2006 POINT SCHOLARS

Tyler Dillard

Rice University

Political Science & Policy Studies

Evelyn W. Harrison Point Scholarship

Tyler was born in a small, conservative town in lower Alabama to two teenage parents. His grandparents adopted him at a young age and sent him to a Christian school where homophobia was encouraged. The high school preached that homosexuals were perverted and forced him deep into the closet. He redeemed his self worth with extracurricular activities, impeccable grades and countless leadership positions. He graduated valedictorian of his class and received a scholarship to Samford University, a Southern-Baptist institution in Birmingham, Alabama.

Tyler revealed that he was gay during his college career. As a result, he endured rejection from his family, prejudice from friends, and harassment from other students. Nevertheless, he was still elected president of his class and president of several other organizations on the conservative campus. Through his influence in student government, he advocated for the removal of a university policy that defined homosexual acts as “sexual misconduct” and successfully executed the first National Day of Silence without help from any campus organization. He began the first annual “Womanless Beauty Pageant” at Samford, charged a fee for admission, and contributed the proceeds to local community service projects. Tyler is an accomplished musician and has won several local, statewide, and national piano competitions.

Tyler will attend Rice University in the fall 2006. He will continue to use his dynamic personality to bring significant visibility to the LGBT community. He hopes to enter Duke’s dual MD/JD program and, upon graduation, begin a career in health care reform. As an attorney and a politician with a medical degree, he will seek to establish more funds for AIDS research, prevention, and medication.

In Tyler's own words: “I want to transcend the image that ignorant societies have of LGBT individuals. A homosexual is not a vile, repulsive person that can not believe in a higher power or be successful. Being gay is not a sickness to cure, but a difference to be respected and embraced. I hope to challenge a culture by such an example.