Oprah’s Proudest Investment Is A Scholars Program She Established At Morehouse To Empower The Next Generation – AfroTech
Oprah Winfrey established a scholarship program at Morehouse College to empower the next generation of community and global leaders.
Oprah Winfrey Endowed Scholars Program
Founded in 1989, the Oprah Winfrey Endowed Scholars Program provides financial support, leadership development experiences, and service opportunities to students at the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) who demonstrate academic merit, a commitment to service, and financial need, according to information on Morehouse College’s website.
As part of the program, Winfrey also funded the Oprah Winfrey South Africa Leadership Program, which allows students to gain additional service and leadership experiences during the summer months.
At the time of this writing, the Endowed Scholars Program requires participants to serve as mentors for middle and high school students and help implement a leadership curriculum at local middle and high schools. Students are also expected to engage in additional service initiatives with Oprah Scholars, maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0, and complete at least 15 credit hours each semester.
On Friday, April 24, Winfrey surprised the 2026 program class during a pre-graduation dinner, reflecting on how meaningful the program has been to her, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“Standing here before you, the graduating class, it is the proudest investment I’ve ever made. And you all have already made the return on the investment for me. And I thank you for that because you honor not only my name, Oprah Winfrey, the scholarship program, but you honor everybody who ever raised you up,” she told the scholars, according to a video shared on TikTok.
@oprahdaily In 1989, Oprah established The Oprah Winfrey Scholars Program at @Morehouse College. This past weekend, she surprised this year’s graduating class of Oprah Scholars at their pre-graduation dinner. She heard from students about how Morehouse and the scholarship impacted their lives and then took the mic and poured into them. What a beautiful thing to witness 37 years later! #Morehouse #College #GradSeason #Graduation #fyp ♬ original sound – Oprah Daily
In total, more than 700 students at the HBCU have received support from the scholarship program through donations totaling $25 million, according to the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation’s website.
