ECC student chosen as Coca-Cola Silver Scholar

Elgin Community College student Ashley Milner of St. Charles is one of 50 students nationwide selected as Coca-Cola Community College Academic Team Silver Scholars. The honor includes a $1,250 stipend from the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation and a medallion.

The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation sponsors the Coca-Cola Community College Academic Team program by recognizing 50 Gold, 50 Silver and 50 Bronze scholars each year. Judging of the program is administered by Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, the largest honor society in American higher education with 1,250 chapters on college campuses in the United States and worldwide.

Milner will be honored during the Phi Theta Kappa Annual Convention, April 16-18, in San Antonio, Texas. Selection as a Coca-Cola Silver Scholar was based on scores Milner earned in the All-USA Community College Academic Team competition, for which more than 1,700 applications were received this year.

An independent panel of judges considers outstanding academic rigor, grade point average, academic and leadership awards, and engagement in college and community service when selecting members of the Coca-Cola Community College Academic Team.

Milner, a psychology major, has been active in ECC's Rho Kappa chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society, aiding in creating a partnership between Phi Theta Kappa and the Honors program by participating in the first Honors Student Council.

She has also presented a biology experiment at the Illinois Skyway STEM Poster Contest, won the Honors in Research Award at Elgin Community College for the paper "Women and War," attended and presented at the November 2014 National Collegiate Honors Conference in Denver, Colorado and has been nominated for inclusion in the 2015 edition of Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges.