[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 24, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H795-H796]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          RECOGNIZING KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY'S PROUD CAMPAIGN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moran) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to recognize 
Kansas State University's Proud campaign. K-State Proud was founded in 
the fall of 2006 as an effort for students to help other students. This 
year's event will be celebrated this Saturday, February 27, during the 
Missouri-Kansas State men's basketball game. This is a great concept 
that reflects our Kansas values of family, community, and stewardship.
  There are many people who take college experience for granted. 
Leaving home to pursue an education is not a given for many families. 
Certain amounts of financial, emotional, and spiritual support are 
needed to ensure a student's success. Sometimes bad things happen and 
students' families fall on hard times. And it's heartbreaking to see a 
student's dreams and hard work jeopardized by events beyond their 
control.
  The K-State Proud campaign was started in an effort to keep these 
struggling students in school. It was started by students, for 
students. Students continue to organize, plan, and execute K-State 
Proud's activities. This year's co-chairs are Anna Zeiger, Reed 
Pankratz, and Robert Swift. That is what makes this effort so unique. 
There are no benefactors or trust funds paying an annuity that funds 
the tuition or living expenses for a struggling student. This program 
allows these kids to collect money from their peers and to distribute 
to those most in need. As a society, we should take a step back and 
look at what K-State Proud has accomplished. They have had a genuine 
compassion for complete strangers. They do more than pay lip service to 
the concept of charity. They put their money where their mouth is.
  For a $10 donation, the donor receives a K-State Proud t-shirt to be 
worn for the designated K-State basketball game. Special thanks should 
be

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given to GTM for donating the t-shirts and Cox Communications for their 
generous support. A quarter of a million dollars raised by K-State 
Proud over the course of 3-plus years emphasizes the enormous impact 
this campaign has had on K-State's student body. The results are real 
and undeniable.
  K-State Proud allowed a student whose hometown of Greensburg, Kansas, 
which was destroyed by a tornado, to stay in school despite the 
enormous loss of life and property. K-State Proud provided support to a 
cancer survivor that would otherwise have had a difficult time 
completing a college degree. K-State Proud provides these financial 
awards while also providing the recipients with an emotional boost to 
overcome their struggles. Money is a necessity, but knowing that 
someone recognizes your pain and is there to support you is very 
powerful as well. This sense of community, that we're all in this 
together, has made K-State Proud a huge success. Some people worry 
about the future of our country. When I see the K-State Proud movement 
at work, I realize that there is a new crop of compassionate, 
principled leaders preparing themselves to better our State and our 
Nation.
  K-State Proud has become a model for other universities searching for 
a way to unite their student bodies and communities. People familiar 
with K-State know how special this university is. It is only fitting 
that the rest of this country learns how special it is as well. I urge 
you to tune in to the basketball game this Saturday and witness this 
student body's commitment to each other.
  I have used the word ``proud'' many times in these remarks. I'm the 
proud father of two current K-State students. I'm proud to be 
associated with such great ambassadors for our State. And I'm proud to 
be a Kansan. In this case I'm proud to be a K-State Kansan.

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