2007 UT Announcement

Jack Kent Cooke Foundation
44325 Woodridge Parkway
Lansdowne, VA  20176

News Release

Media Contact:  Vance Lancaster
Director, Marketing and Communications
Office: (703) 723-8000
vlancaster@jkcf.org

Star Community College Students Transfer to Prestigious Four-Year Universities with Help from Jack Kent Cooke Foundation

Fifty-One Recipients for Largest Scholarship Award Benefiting

US Community College Students

"The Jack Kent Cooke scholarship was a turning point in my life."

Viviana Alcazar, 2004 Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship winner, Stanford University Class of 2007

LANSDOWNE, VA

The Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship Program was designed to help community college students with exceptional promise and demonstrated financial need make the transition to four-year colleges and universities. Today the Foundation announces its 2007 Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship recipients - 51 high-achieving students who will complete their undergraduate educations with significant financial assistance from the Foundation.  

Possessing exceptional qualities and aspiring to achieve at the highest academic levels, the 2007 Scholars plan to use their awards at four-year colleges and universities, including The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Cornell; Harvard; Columbia; University of California, Berkeley; Stanford; Northwestern University; MIT; and many other leading institutions.

"For many low-income, motivated students, community college is an essential part of their plan to eventually obtain a Bachelor's degree," said Dr. Matthew Quinn, the Foundation's executive director.  "Our 2007 Undergraduate Transfer Scholars share the ability and willingness to prevail over many limitations, including pressing financial need.  We're pleased to help them realize the next step in their educational development."

  

The 2007 Undergraduate Transfer Scholars hail from the US and 11 foreign countries, and range in age from their late-teens to their mid-50s.  Coming from community and two-year colleges in 24 states, the newly-minted Cooke Scholars share a passion to continue their education and a desire to make a positive difference in the world.  Among this year's standout scholars:  

• Ryan Catala will transfer from Westchester Community College to Columbia University to prepare for a law career.
• Alexey Morozov, who excelled in honors engineering classes at his two-year institution Northwestern Michigan College while winning several national competitions, will continue his education at MIT.
• Kimberly Woo will transfer from Bunker Hill Community College to Harvard University to study public policy.
• Valeria Dias will transfer from Miami Dade College to Cornell University to prepare for a career in pediatrics and clinical research. 

Each year, the Foundation selects approximately 50 high-achieving, low-income students from community or two-year colleges for scholarships that provide funding for tuition, room and board, fees, and books. As the largest scholarship offered in the US to community college transfer students, the awards can total up to $30,000 per year for up to three years.  The amount and duration of the scholarships vary for each student, according to the cost of attendance at the school, the length of the program, and other grants and scholarships received.

In one particularly memorable case, Viviana Alcazar became her class salutatorian in 2004 and the second student in the history of Canada College to be accepted at Stanford University.  Although she had never before considered an elite private university degree within reach, she has now graduated from Stanford and will begin a PhD program at Berkeley this fall.

"Viviana's story wonderfully illustrates what community college students can achieve with a little assistance," added Quinn.  "Once financial obstacles are removed, these scholars can excel at any college or university anywhere, and can choose those best suited to their personal situations and career aspirations."

ABOUT THE JACK KENT COOKE FOUNDATION

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is a private, independent foundation established in 2000 by the estate of Jack Kent Cooke to help young people of exceptional promise reach their full potential through education.  It focuses in particular on students with financial need. The Foundation's programs include scholarships to undergraduate, graduate, and high-school students and grants to organizations that serve high-achieving students with financial need. www.jkcf.org

###

The 2007 Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship winners are:

Isa Adney

Community College: Seminole Community College, FL

Intended Four-Year School: Stetson University

Namema Amendi

Community College: Middlesex County College, NJ

Intended Four-Year School: Columbia University

Breiseus Ashford

Community College: East Mississippi Community College, MS 
Intended Four-Year School: Pepperdine University

Barbara Ault

Community College: Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana,

Intended Four-Year School: Indiana University

Le Aye

Community College: Pasadena City College, CA

Intended Four-Year School: University of California, Los Angeles

Elizabeth Bair

Community College: Portland Community College, OR 

Intended Four-Year School: Pacific University

Carla Baku

Community College: College of the Redwoods, CA

Intended Four-Year School: Stanford University

Ulugbek Baymuradov

Community College: Treasure Valley Community College, OR 

Intended Four-Year School: Stanford University

Salvatore Bohrer

Community College: Arapahoe Community College, CO 

Intended Four-Year School: Long Island University

Ryan Catala

Community College: Westchester Community College, NY 

Intended Four-Year School: Columbia University

Volha Charnysh

Community College: Cottey College, MO 

Intended Four-Year School: Smith College

Hamilton Cunningham

Community College: Georgia Perimeter College, GA 

Intended Four-Year School: Howard University

Joan Danenberg

Community College: San Jose City College, CA 

Intended Four-Year School: Mills College

Miguel Eduardo Del Mundo

Community College: Mt. San Antonio College, CA

Intended Four-Year School: University of California, Los Angeles

Valeria Dias

Community College: Miami Dade College, FL 

Intended Four-Year School: Cornell University

Dusty Dodd

Community College: Umpqua Community College, OR

Intended Four-Year School: University of Oregon

Leslie Good

Community College: Arkansas State University Mountain Home, AR

Intended Four-Year School: Arkansas State University

Clint Greene

Community College: Tyler Junior College, TX

Intended Four-Year School: The University of Texas at Austin

Michael Hamm

Community College: Berkeley City College, CA 

Intended Four-Year School: San Francisco State University

Autumn Hays

Community College: San Diego Mesa College, CA 

Intended Four-Year School: University of California, San Diego

Melinda Hornback

Community College: Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana,

Intended Four-Year School: Indiana Wesleyan University

Nicole Hurtado

Community College: Portland Community College, OR 

Intended Four-Year School: Pacific University

Scott Keller

Community College: Lake Land College, IL

Intended Four-Year School: Washington University in St. Louis

Brittney Kulbeda

Community College: Montgomery County Community College, PA

Intended Four-Year School: Bucknell University

Adam Lance

Community College: Blue Ridge Community College, NC 

Intended Four-Year School: East Tennessee State University

Heather Lewis

Community College: North Idaho College, ID 

Intended Four-Year School: To be determined

Edwina Loh

Community College: Los Angeles Valley College, CA 

Intended Four-Year School: University of California, Los Angeles

Stephanie Makaula

Community College: Tulsa Community College, OK

Intended Four-Year School: The University of Tulsa

Andrew McAllister

Community College: Southwestern Community College, NC

Intended Four-Year School: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Michelle McLeod

Community College: Gateway Community College, CT 

Intended Four-Year School: Quinnipiac University

Michelle Mills

Community College: Broward Community College, FL

Intended Four-Year School: University of Miami

Michele Moore

Community College: Spokane Falls Community College, WA 

Intended Four-Year School: Eastern Washington University

Alexey Morozov

Community College: Northwestern Michigan College, MI

Intended Four-Year School: Michigan Technological University

Loretta Myers

Community College: Las Positas College, CA

Intended Four-Year School: University of California, Berkeley

MyLien Nguyen

Community College: Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, MS

Intended Four-Year School: University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Jean-Blaise Ognong

Community College: Northern Virginia Community College, VA

Intended Four-Year School: Georgetown University

Flavia Oleniewski

Community College: Howard Community College, MD

Four-Year School: The University of Baltimore

Jolie Olsen

Community College: Tulsa Community College, OK 

Intended Four-Year School: Carnegie Mellon University

Brady Redfearn

Community College: Butte Community College, CA 

Intended Four-Year School: Brigham Young University

Joshua Ripple

Community College: Luzerne County Community College, PA 

Intended Four-Year School: Bucknell University

McStephen Solomon

Commuity College: South Suburban College, IL

Intended Four-Year School: DePaul University

Stephen Stigler

Community College: Antelope Valley College, CA

Intended Four-Year School: University of California, Los Angeles

Brenda Suggs

Community College: Texas State Technical College Waco, TX

Intended Four-Year School: Baylor University

AsJa Sutton

Community College: Labette Community College, KS

Intended Four-Year School: Pittsburg State University

Nasha Taylor

Community College: Broome Community College, NY 

Intended Four-Year School: Temple University

Barbara Teed

Communtiy College: Normandale Community College, MN 

Intended Four-Year School: To be determined

Hai Vo

Community College: Orange Coast College, CA 

Intended Four-Year School: University of California, Irvine

Ben Walker

Community College: Broward Community College, FL

Intended Four-Year School: University of Colorado at Boulder

Kimberly Woo

Community College: Bunker Hill Community College, MA 

Intended Four-Year School: Harvard University

Olga Yarychkivska

Community College: Manor College, PA 

Intended Four-Year School: Drexel University

Mary Yurkutat

Community College: Folsom Lake College, CA

Intended Four-Year School: University of California, Davis