Morehouse College Commencement Speaker Paying Student Loans for Class of 2019
“This is my class,” he said, “and I know my class will pay this forward.”
He announced this during his commencement speech, to deafening cheers, no doubt.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported:
Morehouse commencement speaker to pay off Class of 2019’s student loans
Billionaire Robert F. Smith, who received an honorary doctorate at Morehouse College’s Sunday morning graduation exercises, had already announced a $1.5 million gift to the school.
But during his remarks in front of the nearly 400 graduating seniors, the technology investor and philanthropist surprised some by announcing that his family was providing a grant to eliminate the student debt of the entire Class of 2019.
“This is my class,” he said, “and I know my class will pay this forward.”
The announcement came as a surprise to Smith’s staff and to the staff at Morehouse, and elicited the biggest cheers of the morning.
Tonga Releford, whose son Charles Releford III is a member of the Class of 2019, estimates that his student loans are about $70,000.
“I feel like it’s Mother’s Day all over again,” she said.
The gift has been estimated to be worth up to $40 million.
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Comments
Coming up in 2020 graduation season: a sudden surge of billionaires invited to give commencement speeches…
Harpo giving away cars, part deux.
Nothing wrong with this if that’s what he voluntarily chooses to do with his own money. I’m not gonna lie…that would feel great had it happened at my graduation.
I wonder if the fundraising admin are quietly pissed that he only gave them 1.5 million.
So the responsible students and their families who worked hard, scrimped and saved to avoid school loans get nothing.