The University’s Internship Promise, unveiled this week, pledges that every undergraduate student from the Class of 2029 and beyond will have the opportunity to participate in at least one internship, research project, or other form of experiential learning.

“Learning by doing has always been part of the Fordham experience, as our students demonstrate every year through their internships and research in our hometown of New York City,” said Fordham’s president, Tania Tetlow. 

With New York City as their launchpad, 90% of undergraduate students participate in at least one internship—and many enter the workforce with more than one on their resume. Unlike other locations, New York City offers internship opportunities year-round. 

Fordham students have interned at places as varied as Bloomberg, the Apollo Theater, the United States Tennis Association, EY, and Disney. They have been awarded research fellowships and opportunities stemming from unique partnerships, including those with NYC’s faith communities. Student journalists at Fordham’s WFUV have reported from the field at Yankee Stadium and gone on to intern at top news organizations like MSNBC.

Proven Benefits

Annette McLaughlin, director of Fordham’s Career Center, said students who participate in internships are more likely to receive offers for full-time employment, regardless of their field of study. 

“There’s great value in any type of hands-on learning experience, and we find that’s true even with students who do internships and then decide that it’s not the right industry for them,” she said.

“Internships are important for student’s career exploration and professional development, as well as giving them insight into the culture of an organization.”

A recent survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that employers rate internship experience within their industry as the top factor they consider when deciding between two otherwise equally qualified candidates. 

“In everything they study, students want to understand the ‘why.’ So when they can get hands-on experience through internships, they can connect what they’re doing in the classroom to the real world,” McLaughlin said.

Finding Internships at Fordham

The Career Center, which expanded its footprint in the Joseph M. McShane, S.J. Campus Center in 2022, hosts employers at several events each semester. In addition to holding nine career fairs annually, the center also hosts a fair devoted exclusively to internships, featuring employers such as Barclays, EssilorLuxottica, L’Oreal, Phillips Auctioneers, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, EY, LSEG, and Tapestry. 

Students can also access internship opportunities—86% of which are paid—through Handshake, the Career Center’s one-stop online career platform for students and alumni. Gabelli School of Business students have access to the Career Center’s resources as well as their school’s Personal and Professional Development Center, which has connected students to internships at companies such as Morgan Stanley, Estee Lauder, and PwC. 

Fordham students can also receive internships via Serving the City, a unique paid internship program that connects them to New York area nonprofits and cultural organizations. 

In addition to internships, learning opportunities such as research and fieldwork can be found University-wide. Fordham faculty oversee capstone projects, assignments, case studies, and research projects. Students can also gain experience with Fordham departments such as the Center for Community Engaged Learning, Marketing and Communications, and the Office of Information Technology.

Continuous Support

As they progress in their education, students are encouraged to connect with alumni mentors who can help them with career advice and utilize all the tools of RamConnect, the University’s online community for professional development. Career counselors also work with students all four years to help them improve their career readiness skills. 

“We are always looking to prepare our students for the future,” said McLaughlin. 

“Internships, research, experiential learning, and study abroad are key components to setting our students up for success.”

But when the 71,000-square-foot, four-story addition to the McGinley Center officially opens today, Feb. 1, it will introduce to the Fordham community a radically different sort of space, filled with places to relax, recharge, and connect.

Get Your Sweat On

One of the highlights of this new building addition will be the expanded fitness center, which at 20,000 square feet occupies the lower level of both the new building addition and the existing McGinley Center. The brand new, brightly lit space, which is illuminated by both overhead lighting and sunlight from ceiling windows facing the front of the building, is dedicated to 100 pieces of state-of-the-art weight-training equipment. The existing space will continue to be used for cardio equipment, assuring shorter wait times. One of the newest pieces of equipment is a climbing simulator known as a Jacob’s Ladder. (The fitness center is currently operating at reduced capacity due to COVID-19 regulations.)

Eagle-eyed visitors heading to a newly offered yoga session in one of the two new classrooms might notice that the arches of the original McGinley Center have been left as unfinished concrete, not painted white like the rest of the wall. It’s a small, subtle touch meant to acknowledge the past, said Larry Peifer, the lead designer for architecture firm HLW International LLP. A similar sensibility influenced the choice of the new addition’s Corinthian granite façade, which is the same material on the outside of the Rose Hill Gym next door.

“We’ve kind of remixed Fordham’s architectural palate. We took these materials you see elsewhere, whether its Corinthian granite, limestone terrazzo, oak, or bronze, sampled them, and used them in a new way,” he said.

A Home Away from Home

The first floor presents two distinctly different yet equally inviting common spaces: the student lounge and the gallery.

Boasting 17-foot ceilings, the lounge is an airy, semi-industrial space, with an unfinished concrete ceiling and exposed wiring above. The furnishings offer a mix of practicality and fun; sitting upon the terrazzo floor are tables, chairs, couches, a foosball table, and a pool table. Further on, a table large enough for a gathering of 16 is sectioned off by a dropdown ceiling; beyond that are private, glass-enclosed meeting rooms.

John P Gering, managing partner for HLW, said the goal for the 9,500-square-foot lounge has always been to make it feel like a place where resident and commuter students alike can mingle and relax.

“It feels less like a classroom environment. It’s very informal, there are lots of touchpoints for laptops and things of that nature,” he said.

The gallery, a multi-level glass-covered space linking together the addition with the existing McGinley Center, is open to the addition now. After the third phase of construction is complete, the walls will come down, and a newly refurbished

marketplace dining facility replacing the existing dining space will be seamlessly connected to the other spaces.

Its defining characteristic is natural light, which streams down over the two overhead walkways connecting the second floors of the new building addition and McGinley, past the 20-foot retractable movie screen hanging from the ceiling, and onto the floor and walls, where the stone engravings of the Stations of the Cross are embedded. At night, the engravings will be illuminated.

Career Services and Campus Ministry

The second floor is shared by the expanded offices of the Career Center, Campus Ministry, and the Center for Community Engaged Learning.

The new Career Center space features a lounge with a rough-hewn ceiling similar to the student lounge that’s bathed in light from windows in the front of the building. Also included in the suite are a pantry and 10 interview rooms outfitted with noise dampening panels and electronic glass walls that can be turned opaque with a light switch. Career services director Annette McLaughlin said in a 2020 interview that it’s her intention that the department is “a destination, not a checklist,” for students.

“I want to create a career center for cura personalis. This is all about mind, body, and spirit as it relates to how you find your pathway in the world,” she said.

Next door is a hub for students’ quest for deeper meaning in their lives. In addition to offices, the Campus Ministry and the Center for Community Engaged Learning feature two reflection rooms, a room with a widescreen suitable for conferences, and several smaller spaces available for gatherings.

John Cecero, S.J., vice president for mission integration and ministry, said he’s excited to bring together two departments within the division that had previously been in separate spaces.

“There’s much more common space for people to use, and I think that will foster collaboration both between these two departments and with others within the University. That is a major goal for us,” he said.

A New Vista for a New Era

Arguably the most breathtaking view is from the top floor, where the 28-foot ceiling is open to the sky like the gallery next to it. The 4,390-square-foot multipurpose space also reflects Fordham’s Catholic identity, with the Stations of the Cross occupying a central place on the back wall. The views from the top floor—the New York Botanical Garden to the north, Bahoshy Field to the west, and Hughes Hall and Edwards Parade to the south—give a new perspective to a familiar locale. Embedded in the wooden drop-down ceiling are acoustic panels, audiovisual equipment, and darkening shades that can be easily deployed for presentations.

Gering said the space, which can accommodate as many as 196 people in the main room and 147 in another, smaller room, is part of the firm’s dedication to the neo-Gothic aesthetic of the Rose Hill campus. Traditional gothic buildings are built with a portal entry and a main entry next to a tower that leads to a large aisle connecting to an altar, he said. This will be the case when a glass arcade between the new building addition and the Rose Hill Gym is completed in the second phase of construction.

“As you enter the building, you enter next to a tower, which is a beacon on campus. Then you walk through the arcade, which is similar to the aisle in Gothic architecture, and rather than walking to an altar or chapel, you proceed up to the next level, which is this grand board room and multifunction room,” he said.

“This is shifting the heart of the campus. The idea is that it is truly a campus center that brings everyone together with amenities, gathering places, and wellness programs and spaces that respond to that. It’ll be the new landmark of the university.”

The new building addition is the first of three phases that the center will undergo as part of a radical transformation that will culminate in 2025. When finished, the entire project will reflect Fordham’s history while giving visitors a modern space to convene and relax.

“If it’s going to be a building that really feels like the University and is taking the University someplace new—but not someplace that it doesn’t recognize—it has to have a certain spirit and a poetic weight that feels contemporary,” Gering said.

“Fordham has such a strong history and rich personality; we didn’t want anything to feel like it was foreign.”

On that sunny autumn day, a crane lifted into place the final steel beam that forms the frame of the 71,000 square foot, three-story addition in front of the McGinley Center that will be part of Fordham’s new campus center.

It was unlike any of the 499 beams installed before it; before it was hoisted up and welded in place, students were invited to grab a Sharpie and adorn it with their signatures.

It was fitting that students should make their mark, as the student body will be at the heart of the new center. Opening in three phases beginning in September 2021, the center will feature several amenities-filled spaces that will work together to enhance the overall student experience on campus.

A Place to Get in Shape

The addition will be the first section to open. The first floor of that building will feature a state-of-the-art 20,000-square-foot fitness center open to all students, faculty, and staff, while the ground floor will feature a 9,500 square foot student lounge.

The second floor will be home to the offices of campus ministries and community-engaged learning, while the third floor will feature a special events space that can be used for large meetings and events, along with an 80-seat multi-purpose conference room.

After the new building addition is connected to McGinley by a Gallery in the first phase of construction, a second phase will commence by building an Arcade that will connect the Rose Hill Gym, Lombardi and McGinley Center together.

During the third phase of construction, the new fitness center will be connected with the adjacent space in the lower level of the McGinley. That area will be the home of a separate new strength and conditioning center dedicated to Fordham Athletics, which will not be completed until 2023 when the current McGinley center is fully renovated. But until then, athletes can take advantage of the new fitness center that will be open to all.

A Sleek Fitness Facility with Yoga, Spin Classes, and More

At 20,000 square feet, the new fitness center will be double the size of the current space, and a second studio space will accommodate groups interested in activities such as yoga or spin classes. Sleek finishes and exposed ceilings will give the space an urban, minimalist feel and call to mind exercise chains such as Equinox.

Ed Kull, interim director of athletics, said that since the expanded fitness area will be open to everyone on campus, “it will benefit the hundreds of students who play in club and intramural sports.” And he looks forward to the next-phase opening of the new varsity strength and conditioning area, which will support and train all 535 students participating in varsity team sports.

“It’s exciting because the varsity center will benefit all varsity female and male programs and athletes, and focus on their physical development, health, and wellness,” he said.

Zachary Davis, a senior history major at Fordham College at Rose Hill and a running back for the football team, thinks both the fitness center and the strengthening and conditioning center will have a big impact on student-athletes. The fitness center, he said, will be a place to get extra workouts in on top of regular practices. And although he will have graduated by the time the strengthening and conditioning area is open, he said the extra space will make a significant difference for future teams. Before the pandemic altered practice schedules, the team had to do its weightlifting in two shifts.

“Instead of having to be broken into different groups, the team will be able to lift and train as one unit, which I think would be revolutionary for the program. It’s always good to be with the guys and have the whole team in one setting,” he said.

“We currently have conditioning outside on the field with the whole group, and that’s always high energy. Guys are just pushing each other, and there’s a whole-team vibe in a way that is second to none.”

A Career Center with Cura Personalis Built In

When career services director Annette McLaughlin learned that her office would be getting a new space in the first phase of the campus center expansion, she was well-prepared to make design suggestions. Seven years ago, she started visiting college campuses with her son and daughter; she estimated she’s seen career service centers at 40 campuses since then. The trend, she noticed, was space that was open, airy, light, inviting, welcoming, and educational, and that’s what Fordham is embracing as well.

“We want it to be a destination, not a checklist for students,” she said. “I want to create a career center for cura personalis. This is all about mind, body, and spirit as it relates to how you find your pathway in the world.”

The new center will feature a spacious lounge, McLaughlin said. Everything is being designed to be flexible and adaptable to different uses, from meet and greets to interviews and meetings. Adjoining interview rooms had been designed to accommodate virtual interviews even before the pandemic made them a must.

The design of the lounge is being driven not only by what McLaughlin’s seen at other colleges but also from the needs of corporations that hire Fordham students.

“Employers want to get to know students on a real level. They’re doing a lot more informal kinds of events, so this lounge area will allow for them to collaborate and talk, and it’ll also be a great place for alumni or employers to have casual conversations,” she said.

A Focal Point for Diversity

When big things happen in the world, New Yorkers know where to go to be together, whether it’s Union Square or a plaza in a well-trafficked section of their neighborhood. Juan Carlos-Matos, assistant vice president for student affairs for diversity and inclusion, hopes the new Office for Multicultural Affairs space will provide that kind of safe, affirming focal point on campus—particularly for students who feel marginalized. The space is designed to hold intimate meetings as well as medium-sized gatherings. It’s set to open in the third phase of the campus center redevelopment.

“Just getting people into the habit of knowing that programming is happening in that dedicated space changes the game,” said Matos. “There are many times where things happen in the country and the world, and … being able to just tell people, ‘Hey, we’re having a healing circle because of XYZ tragedy that happened, in this space,’ will make a big difference.”

Christine Ibrahim Puri, a senior majoring in economics and international, political, and economic development who is the founder and president of the Caribbean and African Student Association, said she was very excited at the prospect of a space set aside just for diversity. Even though she’ll graduate before it opens, she plans to come back and visit.

“I would come over from wherever I was in the world, because it’s something I really have faith in, and it’s something that my friends who have already graduated have advocated for,” she said.

Puri came to Fordham from Nigeria and commuted to campus her first year. The transition was not easy, she said, and in fact, three of her Black friends left Fordham that year. A space like this will go a long way toward retaining students of color, she said.

“The Office of Multicultural Affairs was the first place I visited when I arrived and was the place that really got me acclimated. It’s not just a professional thing or an academic thing. While they’re keeping you on track and making you do events and programs, they’re also there for you personally. They’re like your friends, always checking in on you,” she said.

She also said a new, larger, dedicated space will allow for collaborations between cultural groups, and ultimately, more inclusive events.

“It would be so much easier, and I think more students would be open to going,” she said.

A Modern Space for All to Gather

Larry Peifer, a designer for the HLW architecture firm, said he felt like a kid in a candy store when he was tasked with laying out the new center, because it has everything from office space, to lounge space, to fitness, to dining areas.

Few places best better illustrate how the University is thinking about students in an all-encompassing way than the first floor, which, when complete, will feature the student lounge, the gallery, and the reimagined Marketplace.

The lounge, which at 9,500 square feet will be double the size of the current student lounge, will benefit from its proximity to the gallery, which will have the capacity to accommodate screenings of films and sporting events. It will also be right near the dining area, known as the Marketplace, which will be designed to evoke the vibrancy of a farmer’s market. A new Grab n Go kiosk will be accessible from the Gallery for those who wish to grab snacks or enjoy a freshly brewed coffee.

Pool Anyone?

The lounge will be divided into several “sub-environments”: an area for active socializing featuring a pool table, vending machine, and soft seating; a section with tables that you could saddle up to with your laptop and a cup of coffee, Peifer said, and a quieter, den-like area with a lower ceiling that’s more conducive to reading or studying. Two AV-equipped meeting rooms that can be combined into one larger room will also provide space for collaborating and group study.

“I think it’ll be a really transformative project. The University has been really extremely progressive and has pushed the envelope with the design and programmatic strategy of the facility,” he said, noting that he felt it would be a case study for other universities.

Jeff Gray, senior vice president of student affairs, agreed.

“We hope the new student lounge space, and all of the expanded spaces within the new campus center that will be dedicated to our students, will provide much-needed spaces for student gathering, socializing, and programming, all of which will foster student engagement and a sense of community,” he said.

On December 14, Mark Valera, vice president for facilities management, and John Spacarelli, director of special projects and facilities gave a “Behind-the-Beams” tour of the construction of the new Rose Hill Campus Center. Watch below: