Ahyan Malik, a student at Berkeley City College in California, has been named Phi Theta Kappa’s 2026 Founder’s Medal Award recipient. Malik received a $1,000 scholarship and the Founder’s Medal Medallion in recognition of writing the essay that most powerfully conveys the value of a community college education.
Selected from more than 1,200 submissions, Malik’s essay chronicles a journey that began with disappointment after not being admitted to his dream university. He entered community college intending to transfer as quickly as possible. Instead, he discovered something far more valuable: a place where leadership, service, research, and meaningful engagement transformed both his future and his understanding of success.
“Ahyan’s story perfectly illustrates what we know about student success,” said Phi Theta Kappa President and CEO Dr. Lynn Tincher-Ladner. “Academic achievement opened the first door, but engagement changed his life. Community college gave him opportunities to lead, conduct research, serve other students, and discover his own potential. Those experiences transformed him into the kind of student who earned one of the nation’s most prestigious transfer scholarships and admission to Stanford University.”
During his time at Berkeley City College, Malik embraced opportunities well beyond the classroom. He worked in the college’s Career and Transfer Center, founded the Transfer Club, designed STEM learning workshops for fellow students, conducted undergraduate research with the University of California, Berkeley, participated in NASA STEM programs, and served as Student Trustee for the Peralta Community College District.
Rather than rushing through community college, Malik made the intentional decision to remain for a second year to deepen his learning, leadership, and service. His engagement culminated in being named a recipient of the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. This fall, he will transfer to Stanford University.
“Community college wasn’t simply the path that led Ahyan to Stanford,” Dr. Tincher-Ladner added. “It was the place where he became the person capable of getting there. His story reminds us that community colleges don’t just change where students go. They change who students become.”
From Ahyan’s Award-Winning Essay
• “I stopped seeing it as a place to pass through and began seeing it as a place to grow deliberately.”
• “Instead of asking which commitments would help me transfer fastest, I started asking where I could test what kind of contributor I was becoming.”
• “By the time I transfer, I will not be leaving because I rushed to escape, but because I have built the confidence, skills, and sense of responsibility needed to contribute at a larger scale. The value of my community college education lies in how it demanded that growth from me sooner than anywhere else could.”
Read Ahyan Malik’s complete 2026 Founder’s Medal-winning essay at ptk.org.
About Phi Theta Kappa
Phi Theta Kappa is the first honor society recognizing the academic achievement of students at associate degree-granting colleges and helping them grow as scholars and leaders. The Society is the largest honor society in higher education, with more than 4.4 million members and nearly 1,250 chapters in 11 countries, including approximately 220,000 active members in the nation’s colleges. Learn more at ptk.org.
