Northeast Texas Community College Presidential Scholars, Jessica Velazquez of Mount Vernon and Angelica Fuentes of Mount Pleasant were recently awarded Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarships. These prestigious awards cover up to $40,000†annually at a university of the student?s choice for up to three†years. Only†75 students were selected from more than 2,000 top applicants in a very competitive process for this national honor.
?Each year†I am impressed by our students? successes. To have so many Jack Kent Cooke Scholars from an institution in so few years is almost unheard of,? Dr. Brad Johnson, NTCC President, said.†?Jessica and Angelica made the most of their NTCC experience and it has paid off. We are so proud of them and†I†know that they will represent us well as they move on to their chosen universities.?
Fuentes and Velazquez are the sixth and seventh NTCC scholars to receive this award since 2010. Last year, Kayleah Cumpian of Mount Pleasant won the award. Stephen Milburn and Matthew Jordan received the scholarship in 2014, Stephani Calderon in 2013 and Clara Ramirez in 2010. Scholars are selected based on†outstanding†academic ability, achievements, persistence, leadership and financial need. Both Velazquez and Fuentes graduated from NTCC last weekend.
?Jessica and Angelica were ideal honors students, assiduous, and friendly. Both made major contributions to our campus in many ways,? Dr. Andrew Yox, NTCC Honors Director, said.
Yox said Velazquez has an intellectual depth, especially when it comes to writing brilliant essays. One of her essays was recently published by the Texas State Historical Association. She also directed the award-winning film project Honors Northeast completed on Ma and Pa Ferguson. Yox noted that Fuentes†excelled at hands-on research in chemistry, and won a poster award for her work†on the†"Synthesis of Ammonium Ionic Liquid Supported Ligands and their Application in Michael Reaction.?†Fuentes was also one of only 15 students in the nation to win the merit-based Guistwhite Award from Phi Theta Kappa.
Since 2012, NTCC leads all other colleges in the nation under 10,000 students in size in the accumulation of Jack Kent Cooke awards.† The Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship is the largest private scholarship in the nation for students transferring from two-year community colleges to four-year institutions that award bachelor?s degrees.
The Cooke Foundation has catapulted many of the nation?s at risk, first-generation college students into stardom.
?Many elite colleges and universities are reluctant to admit large numbers of transfer students from community colleges, even when these students have excellent grades and other qualifications,? said Cooke Foundation Executive Director Harold O. Levy. ?This is unfair and unwise. The Cooke Foundation?s Undergraduate Transfer Scholars have a long record of success at the most selective colleges and graduate schools, such as the Ivy League in the United States and the University of Oxford in Great Britain. These extraordinary young people have proven repeatedly and conclusively that top community college students have the ability to thrive in top four-year colleges. They deserve equal educational opportunity.?
Angelica is the daughter of Jose and Angelica Fuentes of Mount Pleasant. Jessica is the daughter of Laurencio and Maria Velazquez of Mount Vernon.
