College seniors got a surprise on Sunday when billionaire investor Robert F. Smith announced that he would pay off the student loan debt for the college’s entire graduating class
Billionaire Eliminates Student Debt For Morehouse College Grads Of 2019
The seniors of Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia, received a huge surprise last week when billionaire tech investor Robert F. Smith announced during his commencement speech that his family would pay off the student loan debt for the historically black college’s entire graduating class.
Students and college faculty alike couldn’t believe their ears when Smith made the announcement
“On behalf of the eight generations of my family who have been in this country, we’re going to put a little fuel in your bus," announced the richest black person in America to the newly graduated men in Atlanta before saying his family was creating a grant to eliminate their student loans.
The announcement was met with a standing ovation and chants of "MVP!"
"Now, I know my class will make sure they pay this forward," he continued. "I want my class to look at these (alumni), these beautiful Morehouse brothers—and let’s make sure every class has the same opportunity going forward because we are enough to take care of our own community. We are enough to ensure we have all the opportunities of the American dream."
The exact amount to be covered for the 396 students is still being calculated, school President David Thomas told CNN on Monday, but the sum will likely be in the tens of millions of dollars. Thomas called Smith’s gesture "a liberation gift."
"When you have to service debt, the choices about what you can go do in the world are constrained," he said. "(Smith’s gift) gives them the liberty to follow their dreams, their passions."
Students and college faculty alike couldn’t believe their ears when Smith made the announcement.
The students’ benefactor also received an honorary degree Sunday, along with actor Angela Bassett and psychologist Edmund Gordon.
The entrepreneur, founder of the investment firm Vista Equity Partners, is worth about $5 billion, according to Forbes, which reports he is the richest black person in America (yes, even wealthier than Oprah Winfrey!)
Source: CNN-Edition
About Robert F. Smith, the man paying off Morehouse grads’ student loans
Smith is the son of educators who started his career as a chemical engineer for Goodyear and Kraft. He attended business school at Columbia University and went on to make a fortune off investing in the technology sector, working for Goldman Sachs before starting Vista Equity in 2000.
Smith has praised the potential of technology to create capital and wealth for people across the globe as well as improve lives.
"Intellectual capital has become the new currency of business and finance — and the promise of utilizing brainpower to move individuals, families and even entire communities from poverty to prosperity within one generation has never been more possible than at this moment in time," he wrote in an essay for the Giving Pledge.
He cautioned, though, that not everyone gets to reap the benefits of that potential.
"Potential is no guarantee of progress," Smith wrote in the essay. "We will only grasp the staggering potential of our time if we create onramps that empower ALL people to participate, regardless of background, country of origin, religious practice, gender, or color of skin."
- Before Sunday’s student loans announcement, he donated $1.5 million to Morehouse College for scholarships and the development of a new park.
- In 2016, he pledged $50 million to Cornell University, one of his alma maters, to support its chemical and biomolecular engineering school, as well as black and female engineering students.
- In 2017, he signed the Giving Pledge, an effort spearheaded by billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates to enlist wealthy Americans in giving away half of their fortunes.
Smith said he would invest half of his net worth during his lifetime to causes that support equality for black Americans and the environment, while his wife, model Hope Dworaczyk Smith (Playboy’s playmate of the Year in 2010), would focus on helping children.
Smith is one of the founding donors of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, committing $20 million to the museum before its opening.
The philanthropic entrepreneur is also the founder and president of the Fund II Foundation, which provides grants for causes such as human rights, the environment, music education and "preserving the African American experience."
Source: CNN-Edition
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