J.A. Buchholz

DAYTONA — Frank Miller knew he wanted a better life for himself, and he set out to make that happen.

Miller, a graduate of Howard W. Blake High School in Tampa, applied to a variety of colleges after graduation and decided to attend the first one to accept him—the United Methodist-affiliated Bethune-Cookman College (B-CC) here.

The second oldest of four children to a single mother, he borrowed money from a friend to buy a bus ticket to Daytona. The same day his family was evicted from their public housing unit.

Carrying all his belongings in two bags, Miller walked from the bus station to the campus he had only seen in pictures.

Miller’s first stop was to secure housing, and he was devastated when he learned his name was not on the list to have a room. Thinking there was a glitch in the system, he decided to register for classes. He learned he could not register because he had not paid the money his financial assistance did not cover.

All the bad news in one day would have sent any student home, but Miller knew he no longer had a home to return to and that he had to make a way out of none—and he did.

Miller spent the next few nights sleeping in the lobby of one of the buildings and his days wandering the campus praying for the opportunity to get inside the halls and unlock the educational key to his future. His prayers were answered when he accidentally met the then assistant to the president, who immediately pulled a group of people together to begin solving his room, board and enrollment issues.

Shirley B. Lee, now vice president for planning and coordinator of sponsored programs, said she could not refuse Miller and worked with the dean of men and financial aid office to enroll him. She said his earnestness about his financial situation and her determination to help a student who was trying to help himself was a good combination.

“He was almost in tears, and told me he didn’t have any money,” Lee recalled. “He didn’t know what to do or where to go. We got him in school the next day, and he has turned out to be a great student.

“He’s involved with community affairs, he goes to church and I’m just so proud of him.”

Now a junior majoring in business administration, Miller is focused on telling his story to anyone who will hear it. Miller spoke at the 2003 Florida Annual Conference Event last May and has traveled to Mississippi, New Orleans and Ohio to tell about his involvement as this year’s Lina H. McCord Intern with the Black College Fund.

Since 1972 the Black College Fund has supported the programs and ministries of 11 historically black colleges and universities, including B-CC. It is funded by United Methodists through the Black College Fund apportionment, which supports departmental research, libraries, operations and physical plant maintenance. It enables colleges and universities to provide opportunities for students of promise who might otherwise be excluded from the educational process.

Joreatha Capers, assistant to the general secretary of the Black College Fund, said Miller’s determination to receive an education is an excellent testimony of faith.

“The mission of the Black College Fund is to take students where they are and move them where they need to be,” Capers said from Nashville, Tenn. “We help these institutions keep their tuition at affordable levels so all the Frank Millers can attend.”

Jana Hart, executive director of the Florida Conference’s Board of Higher Education and Campus Ministry, said there could be thousands of students like Miller who could benefit from the Black College Fund. She said his determination and faith are admirable.

“This is a young man who wasn’t going to give up,” Hart said. “I just thought, ‘How courageous of him’.”

Miller said his message is simple.

“I just want people, especially students, to believe in Him for the impossible,” Miller said. “I was going through adversities back home. Moving every year because my mom was working two jobs and still couldn’t pay the bills. I was working while I was in high school, falling asleep in class because I had worked late.

“But God had something better in store for me. He’s been awesome. I really can’t explain it. I know he’ll always be on my side. He’ll never leave me.”

Although Miller has left the neighborhoods in which he grew up, he hasn’t forgotten about other single mothers who are struggling as his mother once did. He plans to return to low-income housing once he graduates and focus on helping single mothers budget their finances.

“I know that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” said Miller, who is a member at Daytona’s Stewart Memorial United Methodist Church. “I am the first in my family to go to college, not my older brother, or younger sister, or nieces and nephews or cousins.