Oprah Winfrey Defends South Africa Girls’ School
April 13, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
Oprah Winfrey, speaking to a newspaper reporter, defended the elite school for girls she opened outside Johannesburg two years ago, from which seven students were suspended or expelled last month, the Associated Press reports.
In an interview with South Africa’s Weekend Argus, Ms. Winfrey did not detail the misconduct at the Leadership Academy for Girls but said most of the students “are thriving, really fulfilling the dream and vision I had.”
The entertainment mogul and philanthropist has spent $40-million on the school, which opened in January 2007 as part of a pledge she had made to Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa, to increase educational opportunities for poor girls in the country.
(Free registration is required to view this article on the Washington Post Web site.)
