It’s not easy for a 6-foot, 5-inch seaman in dress blues to hide in plain sight—not even among the thousands of people at Fordham’s Rose Hill campus for commencement. But Ryan Czelatka did his best to blend into the scene.

The coastguardsman was waiting near Keating Hall to surprise his girlfriend, Amanda Gioscia, who was graduating.

“My sister Gaby came over to me and said my parents really wanted to take a picture,” Gioscia said. “I was kind of annoyed because we were about to start the procession, but I said, ‘Fine.’

“When I came up on the other side of Keating Hall, I saw my mom’s bright orange jacket and my boyfriend beside her. I was pretty surprised.”

She rushed ahead of her sister to embrace Czelatka, who was on leave from his unit in Cape Canaveral, Florida, where he’s stationed on the Coast Guard cutter Confidence.

“He told me the night before that he was mopping floors,” Gioscia said, but in reality he was on a flight to New York. He stayed with Amanda’s sister Jackie, a 2010 Fordham graduate, before joining the family at Rose Hill on Saturday.

“It was an important moment for me because I took a year off from school and so it took me longer to graduate,” said Gioscia, who transferred to Fordham after studying at the University of Mississippi and Westchester Community College. She also spent a month volunteering at an orphanage in Ghana.

“I was hoping deep down that he would be there, and he was,” she said. “He’s always been really romantic. He likes to surprise me about things.”

Czelatka’s visit was just part of a whirlwind week for Gioscia.

Two days after earning a bachelor’s degree in communication and media studies with a concentration in journalism, she landed a full-time job. She’s helping to plan events and coordinate social media for August Wolf, who recently announced that he’s seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Connecticut in 2016.

“I originally thought I wanted to be a journalist, but I’ve always loved politics,” she said. “I’m looking forward to working on the campaign.”

She’s also excited about her future with Czelatka. They met in his hometown, Southampton, New York, where the Gioscia family has a summer house. The two have been dating for two years.

“We don’t really know how often or when we can see each other next, but we try and make it as often as possible,” Czelatka said by email after returning to Florida. “I’m excited for our future together.”

Nearly 50 graduating seniors were honored with academic, service, and leadership awards, as well as accolades in the areas of accounting, finance, economics, information systems, marketing, entrepreneurship, management, and international business.

“Truly, this class understands that business is about more than simply earning a profit. It is about empowering people. It is about having a broader impact,” said Donna Rapaccioli, PhD, dean of the business school.

“You have learned how to do business in a way that reflects your values. That is what gives each of you such great potential as a leader.”

Among the dozens of award recipients were Ross Garlick and Lou Murphy, who received the Mozilo Future Distinguished Alumnus Award and the Gabelli School of Business Dean’s Award, respectively.

Garlick, a native of Manchester, England, was recognized for “excellence in all areas of the undergraduate experience.” Focused on innovation, sustainability, and technology, Garlick ran a campus-based business for two years and was involved with the nationwide social entrepreneurship program, Compass Fellows. He was also a member of the Gabelli School team that took first place at the International Business Ethics Case Competition in New Orleans this spring.

Murphy, Rapaccioli joked, might just hold the record for the number of freshmen he convinced to enroll in the Gabelli School, when he worked as an open house volunteer. In addition to helping out on campus, Murphy held multiple internships over the years, the final of which—an internship this summer at PricewaterhouseCoopers—carries the promise of a full-time offer afterward.

The Alumna of the Year award went to Patricia David, GABELLI ’81, the global head of diversity at JPMorgan Chase, for her frequent involvement with the Gabelli School.

“Pat has been an abiding presence at many of our conferences, lectures, panel discussions, and dinners—especially those organized by Smart Woman Securities,” Rapaccioli said. “For our students, she’s been a mentor. For me, she’s been a trusted adviser and guide.”

In her parting words to the graduates, Rapaccioli said that each senior would be receiving a gift as a symbol of the broader impact they can have on the world as Fordham graduates. The gifts—ram figurines carved from soapstone—were hand-made by an artisan collective in the remote countryside of Kenya.

“This ram speaks volumes about the business program that you have just completed. We could have ordered similar stone figures from a mass-production factory. But instead, we made the conscious decision to employ talented carvers an ocean away. In doing so, we advanced their community. We had an effect on the developing world,” Rapaccioli said.

“I hope it reminds you as you enter the business world of the choices that you can make. You can choose to do business with purpose. You can change the world. I know the Class of 2015 is up to the task.”

What does it take to get to Fordham?

Good grades in high school and a mountain of extra-curricular activities,
to be sure.

For the Class of 2015, it took something more: enough savvy, luck and determination to outlast Hurricane Irene, the worst severe-weather system to tear through the Northeast in a century.

The storm postponed Opening Weekend for 24 hours, so when freshmen and their families began moving in to Rose Hill and Lincoln Center residences on Aug. 29, many had stories to tell.

Surveying the Martyrs’ Court room where her son, Christopher, will spend the year, Laura Sanders declared it a step up from their home in Northport, N.Y.

“Well, it has electricity, which we didn’t have when we left,” she quipped.

Blaire Eberhart, who is pursuing a bachelor of fine arts in dance through the Ailey/Fordham partnership, tried to dodge the storm by arriving in New York on Friday.

“It was a good idea to postpone move-in day,” said the Atlanta native. “My hotel was so flooded that I couldn’t have left even if I wanted to.”

Whatever torment was dealt to the area, the day after the storm was, by all accounts, picture perfect. Azure skies and temperatures in the mid-70s temporarily erased the memories of blackouts, flooded basements and downed trees back home.

“The hurricane was a challenge, but so far everything has been going smoothly,” said student orientation leader Louis Sullivan. “It’s important for us to keep up our energy and make students feel welcome, because their first impression of Fordham sets the tone for their whole time here.”

The move-in program, which opens three days of new student orientation, is run by the University’s Office of Student Life and Community Development.

Though freshmen typically pull up to their respective residence halls as early as 7:30 a.m., this year the traffic was light until almost noon. New arrivals were set upon by throngs of cheering and dancing orientation leaders who quickly transferred the students’ belongings to their rooms.

“They didn’t do that at the University of Arizona or at NYU when my sisters went to school,” said Peter Gyben, a student in the Gabelli School of Business who hails from Orange County, Calif.

The ritual shouting of new students’ names that accompanies the move-in process is one of the hallmarks of Opening Weekend at Fordham.

“I have been so impressed; it’s so organized,” said Jeanine Bonaventure, whose daughter is in the theatre program at Lincoln Center.
“Fordham cares about the students, they care about the families and they care about education,” she said. “After my daughter had her interview in January, she told me she had to go to school here.”

“This year’s class is both remarkably talented and incredibly diverse, selected from the largest applicant pool in University history,” said John W. Buckley, associate vice president for undergraduate enrollment.

Overall, 31,721 high school seniors competed for admission. The University made 13,424 offers—a 42 percent acceptance rate—and 1,957 students chose to enroll.

The Class of 2015’s mean standardized test score of 1253 continues the trend of higher-testing students choosing Fordham, while 78 percent ranked in the top quarter of their high school class.

The incoming freshmen include 114 international students—more than double the number from last year, with the greatest increase coming in students from China.

Additionally, the class features 201 students who were Presidential Scholars, Dean’s Scholars and Semifinalist Scholars while in high school—an increase of 48 percent over the previous year’s total.

More than 90 percent of admitted students were offered financial assistance or scholarship funds.

“I love Fordham; everyone is so nice—genuinely nice,” said Sajia Hanif, an incoming student from Long Island who wants to pursue peace and justice studies as well as music education. “It’s a perfect fit for me.”

Editorial Assistant Jenny Hirsch contributed to this report.

– Joseph McLaughlin