As the 396
members of the 2019 graduating class of Morehouse College in Atlanta,
Georgia assembled for their commencement exercises, they were excited
about graduating from college and entering the next phase of their
lives. Some of them plan to continue their education; others are
entering the work force. All of them eventually desire to find
employment that will enable them to live comfortably and to pay their
bills – especially their student loan debt.
Robert F. Smith,
the billionaire investor who founded Vista Equity Partners, stood to
address the graduates and their friends and family members. In his
speech, he surprised the graduates with news of a gift for each of
them. Smith told the crowd that he and his family would pay off the
entire graduating class’ student debt. “This is my class, 2019,” he
said, personally claiming the graduating seniors as his own. “And my
family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans.”
It
took a moment for that wonderful news to sink in. But when it did, the
crowd erupted in jubilant applause. “Everyone jumped up, cheered.
People were crying. It was just the most amazing thing,” said graduate
Ernest Holmes.
It is
not yet known how much student loan debt the class of 2019 has incurred,
but recent classes have graduated with roughly $10 million in total
debt. For a class the size of this year’s class, that would equate to
roughly $25,000 per graduate.
But now, thanks to the
generosity of a philanthropist, these graduates won’t have to carry that
burden.
John
Silvanus Wilson Jr., a Morehouse alumnus who was the college’s president
from 2013 to 2017, called the gift “an extraordinary investment” that
was “simply an act of high grace.”
“This
was a liberation gift, meaning this frees these young men from having to
make their career decisions based on their debt,” said current Morehouse
President, David A. Thomas. “This allows them to pursue what they are
passionate about.”
Robert
F. Smith stated in his address that he hopes the graduates will be
passionate about “paying it forward,” helping future generations. *
What a wonderful gift!
It pictures an even greater gift that has been offered to each and every
one of us.
Because of our sins, each
of us owes an incredible debt to God. Our debt is so great that none of
us has the ability to repay it.
But
God loves us so much that He gave His Son Jesus to die on the cross to
pay the debt of our sin. “In Him we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace”
(Ephesians 1:7).
“He paid the debt He did not owe
I owed the debt I could not pay
I needed someone to wash my sins away;
And now I sing a
brand new song, ‘Amazing Grace’
Christ Jesus paid the debt that I could never pay.”
-- Ellis J. Crum
God will
forgive the debt of sin and give eternal life to those who place their
faith
and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance
(Acts 17:30-31),
confess
Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are
baptized
(immersed) into Christ for the
forgiveness
of sins
(Acts 2:38). He will continue to cleanse from sin those who continue to
walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7-9).
He will
pay YOUR debt if only YOU will accept His offer on His
terms.
Won’t
YOU?
-- David
A. Sargent
*
Information gleaned from “Morehouse
College Graduates’ Student Loans to Be Paid Off by Billionaire” by
By Audra
D. S. Burch, David
Gelles and Emily
S. Rueb of
The New York Times,
www.nytimes.com.
David A. Sargent,
Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
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