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rabid1stLast night the POTUS was on Jimmy Fallon's show and "Slow Jammed The News."
Later he talked about how he'd used a Pell Grant to finance his own education. He said he would have to thank, "Whoever came up with the Pell Grant!" for his success in life. It occurred to me that I, too, benefited from Pell Grants but did not know anything about where they came from. So, I thought I would learn about them.
The Pell Grant is money provided by our Federal Government to at-need students to help finance their college education. It is given to students in pursuit of a Bachelor's degree. The Pell Grant is named after its sponsor, Claiborne de Borda Pell, a Senator from Rhode Island who was the sponsor of a bill for "Basic Education Opportunity Grants" in 1973. Claiborne Pell served six terms as a Senator and was a member of the President's own party. He was also the main sponsor of the bills that created The National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He sponsored a bill for the creation of the National Police Memorial. In 1996, President Clinton appointed him the US Representative to the United Nations.
Senator Pell was a member of the US Coast Guard in WWII, back when there was something to guard our coasts against. And he served in the reserve after the war. He was decorated for his service. He also served in the US Foreign Office from 1945-1952. He was fluent in French, Italian and Portuguese and had a Master's Degree in History. He served in the US Senate from 1961-1997. He was reported as being aloof, courteous and self-effacing and once said, "I always let the other fellow have my way."
Senator Pell was married and had four children, but was arrested during a raid on a gay bar in the 1960s. He did not come out as gay, but, during a bitter battle over the confirmation by Congress of Assistant Secretary to Housing and Urban Development, Roberta Achtenberg, the first openly gay person ever confirmed to office by Congress, Pell stated that his daughter was a lesbian and he hoped that would not keep her from working in the Federal government. According to his grandson, Pell was so button down that he even jogged in a business suit. He drove his car with duct tape on the roof until it died and then purchased a modest, used sedan from Thrifty Rental Service. He owned a small fishing boat with flaky orange floorboards. He would, still wearing his old business suit, take his grandsons fishing or out to the dock, happy to sit on his eight-foot long boat surrounded by his neighbors on their sixty-foot yachts.
At the time of his death, The Pell Grant had helped 54 million disadvantaged young people attend college who would otherwise not have been able to do so. Not bad, Senator Pell, not bad!
You can learn more about Senator Claiborne Pell at http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Claiborne_Pell
To Learn More About the 100 Things Challenge...go here...http://jdbracknell.livejournal.com/165714.html
Later he talked about how he'd used a Pell Grant to finance his own education. He said he would have to thank, "Whoever came up with the Pell Grant!" for his success in life. It occurred to me that I, too, benefited from Pell Grants but did not know anything about where they came from. So, I thought I would learn about them.
The Pell Grant is money provided by our Federal Government to at-need students to help finance their college education. It is given to students in pursuit of a Bachelor's degree. The Pell Grant is named after its sponsor, Claiborne de Borda Pell, a Senator from Rhode Island who was the sponsor of a bill for "Basic Education Opportunity Grants" in 1973. Claiborne Pell served six terms as a Senator and was a member of the President's own party. He was also the main sponsor of the bills that created The National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He sponsored a bill for the creation of the National Police Memorial. In 1996, President Clinton appointed him the US Representative to the United Nations.
Senator Pell was a member of the US Coast Guard in WWII, back when there was something to guard our coasts against. And he served in the reserve after the war. He was decorated for his service. He also served in the US Foreign Office from 1945-1952. He was fluent in French, Italian and Portuguese and had a Master's Degree in History. He served in the US Senate from 1961-1997. He was reported as being aloof, courteous and self-effacing and once said, "I always let the other fellow have my way."
Senator Pell was married and had four children, but was arrested during a raid on a gay bar in the 1960s. He did not come out as gay, but, during a bitter battle over the confirmation by Congress of Assistant Secretary to Housing and Urban Development, Roberta Achtenberg, the first openly gay person ever confirmed to office by Congress, Pell stated that his daughter was a lesbian and he hoped that would not keep her from working in the Federal government. According to his grandson, Pell was so button down that he even jogged in a business suit. He drove his car with duct tape on the roof until it died and then purchased a modest, used sedan from Thrifty Rental Service. He owned a small fishing boat with flaky orange floorboards. He would, still wearing his old business suit, take his grandsons fishing or out to the dock, happy to sit on his eight-foot long boat surrounded by his neighbors on their sixty-foot yachts.
At the time of his death, The Pell Grant had helped 54 million disadvantaged young people attend college who would otherwise not have been able to do so. Not bad, Senator Pell, not bad!
You can learn more about Senator Claiborne Pell at http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Claiborne_Pell
To Learn More About the 100 Things Challenge...go here...http://jdbracknell.livejournal.com/165714.html
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