Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship

Three Kingsborough Students Named Semifinalists for Coveted Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship

KCC students students Valeria Daffarra, Liam Lotz and Tanzeela Jahangir

Three Kingsborough Students Named Semifinalists for Coveted Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship

Kingsborough Community College (KCC) students Valeria Daffarra, Tanzeela Jahangir and Liam Lotz were among the 467 nationwide semifinalists selected by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation for its highly competitive Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. They are all first-generation college students. They join 30 other CUNY semifinalists, chosen from a pool of more than 1,600 applicants attending 212 community colleges in 43 states. The finalists will be announced in May.

This scholarship aims to help community college students who have demonstrated exceptional academic ability, leadership, and service transfer to top four-year institutions and avoid student debt. The highly competitive scholarship includes up to $55,000 per year to attend any four-year accredited undergraduate school in the U.S. and pursue any area of study. Awards, which are last-dollar funding after all institutional aid, vary by individual based on the cost of tuition and other grants or scholarships they may receive.

Finalists will also get individualized help adjusting to a four-year school and planning for a career. They will also have access to opportunities for internships, study abroad experiences, graduate school funding, and a network of over 3,100 fellow Cooke scholars and alumni.

This comes at a time when only about a third of students starting in community colleges transfer to four-year schools, and only 16% earn a bachelor’s degree within six years. The Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship represents a unique opportunity, providing crucial support for transfer students to overcome these barriers and successfully attain their bachelor’s degrees. "Our Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship represents a lifeline for exceptional community college students to actualize their academic dreams," said Giuseppe "Seppy" Basili, executive director of the Cooke Foundation. "This year's semifinalists exemplify the extraordinary talent found within community colleges across America, and we're excited to congratulate this group as we celebrate a quarter century of work as a foundation."

“The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation's support for community college transfer students is transformative. It could fundamentally change the trajectory of their academic and professional lives," noted Kingsborough Community College President Suri Dutch. "This recognition represents more than just academic achievement—it acknowledges the leadership qualities and commitment to service that Valeria, Tanzeela, and Liam have demonstrated throughout their time at KCC. Their success also highlights the vital role community colleges play in nurturing talent and opening doors to educational advancement that might otherwise remain closed.”

To learn more about the Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship and see a list of this year’s semifinalists, visit https://www.jkcf.org/our-stories/2025-transfer-scholarship-semifinalists

Meet The KCC Semifinalists

Originally from Udine, Italy, Valeria Daffarra moved to the U.S. four years ago. Breaking with family tradition, she initially chose work over school. “I don’t regret my decision. It gave me the opportunity to see the world, understand myself, and figure out how things really work,” she reflected.

Valeria had already started learning programming languages on her own and wanted to explore the field further, so she enrolled at Kingsborough as a computer information systems major. While at Kingsborough, she rediscovered her passion for math and engineering. And she has excelled. An honor student, she is also a member of the international honor society Phi Theta Kappa.

She plans to transfer to a four-year college to study engineering once she graduates in June, with City College, the College of Staten Island, and Columbia University among her top choices.

Named a semifinalist for the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, Valeria sees the recognition as a validation of her hard work. “At this point, it’s not even about the prize,” she said. “It’s about being recognized among hundreds of outstanding students across the country.”

Tanzeela Jahangir moved from a small village in Pakistan to New York in 2022 to explore the educational opportunities offered here. She chose to major in graphic design with a concentration in user experience (UX) design because she felt it resonated with her passions, which include drawing, calligraphy, painting, arts and crafts, and designing, and her Myers-Briggs personality type indicator—extraverted, intuitive, feeling, and judging. She also enjoys the challenge of problem-solving. “When I combined them, I realized that I could be a good UX designer.”

In just a few semesters, she’s made the most of her time. Her long list of accomplishments includes leadership roles in several clubs and Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), the international honors society, and leading sustainability and research initiatives on campus, like a PTK project that helped bring more refillable water stations to campus.

Tanzeela is a Dean’s List student and recipient of the Coca-Cola Gold Scholarship, the PTK Hites Scholarship, and the Gladys Brooks Foundation Award. She said that being named a Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship semifinalist has given her confidence. “I hope to be more independent and satisfied with my efforts,” she said. She plans to pursue a degree in design and environmental studies or industrial and interaction design when she transfers, with Yale University, Smith College and Syracuse University among her top choices if named a finalist.

Born and raised in Sheepshead Bay, William "Liam" Lotz returned to education in spring 2023 after graduating high school in 2019 and briefly working in retail at Home Depot. Referring to himself as a “proud legacy child,” he follows in the footsteps of his mother, a KCC alumna who attended while pregnant with him.

Originally planning to major in computer science, Liam chose liberal arts to keep his options open. His greatest challenge was resetting his negative mindset toward education, believing he would never see himself back in a classroom setting. Fortunately, he enrolled as an ASAP (Accelerated Study in Associate Programs) student, a program designed to help students earn an associate degree quickly by providing comprehensive financial, academic, and personal support.

He’s excelling as a student—and paying it forward. The honor student and president of the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society regularly speaks to students in classes to provide peer perspectives. He also serves as a peer mentor in KCC's ASAP office.

In addition to being a Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship semifinalist, Liam was named a Kaplan Leadership Scholar this year—the first Kingsborough student selected in four cohorts—which he said boosted his confidence immensely. He has also been marked a finalist for the Point Foundation Wells Fargo Transfer Scholarship.

Liam plans to pursue cinema studies or media and popular culture at a four-year university. His career goal is to become a media archivist to preserve important cultural history. His top choices are the University of Southern California, DePaul University, Yale University, and Wesleyan University. “Receiving a Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship would make transferring and affordability a dream come true for me.”

 

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