Feb 20, 2006 -- Daniel Brody, a 1996 graduate of Yeshiva College, is appearing as a contestant in Season 5 of the popular series “The Apprentice” on NBC-TV, which began Feb. 27. Of the nearly 600,000 people who apply to be contestants on the show, 18 are chosen. “My motto in business is ‘Be fair and work diligently,’ but I realize that anyone around me might not play by those same rules,” said Mr. Brody, a natural entrepreneur who founded Brody Sport, a line of activewear. He recently visited the Wilf Campus where more than 100 undergraduate students, faculty, and alumni gathered to watch the reality show with him in the Morgenstern Lounge. He spoke about his role on the show and how being an Orthodox Jew affected his participation. Explaining why he didn’t wear a yarmulke to the interview process, Mr. Brody said, “If I wore my kippah, I ran the risk of being selected because of it. I didn’t want to become the ‘yarmulke guy.’” Some of his fellow contestants didn’t understand why he was taking time off for Rosh Hashanah. “But I told them, ‘This is my High Holiday and I’m going to be taking off for it. That’s just the way it is,’” he said. Mr. Brody’s passion for business and helping others began at an early age. In his early teens he started a boxed candy route with a friend and spent weekends working at a Sunday school for challenged youth. After graduating from YC, Mr. Brody earned an MBA from Baruch College while working full-time at Marriott International, where he rose to property controller within a few years. With degree in hand, Mr. Brody purchased Grandma’s Cookie Jar, the cafe in Washington Heights that became a favorite haunt of YU students. It quickly became the headquarters for his expanding wholesale bakery, which supplied coffee shops and cafes in the tri-state area. He invented the “Scoop & Bake” and “Tub-O-Dough” packaging later adopted by Pillsbury Corp. His cookie dough product was carried by more than 30 specialty grocers before he successfully sold his business. With his brother Steven, Mr. Brody launched Swan Hat Co. which has multiple divisions in the headgear and accessories industry. The following year he developed the Brody Sport line. How did he cope with the intrusiveness of being on reality TV? “The camera is in front of your face 24 hours a day,” Mr. Brody said. “You better get comfortable.”