WCC Graduates Include Winner Of Prestigious Scholarship

From WCC: Westchester Community College’s May 2019 graduation ceremony, one of the largest in the institution’s history, included the announcement of the winner of one of the nation’s largest community college student scholarships along with remarks from a local business leader.

For the tenth time, a student from Westchester Community College was awarded a Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, the nation’s largest and most competitive scholarship for community college students. Student Monica Victoria (Valhalla, New York) became the college’s tenth winner of the highly competitive scholarship. The $40,000 per year award covers tuition, living expenses, books, and fees. In addition, recipients are eligible to apply for graduate school funding of up to $75,000. “I came to the college in 2015, uncertain of who I was. I was a meek person at that time, and doubtful of my scholarly capabilities. Now I have graduated with the knowledge that I am strong, qualified, efficient, accomplished, and intelligent–qualities that have carried over into my personal life and that have had a positive effect on my position at work and even on my parenting,” says the Accounting major.
61 scholars were selected this year to receive the award nationwide.

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is dedicated to advancing the education of students with financial need. By offering the largest scholarships, counseling, and other support services to students from 7th grade to graduate school, the Foundation is dedicated to ensuring high-performing, low-income students have the support necessary to develop their talents and excel educationally. In addition to its scholarship programs, the Foundation provides grants for innovative, high-impact initiatives that benefit such students. By doing so, the Cooke Foundation seeks to use its resources to end the Excellence Gap, the disparity between the number of low and high income students who reach the top levels of academic performance. Founded in 2000, the Foundation has awarded $130 million in scholarships to 1,900 students and over $80 million in grants. As part of its mission, the Foundation helps students in community and two-year colleges transfer to four-year institutions to pursue bachelor’s degrees.

The Foundation identifies and supports young people of special intelligence, application, deportment, and character who have serious financial need and have demonstrated excellence in academic endeavors and extracurricular activities. Also at the ceremony held at the County Center in White Plains, Larry D. Woodard, chairman, Graham Stanley Advertising, gave the commencement speech. The White Plains resident is a highly regarded advertising industry
executive with more than thirty years of advertising industry experience. As chairman of Graham Stanley, a full-service agency that he founded in 2010, he has had a large degree of success. Woodard and the companies he has led have been the recipients of numerous awards including the O’Toole Agency of The Year Award (twice), the Gold Effie, multiple London International Awards, and a Cannes Gold Lion. He has created advertising and promotions for many blue-chip companies including Heineken, Western Union, The Snapple Beverage Company, Motorola and Mars Incorporated. His collaboration with Oprah Winfrey and General Motors to the giveaway of 276 cars, one to each member of her show audience, which has been called the biggest single day promotion in the history of advertising.

The commencement ceremony was attending by a large audience of graduates, one of the largest graduating classes in the history of the college.