Community Chat

[cherry]

This sort of debt cripples people from even  being able to live their dreams. We had a beautiful young Chinese American girl ,desperately wanting to enter the convent. She owed so much money in student loans, she had to pay it off, before they would accept her

She was a gifted classical violinist. She gave a concert at my church, hoping to raise a bit of money to put toward her loans. Someone paid off the entire amount she owed ,and it was a huge amount. I never heard anyone say the money should have went elsewhere.

These young people are exactly the type of people that will make this country a better place to live. They will be givers and not takers. We are all better off when the people coming up behind us do well

They will be the people that pay our SS, by their taxes. and perhaps  be our Dr or Pharmacist. They are the people who will be engineers, teachers, clergy, lawyers..they are our tomorrow

[kitcat51]

I knew my post would get blow back but I stand by it... I believe everyone should pay their debt & having someone sweep in to pay it just because they can isn't good, it's awful. I'm 68, not heading to college so I have nothing to resent...I'm concerned about the bigger isuue here & others not seeing it. I volunteered yesterday at 2 hospitals, one in my small town, the other 70 miles away in the city & lots of comments about this....how generous, where's mine, it wasn't a gift he owed them, college should be free, I want a tuition refund & more but my fav was...wish he was my sugar daddy. Anyway it's a done deal, his money, his choice but Yikes it sets a bad example that luck will pay your way. I'd be excited if just one grad said...Thanks for the generous offer but it's my responsibility to pay. What are the odds that would happen?

[cherry]

Thank goodness I still am able to care about my fellow man. I don't know what happens to some people as the age. It seems the Ebeneezer Scrooge syndrome sets in and  they want to send everyone off to the work house

I can still understand what is important in life, and it certainly isn't squeezing the life out of young people ,and stomping on their dreams ,because they got something for free

[kitcat51]

---

@Cakers3 wrote:

---

@kitcat51 wrote:

I do plenty to give back & I'm sure you do too. Look it's his money & he can do as he pleases with it BUT...what about the grads that are paying & the future grads that will pay? What he did was self indulgent, the grads did nothing to deserve their debt being paid off, they won the lotto without buying a ticket...his gift should have been to the college. Understand there are many who want all college debt to be forgiven & from now on all college is free...well free is expense & someone has to pay...guess who?  No I'm not happy for them because those who are paying feel like suckers & those who will pay think where's my free ride. Have money use common sense, don't hand it away to cause envy & resentment. @Cakers3 

---

@kitcat51   Your resentment comes through loud and clear and I feel sorry for you.

I don't resent anybody receiving help; my 2 graduate degrees were paid for strictly by me; both loans.  I can tell you right now I don't feel like a sucker, I don't feel I missed out on a free ride, and I'm certainly not envious.

You are.

  It is very clear and I still suspect your disdain is based not on his generosity but on another issue regarding these young men.

There is nothing "unfair" or lacking common sense here; you assume every other person who has paid off a loan or is still facing student loan debt is resentful.

Unless you have personally spoken to every person, you don't know a thing.

By your reasoning, a person who cannot work shouldn't receive help with food, housing, health care, utilities, etc.  After all, it might cause resentment among those who can hold their own.

This is an act by a private citizen.  It is not YOUR tax $$, places absolutely no burden on you, and your "concern" about others is not genuine.

---

You know nothing about me & I certainly would never say awful things about you. I'm 68, not headed to college so I have nothing to resent. I feel for those who are paying & will pay because they simply weren't in the right place at the right time for the big self serving give away. If that's OK with you that's fine but it's not OK with me.

[Anonymous032819]

---

@Cakers3 wrote:

---

@kitcat51 wrote:

I do plenty to give back & I'm sure you do too. Look it's his money & he can do as he pleases with it BUT...what about the grads that are paying & the future grads that will pay? What he did was self indulgent, the grads did nothing to deserve their debt being paid off, they won the lotto without buying a ticket...his gift should have been to the college. Understand there are many who want all college debt to be forgiven & from now on all college is free...well free is expense & someone has to pay...guess who?  No I'm not happy for them because those who are paying feel like suckers & those who will pay think where's my free ride. Have money use common sense, don't hand it away to cause envy & resentment. @Cakers3 

---

@kitcat51   Your resentment comes through loud and clear and I feel sorry for you.

I don't resent anybody receiving help; my 2 graduate degrees were paid for strictly by me; both loans.  I can tell you right now I don't feel like a sucker, I don't feel I missed out on a free ride, and I'm certainly not envious.

You are.

  It is very clear and I still suspect your disdain is based not on his generosity but on another issue regarding these young men.

There is nothing "unfair" or lacking common sense here; you assume every other person who has paid off a loan or is still facing student loan debt is resentful.

Unless you have personally spoken to every person, you don't know a thing.

By your reasoning, a person who cannot work shouldn't receive help with food, housing, health care, utilities, etc.  After all, it might cause resentment among those who can hold their own.

This is an act by a private citizen.  It is not YOUR tax $$, places absolutely no burden on you, and your "concern" about others is not genuine.

---

@Cakers3 

100% spot on!

I would give you a million s if I could!

[Johnnyeager]

You state that there is a bigger issue, but for the life of me, I still don't see it (as big as it apparently is).

[Mj12]

---

@kitcat51 wrote:

I knew my post would get blow back but I stand by it... I believe everyone should pay their debt & having someone sweep in to pay it just because they can isn't good, it's awful. I'm 68, not heading to college so I have nothing to resent...I'm concerned about the bigger isuue here & others not seeing it. I volunteered yesterday at 2 hospitals, one in my small town, the other 70 miles away in the city & lots of comments about this....how generous, where's mine, it wasn't a gift he owed them, college should be free, I want a tuition refund & more but my fav was...wish he was my sugar daddy. Anyway it's a done deal, his money, his choice but Yikes it sets a bad example that luck will pay your way. I'd be excited if just one grad said...Thanks for the generous offer but it's my responsibility to pay. What are the odds that would happen?

---

Interesting. All the comments I heard this morning at work were - what an incredible thing he did...an incredibly successful and selfless man.....but my personal favorite - imagine the ripple effect ...this will positively impact so many.

[CrazyDaisy]

---

@suzyQ3 wrote:

I think it would behoove those who criticize this gift to do some research on how school loan debts are strangling so many people.

From the article in today's LAT about this gesture, one student did the math. He will be paying half his salary for many years in order to pay off his debt.

In the weeks before graduating from Morehouse on Sunday, 22-year-old finance major Aaron Mitchom drew up a spreadsheet to calculate how long it would take him to pay back his $200,000 in student loans — 25 years at half his monthly salary, per his calculations.

In an instant, that number vanished.

Mitchom, sitting in the crowd, wept.

“I can delete that spreadsheet,” he said in an interview after the commencement. “I don’t have to live off of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I was shocked. My heart dropped. We all cried. In the moment it was like a burden had been taken off.”

His mother, Tina Mitchom, was also shocked. Eight family members, including Mitchom’s 76-year-old grandmother, took turns over four years co-signing on the loans that got him across the finish line.

“It takes a village,” she said. “It now means he can start paying it forward and start closing this gap a lot sooner, giving back to the college and thinking about a succession plan” for his younger siblings.

Morehouse College President David A. Thomas said the gift would have a profound effect on the students’ futures.

“Many of my students are interested in going into teaching, for example, but leave with an amount of student debt that makes that untenable,” Thomas said in an interview. “In some ways, it was a liberation gift for these young men that just opened up their choices.”

---

This calculation should be done by every student BEFORE they take out loans.

[SoX]

This happened last month ... no doubt in my mind that Mr. Smith is contributing to leveling the playing field for HBCS students as well ... I think students from both Morehouse and Columbia are going to benefit in countless ways from the generosity ... I'm so please and proud.

https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2018/04/17/columbia-medical-school-first-in-nation-to-offer-n...

News | Administration

Columbia medical school first in nation to offer new students debt-free graduation

[LilacTree]

I thought it was wonderful, like winning the lottery for those kids.  My girls paid off their own loans too, but they do not resent this gentleman’s gesture.  

Good grief, at least acknowledge a selfless and generous act when you see one!