Stranger keeps promises to pay for college

[JayS]

I hope no one minds a little good news on a Monday morning. Here is a great story about how one person can make a big difference. :)


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June 14, 2004, 7:06AM
Stranger keeps promises to pay for college
Associated Press
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/2625974


HAYWARD, Calif. - Michael Tatmon stood on the stage of the community college, a brand-new diploma in his hand, his eyes raking the crowd.

Standing at the front of the audience, an elegantly dressed woman waved madly.

"Yeah!" Oral Lee Brown yelled to Tatmon.

The hundreds of people sitting in the wind-swept courtyard of Chabot College didn't know they were watching a dream come true -- for both Tatmon, the student, and Brown, his benefactor.

It was 17 years ago when their paths first crossed.

Tatmon was a student at an inner-city Oakland elementary school with some of the lowest test scores in the district, living in a neighborhood beset by temptation and transgression.

Tatmon, now 23, only vaguely remembers the day Brown walked in and told his first-grade class she would pay for them to go to college -- if they got that far.

It wasn't until much later that he realized what that meant.

*SNIP*

[rexcat]

1. Good news is rare these days...

and a small bump to the thread!

[cheezus]

2. that's great for the small % of poor kids with a "benefactor"

stories like this disctract from the fact that most kids don't have a Brown paying their tuition. Those who are fortunate to swing financing usually leave school crippled by debt.

I appreciate what this guy did, but it does highlight something very wrong in our country.

[JayS]

3. The benefactor could have been any one of us.

Brown, a real estate agent, had been moved to make her unusual promise after a chance encounter with a hungry little girl skipping school. At the time, 1987, she was making about $45,000 a year and the idea that she could set aside $10,000 a year in a trust fund as promised seemed about as far-fetched as the hope the children would be able to live up to their part of the bargain.

*SNIP*

Of the original 23 Brookfield students, 19 went to college and many are taking longer than four years to finish, often because they must take care of turmoil at home.

*SNIP*

[cheezus]

4. more importantly: it SHOULD be ALLof us

look at our GDP, do you think we can't afford to educate everyone? We just don't, and it's shameful.

[Killarney]

5. That's such a sweet story.

What a REMARKABLE woman!

It's just too bad that in a country of immense wealth, all children aren't told that if you work hard, you can go to college. :(

[Nashyra]

6. Most of us can not afford to put other kids thru college

but you can make an effort and a pledge to help the scholarship programs and fundraising for your local high school.