JBHE: Latest News for 7/26/07

Five Black Community College Students Win Jack Kent Cooke Transfer Scholarships

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation recently announced its 2007 Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship recipients. Community college graduates selected as transfer scholars receive up to $30,000 per year for up to three years in order to complete their bachelor’s degree at four-year institutions. This year 51 Jack Kent Cooke Transfer Scholars were named. Five of these 2007 transfer scholars are African Americans who will begin their junior year at four-year educational institutions this fall. Here are the five scholars:

• Hamilton D. Cunningham is a graduate of Georgia Perimeter College in Decatur. He will enroll in Howard University this fall. A high school dropout, he later earned his GED certificate and joined the U.S. Air Force. A trumpeter, he plans to study music and business.

• Michelle V. Mills is a native of Jamaica. She came to the United States in 2004 to receive treatment for a medical condition. She enrolled in Broward Community College in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and worked two jobs to pay for her tuition. She will enroll at the University of Miami this fall to study law.

• McStephen O.A. Solomon is a native of Nigeria. When he was 14 his mother was killed and his father disabled in an automobile crash. He became responsible for his four siblings. The family came to the United States in 1994 and he became a citizen in 2001. He worked to support his family as an actor and a personal trainer. Now 36 years old, Solomon graduated from South Suburban College in South Holland, Illinois. He will enroll this fall at DePaul University and plans on a career in international law.

• Stephen Stigler is a native of Lancaster, California. He quit school at age 14 in order to work to help support his family. In 1997 he lapsed into a diabetic coma and had to stop work. His family was obliged to move into a homeless shelter. Now 47 years old, Stigler has completed study at Antelope Valley Community College and will enroll at the University of California at Los Angeles this fall.

• Brenda L. Suggs got married directly out of high school and entered the work force. Decades later, when she fell and broke her back in two places making it impossible for her to continue at her job, she decided to go back to school. Now 55 years old, she has completed work at Texas State Technical College in Waco and will enroll at Baylor University this fall where she will undertake a business curriculum with a specialization in entrepreneurship.