PROFILE: Jeffery Larry, Turner Alumnus Still Glad
He Chose UC Over Harvard

University of Cincinnati alumnus Jeffery Larry turned down Harvard University and Duke University to attend UC on a full scholarship provided by the university's minority scholars program. Today at 40, he has no second thoughts about that decision.

"I had a plan," recalls the Chicago resident and father of three who has another child on the way. Harvard and Duke would have been much more expensive than UC, even with the attractive financial aid packages they offered to him. "I knew I would be seeking a graduate education, which would be even more expensive, and I knew I could get my undergraduate education without burdening myself with debt."

So Larry came through UC in three years, graduating in 1982 with a major in economics, by taking a heavy workload and earning advanced placement credits through the courses he took at Walnut Hills High School. He then went on to law school at Harvard, receiving his JD in 1985.

Today, after a successful law career in Columbus and most recently at Katten, Muchin & Zavis in Chicago, Larry has traded his predictable capital partner position for a new business of his own. During his 15-year legal career, he specialized in mergers, acquisitions and business transactions. Almost three years ago, that transaction experience launched him in the direction of his longtime dream: acquiring, creating, developing and growing significant African American-owned businesses and helping African American-owned business access equity and debt capital. He now devotes himself full time (and then some) to this as the CEO and chairman of a company he founded, Onyx Capital Ventures LLC. He resigned from his law firm partnership in February.

Despite the demands and unpredictability of his new venture, Larry takes time to stay involved in the program that financed his UC education. Now called the Darwin Turner Scholarship Program, the program is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a banquet at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 21, at the Kingsgate Conference Center.

His commitment to the Turner Scholars brings him to campus frequently to share the benefits of his experience with current students. He also serves as one of the co-chairs for the Turner Scholarship development program. Larry encourages Turner graduates to stay involved, not just by giving financial support, but also by contributing their time.

As thankful as he is to have received a UC education with a full tuition scholarship, Larry also likes to remind people that the Turner scholarship program is not just beneficial to its minority participants. "Often the focus is on the obvious beneficiaries, who happen to be students of color. But another great benefit of this program is that it brings talented students of color to the University of Cincinnati. This is a program that enriches the university by attracting and retaining bright students of different backgrounds and ethnicities."

After all, without the minority scholarship Larry received, UC might have lost Larry to Harvard or Duke. "I think my strategy was sound," he attests. "UC provided a great platform for me. I have no regrets."

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