Photo Courtesy of Wiley College
An anonymous donor has reportedly cleared the student debt of Texas HBCU Wiley College’s graduates.
School officials announced the amazing news on May 7 via a statement on the college’s official website.
“Our commitment to our students goes beyond their time while they are enrolled,” said Wiley’s president, Herman J. Felton, Jr., J.D., Ph.D. “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.”
Over 100 students reportedly gathered at the Texas school’s campus at Pemberton Sports Complex Field for Wiley College’s 133rd Commencement Convocation when Felton initially delivered the news. Naturally, they were very surprised about it.
The beautiful graduation ceremony was uploaded to the school’s official YouTube channel.
According to Wiley, its 2022 graduating class previously owed the college an estimated total of $300,000. As such, the anonymous gift would enable the institution to continue providing an “affordable exceptional education.”
Wiley is also set to begin celebrating 150 years of its contributions starting in July.
The college was founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church’s Bishop Isaac in Marshall, Texas, in 1873. It was then certified by the Freedman’s Aid Society in 1882 and is one of the oldest HBCUs located west of the Mississippi River. It’s a liberal arts, co-educational, residential, and baccalaureate degree-granting college that serves traditional and non-traditional students who have desired to attend a higher learning institution with a Christian environment.
Wiley’s famous 1935 debate inspired the 2007 movie The Great Debaters, starring iconic Black actors Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Jurnee Smollett, Kimberly Elise, and Nate Parker.
The film received a 2008 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Motion Picture.