Wells Fargo’s campaign My Untold Stories aims to give Black Americans the opportunity to voice their own intimate narratives on what it’s like be a black American today. In an interview with The Urban Daily actor and photographer Lance Gross, a graduate of historically black Howard University, shared his story on how the black college experience is one of the reasons, if not the reason, why he has been a great success story.
Gross, who started his climb to fame with his role as Calvin Payne on Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, has gone on to be successful in his own right, appearing in a plethora of different movies and shows.
Crisis, Greys Anatomy, and box office hits like Meet The Browns and Temptation, are among the long of his list of projects but before the fame, there was his black college experience.
Gross says he credits a great amount of his success and his acting chops to his time at the historic and famed black college, Howard University, in the nation’s capital.
Prior to arriving at Howard’s campus, or, his “home away from,” Gross says he was a shy kid. That changed, thanks to his intro to acting class during his undergrad tenure.
On his teacher at Howard who had helped to break him out of his shell, he sincerely admitted that he owes part of his success to her:
“Anybody who goes to an HBCU, we share a certain bond” says Gross, breaking down the family oriented space that is an HBCU.
When describing his experience at Howard he says the university is supportive and has a close knit atmosphere, and says that the professors at Howard go above and beyond for their students.
“I am so proud to be able to say that I attended and graduated from an HBCU,” said Gross.
