Wiley College campus.Photo: Courtesy Wiley College
Over 100 students gathered Saturday to celebrate their graduation from the historically Black college in East Texas, according to a pressrelease from the school. Little did they know the school’s president and CEO, Dr. Herman J. Felton Jr., would announce during the commencement ceremony that the graduates' remaining balances, totaling $300,000, would disappear.
“The announcement of cleared balances for graduates was a welcome surprise as students and parents were demonstrative in the audience when they heard the news,” the school said.
“Our commitment to our students goes beyond their time while they are enrolled,” Felton Jr. added in the release. “We are constantly communicating with donors to assist students in these ways so that they can begin their after-college experience with less debt. We are grateful for this anonymous donor who will assist the students in paying off their balances to Wiley College and help us achieve institutional goals of graduating our students with little to no debt.”
“The anonymous gift sets graduates on a continued path to success and allows Wiley College to strengthen its commitment to providing an affordable exceptional education,” Felton Jr. said. “As Wiley College closes the academic semester and prepares for its Sesquicentennial Celebrations beginning in July, this is a great way to end the semester and start the celebration of 150 years of the College’s contributions to the world.”
According toU.S. NewsandWorldReport, the school had an undergraduate enrollment of 615 students in fall 2020 and is a private institution that was founded in 1873.
In 2019, billionaire Robert Smith gave the commencement speech at Morehouse College, also an HBCU, andtold students he’d take on all of their student debt, totaling $34 million, according to Smith’swebsite.
source: people.com
