Camille Tacastacas, Veronica Muoio, and Josh Voges—all of whom graduated from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences on May 21—are among approximately 25 fellows selected from hundreds of applicants for the yearlong program. Tacastacas and Voges have both been offered fellowship positions in Malawi and Rwanda, respectively. Muoio’s placement is pending.

The global fellowships typically lead to full-time positions within CRS.

“This experience is helping me expand my world,” said Tacastacas, a native of the Philippines who currently is interning with CRS in Sierra Leone. “Sierra Leone is the first place I’ve worked outside of the Philippines or the United States, so I came in with certain notions of how people are.

“This has been an exercise in shattering those labels and taking people just as they are, giving them a chance to express their whole personhood and humanity.”

In Sierra Leone, Tacastacas has been doing operations research for a project that addresses acute malnutrition in young children. A graduate of the Jesuit Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines, Tacastacas also served as a member of Jesuit Volunteer Corps prior to her Sierra Leone placement.

In Malawi, she will do research for Ubale (United in Building and Advancing Life Expectations), a USAID-funded project on food security and nutrition.

“The Jesuits at Ateneo de Manila inculcated in me the value for social justice,” she said. “That exposure to the least, the less, and the lonely made me want to marry my life’s work with the needs of the world.”

Voges, who is completing a CRS internship in Senegal, is a former Peace Corps volunteer who said he learned the value of economic development when was stationed in Morocco. Recently, he received a message from a basket weaver celebrating the economic success of a workshop that he, Voges, and and other villagers had built.

“He said he was spending the weekend at the beach with his family and friends celebrating, because they had been able to produce and sell a record number of baskets last summer,” said Voges. “He said they used the increase in revenue to purchase a truck so that the artisans would no longer have to pay each week to have the merchandise delivered to the markets.”

In Senegal, Voges has been designing an emergency behavior change intervention in Cape Verde in response to the Zika epidemic. He also coordinated a proposal for a $1.5 million USAID grant to support peace and reconciliation efforts in southern Senegal.

In Rwanda, he will work with CRS to develop community-based models to strengthen local agriculture, nutrition, and economies.

Helping local communities become self-sustaining is at the heart of the CRS mission, said Muoio.

A former Peace Corps volunteer, Muoio said, “The most rewarding part of the work was seeing our students and participants in the programs get really engaged and then go and launch programs and projects of their own—taking what we were doing in our center and bringing it out to the community to share with others.”

Muoio is an intern at the United Nations Development Programme, where she is working on issues related to gender equality around the world. Her CRS fellowship placement is pending, but she said it is likely she will work with Syrian and Iraqi refugees in the Middle East.

“Working with local partners is what CRS does best,” she said. “And they set a standard for other organizations—because the ideal in the industry to is to work yourself out of a job.”

The two immigrated to the Belmont neighborhood from Kosovo in 1995. While her husband worked, Lasku stayed at home and raised their three children. But when their youngest entered kindergarten, she also began looking for work in custodial services. Two years later, she landed a job just a few blocks from their Arthur Avenue home, at Fordham’s Rose Hill campus.

On May 21, 10 years of scrubbing, sweeping, mopping, dusting, and setting up for campus events finally paid off, as Valentina, the oldest of their children, earned a master’s from the Graduate School of Education (GSE). Valentina had already earned a bachelor’s in psychology last year from Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH), but the day was no less sweet for Verenika.

“I’m so proud of her. It’s even better with a master’s,” she said.

“[My husband and I] finished grammar school but we didn’t have the chance to do more,” she said. “It’s always been something on my mind that I want my kids to do better than I do. Even if I didn’t get this job, I would do anything to make it happen—even if I had to take out a loan.”

For Valentina, who was born in the Bronx a year after her parents moved to the United States and grew up in the shadow of the Rose Hill campus, this graduation was particularly sweet because there was little time to savor earning her bachelor’s degree last May. In September, she’ll start a job teaching third grade special education at a school in the Bronx.

“I graduated last year on a Saturday, and on Monday, I started grad school,” she said. “I spent my whole summer and this past year taking classes, so I feel like I crunched two years into one.”

“I’ve wanted to become a teacher since I was very little, so I when I heard Fordham had a graduate education school program, I knew I wanted to jump on that.”

And Valentina’s younger sister Gabriellais following in her footsteps, having completed her first year at Fordham College at Rose Hill. Lasku hopes her son Robert will follow her when he graduates from high school, too.

“I feel accomplished, knowing that I was actually able to do something and make something out of myself for myself,” Valentina said, noting that she was thankful both for her mother’s sacrifice and for fact that she got to see her on campus periodically.

“It feels good being the first one to be able to graduate and set an example.”

“To my esteemed colleague and good friend Father McShane, Mr. Robert Daleo, Chair of the Fordham Board of Trustees, Fordham trustees, faculty, staff, students and members of the administration, my thanks for the honor of speaking at the 171st commencement of Fordham University.

“I also offer my heartfelt congratulations to the faculty and staff of Fordham University. It takes all of the creative and talented individuals who make up the community of a university to convey the information, support and spirit of academic pursuits and you at Fordham do it exceedingly well.

“I also now ask the graduates to join me in recognizing and thanking your family and friends. I know you will agree that we would not be here, celebrating today, if not for them.

“Look back on what you’ve accomplished and savor the present moment of recognition and joy. Look forward to your future and please be determined to make it a better future for us all. You are now among the best educated and informed generation ever, thanks to your dedication and hard work at this great university and to the longstanding emphasis on high quality higher education in the United States.

“Please recognize that earning a college degree is still a privilege—only 40 percent of Americans between 25 and 64 have graduated from a two- or four-year college. You have been particularly privileged to attend Fordham, a school where the curriculum is cutting edge and incredibly broad and, importantly, based in part on faith and service to others.

“At the same time, you are entering an increasingly uncertain and unpredictable world, a world still in the stubborn grip of economic turmoil and a world where our core values are being debated on college campuses, on the streets of our cities, and around the globe, as traditional democratic and humanistic ideals seem to be under siege.

“Every day we watch and listen as the conversations on the great issues of the day – from climate change, to income inequality, to race– are marked not by civility, cooperation, and consensus, but by vitriol, suspicion, and fear.

Despite the urgency to address these problems, concrete progress seems elusive and, at times, purposely frustrated. As a result, we begin to doubt the commitment of our leaders and the very institutions – of government, education, business, and community —on which our fortunes as a nation were built and now rest.

“The American success story is based on trust and on the notion that free speech and a free press will ensure the broadest possible public involvement in the direction our country takes. The effectiveness of our mechanisms for public input in charting the nation’s course is constantly debated. And the trust that our institutions will do the right thing is weakening. Noted Yale economist, Robert Shiller, was recently quoted as observing, “We’re just not in a trusting mood now.”

“Indeed. According to a 2015 Gallup Poll, seven in 10 Americans believe that the country is on the wrong track and eight in 10 are dissatisfied with the way the nation is being governed. This is not a partisan issue. Only one-third of Americans, 33 percent, have “a great deal” or a “lot of” confidence in the institution of the presidency. Thirty-two percent feel the same about the Supreme Court and just eight percent have confidence in the Congress as an institution. As the world’s greatest democracy, that more than two-thirds of the people do not trust our government should be a clarion call to us all.

“This crisis in trust affects every aspect of our society. Just last week, Time Magazine’s cover story cited a recent Harvard Institute of Politics survey concluding that “a majority of citizens [are]uncomfortable with the country’s economic foundation—a system that over hundreds of years turned a fledgling society of farmers and prospectors into the most prosperous nation in human history.” Gallup results underscored that finding– only 23 percent of Americans trust banks, and just 19 percent have confidence in big business. And newspapers and television news, a foundation for an informed electorate, average even less.

“Very profoundly, only 42 percent of the American public has confidence in organized religion.

“Unfortunately, we should not be too surprised that our trust in these institutions is falling. Public institutions thrive in part by promoting the common good. Over the past two decades, the public has had ample reason to question whether that is still the case. Perhaps this is a matter of perception. Whether it is or not, public perception is of great consequence and great concern.

“Endless wars, deep partisanship, and gridlock in Washington shake our confidence in government. We trust less our financial institutions following the events that led to the Great Recession of 2008. Instances of bias and fabrications in reporting lead us to question the media’s objectivity. And the recent problems surrounding the Church no doubt contribute to American’s declining confidence in organized religion.

“Despite the seemingly pessimistic picture I have just painted, I remain an optimist and hope that you share my optimism. Ways to increase our trust in our institutions and, frankly, in each other are well-known. Communication and education; laws and the enforcement of those laws in a way that strengthens community; intolerance of inequality, and promotion of shared understanding. A study on trust and inequality by three British economists concluded that good policy initiates a virtuous circle: policies that raise trust efficiently, improve living standards, raise civil liberties, enhance institutions, and reduce corruption, further raising trust. Trust, democracy, and the rule of law are the foundation of abiding prosperity.

“When our institutions are under siege, we turn to individuals, working together, to make the difference in this world. As Pope Francis advised us in his address before Congress last fall,

“Our response [to the issues of today]must be one of hope and healing, of peace and justice. We are asked to summon the courage and the intelligence to resolve today’s many geopolitical and economic crises. Even in the developed world, the effects of unjust structures and actions are all too apparent. Our efforts must aim at restoring hope, righting wrongs, maintaining commitments and thus promoting the well-being of individuals and of peoples, We must move forward together, as one, in a renewed spirit of fraternity and solidarity, cooperating generously for the common good.

“I am convinced that your education, your hard work, and your commitment to the values and traditions of this great and venerable university give you a special opportunity and obligation to answer Pope Francis’s call, whatever your religion or background.

“As a spiritual person, I recognize the value of the spiritual foundation Fordham has provided you. As a great Jesuit university, Fordham is a place where all religious traditions interact to strengthen one’s understanding of faith and the conviction of his or her beliefs.

“As Father McShane has said—or perhaps the word is “exhorted”—“if you have been at Fordham for any time at all, you know that I am tireless—some would say relentless—in advocating for the University’s mission, in urging our students, and indeed all of you, to be men and women for others. I have said, many times, that I hope our graduates leave the campus bothered. Bothered by injustice. Bothered by poverty. Bothered by suffering.”

“Fordham has taught you that education is not only a path to a more satisfying and secure future but as well a tool for the common good. And there is plenty for you to help fix. The lack of trust in our institutions is an easy invitation to withdraw from our communities and look inward. As Fordham graduates, I’m confident that this is an invitation you will not accept.

“As you enter the next phase of your lives and careers, please think beyond your own employment prospects and think about how you can lead in the rebuilding of our trust—in our governments, in our schools, in our business, in our churches, mosques and synagogues and in each other. Be part of the virtuous circle.

“And always be guided by the values your Fordham diploma represents. Honor them. Share them. And renew them by staying in touch with your mentors, your professors, your friends, your school.

“We are counting on you. Congratulations.”

“As the world’s greatest democracy, that more than two-thirds of the people do not trust our government should be a clarion call to us all,” Dr. Skorton told an audience of nearly 20,000 gathered on Edwards Parade on May 21 for the 171st Commencement ceremony. “This crisis in trust affects every aspect of our society.”

At the same time, the world itself is more unpredictable, he said, with increasing economic turmoil, and democratic and humanistic ideals “under siege.” Conversations taking place on college campuses and elsewhere on race, climate change, and income inequality are lacking in civility.

To rebuild trust in our institutions and in one another, he urged the new graduates to use the tools of a democracy–communication, education, laws, and “intolerance of inequality”–to lift the sagging spirit of the nation. Taking inspiration from both a Jesuit education and from Pope Francis’ messages of ending global injustice, he urged graduates to “be part of the virtuous circle” of change.

“Fordham has taught you that education is not only a path to a more satisfying and secure future but as well a tool for the common good,” he said. “We are counting on you.”
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If the new graduates were in want of ways in which to act upon Dr. Skorton’s entreaty, they got it from Joseph M. McShane, SJ, president of Fordham.

Father McShane acknowledged that many in the Class of 2016 might feel ambivalence upon leaving college, and have “complicated” impulses pulling them in different directions. After offering them a balm (“Relax. You’re going to be just fine.”), he gave up three bits of sage advice: always remember where you came from; always remember where you went to school; and always remember that your New York City experience brings with it a special purpose.

“You were educated in that impossible, chaotic, frenzied, and imperfect city presided over by the Statue of Liberty,” Father McShane said. “Here, we seek to create one nation out of many peoples.” That endeavor—to welcome all people with love, respect, and goodwill—is a noble purpose that has not yet been achieved, he said. ”It is a dream that calls us to work every day to make this city, the mother of immigrants, the true city on a hill.

“Therefore, be bothered that the promise of America has not been fully realized.

“But don’t just be bothered,” he said. “Do something about it. Matter. Make a difference. God did not put you here to be ornaments. You were brought to this moment so you could take on the world, set it on fire, and change it.”

Father McShane said the members of the Class of 2016 have learned the quality of mercy from their parents and their time at Fordham. As they are the graduating during the Jubilee Year of Mercy, such work is their calling.

”Shelter the homeless. Clothe the naked. Feed the hungry. Give drink to the thirsty. Comfort the sick. Console the dying. Visit the imprisoned. If you make the works of mercy the defining characteristics of your lives … you will be true sons and daughters of Fordham.”

In addition to Dr. Skorton, this year’s recipients of honorary degrees include

• Judith Altmann, vice president of the Holocaust Child Survivors of Connecticut
• Maurice “Mo” Cunniffe, FCRH ’54, a successful businessman and key supporter of Fordham
• Patricia David, GABELLI ’81, global head of diversity for JPMorgan Chase
• Gregory J. Boyle, SJ, founder and executive director of the gang-intervention group Homeboy Industries
• Sr. Carol Keehan, DC, president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association of the United States
• Robert Battle, artistic director for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
• Henry Cobb, founding partner at the architecture firm Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners
• Loretta A. Preska, LAW ’73, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

For more commencement coverage, visit our Commencement page.

In her Lady of the Manor address, senior Abigail Gibson joked that she was thankful to be Jesuit-educated, or “Jesucated,” as she put it.

“I truly believe that I have become a better, more caring, and socially conscious person after taking all of the Jesuit catch phrases to heart. That being said, I should take a moment to apologize for taking St. Ignatius’ advice (to set the world afire) and setting the Tierney Hall microwave on fire,” she said.

“I should also apologize for insisting that ‘men and women for others’ means that freshmen are required to give me meal swipes. One final thing I need to apologize for is skipping class to take a bubble bath because, cura personalis.”

Class valedictorian Brett Bonfanti likewise got laughs, saying “many of you may not know me … I just got out of the library where I have been secluded for the past 4 years.” He asked his fellow classmates to reflect upon the ways they’ve changed since first stepping foot on the Rose Hill campus four years ago. If they fail to habitually reflect on their past, he cautioned, they might end up becoming something they really didn’t intend to be without realizing how it happened.

“What really made you into the person you are right now? How have the last four years affected you? Changes come in many forms: social, intellectual, and moral,” he said.

Bonfanti said that his time at Fordham had dramatically expanded his worldview through interactions both off campus and on. He recalled wrestling with questions of guilt and conscience after reading Arthur Miller’s All My Sons. A political science major, he also cherished how small, seminar-style classes allowed for robust discussions about life or death issues, redistribution of wealth, and Supreme Court decisions. It was up to the Class of 2016, he said, to use their education “wisely, and with purpose.”

Maura Mast, PhD, dean of the college since 2015, beseeched the first class to graduate on her watch to make gratitude a part of their daily life. After intimating that they must be grateful to have been earned college degrees, Mast corrected herself, noting that it was they who would know what they were grateful for. She called for a moment of silence to ponder that question.

Mast said that Society of Jesus founder St. Ignatius of Loyola took gratitude very seriously, calling ingratitude one of “the most abominable of sins.”

St. Ignatius’ solution to ingratitude, the “Daily Examen,” has been described by theologians as the act of “rummaging for God,” said Mast—a metaphor that appealed to her.

“When I rummage through a drawer or a box, I’m looking through a bunch of stuff.  I may find something familiar, or something I’ve overlooked or forgotten about, I may find a treasure, large or small,” she said.

“St. Ignatius’ point was that God freely and abundantly gives to us.  By reflectively walking through our day looking for gratitude, we begin to identify the gifts—the treasures—we are given.”

Mast said that understanding gratitude transforms one’s relationship with God, oneself, and the larger world. She cited the late Daniel Berrigan, SJ, who saw God in the faces of the people, and imagined them as connected as beads on a rosary.

“I encourage you to keep gratitude present in your daily life, and to let gratitude guide your future,” she said.

About 150 members of the senior class took home awards in recognition for excellence in areas ranging from academics to service to personal growth.

“Truly, this class understands that a humble and strong spirit produces amazing results,” said Donna Rapaccioli, PhD, dean of the Gabelli School.

“The ceremony signals the end of our time together here at Fordham. But more important, as the name ‘commencement’ suggests, it’s also the beginning… A beginning that you have proven to us and to yourselves in so many ways that you are prepared for.”

In her final piece of advice before Saturday’s University-wide commencement ceremony, Rapaccioli reminded the students that they possess many important qualities to succeed—intelligence, grit, a reflective nature, and even a “New York attitude.”

She also urged them to embrace another critical yet undervalued trait: humility.

Often, humility gets lost among old stereotypes that cast business as a field concerned with prosperity and pompousness, Rapaccioli said. However, that’s not the kind of business education Fordham offers.

“Humility is not about hiding your accomplishments or being a doormat. It is about being open to others’ opinions, seeking feedback, reflecting on your experiences, and admitting mistakes,” she said. “It is a reflection of the confidence you have in what you know and what you believe, so that you don’t need to be showy about it.”

Taking home the top academic awards were valedictorian Graziella Coppola, who graduates with a 3.996 GPA, and salutatorian Bradley Florio, who earned a 3.97.

Coppola, a first-generation college student who is receiving a bachelor’s in public accounting, spoke to her classmates of the uncertainty many of them are feeling as this chapter in their lives closes.

“If you’re anything like me, you fear the unknown and want everything to go the right way,” Coppola said. “But life doesn’t work that way, and we can’t let fear hold us back.”

Their Fordham education has prepared them well not only for business, but for the world at large, said Coppola.

“We’re not just business students—we’re men and women for others. So let’s inspire and bring out the best in others around us. That’s the Jesuit way. That’s the Fordham way,” she said. “Let’s be proud of what we’ve accomplished here tonight, but acknowledge that it’s just the beginning.”

Highlights from the ceremony include:

• The Dean’s Award for commitment to the Fordham community to Emily Raleigh, founder and CEO of Spire & Co., and co-president of Fordham’s Entrepreneurship Society;
• The 2016 Gabelli School of Business Alumnus of the Year award to Brent Martini, MBA ’86;
• The E. Gerald Corrigan Thesis Award for the best original research in the global business honors program to Leona Lam (“The Impact of Female Risk Aversion of Environmental, Social, and Governance Disclosure”) and Alisha Mehndiratta (“Addressing Peru’s Child Labor Problem”);
• A tie for the Patricia Ramsey Honors Thesis award to Federico Giustini and Tahseen Hasan, for their honors thesis “Privatization of Eminent Domain: The Misconstruing of Eminent Domain’s Ethical Underpinnings” (Giustini) and “CEO Risk-Taking: Does Generation Matter?” (Hasan);
• CSTEP Scholar Awards to Dorina Cipollone and Marisa Diaz; and
• Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence to Ben Cole, PhD, associate professor of management systems, and Paul Lynch, PhD, clinical assistant professor of accounting and taxation.

In fact, Uwadione’s sons, ages 1 and 9, have provided the most important motivation during his years at Fordham’s School of Professional and Continuing Studies, where he earned a degree in organizational leadership with a minor in economics.

“I know the importance of my degree not just for myself but also for my children,” he said. “I want to live a life of exemplary conduct. I want to be able to say, ‘Well, I could do this and you should be able to do it.’”

Originally from Nigeria, Uwadione has been living in New York for 12 years. He was drawn to study at Fordham not just by its academic reputation, he said, but also because of its Jesuit traditions.

“Fordham is unique in that there are elements of faith that are part of the academic community, and that is something that you don’t find everywhere,” he said.

For Uwadione, who is of the Bahá’í faith, the sharing of spiritual life is of central importance. Each month, he hosts up to 25 people in his home for a “tranquility zone,” an evening of meditation and conviviality.

“It is a devotional gathering, a place where people of different faiths, or of no faith, will come together once a month and we eat, we pray, and we play,” he said.

This concern for the creation of peaceful communities led Uwadione to a course in philosophical ethics taught by Gerard Farley, PhD, adjunct professor in the Department of Philosophy.

The course resonated deeply for Uwadione because it examined the role of ethics in daily life, a topic of particular concern for him, he said, “coming from a country where corruption has pretty much plagued the system.”

Uwadione works in supply chain management and is the director of operations at a small logistics company. He plans to use his degree to advance in his career, but just as important, he wants to continue the community service that plays a large role in his life.

He serves as president of the regional Ndokwa Association in America, a not-for-profit cultural organization dedicated to improving education and living conditions in a region in Nigeria. Uwadione also serves as the chairman of the association’s national scholarship board, which funds African students who excel academically but who cannot pay for their schooling.

In his own education, Uwadione’s steadfast pursuit of excellence has paid off. In 2015, he was inducted into Alpha Sigma Lambda, the national honor society for adult students, and in the 2015-2016 academic year he was the recipient of the Morton Levy Scholarship.

Though he leaves Fordham this spring, Uwadione says his ties to the school University will always be strong.

“Fordham is now family. Once you are a member of the family of academics you are there forever.”

–Nina Heidig

And smiles could be seen all around during a tour of the agency given by its deputy executive director, David Vincent, PhD. To even the critical observer, it would seem that the people who work at The Door like their jobs.

The job satisfaction at The Door exemplifies the findings in Vincent’s dissertation, “Commitment to Social Justice and its Influence on Job Satisfaction and Retention of Nonprofit Middle Managers.” He is graduating with a doctorate in social work from the Graduate School of Social Service(GSS).

In a survey of 38 New York-area nonprofit settlement houses, Vincent asked middle managers to rate their awareness of social justice issues and examined how that awareness affected job satisfaction. He found that when managers’ social justice sensitivity aligned with the mission of the organization, their job satisfaction was high, as was job retention.

“When the baby boomers begin to retire, there’s going to be a big gap in the managerial pipeline at nonprofits, so we need to understand what makes employees happy,” said Vincent, who teaches in the leadership track at Fordham as an adjunct professor of social work. “Middle managers are future leaders, so we need to ask how we can help them be better leaders, and what kind of professional development do they need.”

Vincent’s journey into nonprofit work began during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, when many of his friends were dying. He volunteered and worked with HIV-positive youth, and felt like he was making a difference. Vincent later moved to Boston and began working with homeless youth, for which authenticity was essential. “They have to trust you, and you have to meet them where they’re at.”

After returning to New York to work as associate executive director at Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, Vincent met Sandra Turner, PhD, a GSS professor and board member at Callen-Lorde who encouraged him to pursue his doctoral degree at Fordham.

“I came here because I could go to school and still work a full-time job,” he said.

Vincent pursued his doctorate taking one or two classes at a time, motivated mainly by ideas of social justice.

Empathy has been key to his work, his research, and his life, he said. Vincent is a white man who helps lead an organization in which most employees are black or Hispanic and most clients are young people of color, so he strives to understand the challenges they face.

“When you work with underserved communities and you want to do your job well, you need to understand racism, and that it is systemic, and that those are the issues that many of your clients and many of your co-workers are dealing with,” he said. “To lead an organization, you have to ‘get’ social justice. You need to understand equity.”

His own upbringing was far from the American mainstream. He grew up in a working-class Portuguese community outside Boston, raised by first generation parents.

“We were very marginalized, so I knew what it was like to come from the lower end of the totem pole and not the dominant part that ruled society,” he said. “It’s just by the grace of God that I had wonderful, supportive parents.”

But it has primed him—the first in his family to graduate from college—to make an impact on the criminal justice system, he said.

And as an added bonus, Xiang, who gets his diploma on Monday, May 23 from the law school, will be doing it in the borough where he was born.

Xiang’s parents immigrated to the Bronx from Guangzhou, China, but eventually moved to Elmhurst, Queens. Xiang grew up there as an only child, and returned to the Bronx for school—he was admitted to the prestigious Bronx High School of Science.

He did his undergraduate studies at Hunter and Stony Brook colleges, where he tried his hand at chemistry before realizing he wanted to spend more time with people. He settled on political science and Asian studies, and as part of his studies, he ventured to Tibet and Western China to study minority populations.

After he earned his degree, Xiang took some time to travel and “figure out” what was next. He lived briefly Texas and San Francisco, and then returned to New York City, where he worked as a bartender and waiter. He briefly considered pursuing a doctorate in Asian studies, but ultimately Fordham Law School attracted him. He said he felt it would deliver concrete results.

“At Stony Brook, I did a lot of research and a lot of writing, and it seemed like law was an area where I could use those skills to further my career,” he said.

Xiang found his calling in law when he was given the opportunity to work in Syracuse for the Honorable Frederick J. Scullin Jr., justice of the Northern District of New York. His colleagues spoke of putting in long hours that they found worthwhile, because they could see the tangible benefits of serving in the community. Xiang became intrigued.

“That’s really what I wanted to do. I’d done a lot of jobs where I worked a lot of long hours, but those jobs didn’t resonate very well with me,” he said. “Law is for a good purpose, and you can see the effects on the community. That matters to me.”

Xiang initially considered doing defense law, but he says he wants to be a prosecutor who is in a position to effect change from within. He credits some of this perspective to having studied in China, where the government is fully in control of the justice system.

When those on the outside pushing for change find no one on the inside is listening, change becomes a Sisyphean task, he said.

“If you only have very conservative prosecutors who believe every small crime should be prosecuted to the full extent, then [you won’t find]more reasonable prosecutors who will balance the sentencing and balance the prosecution,” Xiang said.

“Do you want to really put someone with a small marijuana offense away from their family for five years? Does it benefit their family? Does it do society any good? Is there a sense of justice? These are the questions that you ask yourself.”

He credits professors Mark Costello, adjunct professor of law, Ted Neustadt, legal writing professor and associate director of legal writing, Deborah Denno, PhD, Arthur A. McGivney Professor of Law and Founding Director of the Neuroscience and Law Center, and Clare Huntington, associate dean for research and professor of law, for helping guide him. He is also proud to have formed a tight group of friends, many whom are also taking jobs in district attorneys’ offices in New York City. Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island have all recently elected new DAs, which makes prosecutorial work exciting area of law to work these days, he said.

“All my life I’ve been watching New York change, and it’s interesting being part of that progressive front now as an adult,” he said.

“I’m glad I made the choice to go to Fordham because of the people I’ve met and the relationships I’ve built. It’s created a foundation for who I want to be.”

Two of this year’s graduates—Andrew Santis, who is receiving a bachelor’s of science in marketing with a concentration in global business, and Stephanie Ballantyne, who graduates with a dual master’s degree in public accounting and taxation—have worked, lived, and studied in more than a dozen countries between the two of them.

To Ballantyne, the global bent at the Gabelli School felt like home. Born in Germany and raised in Switzerland, she completed her undergraduate degree in accounting finance at the University of Stirling in Scotland, and then worked for Deloitte Zurich before coming to Fordham.

The move was challenging, she said; but then, having attended an international high school and traveled as a student to the likes of Egypt, Russia, and Greece, the challenge was a familiar one.

“I’ve always had culture shock happening at some point or another, but I grew up knowing I’d have an international lifestyle,” said Ballantyne, whose credits include president of the Gabelli School’s Accounting and Tax Society and chief operating officer of the Finance Society.

“I like New York,” she said. “Switzerland is a bit more laid back—they start work earlier, but also leave earlier, and on the weekends their phones are turned off. For someone starting their career, it can seem a bit slow.”

The New York pace has suited Ballantyne. She interned at Deloitte in Manhattan last summer, and by August she had secured a full-time offer.

“It was a big change, coming here—especially because I started at Fordham in 2014 during the polar vortex. There were about two snow days per week, which made it hard to meet people,” she said. “But overall, Fordham was definitely the right choice.”

For Santis, a native New Yorker, it was a study tour to Spain during his junior year that sparked his passion for global business—but his real adventure began when he returned home to his internship at Cardwell Beach, a digital marketing agency.

“My boss knew how much I enjoyed Madrid, and in March he called and said they wanted to offer me compensation for my work, which would be to send me abroad to work for the summer,” he said. “It didn’t even have to be Spain—I could choose any country I wanted.”

His options boundless, Santis chose a multi-city tour of Europe. He began with a week in Paris, and then joined up with fellow Gabelli School students for a summer semester program at Fordham’s London Centre. After London, he continued on to Germany, where he spent a week each in Frankfurt, Cologne, Hamburg, Berlin, and Munich.

In the mornings Santis explored the city, and in the afternoons, once his New York colleagues were at the office, he worked on creating buyer personas for Cardwell Beach.

“It was definitely a test of strength and character,” Santis said. “I learned a lot about myself by venturing out to another part of the world on my own.”

Both Santis and Ballantyne have jobs lined up following graduation. Ballantyne will continue with Deloitte in Manhattan, and Santis will take a full-time position at Cardwell Beach (a position for which he will craft his own title and job description).

“Fordham prepared me well,” Ballantyne said. “All the opportunities are here—you just have to take the initiative to go get them.”