Meet the 2012 Point Scholars

Noel Gordon

Larry King/Jeffrey Fashion Cares Point Scholar
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Political Science

Noel Gordon was born in the heart of Brooklyn, New York and lived there until a few months after the September 11th attacks. His family eventually relocated to Las Vegas, where he soon excelled in school and extracurricular activities. During his senior year, Gordon was chosen as one of two Nevada state delegates to the U.S. Senate Youth program. He also served as student body 2nd vice‐president and earned the title of Nevada state champion in public forum debate. But even as all of this was happening, the only thing Gordon could focus on was the whether he was going to Hell because of his sexual orientation—a message he constantly received from his family, his church and even some of his peers.

Today, Gordon lives his life as an openly queer man of color at the University of Michigan, where he is an undergraduate. He is majoring in political science and double‐minoring in moral and political philosophy, as well as LGBTQ and sexuality studies. He is the co‐founder of rXs, an intragroup dialogue program for queer and questioning students of color, as well as a social justice advocacy group known as the Coalition for Queer People of Color. A 2012 Truman Scholar, Gordon eventually hopes to pursue a career in public interest law and social policy.