THE DEBATE COACH
Jul 01, 2018
4 minutes
By Ken Budd
COURTESY WILEY COLLEGE
Until the phone call, everything seemed normal. Chris Medina, the debate coach at Wiley College, had offered a scholarship to a student — a young man highly recommended by his high school coach. But there was a problem. The financial aid staff had never received the student’s diploma.
“I called him and said, ‘Hey — what’s going on?’” recalls Medina. “And he revealed that he hadn’t graduated from high school.”
The student was homeless. He was living in a hotel with his family, working at a Chinese restaurant, feeding them with takeout food from his job. But he also knew that Wiley, an HBCU (historically black
You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.
Start your free 30 days