Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Honored at Society's 2006 International Convention
The Jack Kent
Cooke Foundation has been named recipient of the 2006 Alliance
for Educational Excellence Distinguished Partner Award. The award presentation
took place at the recent 88th International Convention of Phi Theta Kappa,
the international honor society for community college students, and a
founder of the Alliance for Educational Excellence. Dr. Matthew Quinn,
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Executive Director, accepted the award.
"The
Jack Kent Foundation was established only six years ago - yet in that short
span of time the foundation has established the largest scholarship program
in the United States for community college students and has helped enhance
the credibility of the community college's role in higher education,"
said Phi Theta Kappa Executive Director Rod A. Risley, who presented the
award to Dr. Quinn.
"Since 2002, when the first Jack Kent Cooke
Scholarships were awarded, over 200 community college students - the vast
majority of them Phi Theta Kappa members - have received scholarships to
enable them to complete their baccalaureate degrees," Risley continued.
"The maximum award available per student is $30,000 per year. This scholarship
provides community college transfer students access to highly selective
institutions that otherwise would be unavailable because of cost."
Risley
said that 38 community college students received Jack Kent Cooke Scholarships
in 2006 - more than in any other year - and 32 of the 36 were Phi Theta Kappa members.
"In
addition the foundation and its higher-education partners are providing
millions of dollars to improve college access for low- and middle-income
community college students and help them earn bachelor's degrees from
highly selective four-year institutions," Risley concluded. "The Foundation's
Community College Transfer Initiative is one more indication that the
tide is turning, and that community colleges and their students are at long
last receiving the respect they deserve."
"This initiative
highlights the importance of the transfer aspect of the community college
mission," Risley said.
"We are flattered to receive this award
since it comes from a partner whose mission we value and whose programs we
admire," Dr. Quinn said. "Phi Theta Kappa has transformed the lives of thousands
of students by setting high standards and expecting excellent performance."
The
Alliance for Educational Excellence is an organization of honor societies
representing four-year colleges and universities, community colleges
and high schools.
Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society,
headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi, is the largest honor society in
American higher education with 1,200 chapters on two-year and community
college campuses in all 50 of the United States, Canada, Germany, the Republic
of Palau, the British Virgin Islands and U.S. territorial possessions.
More than two million students have been inducted since its founding in
1918, with approximately 100,000 students inducted annually.
