Cameron Thompson Memorial Scholarship
THE CAMERON THOMPSON LEGACY SCHOLARSHIP
The Cameron Thompson Scholarship is being established in memory of a young African American cook from Los Angeles who was working at The Restaurant at Meadowood when he died unexpectedly in September 2019.
Cameron was a charming and warm young man; his creativity, enthusiasm, and joy were contagious. His passing left a profound impact on his colleagues at The Restaurant at Meadowood, including Chef Christopher Kostow who, together with Cameron’s mother Tracie and The Culinary Institute of America, is establishing this scholarship to help increase access to professional culinary training as a pathway toward robust careers in food and hospitality for aspiring African American chefs.
The ability to gain the necessary skills to support career advancement in the culinary world is predicated in great part by financial means – the ability to receive a formal culinary education, the ability to do unpaid (or lower paid) stages, the financial security to choose places of employment based not on wages but on the education found therein, and the ability to move around the country and the world to seek out learning opportunities. These are opportunities many do not have, and without providing access to these opportunities it will be difficult to achieve the goal of realizing greater representation of people of color in food and hospitality leadership positions. The purpose of this scholarship is to help bridge that gap.
The Cameron Thompson Legacy Scholarship will support diverse students pursuing the college’s 18-month Associate Degree program. Thanks to this scholarship, students would be able to participate in a rigorous, state-of-the-art, hands-on program in culinary arts or baking and pastry arts under the direction of prominent CIA chef-faculty and instructors.
The fund will offer scholarships in perpetuity in Cameron’s name, and has been designed so that recipients receive full support for tuition and room and board. With an abiding commitment to a recipient’s future success, Chef Christopher Kostow will help each recipient engage in meaningful stages at a network of the world’s best restaurants, receive ongoing mentorship with an established group of African Americans in leadership positions in the industry, and provide assistance with job placement upon graduation.
Our goal is to begin with one student, and to grow the number of students that we can accept over time through fundraising initiatives through Chef Kostow’s restaurants, and the generosity of corporate partners.