Prestigious Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship Announces 2020 Semifinalists
Lansdowne, VA — The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation announced today the semifinalists for its highly selective Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. Through this award, the Foundation supports high-achieving community college students as they transfer to some of the best four-year institutions in the country to complete their bachelor’s degrees.
This year’s 461 semifinalists were chosen from a pool of nearly 1,500 applicants attending 311 community colleges in 45 states and the District of Columbia.
“Year after year, we are impressed by the incredible talent and resolve of community college students,” said Seppy Basili, executive director of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. “We are proud to recognize this outstanding group of semifinalists for their academic achievement.”
The Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship recipients will be announced in April. Selected scholars will receive financial support for up to three years, comprehensive educational advising, and the chance to connect with fellow Cooke Scholars.
Cooke Transfer Scholars are selected based on their exceptional academic ability and achievement, financial need, persistence, service to others, and leadership. Students must be currently enrolled community college students or recent graduates residing in the United States.
Learn more about the Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship here.
A list of this year’s Cooke Transfer Scholar Semifinalists, their community colleges, and the states they represent can be found below.
Alabama
Aljon Celis — Wallace State Community College at Hanceville
Grace Poynter — George C. Wallace Community College at Dothan
Arizona
Abigaly Atonal Rodriguez — Mesa Community College
Luis Estrada — Cochise College
Shyanne King — Mesa Community College
Maria Rodriquez — Phoenix College
Dayana Vega — Glendale Community College
Ruth Solano-Cardel — GateWay Community College
Arkansas
Riya Patel — Arkansas State University: Mountain Home
California
Amira Abed — Grossmont College
Nimi Agassi — Santa Monica College
Gabrielle Marie Agustin — Fullerton College
Simon Alam — Los Angeles Pierce College
Mariam Alaverdian — Los Angeles City College
Kristina Aleshina — College of San Mateo
Ethan Anderson — Diablo Valley College
Mayra Angon — MiraCosta College
Ian Anthoine — Butte College
Ani Apikyan — Los Angeles Valley College
Lucian Baxter — Los Medanos College
Juan Becerra — Los Angeles Pierce College
Adriana Benitez — Fullerton College
Khadijah Bint Sadiq Abdulmateen — MiraCosta College
Dana Brenklin — Los Angeles City College
Kenya Burton — Hartnell College
Mireya Cabral-Mixco — Diablo Valley College
Paul Calvo — Fresno City College
Chris Danielle Caracena — East Los Angeles College
Johanna Carbajal — East Los Angeles College
Janet Carreno — Fullerton College
Yong Cho — Mount San Antonio College
Sarkis Chrikjian — Los Angeles Pierce College
Kiera Crandall — Diablo Valley College
Ava Davari — MiraCosta College
Hanan Dirirsa — San Diego Mesa College
Tiffany Doldol — Diablo Valley College
Emiliia Dyrenkova — MiraCosta College
Htet Htet Win Pyone Ei — Canada College
Joe Ejie — Contra Costa College
Uchenna Esomonu — Diablo Valley College
Anthony Fabbro — Los Medanos College
Christopher Fennelle — Los Angeles Southwest College
Oscar Fernandez Paz — MiraCosta College
Spencer Finkbeiner — Orange Coast College
Stacy Foryoung — Los Angeles Harbor College
Steve Tse Ngwa Foryoung — Los Angeles Harbor College
Jenel Fraij — Hartnell College
Nicole Funes — East Los Angeles College
Selome Gebremedhin — Santa Monica College
Nika Ghavamizadeh — Berkeley City College
Itzel Gidwani — East Los Angeles College
Angela Gomez — East Los Angeles College
Wen Gu — East Los Angeles College
Guidance Gunundu — Canada College
Brian Ha — East Los Angeles College
Farah Hammam — Orange Coast College
Bryan Hernandez Benitez — East Los Angeles College
Jenny Hsu — East Los Angeles College
Michael Huizar — Saddleback College
Adil Hussain — El Camino College
Yongha Hwang — Santa Monica College
Hyeji Jang — Santa Monica College
Joseph Kim — Pasadena City College
Rachel Kim — San Diego Miramar College
Ha Rin Kim — Santa Monica College
Milan Kinnemore — Santa Monica College
Safiyah Lakhany — Fullerton College
Jae Lee — Foothill College
Gabriel Lee — MiraCosta College
Daniel Limon — Saddleback College
Brittany Lizaola — East Los Angeles College
Lizeth Lopez Vazquez — Southwestern College
Marcelo Lopez-Viva — Los Angeles Valley College
Chrissa Loukadakis — Santa Monica College
Jovanhy Martinez — MiraCosta College
Colin Melendez — Los Angeles Pierce College
Dori Mondon-Freeman — College of the Siskiyous
Oliver Nassiwa — Los Angeles Valley College
Sagar Nayak — College of San Mateo
Samaun Nejad — MiraCosta College
Brian Ng — Mount San Antonio College
Samantha Oboro — Long Beach City College
Jessica Palominos — Mount San Antonio College
Keren Perla Corea — Mount San Antonio College
Luka Radosavljevic — Canada College
Marcoantonio Ramirez Gamboa — Los Medanos College
Omar Ramirez-Pimienta — Southwestern College
Harutyun Rehanyan — Los Angeles Valley College
Aziz Sadat — Diablo Valley College
Madina Safdari — Moorpark College
Carmina Schulte — Los Angeles Valley College
Jill Scott — Los Angeles City College
Daniel Setiabudi — College of the Canyons
Margi Shah — College of the Sequoias
Priyanshi Sharma — De Anza College
Fatima Sheyda — Los Angeles Pierce College
Yunho Shin — Pasadena City College
Natasha Skidmore — American River College
Jongwoo Son — Fullerton College
Tyrone Taleni — Mount San Antonio College
Emily Thompson — Long Beach City College
Artem Tkachuk — American River College
Hoang Tran — Mount San Antonio College
Dao Minh Anh Van — San Diego Miramar College
Thomas Van — East Los Angeles College
Jocelyn Villalobos — Los Medanos College
Estefania Villicana-Albanil — Hartnell College
Licol Zeinfeld — MiraCosta College
Aung Zin — Pasadena City College
Colorado
Abby Chadwick — Community College of Denver
Sarah Frazier — Community College of Denver
Chloe Krebill — Colorado Mountain College
Betsy Naas — Aims Community College
Sophie Salazar — Front Range Community College
Connecticut
Brianna Fraser — Manchester Community College
Roman Tigranyan — Norwalk Community College
Florida
Umad Abid — Miami Dade College
Hamzeh Alturk — Miami Dade College
Julienne Asuncion — Broward College
Ameriks Barboza Castillo — Miami Dade College
Carlos Barredo Rojas — Miami Dade College
Ana Caballe Escandell — Miami Dade College
Reinaldo Cabrera Perez — Hillsborough Community College
Melva Camacho — Valencia College
Gema Cervantes — Palm Beach State College
Rachel Clark — Gulf Coast State College
Gisell Curbelo — Miami Dade College
Robert Curran — Broward College
Liz De Armas Mestre — Miami Dade College
Dillon deKalands — Valencia College
Angel Diaz — Miami Dade College
Diego Dulanto — Hillsborough Community College
Daniela Ferrer — Miami Dade College
Anielka Figueroa — Miami Dade College
Reinaldo Figueroa — Miami Dade College
Ernesto Fraga — Miami Dade College
Ivan Franco — Palm Beach State College
Lidia Galeas-Giron — Seminole State College of Florida
Emily Gearhart — Seminole State College of Florida
Daliany Gerena Guerrido — Seminole State College of Florida
Chavely Gonzalez — Miami Dade College
Dave Harrigin — Broward College
Daniela Hernandez — Miami Dade College
Nelson Hidalgo — Miami Dade College
Rachael Hobbs — Palm Beach State College
Regina Iskin — Valencia College
Eric Jjombwe — Indian River State College
Tasha Joseph — Palm Beach State College
Liz Leyva Vera — Hillsborough Community College
Diego Mansilla — Miami Dade College
Stefany Marjani — Miami Dade College
Luis Martin — Miami Dade College
Yuko Matsumoto — Miami Dade College
Veronica Mayor — Daytona State College
Kathleen McBride — Seminole State College of Florida
Lisbeth Mendoza — Miami Dade College
Alexander Moker — Daytona State College
Taylor Moore — Seminole State College of Florida
Rivkah Moshe — Broward College
Erin Najarro — Valencia College
Gabriela Perez Robles — Miami Dade College
Selin Pichs — Miami Dade College
Kelcy Ramirez — Hillsborough Community College
Brian Rasp — Miami Dade College
Mariaesther Romero — Miami Dade College
Marah Sanchez — Miami Dade College
Eduardo Sevilla Dieguez — Miami Dade College
Kia Singleton — Seminole State College of Florida
Adolfo Sirias — Miami Dade College
Miguel Soto — Valencia College
Rashad Stubbs — Hillsborough Community College
Alejandra Suarez Garcia — Miami Dade College
Sean Taber — Polk State College
Arsene Landry Tatke — Valencia College
Juan Tognini — Miami Dade College
Jennifer Tolliver — Valencia College
Sofia Torrenegra — Miami Dade College
Giselle Valdes — Miami Dade College
Lance Wood — Hillsborough Community College
Georgia
Yuqi Chen — Perimeter College at Georgia State University
Moumita Deb — Perimeter College at Georgia State University
Diana Ha — Perimeter College at Georgia State University
Rachel Hefner — Perimeter College at Georgia State University
Esther Hyacinth — Perimeter College at Georgia State University
Nestor Kaputo — Perimeter College at Georgia State University
Alex Kendrick — Perimeter College at Georgia State University
Vanessa Rodriguez-Almendarez — Perimeter College at Georgia State University
Gulsu Timurturkan — Perimeter College at Georgia State University
Cassie Turner — Perimeter College at Georgia State University
Drew Wensel — Perimeter College at Georgia State University
Israel Agundis — Dalton State College
Carlie Anderson — University of North Georgia
Johan Rodriguez-Soto — University of North Georgia
Matthew Wessler — Perimeter College at Georgia State University
Hawaii
Yaneli Hernandez-Carrillo — University of Hawaii: Honolulu Community College
Valentine Santarone — University of Hawaii: Hawaii Community College
Idaho
Zoey Carr — College of Western Idaho
Illinois
Heather Atherton — City Colleges of Chicago: Wilbur Wright College
Amelia Baldwin — Oakton Community College
Brooke Bohlin — Elgin Community College
Kimberly Bolanos — City Colleges of Chicago: Wilbur Wright College
Dallas Brodersen — City Colleges of Chicago: Wilbur Wright College
Diego Cruz — Harper College
Destiny Cunningham — Prairie State College
Juan Guerrero — City Colleges of Chicago: Harold Washington College
Bernardo Luna — Triton College
Brandy Morgan — John A. Logan College
Oluwatosin Oladipo — Prairie State College
Brian Ortiz — City Colleges of Chicago: Wilbur Wright College
Roberto Pacheco — City Colleges of Chicago: Wilbur Wright College
Celeste Sanchez — City Colleges of Chicago: Malcolm X College
David Santafe-Zambrano — Harper College
Casandra Del Valle — Arrupe College of Loyola University
Iowa
Connie Chu — Scott Community College
Pedro Salazar Garcia — Des Moines Area Community College
Kansas
Zarina Davletova — Garden City Community College
Munira Jorayeva — Independence Community College
Arielle Pugh — Kansas City Kansas Community College
Maryland
Hayat Abdurahman — Community College of Baltimore County
Francisca Baidoo — Montgomery College
Bhairavi Bandekar — Montgomery College
Estefani Calle — Community College of Baltimore County
Alexander Casserly — Howard Community College
Farris Hamad — Montgomery College
Maryam Iftikhar — Montgomery College
Grace Martins — Community College of Baltimore County
Brian Ngoh — Prince George’s Community College
Kendall Weingard — Montgomery College
Massachusetts
Mixhe Bedrick — Quinsigamond Community College
Angelica Cabrera — Bunker Hill Community College
Hannah Graves — Greenfield Community College
Michael Gregorka — Roxbury Community College
Maya Lewis-Burgess — Massasoit Community College
Asmae Lichir — Bunker Hill Community College
Nicole McGrath Coocen — Greenfield Community College
Darkenley Minviel — Bunker Hill Community College
Bene Nemadjilembaye — Greenfield Community College
Zaida Pimentel Gamboa — Northern Essex Community College
Larissa Louissaint — North Shore Community College
Michigan
Caitlyn Bilkovsky — Grand Rapids Community College
Lesley Bos — Grand Rapids Community College
Jacob Foster — Grand Rapids Community College
Ali Kurmasha — Washtenaw Community College
David Seaman — Washtenaw Community College
Mississippi
Ashton Anderson — Pearl River Community College
Christopher Baldwin — Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College
Savannah Barnes — Pearl River Community College
Ciara Brewer — Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College
Gloria Giddes — Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College
Edgar Marquez — Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College
Tj McIntosh — Itawamba Community College
Alyssa Necaise — Pearl River Community College
Kyle Simpson — Pearl River Community College
Kirsten Speights — Pearl River Community College
Katelyn Winstead — Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College
Nevada
Alan Cruz — College of Southern Nevada
New Jersey
Sahrish Afzal — Bergen Community College
Abdellah Amrhar — Hudson County Community College
Rhys Ancheta — Atlantic Cape Community College
Kira Campagna — Camden County College
Luis Cedeno Vera — Bergen Community College
Peter Chin — Bergen Community College
Michelle Coneo — Bergen Community College
Jada Cummings — Bergen Community College
Maximino DiGiacomo-Castillo — Passaic County Community College
Marie Febrillet — Passaic County Community College
Lauren Gonzalez — Passaic County Community College
Manav Guzraty — Essex County College
Mohammed Hussein — Essex County College
Tae Min Kim — Bergen Community College
Kamilla Kocsis — Union County College
Veronique Manfredini — Brookdale Community College
Komal Mir — Middlesex County College
Mohanad Mohamed — Hudson County Community College
Michael Petrazzuolo — Bergen Community College
Abderahim Salhi — Hudson County Community College
Sitwat Syed — Middlesex County College
Ashma Thomas — Essex County College
Beianka Tomlinson — Union County College
Elias Trejo — Passaic County Community College
Adelajda Turku — Bergen Community College
Nghia Vo — Hudson County Community College
Jung Yoon — Bergen Community College
New Mexico
Kadeem Ladoo — University of New Mexico – Gallup Branch
New York
Mohamed Aden — City University of New York: Hostos Community College
Emmanuel Agunloye — City University of New York: Queensborough Community College
Sakib Ahmed — City University of New York: Borough of Manhattan Community College
Nidaa Aljabbarin — Onondaga Community College
Alpha Bah — City University of New York: Hostos Community College
Jaweria Bakar — City University of New York: Kingsborough Community College
Yani Barrow — City University of New York: Queensborough Community College
Maddie Bohrer — Onondaga Community College
Jose Cevallos — City University of New York: Borough of Manhattan Community College
Rivka Chaimowitz — City University of New York: Kingsborough Community College
Biling Chen — City University of New York: Queensborough Community College
Schidza Cime — City University of New York: Borough of Manhattan Community College
Luis De La Cruz Jave — City University of New York: LaGuardia Community College
Austin DeMurley — Suffolk County Community College
Marie Dere — City University of New York: LaGuardia Community College
Andre Dunkley — City University of New York: LaGuardia Community College
John Duran — Suffolk County Community College
Anthony Feliz — City University of New York: Hostos Community College
Abdoul-hanane Gbadamassi — City University of New York: Borough of Manhattan Community College
Sergio Gomez Navarro — City University of New York: Borough of Manhattan Community College
Andrea Gomez Sarmiento — City University of New York: Borough of Manhattan Community College
Kayesha Hancel — City University of New York: Bronx Community College
Patrick Izidro de Souza — City University of New York: Borough of Manhattan Community College
Kae Kuratomo — City University of New York: LaGuardia Community College
Yongqi Li — City University of New York: Kingsborough Community College
Jennifer Martinez — Westchester Community College
Thomas McGuire — Suffolk County Community College
Anna Miller — City University of New York: Borough of Manhattan Community College
Kody Morris — Westchester Community College
Kingsley Odae — City University of New York: Hostos Community College
Daniel Orjuela Boyaca — City University of New York: Borough of Manhattan Community College
Giovanny Ospina — City University of New York: LaGuardia Community College
Lala Ouedraogo — City University of New York: Borough of Manhattan Community College
Nastumi Sasabe — Genesee Community College
Sapir Sharoni — City University of New York: LaGuardia Community College
Sparkle Sillim Laar — City University of New York: Bronx Community College
Zilla Tofte — City University of New York: LaGuardia Community College
Gabriela Torrento — Nassau Community College
Qi Xie — City University of New York: LaGuardia Community College
Abubakar Yussif — City University of New York: Borough of Manhattan Community College
Naomi Levinshtein — City University of New York: Kingsborough Community College
Ariel Malka — City University of New York: Kingsborough Community College
Ayah Saif — City University of New York: Kingsborough Community College
North Carolina
Christian Donaldson — Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College
Samuel Garzon — Mitchell Community College
Samuel Korvie — Durham Technical Community College
Jim Strickland — Central Piedmont Community College
Jesus Vina Moreno — Gaston College
Brian Yi — Wake Technical Community College
Ohio
Jenna Boggess — Lakeland Community College
Leon Contreras — Cuyahoga Community College
Katrina Ferry — Cincinnati State Technical and Community College
Oklahoma
Jose Jacobo — Oklahoma City Community College
Tyler McKenzie — Redlands Community College
Bethany Niman — Tulsa Community College
Justice Robinson — Tulsa Community College
Justin West — Tulsa Community College
Alyssa Whan — Tulsa Community College
Oregon
Owen Cherry — Umpqua Community College
Christina Mestas — Rogue Community College
Jordan Smith — Umpqua Community College
Pennsylvania
Jessie Bernhardt — Northampton Community College
Asher Glynn — Northampton Community College
Bangyan Li — Harrisburg Area Community College
Anthony Martino — Delaware County Community College
Jamie Ratchford — Northampton Community College
Sandy Riguera Guillen — Harrisburg Area Community College
Privish Sadaqat — Manor College
Victor Svistunov — Harrisburg Area Community College
Rhode Island
John Davies — Community College of Rhode Island
Tennessee
Jonathan Barrett — Northeast State Community College
Christine Bebawy — Cleveland State Community College
Samantha Benavides — Cleveland State Community College
Shalyn Landes — Chattanooga State Community College
Sadie Lane — Cleveland State Community College
Tuan Nguyen — Northeast State Community College
Gary Satin — Chattanooga State Community College
Kayti Stout — Northeast State Community College
Texas
Isabelle AbuHamad — Lone Star College System
Mohamed Amijee — Collin County Community College District
Chiedo Atuegwu — Odessa College
Analy Atz — Mountain View College
Courtney Baldwin — Northeast Texas Community College
Carl Benson — Lone Star College System
Bo Black — Tarrant County College
Amaya Blanton — Tyler Junior College
Natalino Carlo — Lone Star College System
Daniela Contreras De la Cruz — El Centro College
Ayush Dhakal — Lone Star College System
Noelle Files — Lone Star College System
Jazmin Garcia — Northeast Texas Community College
Andrea Gonzalez – Barraza — El Paso Community College
Ali Al-Saud Hassiman — Lone Star College System
Anahi Hernandez — Tyler Junior College
Mary Hurtado Valbuena — Lone Star College System
Mareeha Jangda — Lone Star College System
Jaiyeola Johnson — El Centro College
Daniela Juarez — Tyler Junior College
Saddy Khakimova — San Jacinto College
Daniel Landaverde — Northeast Texas Community College
Humberto Leal Acosta — Lone Star College System
Timothy Lesgaux — Austin Community College
Verania Leyva Garcia — Northeast Texas Community College
Michelle Lopez — Richland College
Francis Mazariegos — Lone Star College System
Mimi Mbaakanyi — Richland College
Gilbert Mwihaki — Brazosport College
Taylor Myer — Lone Star College System
Abigail Napitupulu — Lone Star College System
Sohee Park — Houston Community College System
Jacaranda Peralta — Mountain View College
Thao Phan — Houston Community College System
Sofia Quintero Argentin — Tyler Junior College
Riley Rawald — Southwest Texas Junior College
Andrea Reyes — Northeast Texas Community College
Paris Ritthamel — Lone Star College System
Krystal Sandoval — Austin Community College
Doreen Santos-Pagan — Lone Star College System
Caroline Shiloh — Lone Star College System
Jay Souza Madeira — Austin Community College
Daniel Starr — Lone Star College System
Valentina Tardugno Poleo — Lone Star College System
Lady Trejo — Tyler Junior College
Coco Yeh — Brookhaven College
Amberly Zaragoza — Northwest Vista College
Utah
Andrea Bustillo — Snow College
Vermont
Maria Guizler Bonilla — Community College of Vermont
Virginia
Faiz Adem — Northern Virginia Community College
Philip Amenyo Awude — Northern Virginia Community College
Cristina Arellano Chiroque — Northern Virginia Community College
Stephen Boakye — Northern Virginia Community College
Jennifer Burdette — Tidewater Community College
Yunjung Choi — Northern Virginia Community College
Alex Coleman — Northern Virginia Community College
Yonatan Duega — Northern Virginia Community College
Reham Elsayed — Northern Virginia Community College
Rwaka Furaha — Northern Virginia Community College
Seoyeon Heo — Northern Virginia Community College
Hyeweon Jeong — Northern Virginia Community College
Sharan Kaur — Northern Virginia Community College
Acsa Lemus-Gonzalez — Northern Virginia Community College
Julianna Marsh — Northern Virginia Community College
Ellaha Momand — Northern Virginia Community College
Judith Obregon — Northern Virginia Community College
Eunju Oh — Northern Virginia Community College
Serlin Puerto — Northern Virginia Community College
Luis Quiroga — Northern Virginia Community College
Stefanie Socher — Northern Virginia Community College
Zahra Wahed — Northern Virginia Community College
Sadaf Wali — Thomas Nelson Community College
Chenelle Williams — J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College
Yasmeen Zargarpur — Northern Virginia Community College
Washington
Jonathan Narita — Bellevue College
Hector Torres — Yakima Valley Community College
Nhu Truong — Tacoma Community College
Nineteen additional Cooke Transfer Scholar Semifinalists did not opt into publicity.
UPDATE April 1, 2020: There are a total of 461 Cooke Transfer Scholar Semifinalists. An earlier version of this press release noted 456 semifinalists.
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The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is dedicated to advancing the education of exceptionally promising students who have financial need. Since 2000, the Foundation has awarded over $200 million in scholarships to over 2,700 students from 8th grade through graduate school, along with comprehensive educational advising and other support services. The Foundation has also provided $110 million in grants to organizations that serve such students. www.jkcf.org
Media Contact: Amber Styles, 571-442-0772, media@jkcf.org