The Secrets Behind Their Success
Attracting and graduating minorities in large numbers, for-profit universities offer access, convenience and some risk.
By Paul Ruffins
In June, Robert L. Johnson, the billionaire founder of Black Entertainment Television, gave the commencement address for one of the largest predominantly Black colleges in the greater Washington, D.C., area. Johnson told his overwhelmingly minority audience that they had accomplished more than the average graduate.
“You’ve done everything every student has done, but you did it while working, while taking care of your kids, while going to church programs, while being part of the community, serving in the military, being a single parent, having to deal with elderly parents, having to take care of extended family,” he said.
Johnson’s message concerned the virtues of entrepreneurship — that people work harder when they are working for themselves. But he wasn’t speaking to graduates of Howard University or the University of the District of Columbia.
