Nearly 60 years ago, Calvin Tyler was a student just trying to pave his way at Morgan State University, but his financial burdens suddenly forced him to make the decision to drop out. Now he, alongside his wife Tina Tyler, have ensured $20 million to provide scholarships for students needing financial aid at the historically black school.

This donation wasn’t just a life-changing and heartfelt moment for the university’s students and staff  but also to Calvin and his wife. Calvin expresses, “My wife and I have become keenly aware of the effect that the pandemic has had on a number of young people trying to get an education [and] we have the resources to help a lot of young people. This is why we are increasing our commitment at Morgan; we want to have more full tuition scholarships offered to young people so that they can graduate from college and enter the next stage of their life debt free.”

This selfless donation has already had an impact on these students’ lives with supporting “222 students via 46 full-tuition” and “176 partial scholarships.” Tyler went on to express his findings saying, “donations to institutions of higher education are critical to helping young people succeed because “reliance on government loans is just not the answer.” “Debt can be extremely crippling to someone trying to get ahead in life, we just want to help as many young people as we can [to] get an education.”

Talking about Calvin,”Morgan university is so proud to call this son and daughter of the great City of Baltimore our own, and through their historic giving, the doors of higher education will most certainly be kept open for generations of aspiring leaders whose financial shortfalls may have kept them from realizing their academic dreams,” David Wilson, president of Morgan State University, said.

In conclusion, instead of dwelling on what he once didn’t have, Calvin never lost sight on his humble beginnings and acted on giving these students hopes for their future.