Little Known Facts About the Education Of Colin Powell
• A 1917 law required Powell’s father to pass a literacy test to enter the United States from Jamaica. It required him to read 40 words from the Bible’s 7th Psalm.
• Powell paid only $10 to attend the City College of New York, whose mission was “to help give poor and new immigrants access to higher education.”
• Powell was a mediocre student. Years later, he wrote: “I attended college for a single reason. My parents expected it. I don’t recall having had any great urge to get a higher education.”
• Lacking interest in his engin-eering major, Powell signed up for ROTC his sophomore year on campus and was awarded “Distinguished Military Graduate” in 1958.
Source: Soldier: The Life of Colin Powell, (Knopf 2006) by KarenDeYoung
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