At WGU, we have committed to changing lives for the better by expanding pathways to opportunity.
Marqus Hutchinson's story demonstrates how WGU's impact on just one individual can make a difference for many more. Marqus grew up in foster care in New York City's Harlem neighborhood and, after graduating from high school, joined the Navy.
During his service, Marqus acquired a solid background in information technology and, after he left the military, he knew he needed a degree to advance his career. After trying six universities, Marqus enrolled at WGU, where he completed both a bachelor's degree and an MBA.
After working as a consultant to the Departments of Defense and Justice, Marqus helped to found a telephone security company, Intelligent Waves, which currently has 300 employees. In addition, Marqus has become a WGU evangelist, starting with his own mother, who also completed bachelor's and master's degrees at WGU. Marqus continues to refer family, friends, and associates to the university, and he also serves on WGU's Northeast Region Alumni Advisory Board.
Marqus Hutchinson's story is what our Cultural Beliefs, One by One and Advancing Equity, look like. Marqus is a great reminder of the recurring impact each of us can have when we help just one student succeed and the value of each individual.
W.E.B. Du Bois, noted African-American sociologist, civil rights activist, author, and educator, said, "It is easy for us to lose ourselves in details in endeavoring to grasp and comprehend the real condition of a mass of human beings. We often forget that each unit in the mass is a throbbing human soul."
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