Hastings College 2009 graduate, Starlight Fonseca, Hastings, Neb., has received the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s Graduate Scholarship worth up to $50,000 per year for up to six years at the top graduate or professional school of her choice. She is one of only 30 students across the nation chosen to receive this high honor, and the only Nebraska graduate to receive the distinction this year.

Among the largest and most competitive graduate scholarships in the nation, the award is designed to encourage and support outstanding students who achieve at high-levels, demonstrate a strong will to succeed and need additional resources to pursue their educational goals. Recipients are chosen according to their academic achievement and critical thinking ability, and breadth of activities and interests.

Fonseca graduated summa cum laude with a perfect 4.0 GPA and received a Bachelor of Arts degree with high distinction in Political Science. She was also a Hastings College Who’s Who award winner and Creigh Weyer scholar. Fonseca, her husband, José, and their five children will be moving to Austin, Texas this fall so she can pursue a degree in immigration law at the University of Texas School of Law.

At Hastings College, Fonseca was founder and president of the Student Parent Association, and she is founder and executive director of the non-profit organization, Dreams for Tomorrow. As a student at Hastings College, she was a member of the Student Association’s Executive Cabinet, president of Amnesty International, vice president of Child Defenders and was an Envision Grant recipient. She was a member of Alliance, Center for Servant Leadership, Public Relations Council, Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honor Society, Alpha Chi Academic Honor Society and CASA. She has also been an active volunteer in the Hastings community.

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is a private, independent foundation established by businessman and philanthropist Jack Kent Cooke to help exceptionally promising students reach their full potential through education.

Hastings College, founded in 1882, is a private, four-year liberal arts institution affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). A total of 64 majors in 32 areas of study and 12 pre-professional programs are offered to more than 1,150 students. The college was listed in the 2009 “Best in the Midwest” section of The Princeton Review’s website featuring 2009 Best Colleges: Region by Region. The school was ranked among the “Best Liberal Arts Colleges” in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, America’s Best Colleges 2009 and rated as a “Best Buy in College Education” in the respected college guide, Barron’s.