May 18, 2008
Cook receives Gerontology Studies Program honors
Kiri H. Cook, of Philadelphia, received a BA in sociology, graduating magna cum laude at Clark University's 103rd Commencement, on May 18. She also received a Certificate in Gerontology, augmenting her scholarship by completing the Consortium Gerontology Studies Program. The CGSP presented Cook with both the Sol Boskind and Student Ambassador awards for her outstanding participation in the program.
Cook is among nine graduates to complete the interdisciplinary Gerontology Studies Program, established in 1978 by the Colleges of the Worcester Consortium, Inc., a 40-year-old, not-for-profit association of public and private accredited colleges and universities located in Central Massachusetts. Students in the program work with faculty and have access to supportive internship and community partners.
"The Consortium Gerontology Studies Program has been an incredible opportunity for me," Cook said. "Finishing the program, I truly feel that I am prepared to serve the older population."
The interdisciplinary nature of the program allows students to look at aging from a number of perspectives and in leadership roles, Cook said. Besides serving as a Student Ambassador, leading a Clark team of students for the annual Alzheimer's Association Memory Walk for the past four years, and helping organize the annual Intergenerational Dance at the College of the Holy Cross, she undertook two required internship placements that helped her envision and plan for a future working with the aging. "Although the program provides a certificate and is not a major, it has really shaped my studies at Clark; at Academic Spree Day, I presented my Sociology Capstone paper on traditional gender roles and older men's vulnerability and it felt like the capstone not only of my major but also of my gerontology concentration."
"She's such a great student and a great resource to us and, I know, to others," Kelly Niles-Yokum, Gerontology Studies Program Director, said of Cook. "It's always hard to get 18- to 22-year-old students to connect to the topic of aging studies, which is why we always have a great set of motivated students like Kiri."
Cook plans to pursue a Master's in Public Administration through Clark University's accelerated BA/MA program.
Cook is the daughter of Sid Cook and Megan Hess, of Philadelphia, and is a 2004 graduate of Germantown Friends School.
"I am confident that I will be successful in my future endeavors serving older adults, in whatever manner that may be," Cook said. "I cannot say enough good things about this program. I am proud to have been a part of something that will continue to be so important as our population continues to age."