“When I was 12 years old, an industrialist named Eugene M. Lang took a chance on me. He was scheduled to speak at my sixth grade graduation in 1981. On the way to the podium, Mr. Lang learned that three-quarters of the students sitting before him would probably never finish high school. So he made a promise: he would pay college tuition for all 61 of the kids in my class, if we could show him a high school diploma.”