Billionaire philanthropist promises to pay off student debt at Morehouse College graduates

Despite all their efforts, it is doubtful that most novice speakers will make a lasting impression on their listeners. But billionaire Robert F. Smith remembered him and made a generous donation as a guest speaker at the graduation ceremony at Morehouse College.

Smith is committed to repaying university loans accumulated by members of the 2019 Atlanta School's promotion.

"On behalf of eight generations of my family in this country, we will put some fuel on your bus," he said. "My family gives a grant to eliminate" student loans.

Smith's news stunned the crowd of nearly 400 graduates, who jumped out of their chairs and responded with shouts and applause.

Calling the graduates of 2019 "my class, he said," I know my class will ensure that they pay for this in the future. He challenged the students of the 100% black, historically black school, "to make sure that each class has the same opportunity, because we are enough to take care of our own community." "

He added, "We are sufficient to ensure that we have all the opportunities of the American dream, and we will show it to each other through our actions and words and deeds."

According to The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Smith's family will donate about $ 40 million to cover the cost of student loans.

In January, Smith donated $ 1.5 million to the school for a scholarship and a new park for students to study.

Smith, 56, grew up in Denver, went to Cornell University as an undergraduate and then to Columbia Business School. An engineer by training, he founded Vista Equity Partners, a company that invests in software companies. Forbes Forbes magazine estimated that the company's assets exceeded $ 46 billion and that Smith's "real-time net worth" was $ 5 billion.

At the ceremony on Sunday, Smith received an honorary doctorate with actress Angela Bassett and psychologist Edmund Gordon.

Morehouse thanked the philanthropist with a message on Facebook soon after the event.

He is the largest private donor to the Smithsonian's National Museum of African-American History and Culture in Wahington and has collaborated with Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett's "Giving Pledge" initiative to contribute to more from 50% of its wealth to humanitarian causes such as disaster relief and poverty.