After a low-profile African American billionaire delivered what is likely the most memorable graduation speech in the prestigious HBCU’s history, investor Robert F. Smith’s pledge to pay off the student loan debt of 400 strong Morehouse grads the value of that gift has been calculated.
Smith, a chemical engineer has donated $34 million to Morehouse’s 2019 graduating class. through the Morehouse College Student Success Program — a fundraising and research initiative that will allow graduates to begin their careers without having to worry about debt holding them back.
Smith’s graduation gift is one that will allow graduates of one of the most storied all-male historically Black college to start their careers with no student loan debt.
“You great Morehouse men are bound only by the limits of your own conviction and creativity.” –Robert F. Smith @RFS_Vista#MorehouseGrad2019
In a statement released by the HBCU, Morehouse President David A. Thomas referred to the money as a “liberation gift.”