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May 13, 2012 6:51 PM CBS News

Gac Filipaj: From janitor to Ivy League graduate
By Tony Guida



(CBS News) It's graduation season, and though every grad has traveled a unique personal path to his or her diploma, few have a story to match Gac Filipaj.
CBS News correspondent Tony Guida reports Filipaj, 52, graduated from Columbia University Sunday. His diploma is a validation of a life-altering choice: books over blood.

Filipaj's country of birth - Yugoslavia - was a killing field in 1992 with civil war, ethnic cleansing. Filipaj could either fight for a cause he did not believe in or flee. He escaped
to New York. He chose it not just as refuge but as renaissance.

Filipaj started at the bottom, cleaning bathrooms. But these were Ivy League bathrooms. He chose a janitor's job at Columbia University because it came with 14 free credit
hours a year.

"I do believe that education, a good education, is very important not only for individuals themselves but for society as a whole," Filipaj said.

First Filipaj had to learn English. With his full-time job it took 7 years. Then he enrolled in Columbia's classics program, studying Greek and Latin by day, scrubbing toilets by night.

"He is a remarkable human being," said Gareth Williams, who supervised Filipaj's thesis on the Roman philosopher Seneca. The professor saw a man dedicated to knowledge.

Another 12 years of work-study led to this moment, not just a crowning but also a passage. Filipaj plans to get a Masters, even a PhD. One day he hopes to teach.

With 19 years of learning behind him, Gac Filipaj, 52, graduated from Columbia University on Sunday, with honors.