Badia Spices Donates $1 Million To Florida International University

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MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) – An extremely generous gift has been given to a South Florida university.

Badia Spices, Inc. has announced a $1 million gift to the Next Horizon campaign at Florida International University to create the Badia Spices Scholarship Endowment at the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management.

The Badia Spices Scholarship Endowment will be used to recruit and retain students and enrich the student experience at the Chaplin School. It will do so primarily by providing scholarships for students, with a preference given to those who are first generation or demonstrate financial need.

"I am proud to continue to strengthen the legacy of our family at FIU," said Joseph Badia, CEO of Badia Spices, Inc. "The university is an excellent partner for Badia Spices, Inc., and I am thankful to have this opportunity to support hospitality students."

This gift is the largest in the history of Badia and FIU's partnership, surpassing a $500,000 gift in May 2015 that named the Badia Spices Food Production Laboratory. That history also includes two scholarship funds established in 2004 and 2006, respectively, as well as the initiation of a spice competition for students. As part of that challenge, students were asked to develop an original spice blend, with each finalist receiving a Badia scholarship. Jenifer Bound created Holy Smokes Pork & Meat Rub, and Eddie Zeng created Biscayne Bay Seafood Seasoning. The Chaplin School receives 5 percent of the global sales of the spice blends.

"Mr. Badia continues to demonstrate his role as a community leader and someone who cares deeply about our hospitality students," said Michael Cheng, interim dean of the Chaplin School. "We look forward to continuing to work with Badia Spices in the years to come."

Through this gift, Badia Spices becomes one of the first major donors to the public phase of the Next Horizon campaign, a landmark effort to raise $750 million in support of student success and research excellence.

"We thank Badia Spices, Inc. and Mr. Badia for his support of our FIU," said Howard Lipman, CEO of the FIU Foundation, Inc. "With this gift, Badia Spices, Inc., is directly enabling students to secure an excellent education at the Chaplin School."

(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)