News from
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
Office of Communications
Stanhope Hall
Princeton, N.J. 08544Contact: Mary Caffrey (609) 258-5748
David Goldfarb (305) 854-6006
Date: December 14, 1998
Princeton Place-Kicker is Finalist for Scholar-Athlete Award
University Receives $25,000 for Scholarship Fund in Name of Alexander Sierk
Princeton, N.J. -- Burger King Corporation named Princeton University's Alexander Sierk one of four finalists for its 1998 Burger King Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award. Sierk was selected as the finalist for schools that play football in Division I-AA of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Burger King will donate $25,000 to the Princeton general scholarship fund in recognition of Sierk's achievement.
Sierk, a native of Bettendorf, Iowa, was previously honored November 7 as a Division I-AA Player of the Week. A senior majoring in molecular biology, Sierk has maintained a 3.97 grade-point average while serving as a volunteer tutor at the Newgrange School in Trenton, N.J.,which assists learning disabled children. Sierk is also a Big Brother. His many scholastic honors include being named a 1998 NCAA Graduate Scholarship Finalist and receving Academic All-Ivy honors in 1997 and 1998. He has also received a graduate fellowship from the national Football Foundation and the College Hall of Fame.
"Alex's on-the-field and in-the-classroom achievements, coupled with his commitment to voluntarism, represents what the Burger King Scholar Athlete Program is all about," said Jim Watkins, Burger King Corporation senior vice president for North America Marketing. "Alex is a shining example of the winning balance one can achieve between athletics, academics and community service, and we are proud and honored to have such an exceptional individual among our honorees."
The overall winner, selected in a live televised ceremony December 10, was Josh Penry of Mesa State College, a Division II school in New Mexico. Penry, a quarterback, was a finalist for the award last year, when the top honor went to Peyton Manning, then quarterback for the University of Tennessee and now for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League.
Finalists and winners are selected by a panel of members of the American Football Coaches Association and Burger King Corporation. The $25,000 received by Princeton is in addition to $10,000 received when Sierk was named Scholar Athlete of the Week.