Chef Burke serves up scholarship fund at Brookdale Community College

Chef David Burke and Brookdale Community College President David Stout signed a memorandum of agreement to establish the Chef David Burke Scholarship on Oct. 20.

Burke agreed to contribute $5,000 to the Brookdale Foundation, beginning with the fall 2021 term, to establish a scholarship fund for culinary and hospitality management students.

Two scholarships, each $2,500 per term, will be awarded: one for a culinary student and one for a hospitality management student. Total scholarship dollars will be $10,000 per academic year.

“We are grateful to Chef Burke for his generosity and for the incredible opportunity his scholarships will provide for Brookdale’s Culinary and Hospitality Management students,” said Nancy Kaari, vice president of advancement, in a prepared statement.

Burke’s contribution will cover the cost of an entire semester for the two students, and in return, they will work for him in one of his restaurants for six months. They will also be paid while they’re working.

Students must be full-time, in the second semester, and be in good academic standing. Brookdale will select the applicants, and Burke will make the final selections.

“When you are young, everything you see is new,” Burke said to students at the Culinary Education Center, where the MOA was signed. “Work in the best places, learn good skills, because a lot of bad habits are hard to break.”