The man known as the “face” of St. John’s University has retired after 61 years. And he has finally revealed his secret, which he shared with former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Longtime vice president Joseph Siem, 82, helped educate generations of students, including a prominent bishop and Mr. Berlusconi’s daughter, but Mr. Berlusconi’s presence on campus was obscured by newspapers and paparazzi. It was hidden.
“If there was a monument like Mount Rushmore at St. John’s University, it would have Joe Siem’s face on it,” said Brian Brown, an SJU public relations officer who began working for Siami and named him He called him a “great ambassador.”
Mr. Shum, himself a graduate of St. John’s University, was born in 1962, when John F. Kennedy was president and the Mets became a baseball franchise with 12 U.S. presidents, six popes and six college presidents. He started working at the university in 2013.
“It’s been incredible,” Siami said of his years working at New York’s largest Catholic university and the second-largest in the nation. “At St. John’s University, a spirit of education and service allows people to be who they are.”
He said he was touched by the outpouring of compliments on his LinkedIn page when people heard of his retirement.
A devout Catholic, he said, “I’ve helped so many people without even realizing it.”
“It’s been a good run, but I’m still going. As long as the Lord gives me the opportunity to do good, I will.”
But the Army veteran doesn’t plan to hit the ground running anytime soon, as he continues to serve numerous other charities and civic organizations.
Skym personally created financial aid packages with the goal of helping thousands of students attend and graduate from St. John’s University without incurring significant debt.
One of his students in the 1980s was Bishop Robert Brennan, now one of the most influential prelates in America, overseeing the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens.
Brennan said she was born the same year that Syme enrolled at SJU, and credits Syme with making it possible for her to receive a Catholic education at St. John’s University.
He also had an older brother and sister in college, so it wasn’t easy for his family to make it through, he said.
“Joe was important to me during my time at St. John’s,” said Brennan, a 1984 graduate. “He recently attended my mother’s wake. That’s the type of person he is.”
Siami served as vice president of both community relations, admissions and financial services, leaving the Catholic school only for three years while serving in the Army in the mid-1960s.
In his spare time, he co-founded Bedford-Stuyvesant. New Beginning Charter SchoolHe continues to serve as a trustee and leads numerous national and regional Italian American civic organizations, including the Sons and Daughters of Italy in America.
He is currently the president of Italian Sons Foundation He also participated in a movement to erect a statue in the city in honor of Mother Frances Cabrini.
Bishop Brennan noted that Siami remains deeply involved in the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens and serves on the board of Futures in Education, which raises funds for scholarships to help underprivileged students receive a Catholic education.
While working at St. John’s, Seam’s deep ties to the Italian American community led him to serve the City University of New York. He was a member of the search committee that hired Anthony Tamburri, current dean of the John Calandra Institute of Italian American Studies at the City University of New York.
Tamburi said Shyam is in the trenches with him to get things done.
“Joe has a lot to offer. He’s a worker. He’s there for you,” Tamburi said. “His ears are always open. He asks, ‘How can I do this?’ Either way, there will be a result. ”
Mr. Siem began his career as a financial administrator at St. John’s University at a time when the federal government was launching new loan and grant programs for students under then-President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society policy. started.
He eventually became a director, then vice president of financial aid services and enrollment, and was elected president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
The usually reserved Shikame seemed a little gleeful as he told the Post an anecdote about the four years Eleonara Berlusconi attended St. John’s University before earning a business degree in 2009.
Her father, who was Prime Minister of Italy at the time, called Sherm to tell her that his wife and daughter Eleonara would be visiting campus.
To avoid being noticed, they used their wives’ maiden names.
Schaum, who was personally involved with Silvio and the Berlusconi family, was one of the few people on Queen’s campus who knew of the family ties.
At a reception in St. John’s Chapel following Eleonora’s graduation ceremony, Silvio Berlusconi handed a smiling Chame a blue box containing an Italian paperweight as a souvenir.
The moment was captured in a photo, with Eleonora and then-SJU President Rev. Donald Harrington smiling broadly in the background.
“Prime Minister Berlusconi wanted Eleonora to become a normal student, study well and graduate,” Schaam joked, saying he knew how “picky” journalists could be.
“We were able to do it.”
