Honolulu Community College student receives Coca-Cola Scholarship

Accomplished scholar is seventh HCC student to receive award in eight years

Honolulu Community College
Contact:
Ralph Kam, (808) 845-9110
Dean
Lena Low, (808) 845-9205
Associate Professor
Posted: Sep 18, 2007


HONOLULU — Honolulu Community College (HCC) student Twylah Evans is the recipient of a $1,000 scholarship from the Coca-Cola Two-Year Colleges Scholarship Program. Evans, a Liberal Arts major, hopes to work on both her Bachelor‘s and Master‘s Degrees in Nursing after graduating from HCC next Spring.

Nominees for Coca-Cola scholarships must demonstrate both academic success and a commitment to community service. Students are then required to pen two 500-word essays describing the history of their community service, the impact on those served, the impact on their life, evidence of leadership and give a description of their present employment and future career goals.

A non-traditional student who is married and raising two children, Evans has served as HCC student government president and is currently Pacific Region President of Phi Theta Kappa, International Honor Society of the Two-Year College. Evans is also finds time to be involved in the local African-American community, has organized blood drives for the troops and volunteers at various local homeless shelters. In 2007, Evans was also the recipient of the first Alice Augusta Ball Scholarship, honoring the first female professor of chemistry at UH Mānoa who pioneered the treatment of Hansen‘s disease and was of African-American heritage.

"The Coca-Cola Two-Year Colleges Scholarship Program gives support and encouragement to an under-served population of college students," said J. Mark Davis, President of the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation. "This program is an extension of our long-standing commitment to college education throughout the United States. These fine students, who often juggle school, work and family, continue to give back to their communities through volunteer service."

The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation and The Coca-Cola Foundation award a total of 400 scholarships each year to students at higher-education institutions granting two-year degrees. One scholar from each state receives a $2,000 scholarship and an additional 350 students are awarded $1,000 scholarships. Evans is the seventh Coca-Cola Scholarship recipient from Honolulu Community College, since its inception in 1999.

The Coca-Cola Two-Year Colleges Scholarship Program is made possible with funding from the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation. The Whitehead Foundation, named for one of the original bottlers of Coca-Cola, provides grants in support of human services initiatives.