Daily Pilot: "Local billionaire helps students graduate"

There are people who write checks for causes. And there are people who take a hands-on approach and work assisting others in need. Last Thursday evening in the Newport Coast a unique blending of these two humanitarian ideals set a standard rarely witnessed in this community of envious excess.

Henry T. Nicholas III, billionaire co-founder and former president and chief executive of Southern California-based Broadcom, invited some 300 guests to his Pelican Hill estate for a graduation party.

Twenty-four young men and women, all students from the Santa Ana School District, all of whom also enrolled and participated in enrichment programs offered by the Nicholas Academic Center’s two Santa Ana campus locations, arrived with friends and family members to celebrate a significant milestone in their young lives. All 24 graduates have been accepted for college admission and all will receive scholarships enabling them to attend.

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