Widdi, a lifelong New Yorker who is earning a J.D. from the School of Law, has zero tolerance for injustice. A Stein Scholar and board member of the Fordham Law Defenders and the Coalition of Concerned Students, Widdi has accepted a position upon graduation with the Bronx Defenders, where she will represent parents accused of abusing and/or neglecting their children.

It’s an area of law that is sorely in need of rehabilitation, she said.

“People respect criminal defense attorneys because they know that our prison system is racist and classist, and that most people in jail are there for things they shouldn’t be in jail for, or because there are underlying reasons of poverty or mental health or addiction,” she said.

“But people don’t have the same understanding of the child welfare system.”

Seeing Injustice Up Close

Widdi, who grew up in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, has a great deal of experience in the child welfare field. A 2015 graduate of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, she interned during her first year at Fordham Law at the Brooklyn Defender Services’ family defense practice, and the Bronx Defenders Family Defense Practice her second year. She noted that in four months, she could count on one hand the number of defendants who weren’t black or Latino.

“It’s not like other communities don’t use drugs, leave their kids unattended, have their kids get into accidents, or have mental health issues. But these poor communities don’t have the resources to protect against the state getting involved. They’re going to public hospitals, and they’re getting public benefits, so they’re always kind of being monitored.”

“When we see a mother of color letting her kid go to the park by himself, she’s probably ‘unfit’ to be a mother. But when it’s a white family in Park Slope, that’s just a parenting style, and you’re building independence.”

Seeking Alternatives to Foster Homes

Widdi doesn’t dismiss the fact that parents dealing with issues of mental health, poverty, institutionalized racism, and substance abuse can struggle to care for their children. But she doesn’t believe that removal from their homes is the answer, noting that children who are placed in foster homes are incarcerated more frequently and have more mental health issues.

“Instead of helping the family with the services that they need, which is what the child welfare system is required to do by law, they take a better-safe-than-sorry approach, and take a kid out of their home,” she said.

“Judges are not going to end up on the front page of a newspaper for taking a kid out of his home because they were being extra cautious, even though the effects of that on that family are monumental. But they will if a kid stays at home and ends up dead. It rarely ever happens, but of course it’s so sensationalized when it does.”

A Drive Inspired by Heritage

Widdi’s devotion to social justice has resonated both outside the walls of the Law School and inside it as well. She has pushed to have a space created where students who don’t live nearby can relax between classes, and as part of the Coalition of Concerned Students, she’s advocated that professors and administrators think about the ways that Muslims are portrayed negatively when discussed in the context of law. She chalks up her interest in social justice to her upbringing as the child of Palestinian immigrants.

“I go back home to Palestine as often as I can and see a lot of similarities between the injustices that happen there and what happens here every day, though on a different scope,” she said.

“In doing public defense, I am working against systems of racism and classism and misogyny, and so I’m doing my part, albeit indirectly, to help my own community.”

Inspiring Others to Pursue Family Law

Leah Horowitz, LAW ’06, director of student organizations and publicity at the Law School’s Public Interest Resource Center, repeatedly falls back on the word “phenomenal” to describe Widdi. She recently submitted Widdi’s name for consideration for the Law School’s prestigious Donald Magnetti Award, which is presented to a member of the graduating J.D. class in recognition of their outstanding public commitment and contribution to those beyond the Law School Community. When she asked for co-signers, 15 faculty members swiftly added their names to the nomination.

“People now know about criminal defense because of TV shows, and because there’s a lot of information about the injustices in the criminal defense system. But there are injustices everywhere, and I think that one of the amazing things that Leena has done is she’s shone a light on what’s happening in the child welfare system,” she said.

Widdi has also been a mentor to others, Horowitz said. Students routinely reach out to her and say ‘Leena told me I had to come see you,’ about practicing family law, she said.

“What I admire most is her level of commitment, her heart, her vision, and her love for people. She has a vision for something better in this society.”

Photos by Dana MaxsonFordham’s Gabelli School of Business rolled out the red carpet for its highest achievers on May 16 at its annual Awards Night celebration at the Rose Hill campus.

The ceremony, which took place in the McGinley Center’s student lounge, brought together about 400 students, faculty, administrators, friends and families, who sat on three sides of a stage.

Speaking to graduating seniors at the McGinley Center Ballroom, Dean Donna Rapaccioli, Ph.D., implored them to remember the helpers in their lives. The notion that one can be successful all on their own is a lie, she said.

It’s also useful to remember organizational psychologist Adam Grant’s theory that people are generally givers, takers, or matchers, she said. We vacillate between the three at different points in the day, but in general, those who gravitate toward one specific model are more successful.

“In business, you might think it’s the takers: Hard-charging, take-no-prisoners types who pull themselves to the top no matter what. Or you might think it’s the matchers: People who master the delicate negotiation of ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours.’ But it’s not. It’s the givers,” she said.

Their accomplishments are many, including jobs at the likes of Barclays, BlackRock, J.P. Morgan Chase, Blackstone, Amazon, Instagram, Adobe, BBDO, Nike, and all of the Big Four accounting firms, and Rapaccioli lauded them for being supportive of each other in hard times. Deep down, Gabelli School graduates are givers, she said.

“You have completed four years at a business school that is caring, not cutthroat. You have learned to use your business skills to advance society and the plight of others. You are interested not only in a great salary and a great apartment, but in doing something that adds good to the world,” she said.

Caroline Dahlgren, GABELLI ’11, recipient of the Alumnus of the Year Award, echoed that refrain, telling graduates that it’s now their turn to help each other. That’s how she connected with Tiffany & Co., where she is currently manager of global consumer insights, she said.

“Fordham said yes to you when you were accepted, and along the way, professors, deans, mentors, peers, coaches, parents, and maybe even some alumni said yes to you,” she said.

“But I ask now that no matter how busy you are, to find the tiniest block of time for that Fordham student who inevitably reaches out to you. Now you might say, ‘I can’t hire them, I can’t give them profound career advice—I just graduated.’ That may be true. But I ask that you not be afraid to impart even the smallest nugget of wisdom and experience with them. Its valuable. That’s the beauty of the Fordham community. We can support each other even in seemingly small ways.”

The class of 2019 featured two valedictorians, Clara Gastaldi and John Lichtmann.

Gastaldi, a finance and marketing major who minored in fashion studies and was a member of the women’s soccer team, compared her acceptance to Fordham to the U.S. welcoming her parents from Argentina 20 years ago. Her parents, she said, taught her the value of embracing the unknown with that move.

“Through hard work and dedication, they opened a world of opportunities for me and my three brothers. Whenever I had even the wildest of dreams, you always had my back and pushed me to do everything to my fullest potion,” she said, pausing to address her mother in back of the McGinley Center ballroom.

“Mom, please don’t cry.”

A “passion for fashion” that she had since she was a little girl, walking around in pink plastic high heels, led her to Fordham.

“I knew that my future was in New York. So, when the opportunity presented itself, I packed my bags, made the switch, and reported for preseason in August of 2016,” she said.

“In the same way that the United States welcomed my family, Fordham University and Fordham athletics took me in when I transferred to the Bronx from the University of Georgia, just after my freshman year, and for that I’ll be forever grateful.”

For Lichtmann, an accounting major who commuted two hours to campus from New Jersey and is pursuing an M.S. in public accounting at the Gabelli School, his time was bittersweet, tinged with the sudden loss of his mother right before Christmas his sophomore year. He was devastated, and unsure he’d be able to return to Fordham, he said.

“However, I kept faith that God would guide her safely to heaven, and I learned to trust the people around me to help adjust to my new lifestyle. I decided that I had to work harder and focus even more on school so I could make her proud,” he said.

Lichtmann was able to maintain a sense of humor as well. He joked that he was not really in any position to tell anyone what to think, because he only got to be on stage “because I was able to balance debits and credits for four years.”

“What I can tell you is, people will remember you for your actions. Opening the door for a stranger, greeting a co-worker with a hello—kindness and respect are contagious. At the end of the day, knowledge is power, but how you use that knowledge to affect lives of others is even more power,” he said.

“I hope to see a future where accountability is a virtue, dreams can become a reality through hard work, and people choose cooperation and collaboration over division.”

Capstone student awards include the Alumni Chair Award, which was given to Maxwell Lynch, the Mozilo Future Distinguished Alumnus Award, which was given to Morgan Mezzasalma, and the Dean’s Award, which was given to Amanda D’Antone.

In addition to recognizing dozens of students from the Gabelli School at Rose Hill with awards throughout the evening, the event also celebrated faculty contributions. The Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence for full-time faculty went to Stanley Veliotis, Ph.D., associate professor of accounting and taxation; the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence for adjunct faculty went to Linda Luca, adjunct professor of marketing; the Faculty Cura Personalis Award went to Nancy McCarthy, lecturer of communications and management; and the Faculty Magis Award went to Barbara Porco, Ph.D., clinical associate professor of accounting.

For Mumbai, India, native Samrat Dhar, a desire to master this new reality drew him to the Gabelli School of Business, where he’s earning an M.S. in media management.

After earning a B.S. in economics in 2007 from St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai, Dhar worked for a hedge fund, for Groupon, and most recently, for a gaming company for mobile devices that he founded with his brother. He was also making short films on the side, and in 2017, he started looking for a way to jumpstart his entrepreneurial ambitions.

New York as Tech and Media Hub

“There were programs in the Midwest, and even in Boston, but I thought New York was a better environment because there are more tech people in New York than there are in Silicon Valley,” he said, pointing to the recent $200 million sale of New York-based digital news company Cheddar as an example.

“The Flatiron district is the perfect incubator for all sorts of new tech startups. There’s so much happening there. The talent is now readily available on the East Coast, which wasn’t the case 10 years ago.”

As a St. Xavier graduate, Dhar was attracted to the familiarity of Fordham’s Jesuit heritage. But New York City was brand new to him. He came here with no preconceived notions, he said, and found the city to be welcoming and warm. His experience at the Gabelli School was equally positive.

“The best thing about my experience the last two years has been the curriculum, and how you have the liberty to structure it in the direction that you want it to go based on what you see yourself doing 10 or 15 years from now,” he said.

“It allowed me the flexibility to take courses in finance, strategy, and entrepreneurship.”

Exploring the Stories That Unite

It also allowed him to direct Unexplored India, a 23-minute-long forthcoming documentary about an annual fair in Mhasa, a tiny hamlet 50 miles northeast of Mumbai. The village takes its name from the Hindu deity Mhasoba, and the fair, which is a tribute to Mhasoba, is a common way for villages around the country to honor deities. Fairgoers come from neighboring villages and even other states to honor Mhasoba, which translates to “Buffalo God.”

“What drew me to this was how folklore crosses boundaries and borders. In India, there are so many diverse states, and every state has a different language and a different culture. But there are certain things that can hold people together,” he said.

Bozena Mierzejewska, Ph.D., an associate professor of media management, who supervised Dhar’s independent study, said that the master’s program’s flexibility is no accident.

“The media industry is so diverse, it would be very difficult to give a set of say, five classes, and then say, ‘You know everything,’” she said.

“Because if you want to be a filmmaker, it’s different than if you want to be in the book publishing industry. So there are three core courses, and then you design your electives around your main interests.”

The Future of Technology and Entertainment

Of all the courses he took, Dhar said Consumer Adoption of New Media resonated the most. He learned a great deal about emerging trends in media consumption, such as holographic TV.

“Couple that with the entrepreneurship course, you could actually build a business idea around it. You can see how all that information can be made relevant for the future,” he said.

“When you’re in that environment where there’s a lot of thinking happening, whether by yourself or your peers, it forces you to come up with more innovative ideas.”

Spending time in New York opened his eyes to an area of finance that he had not been exposed to when he first entered that field: private equity and venture capital firms that specialize in media and the entertainment industry. It helped him understand why the city is often referred to as the media capital of the world.

“One of my most memorable experiences was a visit to the Time Warner Medialab, where they create focus groups and have been trying to essentially build a system to evaluate whether a project will do well,” he said, noting that measuring audience reactions has taken an almost clinical approach. “They get people of different demographics to participate, and they measure not just responses to questions, but also things like their vital stats, their heartbeat.”

Dhar is weighing several options for jobs after graduation. He may work for himself but would also consider working for an established firm. One thing he’s sure of is he will stay in New York City.

“So far, I’ve seen the academic life. Now I’d like to see the professional life of the city,” he said.

Mierzejewska said she expects Dhar to find success in whatever path he chooses. She was impressed with his devotion and compared his independent study to the kind of work that doctoral students might tackle.

“He didn’t just do a research paper; he did an analysis of all the materials that will help young filmmakers manage a project,” she said.

“He was trying to learn theory on the one hand and develop his film documentary on the other. It was very unique, very ambitious. It was all coming from his own natural talent, which I found to be extraordinary.”

The three-day welcome begins Sunday, Aug. 30, when 1,722 resident students and 473 commuters will arrive at the Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses in the Bronx and Manhattan. Fordham staff and administrators, as well as 210 student orientation leaders, will be on hand to help new freshmen acclimate to campus.

“The goal of orientation overall is to help new students transition into University life, both by getting information and by being made to feel that they’re part of the Fordham community,” said Jennifer Lackie, director of the transition year experience.

“We’ll have excellent staff available to help with the move and all the transitions, physical and otherwise,” said Kimberly Russell, director of residential life at Rose Hill. “The new students shouldn’t worry about anything beyond what color bedspread they want.”

Both campuses have a packed schedule for the day, including a Mass for students and their families and an official welcome from Joseph M. McShane, SJ, president of Fordham.

Once their families depart, the freshmen will continue to get to know one another at various greetings and gatherings. The night ends with Rose Hill’s Ramapalooza in the Loschert Courtyard and Lincoln Center’s Night of Welcome on the Plaza.

Day 3, “Student Life Day,” features various topics related to living and socializing on a college campus. The day will include presentations and speakers on diversity, wellness, and living the Fordham mission.

“That day will introduce students to the resources that are available at Fordham. They’ll discuss topics that come up on a college campus, such as having healthy relationships and how to make your time at Fordham safe and enjoyable,” Lackie said.

“The students will also get to learn about Fordham’s campus ministry and discover what goes on with programs such as Global Outreach and the Dorothy Day Center.”

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