FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DCC GRAD JOINS ACADEMIC ELITE: FROM UNEMPLOYED

TEXTILE WORKER TO COOKE SCHOLAR

DANVILLE, VA, October 10, 2002 -- Like so many displaced textile workers, Cheryl M. Hill of Halifax, knows and understands the hardships and struggles they endure, but she also knows the incredible success that can come from adversity.  Hill, a 2002 graduate of Danville Community College, is one of 79 nationwide scholars who will share in $2 million in financial aid from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation to continue her education. Hill is the only community college recipient from Virginia to receive an undergraduate award from the Foundation.

“This scholarship is described as one of the most generous and certainly, most prestigious financial aid programs in the nation. I congratulate Cheryl and her wonderful family,” said Dr. Carlyle Ramsey, DCC President. “Cheryl (Hill) is a testament to the quality of students that we have in our community colleges. I also want to recognize Dr. David Balfour and other outstanding members of our faculty and staff who have provided encouragement and support to Cheryl.”

The program is designed to assist students in making the transition to four-year universities. More than half of the Foundation recipients are transferring from community colleges.

“Community college students intending to transfer often get shortchanged when it comes to receiving critical financial aid,” said Dr. Matthew J. Quinn, Executive Director of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, in announcing the Foundation’s third major scholarship effort this year.

“Our new Undergraduate Scholarship Program is working to correct that,” Quinn continues. “Few scholarship programs are available to upperclassmen. We want to make sure these talented students get the same opportunity for financial aid as their college freshman counterparts.”

Quinn said the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is receiving more than $500 million in assets from the estate of Jack Kent Cooke, who built a media empire and also owned the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team and Washington Redskins football team.  Even though Cooke yearned to go to college, Quinn said his dream was cut short when he dropped out of high school during the Great Depression to find work to help his family.  Cooke died in 1997.

             The Foundation’s undergraduate scholarships will provide up to $30,000 annually to the 79 students representing two groups: students transferring from community colleges to four-year schools, and juniors and seniors continuing at their current four-year schools. Hill plans to transfer to Bluefield College and major in organizational management.

“The Jack Kent Cooke program could provide a national model for well-designed scholarship programs,” said Dr. George R. Boggs, President, American Association of Community Colleges (AACC).  “It puts the emphasis on a lifelong learning continuum that is essential for success in today’s world.  For the community college students receiving these most generous scholarships, this assistance may mean the difference between a dream deferred and a promising future fulfilled.”

            Enrollment at community colleges is up, according to the American Association of Community Colleges.  Nearly half – 44 percent – of all college students in the nation attend community college.  In addition, community college students are among the hardest-working, determined people in school – a melting pot of diverse backgrounds – immigrants and first-generation Americans striving to carve a niche alongside older adults seeking professional improvement or forced into career changes, Quinn said.

Hill, a 44-year-old wife and mother, is no exception when it comes to hard working enthusiastic community college students. Hill now works part-time in Danville Community College’s Financial Aid Office. She says it’s been a long journey from textile worker to college graduate.

 “I started to work when I was 17, about 10 days after I graduated from high school. I have been in the textile (industry) off and on most of my life,” Hill says noting she had been employed for more than 25 years, and when Tultex closed its Halifax County plant, she was devastated.

 “It was the only thing that I knew how to do and I only had a high school education,” Hill recalls. “After the plant closed, we (employees) were offered the opportunity to come back to school under the Trade Readjustment Act program.

“My husband said, ‘textiles are not here anymore, you need to change your life, change your career and go back to school. Go for it!’” she continues. “Even though we knew that it would be tight for us financially for a couple of years, we knew that it was worth it.”

Two years later, she is holds an Associate in Applied Science Degree in Administrative Support Technology with a medical office specialization. She is currently working on her bachelor’s degree in organizational management at Bluefield College’s satellite location in Halifax County. While Hill may not be quite the traditional profile of many college students, she is just the type of person that the Cooke Foundation looks for in its recipients. One of the foundation’s major goals is to identify extraordinary individuals and help pursue the kind of formal education Cooke himself never had.

The Foundation award will cover Hill’s tuition and fees for the remainder of her undergraduate career at Bluefield. Hill estimates her total amount will be approximately $17,000 - $18,000 per year. Hill says she thanks Dr. David Balfour, Assistant Professor of Biology, who brought the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Scholarship information to DCC’s campus. Balfour now serves as the campus contact for the Foundation.

"All of the nominees at DCC had impressive academic records and evidence of leadership.  Cheryl's many accomplishments, coupled with her obvious ‘love of learning,’ made her standout,” said Balfour.  “The (DCC) review committee congratulates Cheryl on her award at the national level and hopes that even more DCC students will seek nomination for the scholarship next year. "

Hill says the scholarship will create opportunities for her that she never imagined.

“It’s the most amazing thing,” says Hill, “I still can’t believe it. Without the scholarship, I probably would have still continued my education, but it would have been a huge financial burden to us. My husband is back in school this year, and I have a teenage son, so I would have been limited as to what I could do, and how many classes I could take.”

Hill says making the transition to college after the layoff was not easy. But she says she was determined to succeed.

“My first class was one that DCC offered in South Boston (at Halifax County High School),” Hill says. “I got out of the car and I looked at this high school that I had never been in, and I froze with that deer-in-the-headlight look.”

She says at that point a young boy came up to her asked if she needed help in finding her classroom.

 “He said, ‘Well, I just graduated from there, come on, I’ll show you where you need to go.’ He walked me to class and all the way he talked to me and he said, ‘You really don’t need to be worried. The first class is the hardest and after that it will be OK.’

“Thank goodness for that lil’ boy,” Hill adds.  “He was so sweet, without him I don’t know if I could have made it through that first class. And, he was right, that first step was the hardest.”

Hill says she has fond memories of her experiences at DCC.

“My time at DCC has been probably the best time of my life, other than my child and my marriage,” she says. “I think a lot of that is because of the people that I work with, and my instructors. I don’t think that I would have been as happy if I had gone to a larger, four-year college at the time because it’s so impersonal. Here (at DCC) it’s a smaller and a friendlier atmosphere.

“Everyone here has been so supportive, Dr. (David) Balfour and Sherry Gott, Dr. (Carlyle) Ramsey, to name a few,” Hill continues. “DCC is a wonderful place to be and it’s very student oriented. A lot of that comes from Dr. Ramsey because he is very pro-student.”

Hill says that at DCC’s 2002 graduation there were a number of other fellow displaced Tultex workers receiving their degrees with honors. While it was a traumatic experience, Hill says most felt it was the best thing that could happen to them. Many are now working in other careers and others, like Hill, are continuing their education.

 “We would have never dreamed of doing this if the plant hadn’t closed,” Hill says. “We would have still been sitting there sewing sweatshirts. By that plant (Tultex) closing its doors, it opened so many other doors for us that we never dreamed were possible.”

For current students, as well as prospective students, Hill offers some very scholarly advice.

“Don’t be afraid to take that first step. You’re only limited by how high you are willing to reach. Older students can do just as well as the younger traditional students. It will open so many doors for you that you never dreamed were there, much less realized were closed,” Hill says. “And for the traditional student, I would say that you are going to need an education to compete in today’s global marketplace. The fact that they are in school now is a plus for them. Education is something that no one can ever take away from you.”  

Photo Caption: Cheryl M. Hill of Halifax, center, is all smiles after receiving the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Scholarship. She is shown with Dr. Carlyle Ramsey, DCC President, left, and Dr. David Balfour, Assistant Professor of Biology, and Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Scholarship campus representative.