In the 1990s, years before he was confirmed by the state Senate to sit on the board of governors of the higher education system, his father, Arthur, had traded civil war in Liberia for Philadelphia, leaving his family in Africa so he could find work in America, save money, and send for them later. In 1999, Arthur called home with news that he had been robbed at gunpoint near 56th Street and Whitby Avenue around 5 a.m. while on his way to work.