USD Magazine, 1993 Winter-Spring 1994

Hank Egan, USD's men's basketball coach, tells a similar story of Burke's belief in him. "I had coached at the Air Force Academy for 18 years and then I was fired. Needless to say, I was devastated. One day I got a call from Tom asking me if I'd be interested in coming to USO. After having been fired, I was afraid to get back in the saddle again, so I didn't say yes right away. Some people would have been hopping mad and thought, 'You idiot, you were just fired and I'm giving you a chance.' But Tom wasn't like that. He just very calmly said, 'I under– stand, take your time.'" When Burke hears the praise others have for him, he becomes slightly embarrassed and shifts in his chair. "Really, there's no great magic to what I do," he contends. "You know, some days I'm just lucky to make it to 5 o'clock!" On days like that, days when Burke drily remarks, "It felt like Thursday all week," he realizes his staff has had it rough, too. "As Tom leaves the office, he'll turn to us and quietly say 'Bless you,'" Bourne relates. "It's nothing big but it really makes us feel better and helps us realize that no matter how bad things get, we'll be okay.'' Part of the reason people feel confident around Burke is his absolute candor. "Tom may be Irish, but there is not an ounce of blarney in the man," Trifiletti says. "He just tells it like it is. No matter what else is going on, you know Tom will get right to the heart of the matter.'' An amused Burke says he can't really see it any other way. "People, especially students, appreciate it when you're direct with them. They may not like what you have to say, but at least they know you're giving it to them straight.'' Sister Furay sees that approach as an element of Burke's innate wisdom when it comes to dealing with people. "I don't use that word very often," she says, "but Tom Burke has a wisdom about him that is rare.'' Burke brushes off any mention of wisdom with an embar– rassed wave of his hand. "I think wisdom is too flattering a word. I just try to be nice to people and listen to their problems.'' A HERO'S HEROES When listening to problems becomes too overwhelming, Burke finds refuge in his home life. To understand what his family means to him, just ask him to list his heroes. "My father, my wife of course, and my children: Patrick, Jack Christie and Bridget. I have wonderful children.'' Burke describes his father, who has lived with Barbara and him for the past 18 years, as a "gentle man and a gentleman.'' As Burke describes the three most important things his father taught him, it's obvious that he learned those lessons well. "My dad always said, 'Treat everyone you meet - no matter who they are - with dignity and respect, never say anything bad about anybody and always forgive.'" When Burke talks about his next hero, his face softens and his eyes take on the look of a young man who has just glimpsed the woman he is going to marry.

At these most trying times, Burke relies heavily on his faith. "On a college campus, Tom is wrestling with all of the chal– lenges society is wrestling with, like AIDS, alcohol and drug abuse, and gay and lesbian issues," Trifiletti notes. "These are difficult, complex issues that require compassion and under– standing, and a set of truths to go by. For Tom, those truths are the truths of Christianity." Spano believes that Burke particularly personifies one of those truths. "One of the messages of Christianity is that we must put others first and live our Christianity unconditionally, which means we have to take ourselves out of the equation when we deal with people. Tom's achieved that. He doesn't look at problems and say, 'This is going to be a major headache for me,' or 'This is making my life miserable,'" Spano says. "He just tries to see the problem from the other person's per– spective and help them come up with a solution." BfflER TO ASK FORGIVENESS THAN PERMISSION That attitude explains why the people who work for Burke think he's a management genius. "All this talk you hear about empowering people these days, that's something Tom has been doing for the 20 years I've been here," Walsh says. "He gives you the opportunity to grow and develop and try different things. He's always said it's better to ask for forgiveness than for permission." Burke says he just has a knack for hiring good people, even if that means hiring someone who at first glance may not seem to fit the bill. In 1978, when Burke needed to hire a head athletic trainer, the best person for the job happened to be a 24-year– old woman. A tiny 24-year-old woman. "Back then, I think only one school in the nation had a female head athletic trainer," Father O'Leary explains. "That didn't faze Tom one bit. The man doesn't have a sexist bone in his body." Burke trusted his instincts, despite protests from some coaches. "They said, 'Well, what if one of the players gets a groin pull?'" he remembers with a bemused chuckle. "I told them, 'Half the doctors in the world are women; they deal with groins all the time.' " Sixteen years later, 5-foot-2-inch Carolyn Greer is one of the most respected trainers in the business, and she remembers her interview with the 6-foot-1-inch Burke as if it were yesterday. "There I was, 24 years old, and I barely came up to his ribs!" she laughs. "I was so nervous. I just kept saying, 'I'll try my hardest; I'll do my best.'"