Earl Woods Scholar Program announces 2024 recipients, inaugural Philadelphia cohort
TGR Foundation recently welcomed 18 high school students to its Earl Woods Scholar Program including five seniors in the inaugural Philadelphia cohort.
The program supports students from their junior or senior year of high school throughout college graduation and holds a 98% graduation rate. In addition to a financial scholarship, TGR Foundation provides each student with annual workshops, internship placement assistance and a dedicated mentor during the four years of their undergraduate careers.
“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome the inaugural Philadelphia cohort and all the newest members to our Earl Woods Scholar family,” said Cristina Fernández, vice president of programs. “We had outstanding candidates in every region.”
The Earl Woods Scholar Program was created in 2006 to honor the vision and spirit of Earl Woods, Tiger’s late father, and mentor, to continue his legacy of caring and sharing. In addition to holding one of the highest graduation rates among scholarship programs in the United States, the National Scholarship Association has also recognized the program for its impact.
With the expansion of the TGR Learning Lab to Philadelphia in partnership with Cobbs Creek Foundation, the city was a natural fit for the next region of the Earl Woods Scholar Program. Since inception, it has supported scholars in Orange County, CA, the Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland region and Los Angeles.
In a welcome gathering where they learned of their acceptance, John Lee, senior vice president of programs shared pride in their milestones as graduates and the first cohort of Philadelphia scholars.
“Not only are you representing yourselves, your families and your communities,” he said. “you’re representing Philly, and I’m just so excited for you to work with this team. There’s an amazing group of folks who were here to support you and want to see you succeed. At times, it might feel like you’re alone, just know that you never are.”
The scholars selected this year join 15 scholars from the Orange County cohort, which will complete the 27 members in the class of 2028.
I’m really glad to be welcomed into the Earl Woods Scholar Program,” said Adijared Huerta of the Los Angeles cohort. “I look forward to the next four years with the endorsement that I received from all of the staff.”
For more information about the Earl Woods Scholar Program and opportunities to get involved, visit TGRFoundation.org.
Earl Woods Scholar Class of 2028
Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia
Elyana Belete, Colgate University
Amirahimaan Kalonji, Dartmouth College
Zelea Roberson, Louisiana State University
Philadelphia
Hadas Ali, Trinity College
Gerard Heard, Pennsylvania State University
Victoire Ehinnou, University of Chicago
Sarmad Mera, University of Michigan
Rasheed Wiley, Temple University
Los Angeles
Johnny Chacon-Alfaro, University of California, Berkeley
Oscar Flores, University of California, Los Angeles
Adijared Huerta, University of Pennsylvania
Yosharelli Santillano, University of Pennsylvania
Orange County*
Zeenat Ahmad, University of California, Irvine
Esmeralda Alba, Chapman University
Sofia Arias, College of the Holy Cross
Daniel Arroyo, Davidson College
Daniel Barragan, University of Notre Dame
Brianna Cerna, University of Southern California
Brenda Duran-Velazco, University of Southern California
William Gonzales, Chapman University
Mia Gonzalez, Columbia University
Monica Martinez, University of California, San Diego
Jordan Nguyen, Claremont McKenna College
Ruth Nguyen, University of California, San Diego
Emmanuel Oluwasesin, University of California, Santa Barbara
Griselda Solano, University of Notre Dame
Alexis Vazquez, Boston College
Orange County Class of 2029*
Rachel Aldaco, Santa Ana High School
Matthew Dinh, Oxford Academy
Christine Kim, Cypress High School
Takenosuke Nagata, Anaheim High School
Ashley Tapia, Katella Ana High School
*The Orange County cohort of scholars is selected as high school juniors.
