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Columbia University Janitor Graduates With Honors

avatar By Jeanne Goddard

10 May 2012 32 views
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Columbia University Janitor Graduates With Honors
A Yugoslavian-born custodian at New York's Columbia University will be trading in his uniform for a cap and gown this weekend when he graduates with honors after working on his degree for 12 years.

A Yugoslavian-born custodian at New York's Columbia University will be trading in his uniform for a cap and gown this weekend when he graduates with honors after working on his degree for 12 years.

Gac Filipaj, 52, will graduate with a bachelor's degree in classics with honors from Columbia's School of General Studies.

He fled to the United States from war-torn Yugoslavia in 1992, leaving behind his parents and siblings. Arriving in New York speaking virtually no English, he asked where the best school was and his friend pointed him to Columbia.

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