He Promised a Neighborhood Free College. Decades Later, His Promise Is Still Paying Out

In 1981, businessman Eugene Lang returned to the elementary school he had attended as a boy in East Harlem, New York. He had been invited to give a graduation speech to a class of sixth-grade students.

He planned to offer the usual advice about working hard, staying in school and building a successful future. But shortly before the ceremony, the principal told him something troubling. Most of the children sitting in front of him weren’t expected to finish high school.

Lang looked at the students and decided to throw away his prepared speech. Instead, he made them a promise that would change the direction of his life and the lives of thousands of other children.

A Promise Nobody Expected

Lang told the graduating class that if they stayed in school and earned their high-school diplomas, he would help pay for their college education. There were roughly 60 students in the class, many from families who could never have imagined paying college tuition. Suddenly, they had someone offering to make that possibility real.

Lang understood how much an education could change someone’s future. He had grown up in East Harlem himself before earning a scholarship to Swarthmore College and eventually building a successful business career. He wanted those children to have opportunities similar to the ones he’d received.

But after making his promise, Lang began to understand something he hadn’t fully considered during his speech. Offering to pay for college years down the road wouldn’t necessarily help a child struggling to get through school right now.

If he wanted to keep his promise, he would have to do considerably more than write tuition checks.

Helping the Students Get There

Lang began building a support system around the children. He arranged tutoring, academic guidance and help preparing for college.

He also brought in people who could stay connected with the students and their families, offering encouragement and assistance when problems arose. The children became known as the “Dreamers,” a name inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

Over the following years, the Dreamers faced plenty of difficulties. Some struggled with their schoolwork, while others experienced family problems, financial hardship and other challenges.

A few left school before graduating and later returned. Others became parents while they were still young.

Lang remained involved throughout those years. He met with families, stayed in contact with students and spent time helping them work through problems that had little to do with college tuition. What had started as a promise during a graduation speech was becoming a much bigger commitment.

The Results Surprised Everyone

By the end of the 1980s, the original Dreamers were reaching the age when they should have been finishing high school. The results were far better than the principal had predicted back in 1981.

In 1990, the Los Angeles Times reported that approximately 90 percent of the original class had graduated from high school. Many continued into college, vocational training or careers that had once seemed beyond their reach.

Their paths weren’t identical. Some students moved directly into higher education, while others needed more time or followed different routes.

Lang had learned that the children needed more than financial assistance. They needed adults who would stay involved, take their ambitions seriously and help them find ways around the obstacles they faced.

And as word of the program spread, people elsewhere began wondering whether they could offer the same opportunities to children in their own communities.

One Classroom Inspired a National Movement

Lang’s idea eventually grew into the “I Have a Dream” Foundation, inspiring programs across the United States. These programs followed the approach he had developed with his original class.

Groups of young students received academic support, mentoring and a promise of financial assistance for education after high school. Rather than waiting until students were ready to graduate, supporters became involved years earlier, giving children time to prepare for opportunities they might otherwise have considered impossible.

Lang continued taking a personal interest in the original Dreamers even as the idea expanded. He had made the promise himself, and he wanted to see those students succeed. The approach caught the attention of educators, donors and community organizations who began creating similar programs in other cities.

By 2004, CBS reported that the movement had expanded into dozens of schools and housing communities across the country.

More than 13,000 children had been promised help with their college education.