Oprah Winfrey South African school celebrates 1st graduates

HENLEY-ON-KLIP, South Africa (AP) - But she says her future philanthropy in Africa will support existing institutions instead of spending millions to start from scratch...

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

HENLEY-ON-KLIP, South Africa (AP) — Oprah Winfrey says the first graduation at her elite school for South African girls is a time for celebration, and for contemplating how she could have done it better.

In an interview Friday, Winfrey said Saturday’s graduation ceremony is a victory. But she says her future philanthropy in Africa will support existing institutions instead of spending millions to start from scratch.

Of the 75 students who started at her school in 2007, all 72 who graduated are headed to universities in South Africa and the United States. Across South Africa, more than half a million members of the class of 2011 disappeared before the 496,000 remaining took their final exams, and only a quarter of those who graduated did well enough to qualify for university study.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE