By Claire Regan
A Wagner College degree prepares students for a professional path filled with surprises and success.
No one knows that better than Ed Burke, a proud member of the Class of 1980, who regaled members and guests of the Wagner College Guild with career caveats and purposeful puns as guest speaker at a Dec. 4 holiday luncheon.
“I remember standing in front of the Student Union on graduation day, feeling very proud but asking myself, what job can I get with an English degree? Do I write a book?” he shared candidly. “I soon discovered that my English degree and Wagner College experience were tremendously marketable.”
Burke’s degree landed him a position in the communications and marketing department of the former St. Vincent’s Hospital, now Richmond University Medical Center. After serving as then-Congressman Guy V. Molinari’s press secretary, he began a 34-year career in Staten Island Borough Hall, serving four consecutive borough presidents.
“I was blessed to be part of many outstanding milestones in Staten Island’s history” as deputy borough president and senior advisor, Burke said. “And I did write a book, ‘Groundhog Chuck Builds a Weather Station,’ about the Staten Island Zoo’s weather-prognosticating rodent. I couldn’t have predicted that novel idea, any more than I could have predicted an early spring,” he added with a characteristic play on words.
Today, Burke is serving as chief of staff at the Staten Island Zoo, satisfying a lifelong interest in animals and all things zoological.
But few know that his long career as a communicator and change agent began even before he earned his B.A. – as editor of the Wagnerian student newspaper, where he honed his writing and editing skills and accumulated press clips that would help him land job after job.
He recalled a cherished English professor.
“Dr. Thomas Kendris smiled when I told him, ‘I love words.’ He liked hearing that, but he gently winced at the puns punctuating my writing. At Wagner, we benefited from a culture of learning in and out of class.”
Following Burke’s presentation, 70 Guild guests enjoyed a luncheon and a round of holiday carols led by Charles Gysel ’80.
David J. Martin, Esq., senior advisor to Wagner President Jeffrey A. Doggett, introduced six undergraduate students: Genevieve Bland ’26, Leticia Campos ’26, Sebastian Dobson ’26, Skylar Erwin ’28, Dylan Haase ’25 and Grace Levkovich ’25.
At her table, junior Genevieve Bland was eager to show off the championship ring she earned as a member of the women’s water polo team. The Toronto native and her teammates concluded their 2024 regular season with the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) champion title.
Guild President Aletta Kipp Diamond ’65 thanked guests for supporting the college. “I’m grateful for your presence today,” she said. “Your ongoing support makes it possible to offer these students, and so many others, an outstanding education here at Wagner College.”
Founded in 1918 when Wagner relocated from Rochester, N.Y., to Grymes Hill, the Guild is Wagner’s oldest affinity organization. Its first members were faculty wives who supported divinity students away from home while they pursued their education. Guild members provided transportation, sewed buttons, and hosted students in their homes as a respite from their studies.
Today’s Guild members are committed to assisting students with the "Lila T. Barbes ’40 Scholarship and the Make a Difference Fund", which provides immediate emergency financial assistance to students in need so they may continue their education without interruption.
The Guild hosts four luncheons each academic year. Dues are $35. For membership information, call 718-420-4530 or visit https://wagner.edu/alumni-friends/giving/wagner-college-guild/
