Kapiolani Community College student is named to 2006 All-USA Academic Team

Jose Carlos Tomé is one of 20 selected nationwide for prestigious academic honor

Kapiʻolani Community College
Contact:
Leon Richards, (808) 734-9519
Kapiolani Community College
Kristen Bonilla, (808) 956-5039
External Affairs & University Relations
Posted: May 18, 2006

HONOLULU — Jose Carlos Tomé, a Kapiʻolani Community College (KCC) student majoring in education, was recently honored by USA Today, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), and Phi Theta Kappa as a member of the All-USA Academic Team. Tomé was selected as one of 20 students named to the First Team from nearly 1,500 applications nationwide. With the honor comes a $2,500 stipend.

In addition to the All-USA First Team honors, Tomé was named a New Century Scholar, an award that includes an additional $2,000 stipend. The New Century Scholars program is an extension of the All-USA Academic Team. The award is presented to the highest-scoring student in each state in the All-USA Academic Team competition. The New Century Scholars program is sponsored by Phi Theta Kappa, AACC, the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation and the Coca-Cola Foundation.

While maintaining a 4.0 grade point average, Tomé also works as a relief resident assistant for mentally ill homeless people and volunteer with United Self-Help, a non-profit mental health organization, and he also volunteers with Big Brothers Big Sisters. He is a member of the Spanish Club and the International Café at KCC and vice president of the campus‘ chapter of Phi Theta Kappa. He has also been named a UH Presidential Scholar.

Phi Theta Kappa, a sponsor of the All-USA Academic Team and the New Century Scholars program, is the international honor society for two-year colleges. Today, Phi Theta Kappa is the largest honor society in American higher education with more than 1.5 million members and 1,200 chapters located in all 50 of the United States and U.S. territories, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Germany, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau.

Phi Theta Kappa‘s mission is to recognize and encourage the academic achievement of two-year college students and to provide opportunities for individual growth and development through participation in honors, leadership, service and fellowship programming.



ABOUT KAPIʻOLANI COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Kapiʻolani Community College is the largest two-year campus in the ten-campus University of Hawaiʻi system. With more than 7,000 students enrolled per semester in credit programs, Kapiʻolani‘s nationally recognized general education program prepares students for effective baccalaureate transfer, civic engagement, and 21st century careers in programs such as culinary arts and hospitality, nursing and health sciences, business and information technology, new media arts, biotechnology, and teacher education. The college bears the name of Hawaiʻi‘s Queen Julia Kapiʻolani, and her motto, "Kulia i ka Nuʻu" or "to strive for the highest," inspires the college‘s collective work in support of academic success for Native Hawaiian and other diverse local and international students. For more information, visit www.kapiolani.hawaii.edu .