Success Stories
Another Lane student wins a Jack Kent Cooke scholarship
Story by Joan Aschim
Graffiti was once his outlet for identity, expression and friendship while a childhood dream of writing lay dormant. Now, Ephraim C. Payne of Eugene is working toward a future as an environmental journalist thanks to Lane Community College and a transfer scholarship from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation.
Ephraim, 31, is one of 25 students nationwide to earn a Jack Kent Cooke Foundation scholarship. He was selected from among 791 candidates nominated by 519 two-year colleges across the nation. He will receive up to $30,000 a year for tuition, room and board, books, and other required fees "for the remainder of the Jack Kent Cooke Scholar's bachelor's degree, generally two or three years," says the foundation, which describes the scholarship as "one of the largest and most competitive scholarships available to undergraduates."
He will graduate this summer and transfer to the University of Oregon to study journalism and environmental studies.
Ephraim enrolled at Lane in September 2003. He became a top student in economics, biology, and English and never missed the President's List honor roll. He participated in the Oregon Diversity Institute and the Reading Together project at Lane and was editor in chief of this year's college journal of nature, literature and art, Earth Tithe.
Ephraim's childhood was marked by poverty in rural California and his high school years were dimmed by substance abuse. At age 18 he enrolled in the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland. There he explored graffiti art muralism and made friends with students from multicultural backgrounds who shared "commonalties of poverty and alienation from the greater society." He left for lack of finances.
After art school, Ephraim got involved in environmental and political activism. He lived in Chicago for a while, where he gave up graffiti and started writing. He got married and had a daughter, which gave him a sense of clarity. Eventually he landed in Eugene and was featured in the Happening People column in Eugene Weekly with the other founders the Eugene Biocarshare Car Cooperative.
"Even as I immersed myself in the art world at CCAC, I brought my typewriter along to write a novel. Here in Eugene, things have come full circle. It took a leap of faith, but I re-enrolled in college to make my dream a reality. I have chosen a career in environmental and literary journalism to meet my need for a creative outlet, and to take part in the shaping of my world."
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation created the transfer scholarship program in 2002 to "make sure that financial obstacles do not prevent high-achieving community college students from advancing their education. The program is the equivalent to undergraduates as the Rhodes and Marshall scholarships are to graduate students." The foundation says community colleges are growing at nearly three times the rate of four-year schools and now enroll 45 percent of all undergraduate students in the country.
Ephraim is the second Lane student to win the scholarship. Last year, Alex San Pedro won the scholarship and transferred to the Pratt Institute of Design in New York City.
For information about the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, see www.jackkentcookefoundation.org
