The St. Olaf Interview

Brenda Berkman, New York City Fire Department lieutenantNew York Firefighter and St. Olaf alumna Brenda Berkman

St. Olaf College alumna Brenda Berkman is a captain in the New York City Fire Department, fighting fires and responding to other emergencies as the officer for Ladder Company 12 in Manhattan. Long an advocate for women in the profession, Berkman recently has been a strong voice on behalf of female firefighters' contributions in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks last Sept. 11 — a time when the word "fireman" seems to have come back into vogue.

Berkman is a summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of St. Olaf. She earned a bachelor of arts degree in history in 1973 and went on to earn three graduate degrees: a master of arts in American history from Indiana University, a law degree from the New York University School of Law and a master of science in fire protection management from John Jay College.

Outspoken and articulate, irreverent and serious, Berkman, 50, will address the graduating class of 2002 at the St. Olaf commencement ceremony Sunday, May 26, at 2:30 p.m. on Manitou Field. She spoke in March with Amy Gage, the college's media relations specialist, about the commencement speech and about her career post-9/11.

 

More than six months have passed since the tragedy occurred. How are you feeling?

"Things are evolving. It's different than it was six months ago. I wouldn't say it is easier. In New York we recently found dozens of bodies. Some of those bodies included folks whom I knew and have worked with. It's going to be a very long time till there's closure."

How have your duties changed since mid-September?
"Within a month or so, we stopped sending the regular fire companies down there on a daily basis. Instead they asked for people to be assigned on steady one-month details. I haven't been working at Ground Zero since October. I had only visited it once since then until the holidays, and I didn't see it again until March. And now in April, I'll be down there every day. That's my month."

What is happening at Ground Zero now?

"We expect the site to be fully excavated within the next month or so. But there will be long-term DNA identification going on. Then there will be the one-year anniversary. This won't be something that people in the fire department will be able to shove to the background easily.

"There's a long-term impact on our operations because of training and replacements that we have to integrate. We lost fully 2 percent of our work force that day, in one moment. But that doesn't account for all the other losses that we're going to undergo in upcoming months as many people retire — and we expect a lot to retire. These are people who may have suffered injuries in 9/11. They're people close to retirement age who will want to retire now rather than several years down the road."
Technically, how have these losses affected New York City's firefighting force?
"We lost a lot of experienced people down there. A large number of the people who were killed were the higher echelon: the officers, the special operations command — people with a lot of expertise. Most of them were familiar with high-rise fires. That's just an example of the kind of expertise we lost that day."
Have you thought about retiring?

"I'm 50 years old, and I have 20 years in. I'm eligible to retire. But I feel a sense of obligation to the organization right now. There have been a lot of dark moments since 9/11 — and even before.

"I've gone to a lot of line-of-duty funerals in my 20 years, about six a year. Some years we've lost only a couple of firefighters. Even right before 9/11, we had the Father's Day fire, when three firefighters were killed. I knew two of them. In fact, I had taught one when he was a probationary firefighter. Then we lost another guy to a heart attack in August. And then there was 9/11.

"But you know, firefighters love their jobs so much that they often don't even think about retirement till they've got 30 years on the job. I work with people who have 35 or 40 years of experience. This work is something that grabs you. Once you've done it, there are few things you can think of doing that you would enjoy as much."

You've received credit — and some blame — for promoting the role of women firefighters since Sept. 11. Have the media treated you fairly?

"It's very difficult to predict how remarks will be interpreted by people who pick up a magazine or newspaper or who see a television story. I have no control over that, and I have little control over how my remarks are edited.

"I'm among those working to make people aware that women are in nontraditional jobs, like firefighting, and we want that message out there. But some people have a great deal of difficulty with women being firefighters — and with the idea that women could be heroes and that we're doing it for the same reasons that men are doing it."
Has the job been hard for you as a woman?
"Would I still be here after 20 years if I were miserable at it? There was a lot of money riding on the belief that I wouldn't stay in the job. How many fires do I have to go to before people take me and other women seriously as firefighters?
What will your message be to the graduating seniors at St. Olaf?

"I never think about the speech till the day before! I've written speeches in airplanes, in cabs. I was never like this when I was at St. Olaf College. I always had my assignments in early.

"But seriously, when I left St. Olaf, I never could have guessed that this would have been the path for my life's work. Certainly things went on in college that made me aware of women's issues. It sounds like such a cliché, but life is what you make it. Other people undoubtedly have an influence on you, and there may be barriers, but you determine how you view things."

Do you remember your own commencement speaker?

"I graduated in 1973. The Vietnam War was winding down, but there was still a draft. My years at St. Olaf were interrupted by numerous demonstrations and student moratoriums on going to class. We weren't burning down the campus, but people were occupying President Rand's office. There were all-campus meetings, marches and demonstrations.

"For my commencement, another St. Olaf alum was invited to be campus speaker. It was Al Quie, who at the time was a Congressman. He was, unfortunately, supporting the president's policy in Vietnam.

"So we wore black armbands and protested him being commencement speaker. Compared with what was happening on other campuses, including Kent State, St. Olaf had a relatively civilized dialogue between people who supported the war — and quite a few students did - and the students who were opposed.

"I carried that from St. Olaf — the idea that people can feel passionate about an issue without having to destroy things to make their point or demonize the other side to the point where you can't talk to them. That, to me, is what a liberal arts education is about."
In addition to her commencement speech, Brenda Berkman will give two addresses on campus and show the film The Women of Ground Zero. She will speak to students on Saturday, May 25, at 11 a.m. and to campus visitors and others Sunday, May 26, at 12 p.m. Both events will be held in the Viking Theater in Buntrock Commons.