The Burke Foundation gave Marquette $6 million in grants to continue and expand the Trinity Fellows program for graduate students and the Burke Scholars program for undergraduates, according to a university news brief.
The money will allow Trinity Fellows to grow from 10 to 15 fellows and have a 15th anniversary celebration that will unite current and past program members. The program’s members work at Milwaukee non-profit organizations for 18 hours a week during the school year and 40 hours during the summer.
The grants will also enable the Burke Scholars program to continue providing undergraduate student scholarships. The program annually gives 10 Wisconsin high school seniors four-year, full-tuition scholarships to Marquette.
“As a Catholic, Jesuit institution, we are called to improve the communities we reside in, to enhance urban education and to especially tend to those people on the margins of society,” University President Michael Lovell said in the news brief. “The Burke Foundation is constantly seeking to make a difference in the lives of youth in these areas, and we are really excited to extend our partnership.”
The Burke Foundation works to improve youth lives by investing in creative and cost-effective educational opportunities. The foundation looks for options to enhance and improve quality and access to education, personal, social and intellectual child development and the educational and social quality of community life.
“We are committed to urban education and making a difference in the lives of youth through leadership programs that help them fulfill their potential,” said Deanna Singh, the foundation’s executive director, in the news brief. “The Trinity Fellows and Burke Scholars whose educations we have supported have made an important impact in Milwaukee and other communities.”
