# Rachel Jeantel accepts offer to attend college. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 18, 2013, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-jeantel-accepts-offer-to-attend-college/663862 "2013-07-18T16:55:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-jeantel-accepts-offer-to-attend-college/663862/1 "2013-07-18T16:55:19Z")
Well, something positive can come out of the Zimmerman trial. I just hope Jeantel is up for the challenge. Some of the historical black colleges have a long history of excellence. She’ll have to study a lot harder to make it then she would at any state university. Tom Joyner graduated from Tuskegee. I have a friend thats currently working his butt off at Morehouse in Atlanta as a pre-med major. He immigrated from Nigeria with his mom. Wonderful lady that works two jobs to send him to Morehouse. Jeantel accepted the offer on Nancy Grace’s show. I won’t link to that. Anyhow good luck to Ms Jeantel. I hope she does well in life. > **[Trayvon Martin witness Rachel Jeantel accepts radio host Tom Joyner’s college...](https://www.nydailynews.com/2013/07/17/trayvon-martin-witness-rachel-jeantel-accepts-radio-host-tom-joyners-college-offer/)** > > Things are looking up for Rachel Jeantel, the witness in the Trayvon Martin trial who was called uneducated by juror B37. The 19-year-old accepted radio personality Tom Joyner’s offer to pay … > [@](#): > > The 19-year-old accepted radio personality Tom Joyner’s offer to pay for her to attend a historically black college. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-jeantel-accepts-offer-to-attend-college/663862/2 "2013-07-18T17:01:21Z")
I’m assuming she graduated high school then? I’m not making a judgement; I honestly did not see her testimony nor do I know much about her, but I got the impression from reports that she came across as particularly uneducated. Will she have any trouble getting accepted into one of the colleges? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-jeantel-accepts-offer-to-attend-college/663862/3 "2013-07-18T17:13:31Z")
Well, supposedly she did. I seriously doubt Morehouse, Tuskegee or any of the really tough colleges would accept her. Those schools produce some very high quality graduates. Morehouse has produced several Rhodes Scholars. Florida A&M might be better. Jeantel’s high school didn’t do her any favors. Her language skills will require remedial work. She needs speech classes to learn to speak up and enunciate her words. Stuff she should have learned in high school but public school these days are a joke. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-jeantel-accepts-offer-to-attend-college/663862/4 "2013-07-18T17:21:02Z")
It’s nice to know something good is coming from this tragedy. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-jeantel-accepts-offer-to-attend-college/663862/5 "2013-07-18T17:27:47Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > I’m assuming she graduated high school then? I’m not making a judgement; I honestly did not see her testimony nor do I know much about her, but I got the impression from reports that she came across as particularly uneducated. Will she have any trouble getting accepted into one of the colleges? I’m just curious about this, how many languages do you speak? ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-jeantel-accepts-offer-to-attend-college/663862/6 "2013-07-18T17:28:46Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Her language skills will require remedial work. [She’s not the only one.](http://www.highereducation.org/reports/college_readiness/gap.shtml) I do wish her well. I hope someone works with her to prepare her for the challenge. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-jeantel-accepts-offer-to-attend-college/663862/7 "2013-07-18T17:35:33Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I’m just curious about this, how many languages do you speak? Other than English, I speak very remedial Spanish (five years of classes 20+ years ago). But I don’t get your point - is English her second language? I already told you I didn’t know anything about her. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-jeantel-accepts-offer-to-attend-college/663862/8 "2013-07-18T17:36:46Z")
In a related story, the United Negro College Fund denied they were considering changing their slogan to “Donate Now, Or Zimmerman Pops Another One”. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-jeantel-accepts-offer-to-attend-college/663862/9 "2013-07-18T17:38:09Z")
It sounds like Tom Joyner has experience getting people he helps through college. He’s the founder of the Tom Joyner Foundation. This is an incredile life changing oportunity being offered to Jeantel. > **[Future brightens for Trayvon friend Rachel Jeantel](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/18/joyner-rachel-jeantel-trayvon-martin/2551413/)** > > Jeantel drew criticism for her testimony. Now a radio host wants to help her out. > [@](#): > > “If you want to graduate from high school, and go to an HBCU (historically black college or university), even if it’s not in Florida but especially Florida … I want to help you,” syndicated radio host Tom Joyner told her on live radio. “I will help you get tutors to get you out of high school, tutors to help you pass the SAT and I will give you a full ride scholarship to any HBCU you’d like.” > > Jeantel simply responded “thank you,” saying she might have an interest in criminal justice. > > Wednesday night, when Joyner and Jeantel appeared on HLN’s Nancy Grace, Jeantel expanded on her response, saying, “I’m blessed and I just want to thank him and his followers.” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-jeantel-accepts-offer-to-attend-college/663862/10 "2013-07-18T17:39:13Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Other than English, I speak very remedial Spanish (five years of classes 20+ years ago). But I don’t get your point - is English her second language? I already told you I didn’t know anything about her. English is her third. She speaks Spanish and Haitian Creole as well. And she speaks English much better than she demonstrated on the witness stand. ---
**Author:** ![yorick73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5a626/32.png) [@yorick73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yorick73)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-jeantel-accepts-offer-to-attend-college/663862/11 "2013-07-18T17:41:05Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > It’s nice to know something good is coming from this tragedy. Or it could be something horrible. If she is not prepared for the rigors of college, especially a top notch college, then failing out in short order is not going to do much for her self image. I’m sure many people would assume they don’t have what it takes to finish college without realizing they should try to take some basic remedial classes and maybe try for a degree at a less demanding university. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-jeantel-accepts-offer-to-attend-college/663862/12 "2013-07-18T17:44:06Z")
Didn’t she cause the whole thing by claiming Zimmerman was a gay rapist? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-jeantel-accepts-offer-to-attend-college/663862/13 "2013-07-18T17:54:52Z")
Heres the video with Jeantel and Tom Joyner. Thankfully Nancy Grace was off that night. [http://www.hlntv.com/video/2013/07/17/nancy-grace-jeantel-tom-joyner-scholarship-offer](http://www.hlntv.com/video/2013/07/17/nancy-grace-jeantel-tom-joyner-scholarship-offer) ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-jeantel-accepts-offer-to-attend-college/663862/14 "2013-07-18T18:03:09Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > English is her third. She speaks Spanish and Haitian Creole as well. And she speaks English much better than she demonstrated on the witness stand. Okay - maybe people were being unfair to her based on her testimony. Whatever; I hope it works out for her and she’s given whatever resources she needs to be successful. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-jeantel-accepts-offer-to-attend-college/663862/15 "2013-07-18T18:18:32Z")
> [@yorick73](#): > > Or it could be something horrible. If she is not prepared for the rigors of college, especially a top notch college, then failing out in short order is not going to do much for her self image. I’m sure many people would assume they don’t have what it takes to finish college without realizing they should try to take some basic remedial classes and maybe try for a degree at a less demanding university. She struck me as a very smart girl, very clever. Also she has the resources Tom Joyner is offering. I’m sure she’ll be just fine. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-jeantel-accepts-offer-to-attend-college/663862/16 "2013-07-18T18:18:56Z")
I guess working with tutors and getting a GED would be better than trying to return to high school? She’s 19 now. I’m not sure what age they still recommend going back to HS. Then Joyner said he’d provide tutors to help her prep for the SAT. ---
**Author:** ![cotton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@cotton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cotton)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-jeantel-accepts-offer-to-attend-college/663862/17 "2013-07-18T18:52:42Z")
That whole deal is nothing more than a publicity stunt. She too stupid to be in college. In addition she is so lazy she couldnt even speak properly much less learn anything. On second tthought I’m sure she would make an excellent surgeon. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-jeantel-accepts-offer-to-attend-college/663862/18 "2013-07-18T19:06:47Z")
I saw a few clips of her on the witness stand, and she struck me as being intelligent enough to think through the question, and think about how to answer them. I also saw a few clips of her interview with Al Sharpton, and she seemed to a nice, personable young lady who is of at least average intelligence, but with not much social exposure to situations where articulation of complex thought is required. But she thought articulation was important enough to at least give it a shot, and she tried to speak in complete sentences that related directly to the topic. Aside from that, I have no basis for comment, except that I personally know a few students in community college whom I perceive to be dumber than Rachel Jeantel. ---
**Author:** ![Werekoala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7993a0/32.png) [@Werekoala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Werekoala)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-jeantel-accepts-offer-to-attend-college/663862/19 "2013-07-18T19:10:22Z")
Despite what we have all been brainwashed to think, college isn’t necessary to succeed in life, and going to colllege doesn’t guarentee success. That said, hope she has some success, and at least she won’t be adding to the national debt by taking out student loans, so that’s good. ---
**Author:** ![Anotheruser1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Anotheruser1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anotheruser1)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-jeantel-accepts-offer-to-attend-college/663862/20 "2013-07-18T19:32:30Z")
I think it is wrong to have black colleges and to offer someone a scholarship simply because they are black. All this does is keep racism alive and well. Just my two pennies [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-jeantel-accepts-offer-to-attend-college/663862.md?page=2)