Every year, when Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity's Denver alumni chapter awards college scholarships to a host of deserving young men, the recipients are encouraged to get out there and soar.

One of the 2015 recipients is taking the advice literally.

Come fall, Northglenn High School graduate Jalil Burdeen heads to Fort Lewis College in Durango to major in aerospace engineering in hopes of becoming an astronaut.

A mountaineering enthusiast sponsored by Rab, The North Face and Rock and Ice Magazine, Burdeen already has hit a couple of heights: working as a guide on Mount McKinley, North America's highest peak, and scaling the peaks that surround Ouray.

Twenty-four young men were honored at the luncheon held May 23 at the Marriott City Center. Each of them received a laptop computer and a scholarship of at least $1,500.

Special guests were Kappa Alpha Psi's national president, William "Randy" Bates Jr.; Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, a 1987 Kappa Alpha Psi scholar and recipient of the chapter's 2015 Citizen of the Year Award; and Frederik M. Thompson, who used the scholarship he received in 2003 to help pay his way through Stanford, where he earned a bachelor's degree in computer science in 2007. He is now a senior game programmer with Sony Computer Entertainment in San Diego.

Chapter vice president Michael Dennis, senior IT manager with Xcel Energy, chaired the luncheon; past president Ryan Ross, a dean at Community College of Denver, was master of ceremonies.

In addition to Burdeen, the 2015 scholars include:

Magic Johnson, Yana Vishnitsky and Dr. Michael Salem.



(Provided by Jewish Family Service)

Emmanuel Adjei, who was senior class secretary at Aurora Central High School and plans to major in political science at the University of Northern Colorado; Urim Apocalypse, a prize-winning artist whose family came to the U.S. in 2010 as refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo; Pryce Batey, a Colorado Academy graduate whose photographs have been published in The New York Times' online magazine; and Anthony Brown, a track and field athlete at Lakewood High, who will study physics at Northern Arizona University.

Eaglecrest High's Stevie McAlester was ranked 50th nationally in track and field; Raymond Pryor IV, an intern for state Rep. Angela Williams, graduated from East High with a 4.829 grade point average and will study public policy at Duke University.

Arsean Wilbon, an honors graduate of Cherokee Trail High School, will attend Hastings College on an athletic scholarship while George Washington High's Joseph Tandoh graduated third in his class and was voted most likely to become a millionaire.

Roger Keeler III, a graduate of East High, received the Kappa Achievement Award, which entitles him to receive a scholarship for each of his four years at the University of Colorado Boulder. Grandview High graduate Timothy Whitlow also received a multiyear scholarship, given in cooperation with MillerCoors, for his finance and Spanish studies at Morehouse College.

Larry Williams, left, and luncheon chair Michael Dennis.

Other 2015 scholars were Keyin Burrell, Morgan Flowers, Rico Henderson II, Alfred "AJ" Johnson Jr., Tashan Montgomery, John Olaka, Daveion Oliver, Koa Peterson, Jordan Peterson, Elijah Ross, Henock Solomon, Rayvon Solomon and Leonard Steel-Tyler.

Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314, jdavidson@denverpost.com or twitter.com/joannedavidson

Just like magic

Basketball great Magic Johnson speaks at Jewish Family Service Executive Luncheon and surprises organizers by auctioning several items, including floor seats to a Los Angeles Lakers game. Joanne Davidson has details in the Mile High Style blog: blogs.denverpost.com/style

More: http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_28208787/kappa-alpha-psi-denver-alums-honor-24-denver