PTK Member Jacob Beckman Receives $1,000 Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholarship

(Delaware and Chester Counties, PA • July 28, 2021)—Jacob Beckman of Coatesville, a student at Delaware County Community College, was recently named a 2021 Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholar and will receive a $1,000 scholarship. He is one of 207 members of Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), an international honor society of associate degree-granting colleges, selected to receive the prestigious award.

Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholars are chosen based on outstanding academic achievement and demonstrated leadership potential. The Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholarship Program helps new PTK members defray educational expenses while they are enrolled in associate degree programs. Scholars are encouraged to assume leadership roles by participating in PTK programs and are selected based on scholastic achievement, community service and leadership potential. More than 900 applications were received for this year’s Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise recognition program.

“We are proud of Jacob’s outstanding accomplishment and look forward to the impact his continued leadership and service will have on the College and on the communities in which he lives, works and volunteers,” said Delaware County Community College President Dr. L. Joy Gates Black.

Beckman, who is studying accounting and business at the College, is the chapter vice president, and former treasurer, for Beta Psi Pi, the College’s relatively new Chester County PTK chapter. He works three part-time jobs as a forklift operator, bookkeeper and handling accounting and financial management for a Coatesville-based, online, business and marketing company. Until COVID-19 hit last year, he also was a volunteer staff member at the Chester County-based Honey Brook Youth Center, which provides a positive environment for children, especially at-risk, low-income youth.

Now, he volunteers at The Rock gym in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood. “The Rock has street chaplains that clean up and administer to the needs of the community and has helped numerous people through detox/rehab programs. Despite the neighborhood being so depressed, the Rock has managed to offer hope, and I have been blessed to be a part of such an incredible ministry this summer,” says Beckman, of The Rock, part of a multi-faceted ministry of Calvary Chapel of Kensington church that seeks to reach at-risk, inner city youth through sports, arts, music, recreation, mentoring and Bible studies.

This year, PTK’s Leaders of Promise Scholarship Program will award a total of $207,000 to students. The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation provides $200,000, of which $25,000 is set aside for PTK members who are veterans or active members of the U.S. military. The remainder is supported by donations to PTK and helps provide seven Global Leaders of Promise Scholarships, earmarked for international students.

“The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation has a long history of providing financial assistance to outstanding students at community colleges,” said Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation President Jane Hale Hopkins. “We are proud to partner with Phi Theta Kappa to make it possible for more deserving students to achieve their educational goals and support tomorrow’s leaders of the global community.”

The funds provided by the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation not only aid college completion, but also give students the opportunity to engage in PTK programs and develop leadership skills to become future leaders in their communities. “Research shows that Phi Theta Kappa members are four times more likely to complete a college degree than their peers,” said Dr. Monica Marlowe, executive director of the Phi Theta Kappa Foundation. “The Leaders of Promise Scholarships recognize students for what they have achieved already and assure that financial need isn’t an obstacle to achieving their academic goals.”