Scholars Gather in Chicago for oSTEM & Out For Work Conferences

In late September several Point Scholars had the opportunity to take part in two exciting conferences in Chicago.  First up was the oSTEM (Out in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) National Meeting at the W Chicago-Lakeshore Hotel, which scholars Katie Fife and Tyler Kissinger attended.

Katie, a neurobiology & Plan II Honors major at the University of Texas at Austin, noted that as a lesbian woman in STEM she is a, “minority within a minority” and that “it was an incredible experience to be able to connect with other STEM LGBTQ students from around the nation.”

Tyler, a physics and mathematics major at the University of Chicago, made a number of new contacts at the meeting, which will no doubt prove useful to him as he works to create an oSTEM chapter at UChicago.

Point Scholars Tyler Kissinger and Katie Fife

The oSTEM National Meeting was planned in collaboration with the 8^th Annual Out for Work Conference, which took place September 29-30 at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The Out for Work conference seeks to help LGBTQ students transition into the workforce. It included seminars, a career fair, and networking opportunities for LGBTQ students from dozens of colleges and universities across the nation.

With financial support from Point, five Point Scholars attended the conference; in addition to Katie Fife, they were Noël Gordon (political science – University of Michigan, Ann Arbor); Abbey Muzatko(fine arts – School of the Art Institute of Chicago); Erika Turner (religion – Wellesley University); and Preston Whitt (international affairs – The George Washington University).

Point Scholars (l-r) Preston Whitt, Noël Gordon, Erika Turner, Katie Fife, Abbey Muzatko