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MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT 2: Comedian Pays College Tuition

Comedian Bill Cosby is paying the college tuition for two high school graduates. The high school graduates, Loren M. Wilder and Jimmy L. Hester, are both black. They toured three colleges with Cosby, and selected Hampton University in Virginia as their college of choice.

Cosby recently commented that black children are "going nowhere" because they do not know how to read and write. "This is all about your careers, your lives. The more you study, the better you do now, the more will open up to you later," Cosby advised as he traveled with the teenagers on his private jet.

Wilder's mother was jailed for dealing drugs when he as 14-years-old and Hester left home when he was 15-years-old. Both students frequently moved before sharing an apartment this winter with a third student from Putnam Vocational Technical High School. Wilder was planning to attend Westfield State and Hester was planning to attend American International in Springfield before Cosby offered to pay the bill.

On Thursday, Cosby will honor about a dozen high school students and graduates at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, including Hester and Wilder. "Fifty percent of African-American males drop out of high school. We're talking epidemic here, so to find two young men whose values are on the right side, it's refreshing," said Cosby.

The attention he has garnered in his effort to encourage black youths to take education seriously has not been lost on Hester and Wilder. Both of the teenagers were impressed by Cosby's generosity and found their experience with Cosby to be great. "Here's a guy who has millions of dollars and he's focusing in on the two of us. It's a good feeling," said Wilder.

--Written by Renee Clara

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