Scholar Marcus Lee Attends HRC’s HBCU Career and Leadership Summit

In early October, I attended the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) 2014 Historically Black College/University (HBCU) Career and Leadership Summit. The summit began in 2001 in response to two violent, anti-LGBT incidents on HBCU campuses. Today the summit’s main objective is to empower LGBTQ students at HBCUs with information and tools to create change on their respective campuses and in their communities. I attended the summit in 2012, and I can say without hesitation that it was one of the most significant conferences I ever attended — I left with lasting friendships and a sense of ambition and pride.

It was wonderful to come back to HRC headquarters in Washington and meet the attendees of the 2014 summit who were just as excited and motivated as I and my peers who attended previous summits were. It was also exciting to be returning as a Point Scholar and to connect summit participants with the scholarship. One of my goals as a scholar is to encourage more HBCU students to apply for a Point Foundation Scholarship and to accomplish that at the summit was heartening. I have received many emails and text messages from summit participants anxious to start their Point application, and I’m thrilled to be there to support them every step of the way.

I’m thankful to Point for giving me the opportunity to return to the summit. I hope that the connection between Point and the HBCU Summit will continue, and I look forward to receiving the news that some of the summit participants I met received the scholarship!

This post was written by Wells Fargo Point Scholar Marcus Lee
Marcus is a member of the Class of 2015 of Morehouse College, a Mellon Mays Research Fellow, and a member of a variety of community organizations and initiatives oriented toward racial justice, gender equity, and sexual liberation. His academic research interests include Black Gay AIDS activism in the ‘80s and LGBTQ grassroots organizing in the U.S. South. Learn more about Marcus.