Senator Claiborne Pell’s death on New Year’s Day resonates deeply at RISD, where our long-serving Rhode Island senator (1961-1997) had such a remarkable impact on the lives of so many. In 1963 Senator Pell sponsored the report that became the basis of the bill creating the “Basic Educational Opportunity Grant,” which his Congressional colleagues later renamed the Pell Grant in his honor. In the last 10 years, RISD students have received a collective average of $765,000 in Pell Grants annually to help defray tuition costs (students currently may receive up to $4,731 annually in Pell Grants). And each year at Commencement, RISD awards a “Pell Medal” to a deserving art history concentrator.

A RISD honorary degree recipient, Senator Pell also wrote the legislation (in 1965) that eventually established the National Endowments for the Arts (NEA) and Humanities (NEH), agencies that have funded so many vital academic and museum projects and programs at RISD and across the country.

RISD salutes the extraordinary life of Claiborne Pell.