Central Virginia Community College
CVCC Student Selected as 2009 Coca-Cola Gold Scholar
Lynchburg, VA /Media Release/3/16/09Kathleen Fort, a Central Virginia Community College student in the Communication Design program, has been selected as a 2009 Coca-Cola Gold Scholar. The program is sponsored by the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation and is administered by Phi Theta Kappa, a two-year college academic honor society. As a Gold Scholar, Fort will receive a certificate, gold medallion, and a check for $1,500. Because she was in the top-ten listing, she will also receive a $500 cash scholarship from CVCC. In addition, all Coca-Cola scholarship recipients, Gold, Silver, and Bronze, will be listed in a special section of USA TODAY in April. The Coca−Cola Scholars Foundation supports over 1,400 college students each year, with annual scholarships of $3.4 million through two nationally recognized programs on behalf of the Coca−Cola System.
Born in upstate New York, Fort came to Lynchburg in 1995, having previously attended secretarial school and taken some courses at a local community college. She worked in the Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College for four years, managing the office, helping to arrange symposiums, and serving as a campus liaison for the museum. Her experiences in a college environment gave her the determination to further her education, and she began taking classes at Central Virginia Community College.
I chose to attend a community college again because of affordability and ease of transfer, Fort explained, but I soon began to see that community college offered so much more. I became part of a world filled with intelligent, talented, and caring instructors. She has very high praise for many of her CVCC professors, including her history professor David McGee, English professor Charles Poff, and sociology professor Thomas Sparhawk. In her area of concentration, Communication and Design, she is grateful for inspired instruction from Donna Hobbs and Jim Patterson, as well as invaluable help from Jill Markwood, school photographer and instructional assistant. The professors at CVCC are truly here to teach, she says, they have excellent credentials, demand a lot, and are interested in the success of their students. I feel I have gotten a fabulous education at CVCC.
For her application to the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, Fort was required to have an A average in her classes, two letters of recommendation, answer discussion questions, and write an essay about her contribution to the campus community. She wrote the essay about her work designing a stage backdrop for poet Taylor Malis performance at CVCC, and she further discussed the collaborative effort with the CVCC Art Club to produce the 16-foot background, her conversations with the poet, and the impact of his performance.
Fort has always known that she would transfer and complete a four-year degree. She is now a studio art major at Randolph College, while continuing to take graphic arts classes at CVCC. She will attend two graduation ceremonies in May 2010 and will receive both a B.A. in Studio Art from Randolph College and an A.A.S. degree in Communication Design from CVCC. She intends to walk in the graduation ceremonies at both colleges and says the Coca-Cola scholarship will help her continue towards that goal.
Release Date: 11:00 AM (EST) 03/16/09
Release Number: 090316CocaColaGold
Media Contact:
Kathy Cudlin
Coordinator, Public Relations and Marketing
Central Virginia Community College
(434) 832-7609
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A Member Institution of the Virginia Community College System.