CHRIS BURKE OF AUSTIN COLLEGE, a senior from Denton, Texas, has been selected the SCAC Character & Community Male Student-Athlete-of-the-Week for the week ending January 11, 2015.
Chris Burke’s history with community involvement began
well before he came to Austin College, but the senior has been
carrying on his service work throughout his time in Sherman. The
senior cross country runner from Denton, Texas, hasn’t let
his busy schedule that this year has included a full academic
slate, helping launch a brand new varsity athletics program, or
continuing his work in the community get in the way of excelling in
each of those areas.
An outstanding student in the classroom, Burke wasted little time
displaying his excellence as a runner as well. He earned Southern
Collegiate Athletic Conference Runner of the Week accolades, and
later in the year became the first male or female cross country
runner to earn All-Conference recognition. Burke’s excellence
in athletics earned him a spot in the NCAA Division III
South-Southeast Regionals, where he set a new Austin College record
by finishing the 8K with a time of 27:38.32.
Outside of athletics and academics, Burke has made a strong impact
both with his peers and with the children he’s worked with
over the years. A political science major with a minor in German,
Burke began working with children at Immaculate Conception Catholic
Church, where he worked in the nursery caring for children up to
age 10. His passion for helping children carried over when his
studies took him abroad to Germany, and during the fall semester of
2013 he volunteered as a tutor for the students at the Evangelical
School of Berlin Mitte. His tutoring work has continued since
returning to Sherman, where he now serves as a peer tutor to his
Austin College classmates.
Burke has also been deeply involved with Amnesty International
since his time in high school. His desire to put an end to human
rights violations has led to him helping lead Austin
College’s group of students working with Amnesty
International, where he has coordinated petition and letter writing
campaigns and served as an advocate for putting an end to human
rights abuses.
Over the years, Burke has also served as an intern with the
160th Dallas District Court and gotten involved in the
political landscape, both as a campaign worker as well as a deputy
registrar, registering voters in Grayson County leading up to the
2012 elections.
The Character & Community award, established prior to
the 2009-10 academic year, is an effort by the SCAC to honor the
efforts of student-athletes who excel in the field of athletics,
and also serve their campus and community.
To read about past SCAC Character & Community winners
from the 2014-15 academic year, click here.