Vincent Burke

Who was Vincent Burke?

Vincent Patrick Burke was a Newfoundland educator and administrator and a member of the Canadian Senate.

He was born in St. Jacques, Newfoundland to a Roman Catholic family of Irish descent. He was educated at St. Bonaventure's College in St. John's. He worked as a teacher and, at 19, he was appointed principal of the high school in Torbay. He was appointed Superintendent of Roman Catholic Schools in 1899.

He pursued his studies Columbia University and earned a doctorate.

While studying in the US, he became the first Newfoundlander to become a licenced school superintendent in New York.

Burke was a member of the Dominion of Newfoundland's Council of Higher Education which was established in 1893 by members of the various religious denominations that operated schools in the province to facilitate the pursuit of post-secondary education by Newfoundlanders. As there was no university in Newfoundland, the CHE negotiated agreements with universities in Canada the United Kingdom and the United States to enable them to admit students from Newfoundland and created and oversaw a Common Entrance Examination by which high school graduates could establish their credentials for university admission. As Newfoundland's educational system ended at Grade 11, students wishing to pursue post-secondary education had to make up the equivalent of an extra year of education in their preparations for the exam. The CHE also oversaw the selection of Newfoundland's Rhodes Scholars. However, as the island had no university, students selected as scholars lacked the two years of university that other Rhodes Scholars had, prompting complaints from the Rhodes Scholarship Committee. As a result, the CHE decided to establish a two year college in St. John's.