Media executive and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey is making a donation of $13 million to Morehouse College to continue a scholarship program.
The gift was announced during her campus visit. The donated amount will fund the Oprah Winfrey Endowed Scholarships Program, which has been continuing for last 30 years.
The program includes four different scholarships which is given to students who demonstrate both academic merit and financial need. Since its inception in 1989, the program has sponsored the education of nearly 600 students at the nation’s only historically black men’s college.
“The money was an offering to support that in these young men. I understand that African American men are an endangered species. They are so misunderstood. They are so marginalized,” Winfrey said.
Oprah Winfrey returned to Morehouse College to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Oprah Winfrey Scholars Program. Her $12 million donation to the scholarship program over the years has paid for the education of nearly 600 scholars. A portrait was unveiled in her honor today. pic.twitter.com/AE3Qell0Mk
— Morehouse College (@Morehouse) October 7, 2019
“Where and when I can lend support to try to change that image, I do,” she added.
In May, Robert F. Smith, a billionaire and founder of Vista Equity Partners, during the commencement ceremony had announced to create a grant to eliminate the students’ loans of 2019 graduates. which was valued at $40 million.
Recently, the college launched the Student Success Program, a fund-raising and research initiative that will especially aim at curb student loan debt.
The college will also study the impact of the cost of attending college on its students and the freedom of choice that alumni experience when they repay full or major part of their student loans.
