USD Magazine, 1993 Winter-Spring 1994

On a trip to Italy in 1993, Barbara and Tom Burke met Pope John Paul II.

ARMED WITH FAITH AND HUMOR So how does this bear of a man - who introduces himself to parents as the "Dean of Wildlife," and who this past June celebrated his 20-year anniversary at USO - stay sane in such a high-pressure, potentially high-burnout job? Burke's friends and colleagues offer two answers: his faith in God and his sense of humor. "Being Catholic isn't something Tom brings to the job. It's who he is," says Skip Walsh, USD's director of residence life and assistant dean. "You just can't separate the two. His Christianity is reflected in the way he treats people and in every decision he makes." But Burke's spirituality is not preachy or theologically high– brow. "The message of the gospels is simple," he says. "Love God and love your neighbor. We humans tend to complicate things when we don't need to." Burke credits his parents with bringing him up "so Catholic" that he didn't have a choice in the values he'd end up with. "I grew up in Chicago where people - both Catholics and non– Catholics - identified themselves by their local Catholic parish, not their cities or towns," he explains. "My first role model in life was Father Jim O'Donnell, a young priest in our parish who took me under his wing." It was Father O'Donnell, says Burke, who introduced him to the concept of "dry wit." Today, Burke's legendary wit keeps lots of people on their toes, including contestants on a nation– ally syndicated television show. "You know he's got a great sense of humor if he was on 'Family Feud!'" laughs USO Aca– demic Vice President and Provost Sister Sally Furay, RSC). "We were so happy for them when they won." (The Burkes used their winnings to fulfill a lifelong dream of a family trip to Ireland.) NO SUCH THINGS AS PROBLEMS But Burke's attributes can't be summed up with one or two anecdotes. His faith and his humor have shaped the very spirit of the non-academic side of the university. When Burke arrived at USO in 1973, after serving as dean of students and vice president of student affairs at Creighton Uni– versity and as assistant dean at Marquette, the student affairs division consisted of three staff members, two residence halls, a fledgling recreation and athletics program and, by all accounts, "horrible" cafeteria food provided by an outside vendor.

Sister Furay notes that when Burke arrived, he had just spent a well-compensated year working for a private food-service business. "I asked him why he was leaving such a lucrative field to return to education," she remembers. "He said his job involved a lot of travel away from home and he didn't think that was any way to raise four little children. I knew then that his values were in line with what this university is about." Even so, the prospect of building a student affairs division practically from the ground up must have seemed daunting. "Well, Tom has this favorite little saying," Walsh says with a smile. "There are no such things as problems, only opportunities." The job at USO must have seemed chock-full of opportunities. "Just taking over food service alone was a huge task, and a risk," says Sister Furay. "Tom even told me, 'Food is something you can really get murdered on if it's not done right."' The athletic program was another challenge. "We wanted a Division I program, but we wanted to create that without com– promising academic integrity," explains Hughes. "That's no easy task, and I don't think many people realize that Tom is the chief reason we have been able to build a successful athlet– ic program that is in line with the academic integrity of the university. In this day and time, that's something to be proud of." From Burke's perspective, accepting the job at USO gave him a chance to get in on the ground floor of something exciting. "I liked the challenge of being involved with a developing univer– sity - one that didn't quite have an identity yet - and the prospect of taking part in the formation of that identity." If Burke wasn't daunted by the challenges facing him at USO, it was because he already had a track record for solving prob– lems and getting things done, says Father James O'Leary, S.J., a USO professor and Burke colleague. "I had heard about Tom Burke before I even came to USO,'' he explains. "I was at Marquette after Tom left, and all I ever heard from those Jesuits was, 'I wish Burke was here. He would know what to do. He'd know how to handle this.'" John Trifiletti, USD's director of alumni relations, says Burke's epitaph should be, "He built.''