The Inner-City Scholarship Fund raised more than $5.4 million at its 48th Annual Awards Dinner, held at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, where philanthropists Ken and Elaine Langone were honored for their decades of support for Catholic education in New York.
The Inner-City Scholarship Fund provides tuition assistance to minority students attending Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of New York, serving thousands of students across the five boroughs.
The evening began with Christmas carols sung by the choir from Good Shepherd School in Manhattan, which celebrated its 100th anniversary this year. Fox News’ Martha MacCallum once again served as the event’s emcee.
“Hardship only stops you if you allow it to”
Scholarship recipient Devin Henderson, a sophomore at Mount Saint Michael Academy in the Bronx, delivered opening remarks. He was accompanied by his mother, Olanike Oyeyemi. Henderson shared that he has something in common with Winston Churchill and James Earl Jones: All three have had to overcome stuttering.
“What I once considered a weakness, I now believe to be my greatest strength,” Henderson told the assembled guests. “And that’s because it’s taught me a very important lesson: that hardship only stops you if you allow it to. And without the compassion of my teachers and so many others, I truly wouldn’t be able to stand up in front of this podium and speak in front of all of you.”
The 10th grader has his sights set on studying mechanical engineering and working in the transportation industry. “I know exactly what I want to do. I want to work in transportation, specifically with the MTA. I can’t wait to learn how to drive a bus or maybe even a train,” he said. “I have high hopes for my future, and I know I can get there thanks to my mom, my aunts, my Catholic school education, my faith, and most importantly, my scholarship.”
After his speech, Henderson and his mother were embraced by Cardinal Timothy Dolan.
A tribute to the Langones
Edward D. Herlihy, Esq., a senior partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, member of the Inner-City Scholarship Fund’s board of trustees, and co-chair of the event, introduced the Langones with a tribute that highlighted Ken Langone’s remarkable career and the couple’s extraordinary philanthropy.
“Ken didn’t just wake up at 65 years old and become this exceptional person,” Herlihy said. “From his earliest days, Ken has always had that combination of street smarts and deep confidence in himself and those people he comes in contact with, and the organizations he’s associated with are better for it.”
Herlihy recounted Langone’s journey from humble beginnings, the son of a plumber and a cafeteria worker, to becoming a co-founder of Home Depot and one of the country’s most successful investors. He noted that over 3,000 Home Depot associates who started by pushing carts in parking lots are now multi-millionaires thanks to the company’s employee stock ownership culture.
The tribute also highlighted the Langones’ transformation of NYU Medical Center, their unprecedented gift of tuition-free medical education to NYU School of Medicine, and their funding of the restoration of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which involved replacing over 3,000 stained glass windows.
New commitment of $2 million per year for five years
In accepting the honor, Ken Langone first paid tribute to his wife of 70 years. “I have to say that what we’ve accomplished together only happened because we were always together,” he said. “That’s one of the nice things about us.”
Langone then announced a major new commitment to the Inner-City Scholarship Fund. In characteristically self-deprecating fashion, he recounted seeking absolution from Cardinal Timothy Michael Dolan for his occasional use of profanity.
“I want to tell you something about this organization. I told Cardinal Dolan that I had a problem, I had demons inside of me, bad words coming out of my mouth. And I said, ‘What can you do about it? Can you give me absolution?'” Langone said. “He gave me absolution, and in return, I’m giving something back. You’ve given 25 years of your life to this great organization, and I want you to know: I’m giving $2 million a year for the next five years to the Inner-City Scholarship Fund.”
The $10 million pledge drew sustained applause from the assembled guests.
Langone concluded his remarks with a call to action for supporting the scholarship program. “When you see a young man or woman overcome a difficult situation and talk about what they want to do in life, and we don’t help that young person, shame on us,” he said. “Because the reality is, you save one child, you save the world. We’re not just talking about it—we’re doing it.”
Cardinal Dolan blessed the couple and thanked them for their continued support of Catholic education in the Archdiocese of New York. “A lot of people say that Ken Langone is generous. I said, ‘Ken, what I need is to make our schools as strong and as vibrant as they could be.’ And he said, ‘Let’s do it, let’s do it.’ And he’s doing it. This evening is proof. So, folks, it’s all about the kids, right? We get them right, we got it all right. Nobody does it better than we do in our schools. No better people to do it than you are,” he said.
The evening concluded with a performance by Frank Shiner and his orchestra.