Criminal Justice grad and retired adjunct continues to serve with bereavement-focused books, support group

It’s hard to put Dominic Murgido ’79 in one descriptive box.

What lead him to Alvernia, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice with a double concentration in sociology and psychology? It may have been the talks he had with his father about police work and the respect they had for the state police. That certainly may be where his interest in the criminal justice field was born.

“I applied to three colleges and was accepted into all three," Murgido recalled. "But the Alvernia campus had a unique feel. It projected a welcoming, friendly atmosphere. And Alvernia put the criminal justice major on the map. It was highly regarded throughout the state.”

For good reason. Graduating magna cum laude, Murgido remembers being intrigued by lecturers visiting his classroom. They were actively working in the criminal justice field – judges, attorneys, probations officers, chiefs of police and the like. And that isn’t to say he didn’t value his liberal arts education, for which Alvernia was highly regarded as well.

“I just learned so much from a life perspective,” he said.

He also met his wife-to-be, Susan, three days into his college experience. After graduation, Murgido spent time working in private security and had a lengthy career in retail loss prevention with Berks-based Boscov’s, but he also returned to school part time at West Chester University for a five-year period to earn his master’s degree so he could pursue a dream of teaching.

Once word got out, he was approached by Alvernia to return as an adjunct professor.

“It was the call of a lifetime,” remembers Murgido, a recipient of the Ellen Frei Gruber Award. “I wanted to teach and doing it at my alma mater meant more to me than anything.”

And he did just that for a 24-year period. Looking back at the experience, if he had to sum it all up, he’d so it with one simple word: fun.

“There’s something unique about standing in front of the classroom and bringing a topic up and just watching the light bulbs pop up above (students') heads because of something you said or the way you brought up a topic," he said. "I was a teacher that took a look at the newspaper to see what the headlines were. And if something crazy was happening with the law, or with the criminal justice system or a crime of some kind, I’d say, ‘You know what? We’re going to spend a half-hour talking about it.’ Feeling the pulse of that classroom, the connection, the electricity, the students that were in front of you … it was incredible.”

The criminal justice program certainly saw its changes during Murgido’s time in it, first as a student, then as a professor. He recalls starting out with chalkboards, then moving to whiteboards, then computers. He remembers attending classes in-person, then hybrid learning becoming a possibility and now online-only courses. While he is still actively involved at Alvernia and engaged with the Bernardine Franciscan Sisters, he is retired from teaching.

That’s not to say he isn’t busy. Murgido remains dedicated to his service to others, a mission central to Alvernia. After losing his wife in a tragic car accident, he founded sudSSpirit Bereavement Support Group in 2008, which meets in Exeter Township Community Library to this day. He’s authored three books based on life experiences with his personal grief journey. And he's the proprietor and master coffee roaster of It’s All About The Bean, an online adventure he enjoys as a hobby of sorts.

On any given day, one may find him enjoying a walk on the Alvernia campus.

“That campus, even as much as it has grown and built up, is the greatest," Murgido said. "I can still walk there and feel the connection to the university. To my beginnings. And to my wife.”