Above: From left are Cory Kiper, winner of the Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, and Tammy Franks, vice president of MGCCC Jackson County Campus, at an award presentation ceremony held at the Jackson County Campus on May 23. The scholarship provides up to $40,000 per year for Kiper to complete her bachelor’s degree at the university she chooses.

Cory Kiper, a student at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College’s Jackson County Campus, has received the Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. Kiper, from Ocean Springs, plans to major in history and international law at The University of Mississippi and will be part of the Arabic language program there.

“I couldn’t believe it when I received the call from MGCCC about winning the scholarship,” she said. “It still seems surreal.”

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship honors excellence by supporting outstanding community college students with financial need to transfer to and complete their bachelor’s degrees at the nation’s top four-year colleges and universities. It provides up to $40,000 per year to each of almost 85 students selected annually.

Kiper also received a Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society scholarship, the Community College Leadership scholarship and the Community College Academic Excellence scholarship. Before graduating from MGCCC this May, she was involved in both Phi Theta Kappa and the Honors College. She served as regional office for Phi Theta Kappa, holding the position of Southern District Regional representative. While at the Jackson County Campus, she received an honors scholarship, was named to the Who’s Who Among Community College Students and was in the campus Hall of Fame.