· however, before these generous donations were ever made, robert f. He later extended the gift to encompass the debt incurred by their guardians on their behalf. · in 2019, robert f. During the speech, he pledged to eliminate the student loan debt of the entire class. Smith delivered a commencement speech to the morehouse college graduating class. Smith made an unprecedented gift to the 2019 graduating class of morehouse college. Robert smith reflects on the now-legendary day he wiped out the student debt of an entire morehouse graduating class. Smith , a billionaire investor and philanthropist, gained attention when he revealed during his commencement speech at morehouse college that he would cover the student loan debt for the entire graduating class. My family is going to create a grant to eliminate your student. · in may, smith made headlines when he announced the gift while speaking at the morehouse college class of 2019s commencement. 13,” the title of his commencement address. He wanted to tell them about the community-made americans who recognize their buses of opportunity. During his commencement address, he committed to paying off the student loan debt of the graduating class, a gift that totaled over $34 million. · at morehouse , smith offered the gift of “bus no.