Nearly 3,000 Morehouse men have had their debts with the college wiped clean.
via: BET
According to a news release, the HBCU partnered with Debt Collective, the first union of debtors to cancel pending debt in the nation, to wipe clean collections for the Fall 2022 term and prior for 2,777 students.
Morehouse transferred the collections to the Rolling Jubilee Fund, a sister organization of Debt Collective’s sister organization, for $125,000 — or a little more than one penny on the dollar. The total debt Morehouse held in collections for that time was calculated at $9,707,827.67. The “no strings attached” gift was used for ”unpaid parking tickets, library fines, and even unpaid tuition totaling up to $30,000.” Because of the debt being cleared, students now can access their transcripts, receive their diplomas, and continue their education at the graduate level.
“Our nation is defaulting on the promise of education when we burden communities, especially Black HBCU graduates, with crushing amounts of student debt,” said Braxton Brewington, a spokesperson for the Debt Collective. “This nearly $10M of student debt cancellation will put thousands of Black folks in a better position to be able to save for retirement, purchase a home, or start a small business. President Biden has yet to make good on his campaign promise to eliminate all student debt held by HBCU graduates. We’re doing our part, and it’s time Biden does his. Forty-five million Americans need this relief.”
“We are an organization that grew out of Occupy Wall Street that sort of mimics the labor movement,” Brewington continued. “Just like workers stand together to organize for better wages or better working conditions, we believe debtors can do the same.”
Dr. Andrew J. Douglas, a political science professor at Morehouse, shared how he worked with the Debt Collective to launch the initiative.
“The student debt crisis—I think we’re all aware of how significant it is,” Douglas said. “How disproportionately it harms Black student borrowers.
“After Robert Smith paid off the debt of the entire graduating class in 2019, that led me to think that Morehouse needed to develop some curriculum around debt and democracy,” Douglas continued…”I think the fact that we’re talking about debt with the face value of almost $10 million, I think just speaks to, you know, how significant the debt crisis at all levels has become.”
