Grateful CAU Alumnus Creating a New Verse of Student Debt Freedom Thru Travel

Jerry Ellis, a travel entrepreneur, an alumnus of Clark Atlanta University (CAU), and a podcast creator, is on a mission to show how grateful he is for an opportunity that was afforded to him during his time in college. It’s a mission to multiply the kindness he received as a college sophomore at CAU that allowed him to continue and complete his education. That kindness came in the form of extended debt reduction grace that was granted to Ellis because of a glowing endorsement from Clark Atlanta University professor Dr. James Patterson.

Now as a way of paying that kindness forward, Ellis has partnered his travel business with CAU as a way of generating more funds that can be used by current students to help reduce their college debt. As a result of that partnership, Ellis has pledged to donate 50% of the profit that his travel business generates from qualifying online purchases to the William E. Shack, Jr. Closing the Gap Scholarship Fund at Clark Atlanta University. Ellis says, “America has a problem, and that problem is many college students when they graduate can’t chase the American dream. That’s because today’s college graduates are too busy trying to pay off the large student loan debts they have been saddled with instead of concentrating their efforts on such beneficial life tasks as creating a family, buying a home, starting a new business, or exploring the world through travel. Now those at CAU and I have found a way that we can help free some students from the often-cascading impact that student debt otherwise would have had on their lives.”

Ellis went on to talk more about this scholarship initiative that he has dubbed the “travel multiplier” because of the program's unique ability to allow someone to create priceless travel memories while at the same time giving students at Clark Atlanta University some life-enabling opportunities. The travel entrepreneur was able to do this because of the connections he has established over the years as the cofounder of Ellis-Lopez Travel, a Germantown, MD-based travel agency. Mr. Ellis states, “This travel multiplier program will allow folks to book their travel plans through my comprehensive offerings.” He added that this scholarship revenue-generating initiative is an automated means where others can also give back while at the same time enriching their own lives through travel. According to him, “becoming a travel multiplier is as simple as booking a flight, hotel, or car rental through the program's website caugives.com. Ellis-Lopez Travel’s cofounder says that he hopes and prays this newly created scholarship initiative will keep many CAU students from being trapped in the never-ending and life-limiting cycle of debt repayment that often accompanies being granted student loans.

In conjunction with this effort, Ellis has also created the ‘I Have a Dream’ podcast. A podcast that can be accessed from the same above-mentioned caugives.com website. It was only fitting that the very first guest on the very first podcast episode was none other than Dr. James Patterson, the professor that was so instrumental in enabling Ellis’s college gift. In that ‘I Have a Dream’ podcast episode, the gents recollect Ellis’s tenure at CAU, Dr. Patterson’s initiative to curate the rich and deep jazz tradition of CAU, and Dr. Patterson’s perspective on Jerry’s initiative to reduce student debt. It even includes Dr. Patterson giving a full-throat endorsement of Ellis and Clark Atlanta University’s combined scholarship revenue-generating efforts as he stated, “Jerry Ellis has the vision and the drive to be a game changer for the challenges our students face.”

During the podcast, Ellis once again thanked Dr. Patterson for what he did for him and gave him credit for being a major part of the inspiration behind his travel multiplier initiative efforts. This very first podcast episode ended with Ellis reminding that anyone who wishes to help free students from debt by participating in the travel multiplier program can do so by referring to the initiative’s caugives.com website.