Forty-three Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) members have received the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s (JKCF) 2020 Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. They will each receive up to $40,000 a year for up to three years to complete an undergraduate degree.
In total, 50 two-year college students received the scholarship — 86 percent of them PTK members. The JKCF Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship is the nation’s largest private scholarship program.
“Year after year, we see that the vast majority of Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholars are also Phi Theta Kappa members, and we don’t believe this is by accident,” PTK President and CEO Dr. Lynn Tincher-Ladner said. “We know our members to be among the best higher education has to offer, and they are also among the most deserving. I am absolutely thrilled for all 43 of them, and I can’t wait to see what they do with this extraordinary gift.”
In addition to the financial support, each Cooke Scholar will have access to college planning support and advising on how to successfully transition to a four-year school. They will also have the opportunity to connect with previous Cooke Scholars, 69 percent of whom have gone on to attend highly competitive colleges and universities.
Scholars were selected from nearly 1,500 applications and were evaluated based on academic ability and achievement, persistence, leadership, and service to others. Cooke Scholars also now have opportunities for internships, study abroad, and graduate school funding through the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation.
The Phi Theta Kappa members who have been named 2020 Cooke Scholars are:
Alabama
Aljon Celis, Wallace State Community College
Arizona
Abigaly Antonal Rodriguez, Mesa Community College
Maria Rodriquez, Phoenix College
California
Juan Becerra, Los Angeles Pierce College
Khadijah Bint Sadiq Abdulmateen, MiraCosta College
Ava Davari, MiraCosta College
Hanan Dirirsa, San Diego Mesa College
Jenel Fraij, Hartnell College
Licol Zeinfeld, MiraCosta College
Florida
Hamzeh Alturk, Miami Dade College
Liz Laura De Armas Mestre, Miami Dade College
Reinaldo Figueroa, Miami Dade College
Ivan Franco, Palm Beach State College
Daliany Gerena, Seminole State College of Florida
Kathleen McBride, Seminole State College of Florida
Alexander Moker, Daytona State College
Jose Portes Cevallos, Miami Dade College
Jennifer Tolliver, Valencia College
Georgia
Matthew Wessler, Perimeter College, Georgia State University
Illinois
Heather Atherton, Wilbur Wright College
Amelia Baldwin, Oakton Community College
Michigan
Ali Kurmasha, Washtenaw Community College
Mississippi
Savannah Barnes, Pearl River Community College
Torrance McIntosh, Itawamba Community College
Nevada
Alan Cruz, College of Southern Nevada
New Jersey
Abdellah Amrhar, Hudson County Community College
Luis Cedeno, Bergen Community College
Marie Febrillet, Passaic County Community College
Kamilla Kocsis, Union County College
New York
Nidaa Aljabbarin, Onondaga Community College
Jaweria Bakar, Kingsborough Community College
Biling Chen, Queensborough Community College
North Carolina
Christian Donaldson, Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College
Oklahoma
Tyler McKenzie, Redlands Community College
Justin West, Tulsa Community College
Tennessee
Samantha Benavides, Cleveland State Community College
Gary Michael Satin, Chattanooga State Community College
Texas
Daniel Landaverde, Northeast Texas Community College
Humberto Leal Acosta, Lone Star College
Virginia
Faiz Adem, Northern Virginia Community College
Reham Elsayed, Northern Virginia Community College
Judith Obregon, Northern Virginia Community College
One additional Phi Theta Kappa member did not opt in to publicity.
