity for an investment bank. She was actively involved with the bank’s LGBT employee organization and served as President of Columbia Pride, Columbia’s LGBT alumni group. While Alexia found her work engaging, she was spending her Saturdays at LGBT law conferences and becoming increasingly certain that she wanted to devote her career to the fight for LGBT equality. Alexia announced her resignation and headed to Yale Law School, where she is Co-President of OutLaws (the LGBT student group), is involved with the LGBT Rights Litigation Clinic, and runs the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project’s LGBT efforts.
Alexia feels exceedingly fortunate not only to have attended law school, but to be doing so now, when it is clear that the fight for equal rights for LGBT people is both legal and upon us.