“We’re extremely lucky and proud to be able to do this for our students,” said Michael Cheng, interim dean of the Chaplin School. “It would not be possible without the support of the Food Network & Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival. Many FIU students come from low-income families. We hope to provide some financial relief and motivate them toward a timely graduation.”

To date, the festival has raised more than $28 million for the Chaplin School.

“Providing scholarship support like this to the school is the foundation on which the festival was created,” said Schrager, who also serves as Senior Vice President of Communications & Corporate Social Responsibility for Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits. “These incoming students are the future leaders of the hospitality industry, and we are pleased to be able to support them as they embark on their interactive educational journey.”

The Chaplin School plans to award the scholarship to all future incoming freshmen. The students will receive the $500 after completing their first 30 credits.

About the Food Network & Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival
EAT. DRINK. EDUCATE. All proceeds from the Festival benefit the students of the Florida International University Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management who also assist Festival organizers with sponsorship fulfillment, restaurant and exhibitor recruitment, logistics, and inventory as well as working alongside some of the world’s greatest celebrity chefs and winemakers. To date, the Festival has raised more than $28 million for the School. In September 2017, BizBash named the Festival the #1 Food & Restaurant Industry event in the United States for the fifth year in a row.

The Food Network & Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival is produced by Florida International University and Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, with the support of the Miami Beach Visitors & Convention Authority and the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs. For more information about the Festival, visit www.sobewff.org or call 877-762-3933. For more information about Florida International University visit www.fiu.edu, for the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management visit hospitality.fiu.edu and for more information about Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits visit www.southernglazers.com.

About the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management
Florida International University’s Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management has been distinguished as one of the top hospitality programs in the U.S. More than 2,000 undergraduate and graduate students from across the United States and around the world choose FIU for its outstanding reputation, advantageous campus locations, expert faculty, rich curriculum, and fast-track career opportunities in the international hotel, foodservice, and tourism industries. In August 2006, FIU unveiled the first US School of Hospitality and Tourism in Tianjin, China. The Marriott Tianjin China Program is FIU’s largest international program, with a capacity for 1,000 students. For more information about Florida International University’s Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, visit hospitality.fiu.edu.

About FIU
Florida International University is classified by Carnegie as a “R1: Doctoral Universities - Highest Research Activity” and recognized as a Carnegie Community Engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offer bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs in fields such as business, engineering, computer science, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida’s anchor institutions, FIU contributes almost $9 billion each year to the local economy. The university received honors in all categories of The Chronicle of Higher Education’s “2017 Great Colleges to work for.” FIU graduates are consistently among the highest paid college graduates in Florida and are among the leaders of public and private organizations throughout South Florida. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission with multiple state-of-the-art research facilities including the Wall of Wind Research and Testing Facility, FIU’s Medina Aquarius Program and the Advanced Materials Engineering Research Institute. FIU has awarded more than 220,000 degrees and enrolls more than 56,000 students in two campuses and centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, the Miami Beach Urban Studios, and Tianjin, China. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and more than 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit www.fiu.edu.

Media Contact:
Lazaro Gonzalez
305-919-4139
Florida International University