Meet the 2012 Point Scholars

Patrick Oathout

Wells Fargo Point Scholar
Duke University
Philosophy and Public Policy

In middle school in Houston, Texas, Patrick Oathout already excelled in speech and debate. By the end of middle school, he ranked third in the nation in Impromptu Speaking.

Oathout came out as a sophomore in high school to a welcoming family and community. But an unfortunate experience at a summer job with a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for teenagers rattled Oathout’s coming out. Determined to move forward, he began mentoring his peers through their own coming out experiences. Oathout now attends Duke University and is double majoring in philosophy and public policy. He is a student representative on Duke’s Board of Trustees, the president and founder of the Duke Colloquium Fellows, and is a founding father of Duke’s Sigma Pi fraternity. Additionally, Oathout is the first openly LGBT Duke student to be elected student body vice president.

Outside of Duke, Oathout has fought to reform the refugee resettlement process, and he has worked at refugee resettlement organizations in Durham, Washington, D.C., and Amman. Oathout has also received awards from the Clinton Global Initiative University and Duke University for his development of a mobile application for entrepreneurial refugees. After graduation, Oathout hopes to serve as a Foreign Service Officer in the State Department.