Burke family of Dagsboro donates $50K to Salisbury University

McKenna Burke is a few short months away from earning her bachelor of science degree in nursing at Salisbury University.

After she graduates this May, however, her name will live on at the institution. In her family’s honor, Burke recently presented a $30,000 gift to the university’s Richard A. Henson Medical Simulation Center. Those entering the state-of-the-art training facility now find themselves in the Burke Family Reception Area.

Not to be outdone, her brother Keaton Burke also recently announced a $20,000 gift to the university’s swimming program. Between practices and meets, student-athletes on the men’s and women’s varsity swimming teams will be able to relax in the Burke Family Swim Team Lounge. It’s a familiar area for the former varsity swim team member, who earned his bachelor of arts degree in communication with a minor in information and decision sciences from SU in 2019.

Charitable contributions are a family affair for the Burkes, whose parents Bill and Shari are legacy donors at Salisbury University. With McKenna and Keaton’s contributions, the Burke family of Dagsboro will be inducted into the university’s Sea Gull Society, which recognizes donors making cumulative cash gifts of $100,000 or more.

The family also has donated to the university’s entrepreneurship efforts, including its annual student entrepreneurship competitions, and forthcoming Dave and Patsy Rommel Center for Entrepreneurship at SU’s downtown campus. As executive director of entrepreneurship in the Franklin P. Perdue School of Business, Bill Burke oversees those and other programs.

Other philanthropic giving has supported the Burke Family Study Room in Perdue Hall and Burke Family Information Systems Scholarship, as well as study abroad scholarships and the student emergency fund.

“It’s important to give back to the programs that have made an impact on you,” Bill Burke said. “For McKenna, that was the Henson Medical Simulation Center, where she has spent so much of her time as a nursing student. For Keaton, that was the swim team and its lounge, where he made so many friends at SU. For Shari and me, it’s providing assistance for students and the business leaders of the future. We are all grateful for the many ways SU has supported and allowed us to pursue our individual passions, and we hope these contributions will help pave the way for others to do the same.”