Skip to Content
  • Browse
  • Past Issues
  • Search

Arts and Letters

Wagner History

Wagner News

Inside Sports

Alumni Stories

Obituaries

Alumni Events

From the President

Feature Stories
Winter 2018–19
Summer 2018
Fall 2017
Summer 2017
Fall 2016
Winter 2015-16
Summer 2015
Fall 2014
Winter 2013-14
Summer 2013
Fall 2012
Summer 2012
Fall 2011
Summer 2011
Fall 2010
Summer 2010
Fall 2009
Summer 2009
Fall 2008
Summer 2008

Passing on Wagner Values

SHARE
PRINT
BACK TO TOP
Passing on Wagner Values

Delta Nu brothers reunite and raise scholarship funds in honor of Gus Merkel ’55

An intricately decorated beer stein featuring Wagner College imagery.
Object Lessons
Illustration of Michele Sampson-Nelson ’03
An Administrator Serving First-Generation College Students
A black-and-white photo of Gus Merkel ’55.
Gus Merkel ’55, from the 1955 Kallista.

Delta Nu celebrated the 75th anniversary of the founding of the fraternity with a dinner that welcomed 80 people back to Wagner on October 13, 2018.

The gathering not only reunited Delta Nu alumni, but it also raised money for the Gus Merkel ’55 Scholarship.

“[Gus Merkel] was a lifelong friend and the epitome of what a Wagner student is on campus and after being graduated,” said Fred Jacobsen ’54, who has pledged $70,000 to the fund. More than $11,000 in additional funds were raised through the Delta Nu reunion event.

Gus Merkel ’55 and Janet Junge Merkel ’57.
Gus Merkel ’55 and Janet Junge Merkel ’57.

English major Gus Merkel was a leader in Delta Nu and on the basketball team, serving as its co-captain during his senior year. After graduation, he had a successful career in public relations with companies including AlliedSignal and AT&T. He was also celebrated for his work on behalf of the elderly through Project CARE (Community Action to Reach the Elderly) in Morris County, New Jersey. He pitched in with direct aid to senior citizens, fundraising for the organization, and participation in statewide and national commissions on aging. Merkel died in 1999, of a heart attack, at age 66.

“As a family, we are honored that Fred Jacobsen, Delta Nu, and Wagner College will remember Gus in such a wonderful way — a way to pass on the values he learned at Wagner,” said his widow, Janet Junge Merkel ’57.

Winter 2018–19

  • Alumni Events
  • Alumni Stories
  • philanthropy
SHARE
PRINT

Related Stories

image description

Farewell, Seahawks!

Feb 14, 2020 After 13 years as Wagner Magazine editor, the time has come to say farewell to you.
image description

Sharing the Joy

Jul 31, 2019 Wagner honors Beverly Hoehne Whipple ’62, a nurse and a scientist.
image description

The Promise of Stadium Renovation

Jun 14, 2019 “Athletics were instrumental in my development as a business professional,” says Christian A. Hanna ’13.
CLASS NOTES
OBITUARIES
CONTACT US

LATEST NEWS

image description

Almost a Century

Four faculty retirees collectively put in 99 years of dedicated teaching.

image description

A Term Paper for the Ages

How the biology department got its evolution mural.

image description

Connor Gibbs ’17: Composer

The high school chorus teacher creates new music for all kinds of instruments.

image description

What’s Inside: The Nursing Resource Center

Students get realistic hands-on experience in the Hi Fidelity Simulation Lab.

  • About the Magazine
  • Give to Wagner
  • Wagner Newsroom
  • Wagner Home
FOLLOW US

© 2021 All Rights Reserved