Spotlight on George Burke: Mentor and Advocate

July 6th, 2017

George

“For 40 years, I’ve been preaching international opportunities among the refugee community,” George Burke, a man of many interests and a strong advocate for international education said.

Burke is an international educational consultant who is presently the International Admissions and Recruitment Specialist at the University at Albany in New York. His rich history involves working with universities and colleges on all facets of international education, international travel and recruiting, and assisting immigrants and under-represented groups. He is a wonderful mentor and well-respected in the profession of applied comparative education. He assists people in the U.S. and all over the world. His dedication is unparalleled.

He is also a Certification Board Member for the American International Recruitment Council (AIRC), works in recruiting and academic program development, Fulbright Advisor, President of Steiner House (International Student Cooperative) and works with Welcome Immigrants to Northeast Ohio, Global Cleveland, and Welcome America – all organizations assisting refugees and analyzing the vibrant economic impact of immigrants and the survival of these groups.

“I assist with all aspects of assisting immigrants.  I also travel quite a bit, I traveled 80 days overseas this year. I help students to network and use organizations to build relationships. I’m the person to help them frame the issues and help them find assistance.” Burke said. “We now have new immigrant groups that must be addressed.”

When asked what challenges he sees with the new administration in regard to immigrants, Burke stated that we need diversity and integration. He says these things start within our own communities. “When you think of diversity, there needs to be integration. If you think everything is integrated now, you run into a dead end and you won’t be prepared for the next change. It takes time, but in the long run, we all need to be prepared for change. Integration is being lost. We need to focus on integration and we all need to be involved in our communities.”

He stressed that integration is positive. “Integration is not a negative word. It has been lost in our communities and our society. It is what is being missed right now. But we cannot have forced integration. It has to be a part of our everyday lives and happen organically. We need to be accepting and prepared for positive change.”

For many years Burke has assisted immigrants, refugees, and under-represented groups. He has worked with African Americans in his state of Ohio to assist in providing pathways for them. He also works to integrate African Americans with the immigrant community. Burke said that family connections are very important when discussing integration and the immigrant community, “Family is their connection, they need family relationships. By breaking apart families, we are creating a dysfunctional antithesis of the American story.”

When faced with an issue, Burke said that he thinks about it, talks about it, throws to out to his colleagues and communities, and they throw it back. Keeping an open dialogue is very important.

He not only preaches diversity and integration, he makes it happen. Burke closed with, “These things take time and I always have hope.”

https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-burke-78962511/

http://www.albany.edu/international-admissions/70602.php

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The Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute, Inc. (ACEI), was founded in 1994 and is based in Los Angeles, CA, USA. ACEI provides a number of services that include evaluations of international academic credentials for U.S. educational equivalence, translation, verification, and professional training programs. ACEI is a Charter and Endorsed Member of the Association of International Credential Evaluators. For more information, visit www.acei-global.org.

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