Geoff Point-du-Jour has charted a path for himself and, in turn, created a way for others.
Through an accomplished academic career at Emory and the creation of the Black Student-Athlete Group on campus, the track and field student-athlete has impacted future generations of Black student-athletes at the school.
Point-du-Jour's journey began at home with his parents, who immigrated from Haiti when they were young. Point-du-Jour said his Haitian culture influenced his life.
"It's pretty typical within my culture to value education. A lot of Haitian families come to America for better opportunities, not only for themselves, but also their kids," he said. "Being a first-gen student and being able to not only go to college but going to a college like Emory has been great. It means a lot not only to me but to my family."
Raised in Salisbury, Maryland, a small town about 2½ hours from Baltimore and Washington, Point-du-Jour said the challenges of his community shaped his perspective on economics, his major.
"My area, in short, is not affluent at all. It's a lot of blue-collar work, a lot of people that are facing hard challenges, such as homelessness or poverty," he said. He hopes to use his knowledge and experiences to help his hometown.
Point-du-Jour, a senior, is attending Emory on a QuestBridge scholarship.The program provides full-cost academic scholarships to lower-income, high-achieving high schoolers. Point-du-Jour is in the four-plus-one program at Emory to pursue undergraduate and master's degrees in economics.
Currently, he is a high jumper and sprinter. In his time as a student-athlete, he has earned University Athletic Association All-Academic Team honors and completed multiple prestigious internships, working at Bloomberg, JPMorgan Chase and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
Outside the classroom, he has found a community within his team. Members often will eat dinner together after their practices and then head to the library to study together.
This close-knit relationship formed into opportunities for Point-du-Jour to mentor the underclassmen on his team. Point-du-Jour's athletic and academic success inspires his teammates to follow his example.
"Geoff is an example of leadership through example," said Caleb Bunch, a senior on the track and field team. "Whether that be through substantial involvement in extracurriculars and focus on the classroom or not skipping reps and challenging other to push themselves, Geoff is a model of walking the walk and not just talking the talk.
"Geoff is always looking to bring others along on his journey to success," Bunch added. "He is constantly using his own experiences to enable others to grow."
Point-du-Jour helps his teammates with their economics homework, studying with them for exams. He said he prioritizes his team's success on and off the track, and his team's GPA is one of the highest among Emory's sports teams.
Although Point-du-Jour always felt a sense of community on his team, he noticed some other teams did not share that community feeling.
Point-du-Jour said he would often see other Black athletes walking by between classes but didn't know who they were. He also noticed that Emory struggled to retain Black student-athletes, who sometimes felt like they didn't belong.
"When you feel like you can't relate to many people or feel like you're the odd one out or, frankly, that you're the only one that identifies in the identity, it's really hard to focus and accelerate your sport," he said.
Then, at the 2022 outdoor track and field conference championship, host Washington University in St. Louis held a dinner for all the Black student-athletes competing. At the dinner, Point-du-Jour and his teammates learned that some universities, unlike Emory, had Black student-athlete organizations.
He had a blast at the dinner and wanted to start such a group on Emory's campus. Dubem Nnake, a friend on the men's basketball team, had the same idea. The two connected and decided to start the campus Black Student-Athlete Group.
With the group, Point-du-Jour and Nnake transformed the Black student-athlete experience on campus. They hosted game nights and study sessions. They sponsored the school's first basketball "blackout games" to promote school spirit during Black History Month. They created an alumni networking event. They hosted panels and engaged with the Atlanta community.
"Having Black Student-Athlete Group has been a crucial part of my college career, both personally and professionally," said Sydney Holden, current president of the BSAG. "There's no denying Geoff's dedication and drive to push the organization forward. His commitment to the team and vision for BSAG has created a strong framework for achieving goals, and his focus on structure has been critical for the success of BSAG."
Above all, the group became a network across all sports and class levels.
"Creating this network of having the upperclassmen mentor the underclassmen, by just being that resource for them, is important," Point-du-Jour said. "I find myself sending internship opportunities to the Black Student-Athlete Group all the time, saying, 'Hey, this internship just opened. You should apply to it.' There's a lot of things that you can do as a freshman or sophomore that will set you up later."
After finishing his time at Emory, Point-du-Jour plans on a career in financial technology. This would allow him to work on the technology behind things like banking apps and credit cards.
"In the long run, I want to be an actual economist in terms of developmental economics, seeing how there's disparities in different communities and seeing what you can do on the supply end or on the monetary end to help these underserved communities."
On his track team, in the classroom and with the Black Student-Athlete Group, Point-du-Jour said his time at Emory has been transformative. His teammate, Bunch, said Point-du-Jour has left a lasting impact on campus.
"I'm happy to see him get the recognition he deserves. Geoff is one of the hardest workers I know, on the track but more importantly off the track. He has left his mark on this university."