From the Archive | Fall 2012

When Point made the transition from East Point to West Point in 2012, the decision didn’t only impact leadership, employees and the local community. Several classes of students were also deeply impacted by the move. “I was a part of the freshman class who spent our first year in East Point and then made the transition to West Point the following year,” says Katie Crumbley Dant ’15, pictured above. “There was an excitement and energy that came with the move, and also a lot of unknowns. But I quickly learned that it’s the people who make the place. We got to be a part of creating the culture of the University in West Point. We felt a sense of ownership and commitment to the town.”

The photo above was taken during the first orientation week in West Point in fall 2012, during a campus-wide cookout. The students pictured – Dant, Tavaris Taylor ’13, Kim Okojie ’15, and Shernay Davis ’14 – were taking part in a historic moment for the University.

Taylor served as a Campus Life Minister, or CLM, at the time. “My experience at Point University as a student was terrific, and it transformed my professional and spiritual life trajectory,” says Taylor, who now serves as chief ethics and intercultural officer at Mount Vernon Nazarene University in Mount Vernon, Ohio. “I had been accepted to several other universities, but my father traveled with me on all my campus visits,” adds Taylor. “I remember him looking at me during the tour and saying, ‘Son, I feel this place is for you.’ At that moment, I knew he was right. I enjoyed both campus experiences and the relationships formed, many of which remain strong today.”

Okojie, now the office administrator at Woodland Christian Camp in Temple, Georgia, also recalls fond memories from her time at Point. “From Braves games to spring formal, CLM retreats to dorm wars, each moment on the Point University campus was a stepping stone to something much greater,” says Okojie. “A greater opportunity for networking, recruiting, lifelong friendships, and ultimately, a greater relationship with Christ.”

Dant’s foundation of faith is closely tied to the West Point community. “I had no idea at the time of this photo that West Point would become the first place away from my family that I would call ‘home,’” she says.

After graduating from Point, Dant stayed in the community, working for Feast, the campus ministry of Spring Road Christian Church in Lanett, Alabama. “It’s hard to separate my time at Point from my time at Feast, because they were so intertwined. I am more acquainted with the heart of God because he is good, and he chose to use people at Point to demonstrate his goodness to me,” she says.

Dant is now head cross country and assistant track coach at Brenau University in Gainesville, Georgia, and she, too, credits Point University for the important work she does today. “I often think back to my time as a student-athlete and the ways that people at Point showed up for me,” she says. “I probably wouldn’t have had the chance to run in college if I hadn’t attended a small school, and that one opportunity opened so many doors for me.”

Point University’s impact on students is not only academic, but also spiritual and generational. Dant and her husband welcomed their first child in November 2024. “I pray that our son has his own version of West Point one day,” she says. “That he experiences community and friendship and grace lived out imperfectly, yet beautifully.”

Have a photo from your college years you want to share with us? Email the photo and your story to editor@point.edu.