Meet the 2012 Point Scholars

These 29 amazing students are on their way to becoming leaders in the LGBT community and society.

BY Advocate.com Editors

June 14 2012 9:43 AM ET

Jeff Sheng

Stanford University
Sociology

Jeff Sheng's photographic series "Fearless," a project on out LGBT athletes on high school and college sports teams, was inspired by his own experience and difficulty as a closeted high school athlete growing up in a conservative suburb of Southern California.

Since 2003 he has photographed and interviewed more than 130 individuals for the series and spoken about homophobia in athletics at many colleges and high schools. Between 2009 and 2011, his other photography series "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," focusing on more than 80 closeted service members affected by the government policy, was widely covered by media including The New York Times, CNN, the BBC, and ABC World News Tonight.

A graduate of Harvard University, Sheng holds an MFA in studio art from the University of California, Irvine, and is currently a Doctoral candidate in Sociology at Stanford University. Sheng has taught as a visiting professor of photography and visual studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and most recently at Harvard University in 2011.