Atlanta GA – Billionaire Pledges To Pay Off All Students’ Debt

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    Robert F. Smith, left, laughs with David Thomas, center, and actress Angela Bassett at Morehouse College on Sunday, May 19, 2019, in Atlanta. Smith, a billionaire technology investor and philanthropist, said he will provide grants to wipe out the student debt of the entire graduating class at Morehouse College - an estimated $40 million. Smith, this year's commencement speaker, made the announcement Sunday morning while addressing nearly 400 graduating seniors of the all-male historically black college in Atlanta. (Bo Emerson/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)Atlanta, GA – Billionaire investor Robert Smith surprised graduating students at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, by using his speech at Sunday’s commencement ceremony to pledge to pay off the student loan debt of the entire class of 2019.

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    Video footage of Smith’s remarks show mouths falling agape before students rise to their feet to cheer and applaud as the pledge is made.

    “This is my class, 2019, and my family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans,” Smith said during his speech, pointing towards hundreds of students dressed in black robes and mortarboards. “I know my class will make sure they pay this forward,” Smith added.

    The black founder and chief executive of the private equity firm Vista Equity Partners has a net worth of about $4.4 billion, according to a 2018 estimate by Forbes magazine.

    Morehouse is a historically black college, one of more than 100 schools founded to serve black students, mostly in the U.S. South, before the 1964 Civil Rights Act outlawed school segregation. Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights hero, is among its notable alumni.

    The weight of student loan debt has become a focus of many of the candidates seeking to be the Democratic Party’s nominee in next year’s U.S. presidential election. Some candidates have pledged to cancel large portions of the debt and make college more affordable.


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    13 Comments
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    4 years ago

    What a racist POS! Why isn’t he paying off a few white kids’ tuition? I’d love to see the public outcry if it was reversed!

    4 years ago

    I do give the man credit. And at least he did for a graduating class. In other words we shouldn’t be in the business of paying for people who just jump around in college without ever graduating. nest step is a greatrer focus on people who major in jobs that matter in the STEM areas. We don’t need more liberal arts and sociology nonsense degrees. Colleges are costly and are a means to an end of bringing people to earn a living.We need to focus more on majors that accomplish that. And I should note, this is a problem among the frum community too. People buy into expensive MBA’s with a yeshiva degree. Like hello nobody is hring you bec you got some MBA in a year with no noraml college degree. And you spent 30k to get that. People need to think before they go to school if that major actually has a history of bringing people to meaningful employment. And yes PCS needs to get their act together too. Don’t set up college courses that yingerlit pay 30k for no jobs.

    ELEPHANT
    Member
    ELEPHANT
    4 years ago

    College in the USA is a nice place to keep the youth under control. They burden you with huge bills and endless classes. Its only done to keep you off the streets and under control. They don’t teach you anything real.