Categories: Inspiring

He Was A College Drop Out, Now He’s Donating $20 Million To The University

Calvin E. Tyler Jr dropped out of Morgan State College in 1962 because of financial reasons.
He had to work as a UPS truck driver and after many years, served as the company’s senior vice president of operations.
Now he’s helping students who are struggling with their tuition by pledging $20 million for scholarship funds.

Way back 1961, Calvin E. Tyler Jr. enrolled to study business administration and accounting at the Morgan State College in his hometown Baltimore, Maryland. Two years later, however, he had to drop out due to lack of funding and he ended up taking a job as a UPS truck driver.

Despite his circumstances, Calvin did not get discouraged and his hard work eventually earned him a promotion in the company. In fact, he rose through the ranks, even becoming the senior vice president of operations before he retired in 1998.

Now 78 years old, he, together with his wife Tina, have pledged $20 million to help struggling students in the historically Black school now called the Morgan State University.

In an interview, Calvin shared:

“I want to provide scholarships for young bright people so that they can graduate, get their degrees, and come out of college debt-free. Going to college for four years and coming out with a degree and, at the same time, $80,000 to $100,000 in debt puts the person behind.”

Morgan State president David K. Wilson said about the couple’s generosity:

“Calvin knew that heavy student loan debt is crippling too many first-generation college students. The Tylers are doing their part to try and minimize that.”

About 5 years ago, the couple pledged $5 million. Now they’re adding $15 million through the Calvin and Tina Tyler Endowed Scholarship Fund.

Calvin also pointed out:

“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.”