Working with one of her Fordham professors at the intersection of machine learning and neuroscience, Rabia Gondur devised an innovative way to understand how an insect’s brain functions during natural movements.

When you do something simple like pick up your phone or wash your hands, what’s happening in your brain? Quite a lot, actually—neurons are firing everywhere because of all your minor movements, not to mention background activities like respiration.

“Your brain is not just stopping to do this one activity,” said Rabia Gondur, FCLC ’22, a computational research scientist at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island. “It’s very noisy in the brain.”

Cutting through this noise to see which movements fire which neurons is the subject of her research, which she’ll soon present at a prestigious international conference on machine learning.

Gondur devised an innovative approach with help from one of her professors, Stephen Keeley, Ph.D.—a collaboration that began easily during her senior year when his presentation in one of her capstone courses spoke to her interest in research. “I just reached out to him, and he was super accommodating,” she said.

They worked on the research while Gondur—an integrative neuroscience major—completed the requirements for the accelerated master’s degree program in data science at Fordham’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, after which she landed her job at Cold Spring, where she is part of a computational neuroscience research group.

She will present her research at one of the world’s leading forums for machine learning, the annual International Conference on Learning Representations, taking place in Vienna, Austria, in May.

Using Machine Learning to Study Day-to-Day Brain Function

Gondur’s research is one of many studies seeking to understand a brain’s response during complex, natural behaviors, building on prior studies of more basic movements—for instance, what happens in a monkey’s brain when it reaches left versus right in response to a prompt.

The eventual goal is to get beyond laboratory studies to see, in detail, how the human brain naturally functions. “That’s ultimately what neuroscientists are interested in understanding, is how the brain works in our day-to-day lives,” said Keeley, an assistant professor of natural science who runs a machine learning lab on the Lincoln Center campus.

But to work toward this goal, scientists have to start small—literally. For their study, Keeley and Gondur examined the brains of insects: a fly grooming itself and a moth flitting around to follow a moving image of a flower. For this, they relied on data that their collaborators at other universities gathered using brain imaging technology.

Keeley and Gondur devised a machine learning algorithm to find links between the bugs’ brain signals and the subtleties of their movements, as captured in video stills. It differs from similar algorithms because they added processes to make the measurements more precise and the results easier to interpret.

A New Tool for Brain Research

Such techniques could one day illuminate everything from brain-based diseases to variances in people’s motor skills, Keeley said. For now, their model gives a new tool to scientists trying to tease out relationships hidden in complex data. “If you are interested in genomics, if you’re interested in medicine, if you’re interested in just anything, you can basically tweak the model,” Gondur said.

Keeley is always working with undergraduates on research projects tailored to their skill level. “Rabia came in with quite a good amount of talent, and so I was able to give her a very challenging project, and she was very successful,” he said.

Del Rey was nominated for five awards, including Album of the Year for her 2023 release, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. That award went to Taylor Swift’s Midnights, which featured Del Rey as a guest vocalist and co-writer on the track “Snow on the Beach.”

Swift brought Del Rey on stage with her after winning that final award of the night, and during her speech, she praised her friend and collaborator: “I think so many female artists would not be where they are and would not have the inspiration they have if it weren’t for the work that she’s done,” Swift said. “I think she’s a legacy artist, a legend, and in her prime right now.”

Along with Album of the Year, Del Rey was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album, Song of the Year and Best Alternative Music Performance (both for “A&W”), and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance (for “Candy Necklace,” which featured Jon Batiste). In addition, Jack Antonoff took home the Producer of the Year (Non-Classical) award for his work on both Del Rey’s and Swift’s albums.

The kind of fellow artist support Del Rey received from Swift harks back to an interview and performance she recorded at Fordham’s WFUV in late 2011—just before the release of Born to Die, her major-label debut. Speaking with host Rita Houston, she called herself naturally nervous but said that praise from peers at open-mic nights and early shows helped boost her confidence.

Now, with peers including some of the biggest music stars in the world, Del Rey’s impact as an artist only continues to grow. You can catch her headlining Coachella in April, and she recently teased that her next album, Lasso, will be released in September.

When It’s Fordham Students, ‘I Always Answer’

“I get emails or LinkedIn requests from at least two Fordham students every day—and I always answer the call,” said Caldwell, executive director at JPMorgan Private Bank and member of the Fordham President’s Council. “Every job I’ve gotten since I graduated college has been through a Fordham alum, so I feel like it’s my duty to give back, wherever I can.”

Caldwell spoke with Fordham students at the Oct. 2 President’s Council Executive Leadership Series Mentoring Event. The evening brought together senior students and young alumni with members of the President’s Council—a group of professionals and philanthropists who provide mentorship and support to students and the University—and guest mentors.

His friend Will Finn, GABELLI ’17, a managing director at PNC, took it one step further: “Once you meet someone, build a relationship—don’t just reach out to reach out, but do some research. See what their career has been, what their education has been, and try to touch on those points.”

The Value of Face-to-Face Networking

At the evening event held in Lowenstein’s 12th-Floor Lounge, students networked with the alumni and asked questions about their career paths while gaining interviewing tips and career advice.

Hector Cruz, a senior at Fordham College at Rose Hill majoring in math and computer science, is currently interning at Con Edison. He’s interested in staying in that field, working toward creating a greener energy infrastructure. He said the opportunity to hear from alumni was very helpful.

“This was a good chance, especially as a graduating senior, to really get to know people and further my career, as well as further my relationship with Fordham postgrad,” said Cruz, who is the president of the Commuting Students Association.

For senior Emma Balint, the chance to connect in person was powerful, especially in the age of Zoom.

“I missed that component of getting to socialize with people face-to-face because I feel like that’s really where I thrive,” said Balint, who is majoring in psychology and minoring in bioethics at Fordham College at Rose Hill.

Finn said that he was glad students got to see the alumni network in action.

“I think networking is incredibly important within business, and people want to help each other, and that’s probably one of the best things about Fordham—the fact that people are willing to pick up that phone call,” he said.

At this year’s Fordham Women’s Summit, to be held Wednesday, Oct. 18, at Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus in Manhattan, four alumni in the fashion industry will share how companies are looking to implement innovative practices to curb their environmental impact.

Barbara Porco, Ph.D., professor of accounting and head of Fordham’s Responsible Business Center, will moderate the panel, which will feature the following Fordham graduates:

• Stacey Ferrara, GABELLI ’10, director of strategic initiatives and operations at the Estée Lauder Companies
• Claudia Rondinelli, FCLC ’91, head of global materials: leather and trims at Ralph Lauren
• Georgeanne Siller, GABELLI ’17, assistant buyer, women’s apparel at Macy’s Inc.

Beyond Fashion: Sustainability Across Industries

This year’s women’s summit—“Beyond Green: Investing in a More Sustainable World”—is inspired in part by the University’s environmental action plan and aims to highlight how Fordham women are helping to lead charge across many industries. Speakers will share ideas for how everyone can take bold action in their own lives to live more sustainably.

Jeannette Ferran Astorga, GABELLI ’96, executive vice president of corporate affairs, communications, and sustainability at Zoetis Inc., will deliver the keynote address. She’ll share how her values-driven career started at Fordham and has led her to Zoetis, a global animal health company. In addition to setting long-range environmental and social impact goals for the company, she started the Zoetis Foundation, which aims to advance opportunities for veterinarians and farmers, including those in sub-Saharan Africa.

The day will also feature a conversation on how the food, wine, and other products we consume affect us, and how we can become better consumers for our own benefit and the health of the planet. Other sessions include a look into environmental research happening at Fordham and a discussion of the ways Fordham is taking action to support our common home and inspire change in its communities.

Learn more about the Women’s Summit and register at fordham.edu/womenssummit.

“I wanted … to have young readers see a multiethnic character in a lead role,” he said. “I also wanted to spark the thought that families with diverse backgrounds are normal. At times in my childhood, I thought I had to ‘pick a side,’ [but]  I really want young kids to be able to embrace their heritage and be proud of their background.”

Yam was inspired to write his debut book after a trip to a major chain bookstore during Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. He found a skimpy few dozen children’s books featuring Asian male lead characters, an example, he felt, of the underrepresentation that persists in other media. 

In the picture book, it’s little Mikey Yam’s fourth birthday, and the menu for his party is causing a bit of a dilemma: Should he serve Chinese or Italian food? He decides he wants to honor both cultures and enlists his grandmothers to help him come up with a new fusion dish: fried rice with marinara sauce. It ends up being the talk of the town and uniting everyone.

This idea of honoring diversity yet coming together is one that Yam has shared before, in a number of op-eds on everything from immigration and racism to charting a path for future Asian American broadcasters.  

Since graduating from Fordham with a degree in communications, Yam, a former SportsCenter anchor on ESPN, has also been an active supporter of students at WFUV, leading workshops, listening to their demo tapes, and helping to connect them with internship and job opportunities.

A few years ago, as a guest on WFUV Sports’ “Off the Air” podcast, Yam told listeners that before he got to Fordham, his plan was to become a pediatrician. Chemistry turned out not to be his “specialty,” though, so he decided to switch gears. He thought back to his first year, when one of his friends got the opportunity to go cover a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden—thanks to his WFUV press credentials. So, Yam walked over to the station and met with Bob Ahrens, then executive producer and sports director at WFUV.

“I joined the radio station. … I’d argue it’s the best training ground in the country if you want to be a sportscaster,” he said. “And there’s some great programs nationally, but my heart’s always in the Bronx.”

Can You Dig It? was released on August 10 by Audible, as part of a slate of original series celebrating this milestone year. The series, co-created and executive produced by Bryan Master, FCRH ’99, and narrated and co-produced by legendary Public Enemy rapper Chuck D, chronicles the 1971 gang peace treaty in the Bronx that paved the way for hip-hop.

Through both scripted scenes and unscripted interviews, Can You Dig It? tells the story of the murder of Ghetto Brothers member Cornell “Black Benjie” Benjamin. Benjamin had been working toward a truce among rivals when he was killed, and his death resulted in an escalation of violence. That moment of chaos was followed by the Hoe Avenue peace meeting, organized by the Ghetto Brothers’ Benjamin “Yellow Benjy” Melendez, which ushered in an era of relative calm among gangs in the South Bronx. Two years later, on August 11, 1973, with young people in the area safer to socialize across neighborhood boundaries, Cindy Campbell threw a “Back to School Jam” in a recreation room at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue. Her brother, Kool Herc, DJ’d the party, which came to be considered the origin of hip-hop music.

The series features documentary-style interviews with photographers Henry Chalfant and Joe Conzo, pioneering MC Coke La Rock, and a number of former members and associates of the Ghetto Brothers. These are interspersed with Chuck D’s narration, as well as dramatized portions, for which the series tapped into local voice talent from the Bronx’s community arts programs.

“It’s a love letter to the Bronx,” said Master, a composer who is also the founder and owner of Sound + Fission, a music and audio production company.

In a recent interview with Fordham student Jay Doherty, a co-host of WFUV’s What’s What podcast, Master described the story of the truce at the heart of Can You Dig It? as a manifestation of the Jesuit ideal of being people for others. “We applied that mantra by being a vehicle for a story that inspires people, that gives hope to others. That’s what this is all about. Black Benjie, Yellow Benjy, the Ghetto Brothers—they were men for others.”

The series comes at a moment when hip-hop is being celebrated not only as a revolutionary musical force but also as a vital part of New York City history. In June, the Bronx intersection of East 165th Street and Rogers Place was renamed Cornell “Black Benjie” Benjamin Way, making the site of the murder a landmark—and a reminder of the positive action that came out of the tragedy. In recent decades, Fordham has also been preserving hip-hop’s Bronx legacy, though efforts to recognize 1520 Sedgwick as the genre’s birthplace and through oral-history interviews with seminal figures such as Yellow Benjy and Kurtis Blow as part of the Bronx African American History Project.

“During this 50th anniversary of hip-hop, we hold the attention of the planet,” Chuck D told SPIN in June. “Now is the time to bring out the stories of people who paved the way for hip-hop and shaped its earliest days.”

Alumni spanning seven decades made it back to campus—some who are frequent visitors, some reunion first-timers, but all eager to reconnect with friends, see how the University has grown over the years, and do their part to give back.

This year’s reunion classes contributed more than $75 million to the University since their last Jubilee, in 2018. All of the money raised supports Cura Personalis | For Every Fordham Student, the University’s $350 million campaign to reinvest in all aspects of the student experience.

A Family Affair

For Anne Mickut Valentino and Christopher Valentino, who met as members of the Fordham College at Rose Hill Class of 1988, this year’s Jubilee was a special one—their first time attending alongside their son Peter Valentino, FCRH ’18. Christopher, an Army lawyer who retired from active duty in 2006, said, “Out of all the people I’ve met around the world, none have the quality and integrity of fellow Fordham graduates.”

Another Fordham couple, who were catching up with friends at the Go Rams! Pub Party under the Jack Coffey Field bleachers Saturday afternoon, said they never met as undergraduates. Instead, Billy and Melissa Barbour, both FCRH ’93, were introduced at their first Jubilee, in 1998, and were engaged the following year.

Now, when Billy finds out a student of his at Easthampton High School on Long Island is attending Fordham, he makes sure to tell them: “Don’t miss your Jubilee. You might meet someone.”

A Culture of Service

Elsewhere on campus, the Class of 1973 gathered in the library to reflect on the ways they’ve dedicated themselves to the greater good—from activism to community service to their careers—and to hear from Fordham’s Center for Community Engaged Learning on the ways in which the University continues to partner with the community and local organizations.

In Butler Commons, members of the Marymount College community recognized the lives and accomplishments of their fellow graduates, honoring four alumnae for their community service and professional success.

Debra DeVenezia, MC ’83, won the Gloria Gaines Memorial Award; Rena Micklewright, MC ’90, won the Golden Dome Award; Sharbari Zohra Ahmed, MC ’95, won the Alumna of Achievement Award; and Linda McMahon, Ph.D., MC ’63, was honored posthumously. 

Camaraderie and Corn Hole

At the all-class picnic held on Martyrs’ Lawn Saturday afternoon—complete with a barbecue, face painting, and games of corn hole—a group of 2013 graduates who were involved with both the Philippine American Club and the Asian Cultural Exchange on campus expressed how important those student clubs were to their college experience.

“It helped me connect with my roots,” said Danielle Flores, FCRH ’13, whose parents immigrated from the Philippines and who double-majored in economics and Spanish language and literature as a member of the Fordham College at Rose Hill Honors Program.

Thinking back to her arrival as a first-year student, Gillian Pantaleon, GABELLI ’13, ’14, echoed Flores’ sentiments on the strong balance of classwork and connection she found at Rose Hill.

“I never knew that … I would have really intellectual conversations in the classroom, learning a lot of lifelong lessons and building a fantastic network here,” she said. “If I could do it all over again, I would.”

Video by Rebecca Rosen

A Tribute to the Trailblazers

At their annual luncheon, a few dozen alumnae of Thomas More College, Fordham’s undergraduate school for women from 1964 to 1974, presented an award to Tania Tetlow, president of the University, and designated her an honorary alumna of the Class of 1968, the college’s first graduating class.

Introducing Fordham’s trailblazing president, who is the first woman and first layperson to lead the Jesuit University of New York, Meredith Waltman, TMC ‘68, noted that the women of TMC are “part of a list of firsts,” too, opening “the door for generations of women afterward to benefit from the rich tradition of a Jesuit” education at Fordham.

“Hereafter, when pictures are taken of the alumni of Thomas More College, she has to be in it,” Waltman said, referring to Tetlow.

Accepting the award, Tetlow admitted to sometimes grappling with a catch-22 of sorts when thinking about the trails blazed by the women of TMC and others like them.

Younger women enjoy a greater degree of freedom but may not fully “understand how hard the fight was to get it to them,” she said. “We are torn between wanting them to be grateful and also wanting to liberate them from any knowledge that it was ever true that people would underestimate them.”

“I don’t know if they will always think of you and remember you, but I will,” she said.

—Adam Kaufman contributed to this story.

“One word: resilient.”

Resilience was an apt, recurring theme at the ceremony, held at Fordham’s Rose Hill campus in the Bronx, as the grads prepare to meet the surging demand for social workers in and beyond New York City. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently projected that employment for social workers will grow faster than the average for all occupations.

“All of us have come to this profession for one reason or another: a history of trauma, the yearning to help those in need, or to be the advocates that they did not have when growing up,” said Wallace-Mills, who directs the supplemental nutrition and home energy assistance programs in Ulster County, New York.

As she looked out on her 900-plus classmates, she said she saw “faces of resilience, motivation, and hope,” people with the desire and skills to make a difference.

‘Do Good by Doing No Further Harm’

For Jennifer Jones Austin, LAW ’93, CEO of the anti-poverty Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, the ceremony was a kind of homecoming. Exactly 30 years after she earned a J.D. from Fordham Law School, the University awarded her an honorary degree for her “commitment to creating economic opportunity and greater social mobility for the most marginalized in our communities.”

Wiping away tears, she encouraged graduates to “do good by doing no further harm,” which, she noted, would require them “to do the things that aren’t always easy to do, to be the lone voice at the table, to have the courage to not look away, but lean in.”

Jones Austin, who once described herself as a “lawyer with a social worker’s heart,” said she has worked side by side with social workers throughout her career, including as deputy commissioner of the New York City Administration for Children’s Services and senior vice president of the United Way of New York City. In February, she moderated Fordham’s annual James Dumpson Symposium, this year titled “Leading for Change: How to Create Sustainable Impact in Children and Family Services.”

On a personal note, she said she’s grateful for the way social workers accompanied her 13 years ago when she was diagnosed with a life-threatening cancer and a “99% chance of imminent death.” They were instrumental to her own “mental and emotional journey to complete healing,” she said.

Finding the Right Balance

Addressing graduates and the friends and family who’ve supported them along the way, Tania Tetlow, president of Fordham University, joked that she could omit some of her staple advice.

“At all of my other graduation speeches, I urge students to go out and matter to the world,” she said. “But I don’t have to say that here. You’ve already made that choice. You will literally go out to feed the hungry, comfort the grieving, visit those who are imprisoned, and gather the little children.”

Indeed, Fordham social work students, in particular, know what it means to practice the Jesuit principle of cura personalis, or care of the whole person, she said.

Sharing a few anecdotes from her days running a domestic violence law clinic in New Orleans, Tetlow encouraged attendees to take a practical approach to solving societal problems.

“I hope you will balance the need to turn up the pressure by railing against injustice with the need to sit at the table and find the answers, mired in the complexity necessary to solve complicated problems,” she said.

‘Be Relentless’

At the beginning of the ceremony, Debra M. McPhee, Ph.D., dean of the graduate school—the largest school of social work in New York state—told graduates that “connection is the lifeblood of the social work profession,” and they’d need to foster it as they “step into the lives of those who are struggling, disenfranchised, and often in pain.”

“Social workers bear witness to the nation’s deepest flaws,” she said. “Our work confirms that inequality, racism, and oppression are not just political buzzwords, but systemic realities that shape lives.”

McPhee implored the graduates to “be relentless in shining light into dark corners, exposing the consequences of oppression and injustice, and working tirelessly to rectify them.”

“You turned challenges and losses that you faced into your best teachers,” she said. “You didn’t let your experiences disadvantage you, but rather they inform the way you show up in the world: with compassion and a rare sense of humanity and humility.”

“I didn’t expect that many Fordham people along the parade route wearing their maroon on St. Patrick’s Day, but they were out there,” said Robert Sutherland, FCRH ’14, vice chair of the Fordham University Alumni Association (FUAA) Advisory Board, who carried the University banner. “I think that’s a credit to where the University’s come: President Tetlow, the basketball teams … it’s a great time to be a Ram.”

Mixed in among the usual shouts of “Go Rams!” were more than a few cheers for Fordham basketball—a nod to the women’s team’s seventh straight postseason appearance and the men’s team’s most successful season in 30 years.

“We energized New York with the basketball team in February and March,” said FUAA board member Steve Centrillo, FCRH ’79, GABELLI ’81, who marched with his wife, Deidre, GABELLI ’81. “I’ve been going to games at [the Rose Hill Gym] for 40-plus years, and I’ve never seen six games in a row where the students were just going crazy, and every seat was filled.”

Extending the Tradition

Some marchers paid tribute to late members of the Fordham community who touched their lives in some way. Paul Stavish, FCRH ’73, for example, adorned his black coat with a shimmering green shamrock pin he received seven years ago, at the funeral of Joseph “Jay” McGowan, dean of student affairs during the 1970s and ’80s.

Other alumni brought members of their family into the Fordham fold. Jeana Somers, LAW ’22, came from New Jersey with her husband, Patrick, and her daughter, brother, and nephew. “It’s a good way to honor my husband,” she said. “It’s his birthday, so it’s a fun day to do a family event. [We’ve also been] to Ireland for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, and we sat in the grandstand seats. [This is] very different.”

Celebrating 175 Years of Military Heritage

Cadets and instructors from the Fordham ROTC program also marched in the parade. Lt. Col. Paul Tanghe, Ph.D., professor of military science at Fordham, noted that the program has historical connections with the New York National Guard’s 69th Infantry Regiment, which has strong Irish heritage. He said many Fordham alumni have served with distinction in the regiment, which was also represented in the parade.

“I think it’s wonderful to celebrate our affiliation with the Fighting 69th,” said cadet Diana Kim, the program’s battalion commander and a member of Fordham’s Class of 2024. She noted that cadets are presented with a ceremonial shillelagh, or traditional Irish fighting stick, when they graduate and are commissioned as officers within the ROTC program.

Given that the University is celebrating the 175th anniversary of military instruction at Fordham this year, “it feels really special to be a cadet here at Fordham,” said another cadet, Brian Inguanti, a member of the Fordham Class of 2025.

A Commitment to Raising Families’ Prospects

Earlier in the day, more than 200 members of the Fordham community brought a dose of Ram pride to the Yale Club, where they gathered for brunch before the march up Fifth Avenue.

Karen Sbaschnig, PCS ’15, took a day off work for the occasion. “I wanted to come this year because I haven’t been for a few years because of the pandemic,” she said, and “I haven’t met the new president yet. That’s another reason why I wanted to come: to hear her speak and to see what her vision is.”

Tetlow told attendees how excited she was about the parade and joked about her “suspiciously English last name.”

“Let’s get down to the important thing: I’m the first president [of Fordham] in generations not to have an Irish last name, and I know that’s a concern,” she said. “But rest assured, the grandmother I was closest to was a Mullen—that family came from Cork generations ago.”

She said the Catholic Church and Jesuit institutions of higher education helped raise her family’s prospects: “That is what we stand for as a church: To take a family from coal mining to university president in two generations.”

She paid tribute to Fordham’s founder, Archbishop John Hughes—and mentioned Hughes again during the parade, when she was interviewed by NBC 4. (Tune in to the 7:36 minute mark to see the interview, and the 25:40 mark to see the Fordham contingent march past.) At the brunch, Tetlow described the University as one that helps solve the world’s problems by pushing “on the boundaries of human knowledge”—and by understanding that talent is too often squandered when opportunity is narrowly disbursed. “We know we have assembled the best and the brightest of the world because they look like the world,” she said. “And still, 20% of our students are the first in their family to go to college, as many of you were.”

“For me, it is humbling beyond measure to take up this work—to lead Fordham into a future where education has never mattered more.”

Chris Gosier contributed reporting to this story.

Mo Osman, FCRH ’14, received the Trailblazer Award, which recognizes a graduate from the past 10 years whose leadership is an inspiration to their fellow alumni, and Jack Walton, FCRH ’72, and Jeanette Walton, TMC ’71, GSAS ’73, shared in the Ram of the Year Award as alumni who enhance the reputation of the University through their professional achievements, personal accomplishments, and loyal service to Fordham. They’re the first duo to be so honored.

The event marked the third biennial awards ceremony hosted by the Fordham University Alumni Association (FUAA), a dues-free group established in 2017 to unite alumni from all of Fordham’s schools. As alumni and guests mingled in the Penn Club’s second-floor ballroom, they were treated to the mellow sounds of the Fordham Lincoln Center Jazz Ensemble, playing from a small overhead balcony.

The Wednesday evening event featured a few firsts, too: It was the first time the reception was held in the landmark Beaux-Arts building that houses the Penn Club, which Fordham alumni and employees are now eligible to join. And it was the first FUAA reception for Fordham’s new president, Tania Tetlow, who has been busy on the road since last August, meeting with alumni across the U.S. and abroad. Alumni have been getting to know her on home turf, too: At homecoming last year, Sally Benner, chair of the FUAA Advisory Board, moderated a fireside-style chat with the president.

At the reception, Tetlow said that it’s a blessing to be able to look at the alumni community and see what Fordham “students will someday become.” She thanked attendees for the “lives of integrity that you have led, the impact you have had on the world, and the ways that you have mattered. It’s such a joy to know what these seeds we plant will become.”

Similarly, Michael Griffin, associate vice president for alumni relations and executive director of the FUAA, told attendees that his goal is to “engage as many of you as possible in a relationship that’s lifelong and meaningful.”

Education as a Gateway into Society

Upon receiving the Ram of the Year Award, Jeannette Walton said she and her husband, Jack, were “humbled to have been selected” by their peers, and they accepted the honor “in the name of all the alumni who worked so hard for Fordham and to support the students there.” She added that they have been devoted to Fordham for so long because they believe that education is important “not just for ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren, but for every student who wants to learn and become a productive member of society.”

The Waltons met in the Fordham yearbook office during the late 1960s, when she was enrolled at Thomas More College (then Fordham’s liberal arts school for women), he at Fordham College at Rose Hill. She grew up in the Bronx, he in Ohio; she had a career in medical research, he in finance. In the ‘70s, they were married, and they’ve stayed close to Fordham through the years: Two of their three sons—Robert, GABELLI ’01, and Andrew, FCRH ’05—went on to graduate from the University.

“I can’t tell you how flattered we are,” Jack said. “I thank you immensely. We were a little bit reluctant because we didn’t know what we had done to deserve the award.”

Humility has been a common trait among FUAA award winners over the years, but there should be no confusion over why their fellow graduates nominated the Waltons: For decades, they have been sharing their time and resources to help make Catholic education more accessible to underserved populations.

They established the Walton Scholarship Fund to provide financial aid to high-achieving undergraduates. They were the principal benefactors of the statue of St. Ignatius Loyola at the Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses and the Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam organ in the University Church. They also helped restore Rose Hill’s science labs and founded the John C. and Jeanette D. Walton Lecture in Science, Philosophy, and Religion at Fordham.

Before presenting them with the award, Benner thanked the Waltons “for your daily examples of expressing love for Fordham, which has added up to decades of loyalty that all of us could emulate.”

‘Grandmasters of Benevolence’

Osman was so surprised he’d been chosen by his peers that he didn’t quite grasp what he was being told.

“When I called Mo to let him know he was selected as the Trailblazer awardee, at first he thought I was inviting him tonight so we could all vote the slate of candidates live, like it was American Idol,” Benner joked.

Osman, the director of alternatives at Wellington Management, immigrated to the Bronx with his family when he was a child, after fleeing Sudan amid military unrest when he was just 3 years old. Today, he’s grateful to Fordham for the impact it’s had on his life. He earned a degree in economics, completed several internships, and landed a position in a two-year rotational program at JPMorgan right after graduating in 2014. He was able to afford Fordham with financial aid and support from the Higher Education Opportunity Program. And that’s why, he’s said, it’s important to him to pay it forward to other students like him.

Since graduating nine years ago, he’s helped strengthen the University’s alumni network by contributing to scholarship funds; sponsoring receptions for his fellow alumni; participating in events run by MOSAIC, Fordham’s Multicultural Organization Supporting Alumni Initiatives and Community affinity chapter; and helping to launch the Alumni Career Fair as an inaugural member of the FUAA Advisory Board.

As he accepted his award, Osman encouraged his fellow alumni to remember what he feels is one of Fordham’s greatest lessons: to make a positive impact on the world. He asked them to “continue to be the great grandmasters of benevolence, respect, and also remain charitable.”

“Without your philanthropy, I would not be here today,” he said. “There are many more kids who would love a Fordham education, who have the potential to attend this great institution of ours, but just need that little push.”

In her novel, Garcia tells the intertwined, intergenerational stories of a group of women, starting in 1866 with María Isabel, a cigar factory worker affected by the bloody stirrings of Cuban nationalists’ fight for independence from Spain, and ending with two of María Isabel’s descendants whose fates converge with those of a Salvadoran mother and daughter in present-day Miami.

As the women’s stories progress, Garcia, who studied sociology and communications at Fordham College at Rose Hill, tackles opioid addiction, migrant women in detention, and the stories told and untold that shape their lives and legacies.

Hispanic Women uses both social science and literature to examine the changing roles of Latina women in society with regard to Latino men, motherhood, the labor force, sexual awareness, media, political and economic power, and women’s liberation. Using literature as a lens, students in Rodríguez’s course examine the structural position and changing concepts of Hispanic women in the Americas.

And visiting authors like Garcia help with this exploration. A few weeks before her visit, students also heard from Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa, the author of Daughters of the Stone and Woman of Endurance.

During November’s hourlong Zoom session, Garcia, who has her own fond memories of taking a class with Rodríguez before graduating in 2007, shared how Fordham helped shape who she is today, her favorite part of the writing process, and why women figure so prominently in her work.

She also delved into the meaning of “salt” in the novel’s title. Though she was drawn to the word’s versatility and varied connotations, Garcia said she “looked at elements that kept coming up multiple times [as she was writing the novel], and salt was one of those. And it can mean so many things,” from the salt of the ocean and sweat and tears to biblical references.

Liliana Gutierrez, a senior in the Fordham Theatre program, asked Garcia about the nature of history and why she adopted a nonlinear, vignette style for the novel.

Garcia explained that such a structure ensures that the book has “that feeling of stories.”

“When I think about history, I think it’s important to always realize that we’re talking about a story. It’s in the word,” she said. “I knew that I didn’t want to write a sweeping saga that went into all the details of these past characters fully: I wanted glimpses,” like those you have of your own history.

Hannah Berggren, a sophomore majoring in urban studies and sociology, wondered how extensive the research process was for the novel, particularly regarding the intimate details that emerge regarding migrant detention centers and the experiences of the women held there. Garcia drew from her own experiences to fuel those passages, she said: Prior to enrolling in an MFA program in creative writing at Purdue University, she did some organizing work with women in deportation and detention centers.

Rodríguez said she felt that the “section on detention was one of the best” in the book “because you see this coverage in the media where people, or politicians essentially” drop in with platitudes, “but it’s only when you read your descriptions from the women’s perspective that you really get the full picture,” she told Garcia and the class.

Garcia, who also writes poetry and short stories, is at work on her next novel. Though it’s early stages yet, and she’s “still figuring out the meat of it,” she knows one thing for sure: It will center on women characters.