Point Honors 2015 at the New York Public Library
Monday, April 13, 2015
New York Public Library
5th Ave at 42nd St
New York, NY 10018
Event Recap
The evening included presentation of the Point Impact Award to Tim Hanlon, President of the Wells Fargo Foundation, the Point Horizon Award to Jonathan Groff, who starred in HBO's Looking, and the Point Courage Award to Jeffrey Tambor, star of Amazon Prime's Transparent. Among the many celebrity attendees and performers were Frankie J. Alvarez, Murray Bartlett, Sara Chase, Jason Collins, Gaby Hoffmann, Camryn, T.R. Knight, Judith Light, Michael Mayer, Conrad Ricamora, Stephen Wallem, Brad Goreski, Lisa Kron, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Kevin Chase, Laura Gomez and Yael Stone. Honors co-chair, Judith Light presented the first award of the night to Tim Hanlon. The Point Impact Award was given to the long time Wells Fargo executive for his leadership supporting charitable employee initiatives that have resulted in over a billion dollars donated in the past four years, including Point Foundation. Wells Fargo currently supports 10 Point Foundation Scholarships.
More Details
Spring Awakening Director Michael Mayer presented Jonathan Groff with the Point Horizon Award. During Groff’s acceptance remarks, he spoke to the audience of what organization’s like Point Foundation mean to the LGBTQ community, thinking back to his time playing the character of Melchior in Spring Awakening. Groff described Melchior as a brave rebellious free independent thinker who wouldn’t let the world define him. “This to me is a description of the Point Foundation Scholars and Alumni,” Groff said. “These scholars are breaking ground and inspire all of us with their bravery and vision, at perhaps the moment in life when it is the hardestto say who you are. I wish that I had an ounce of their courage at that time of my life. I worship your ability tospeak your truth,” he directed toward the scholars in the audience. “I wish that I could have been as brave asyou are right now.”
Gaby Hoffmann presented her Transparent co-star Jeffrey Tambor with the final award of the evening alongside Transparent Director Rhys Ernst. Tambor was recognized with the Point Courage Award for his outspoken support for the transgender community. The actor dedicated his award to the Point Scholars saying, “You arethe courageous ones in the room. You are the hope of the future, and I am so proud to stand here tonight asyour ally.” The Point Courage Award recognizes an individual who advocates for the future of the LGBTQ community. “We salute you, and we beg you,” Tambor finished,“change the world.”
Jorge Valencia, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Point Foundation said, “This capacity crowd reflects the ongoing generosity and commitment to LGBTQ students by supporters and sponsors we are grateful to count as partners. Plus our honorees tonight are three magnanimous individuals who are steadfast champions of the LGBTQ community. This is an exciting evening of empowerment and hope.” A number of Point’s 80 current scholars and some of the Foundation’s 187 alumni joined celebrities onstage and shared with the audience their inspiring stories about the challenges overcome in pursuit of a higher education.
You can see a compilation of the social media buzz from Point Honors here, and see the photos from the star-studded event on our Facebook page.
Event Sponsors
Presenting Sponsor
Premier Sponsor
Principal Sponsors
Friend of Point
Event Planners
Event Co-Chairs
Brunson Green
Herb Hamsher
Judith Light
EVENT HOST COMMITTEE
Diego Arango
Dr. Salmn Azhar
Jennifer & Victoria Barbetta
Philippe Burgere-Trelat & Mitchell Drazin
Claudia Caine & Linda Naylor
James Cummings & Justin Mohatt
Brent Feigenbaum & Frank Morgan
Shelly & Robert Fischel
David Howard
EVENT HOST COMMITTEE
David Henry Jacobs
Peter Litchtenthal & Dr. Perry Eisman
Peter D. Lease & Edward J. Wood
Clay Petre
Seth M. Rosen & Jacob K. Goertz
Ron Rudolph
Johann Shudlick
David Steward & M. Pierre Friedrichs
Richard Ziegelasch & Patrick Campion
