One student speaker, Alice Grissom, said a master’s program serves “as a kind of trial period” that can help clarify one’s direction.

“The beauty of the master’s program is in this unique combination of opportunity and reflection,” said Grissom, who earned a master’s degree in medieval studies and is headed to Rutgers for a doctoral program in English.

“After the well-deserved cheers,” Grissom said, “take a moment to pause, listen, and reflect on your achievements and development—the way that you have changed Fordham and the way Fordham has changed you.”

The graduate school bestowed more than 360 degrees, including advanced certificates as well as master’s and doctoral degrees, in a rainy but jubilant ceremony held in front of the University Church on the Rose Hill campus.

A Doctoral Graduate’s Journey

The graduates and guests also heard from a graduating doctoral student, Faaria Fasih-Ahmad, whose field is molecular biology. “We have pushed the limits of knowledge further than ever before. We have contributed to the ocean of information in our own fields,” said Fasih-Ahmad, noting that the breadth of this information hit home to her during the recent GSAS three-minute thesis competition.

“I was honestly shocked at the wide variety and intensity of the projects. From medieval studies to economics to philosophy to English, I learned so many new things in three-minute intervals about subjects I had never even thought about on my molecular biology island,” she said.

“It’s so difficult to feel like something’s ending, because our thirst for knowledge, our enthusiasm for our research, has not ended,” Fasih-Ahmad said. “Just like the river meandering through the canyon, we carved our own unique path in our successful educational journey.”

“And now that we’ve reached the end of that voyage, we realize that we’ve already packed and boarded the ship for the next adventure.”

“Just as this rain signifies new beginnings, today we are no longer Fordham graduate students. We are Fordham alumni,” she said.

In an address to the 23 graduating seniors, Matt Butler, PCS ’16, director of military and veterans’ services at Fordham, said they were “added to that legacy” because of their achievements in the armed services and at Fordham.

“As military-connected students, you have demonstrated incredible strength and courage, balancing the demands of military service, post-military service, and the pursuit of academic excellence,” he said. He also lauded them for “taking extra steps to go beyond what is required of you to support your fellow Fordham students, to support your families, to support your communities.”

A ‘Deep and Broad Community’

Fordham’s military-connected students include veterans, active-duty service members, reservists, National Guard members, and service members’ spouses and children. The annual ceremony honoring them began four years ago. As in years past, it began in Keating Hall, with each student receiving a yellow ribbon medallion before everyone walked to the nearby Victory Bell and gave it a ring.

The guest speaker, Gerry Byrne, FCRH ’66, a prominent media executive and entrepreneur, recounted his Vietnam War experience as “a 23-year-old officer with 44 19-year-old [Marines] that are looking at me as God and hoping that my decisions will allow them to be around at the end of the day.”

He likened the experience to receiving “a master’s degree in leadership.” And he spoke of how his life’s pursuits constantly brought him into contact with other veterans and showed him how extensive America’s military-connected community is.

“When you think about this community that you’re a part of, just think about it in a way that is deep and broad,” he told the graduates. “It is a gigantic community that just needs to be better recognized.”

175th Anniversary of Military Service

This year, Fordham’s ROTC and student veteran leaders are trying to bring Fordham’s military-connected community closer together through an outreach effort, part of a yearlong campaign marking the 175th anniversary of military service at Fordham.

“Fordham’s men and women have defended the Constitution in every clime and place since 1848, when New York state issued Fordham 12 muskets … to defend the school against xenophobic mobs,” Butler said.

Later that century, Fordham graduate James Rowan O’Bierne, who led the capture of President Lincoln’s assassin, orchestrated a formal partnership between Fordham and the Army, which extended into today’s ROTC program, Butler said. By World War II, Fordham was producing more Army officers than West Point was, he said.

He also added a detail to the story of Fordham’s Victory Bell, originally part of a Japanese warship sunk during World War II and given to Fordham by Admiral Chester Nimitz to commemorate the University’s wartime sacrifices. Students had actually petitioned the general for some recognition of those sacrifices, given that approximately 223 people from Fordham lost their lives in World War II, Butler said.

He noted the many distinguished alumni in the University’s Hall of Honor who served in the military—a New York governor, a four-star general, Medal of Honor winners, business executives. “Graduates, let this be an inspiration to you as you add to this deep story of service and sacrifice,” he said.

Register here to be connected with others in Fordham’s military-affiliated community.

“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.”

In an address, one of this year’s graduates, Samantha Ives, spoke about the challenges of going back to school—in her case, resuming her studies after a 20-year gap, during which she raised two children and sought to clarify her direction through various efforts such as volunteering and serving on a nonprofit board.

“I considered going back to school, but three years of actor training 20 years ago wasn’t worth much anywhere I looked—until Fordham,” she said. She brought her 1997 transcripts to one of the school’s information sessions, “and they [oriented] all of who I had been and all of who I was at that moment toward a degree that spoke to who I wanted to become,” said Ives, who earned a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership.

The school bestowed degrees on 124 graduates at the ceremony, held at Fordham Preparatory School, adjoining Fordham’s Rose Hill campus. They included approximately 25 military veterans and a principal dancer with New York City Ballet, Ashley de Florio, who earned a bachelor’s degree in political science magna cum laude.

The Charles A. O’Neill, S.J., Memorial Award was presented to Angela-Filomena C. LoCascio, who completed the school’s honors program while earning her bachelor’s degree in English. After that, graduates crossed the stage to receive their ceremonial scrolls.

One of them, Carmen Damiani-Hacker, was joined onstage by her daughter, Marissa Hacker, who graduated that day from Fordham College at Rose Hill.

Reading Kant on Lunch Breaks

In her remarks, Ives touched on the experience of returning students and the particular strengths they brought to their schooling. “We took science with classmates who had just finished high school science. We read Kant on our lunch breaks,” she said.

“Many of you coached your own kids through their own transitions to college,” she said. “You changed jobs, you moved once or twice, and you’re still here. We all came here. We didn’t need to find ourselves. We needed to hone the tools we carried. Those tools are battle tested. They are worn, they are strong. We’ve spent the last few years sharpening them up.”

“We’re going to need them,” she said. “We’re going to go apply for that promotion, ask for that raise, start grad school or law school or a brand new profession.”

She acknowledged the graduates’ loved ones who were present, watching online, or present in spirit.

“Every late night, every missed dinner, every Zoom class broke down old walls and made room to grow. But we needed you,” she said. “We need your hearts and your hands, because we’re not done building.”

“Our foundation is strong. Our tools are sharp. We have become architects, and the world we are going to build will be spectacular.”

These were some of the words of encouragement and inspiration that Fordham President Tania Tetlow shared with the Graduate School of Education (GSE) Class of 2023 on Monday, May 22.

At the diploma ceremony, held in front of the Walsh Family Library on the University’s Rose Hill campus, Fordham bestowed master’s and doctoral degrees upon students across GSE’s programs, from newly minted classroom teachers and school psychologists to educational leaders and administrators looking to advance in their careers.

Accelerated Teaching Program Leads to ‘Amazing’ Job

For Margaret Costikyan, the day capped a five-year journey that began in 2018, when she enrolled at Fordham College at Rose Hill as an undergraduate. She knew she wanted to become a classroom teacher—and she knew Fordham’s accelerated five-year Master of Science in Teaching program would get her there faster.

Now, having earned an M.S.T. one year after receiving a B.S. in psychology and sociology, she’ll be teaching full time at the Bronx public school where she did her student teaching.­

“The school where I was placed, PS 71—the community there is amazing,” Costikyan said. “I’ve met so many teachers who want to support me as a first-year teacher, so I’m really excited and thankful to Fordham for that.”

A Focus on the Socioemotional Needs of Children

Fordham GSE’s partnership with the New York City Department of Education was a draw for Samantha McCusker, who received a master’s degree in school psychology.

“Being able to use that as a connection to network was a big point,” McCusker said, adding that when she initially met with professors at GSE, “it just felt like home to me.” Since 2021, her second year in the program, she’s been working as a school psychologist in Harlem, and she takes pride in being able to serve her students.

“Learning from the kids that I’m around and how they live, and seeing how I can best support them, is probably the most impactful part of my job,” she said.

The socioemotional needs of students have been front of mind for most educators, especially as schools have tried to catch up from the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, remote learning, and all the associated stressors.

Shannon Urabe, who completed the online M.S.T. program, began teaching sixth and seventh graders at the Windward School on Manhattan’s Upper East Side during her time in the program. She has felt increasingly optimistic as she’s watched her students readjust to in-person learning.

“Seeing how the kids have swung back around from COVID and seeing how they’re re-learning how to engage with one another has been good to see. They’re embracing connecting with one another,” said Urabe, whose parents came from Hawaii to watch her graduate.

Finding Community—and Benefiting from Program Flexibility

Urabe said the flexibility of the online program was a big factor in her grad school experience. “It was an easy transition [beginning the program in August 2020, during COVID],” she said, “because they were already prepared for this type of learning,”

The flexible nature of GSE’s programs was also a draw for Joseph Dujmovic, a Queens native who earned a Master of Science degree in the Educational Leadership, Administration, and Policy division. Over his two years in the program, which included courses in person and online, he was able to keep up with classes while spending summers in Croatia and working as division head of the upper school at the Academy of St. Joseph in Greenwich Village.

Dujmovic said he appreciated receiving one of the faith-based scholarships Fordham offers to employees of Catholic schools, and he built close relationships with faculty. A particular highlight, he said, was a class with adjunct professor Anthony Miserandino, Ph.D., GSE ’77, ’84, on implementing change at an institutional level. “It was incredible, and he’s been a great mentor ever since.”

For Maria Cimina, who began the master’s program in mental health counseling fully online in 2021 but transitioned to in-person classes over her two years, building close relationships with her cohort was central to her experience. She became one of the leaders of the Student Association for Mental Health Counseling, a network for both students and alumni of the program, with Professor Eric Chen, Ph.D., calling her “a star of our mental health counseling student leadership team.”

“Finding a space in the community was really important for me,” Cimina said. “We had such a strong cohort, and it was really important to reinvest in the people and the work that we were doing, and really drive home how important it was to be present on campus.

“There’s a beautiful sense of community. If you’re willing to take advantage of that, the program itself will expand in value tenfold.”

First in Their Families

Lori-Ann Andrews was inspired to pursue a dual degree in early childhood and early childhood special education at the Graduate School of Education, where she wanted to “utilize the downtime” that came with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Andrews, who is in her seventh year teaching, saw a need to provide support to students receiving special education services.

“I’m getting chills right now,” she said. “Every day, I see children across the board where they need services pertaining to special ed, but they’re not getting those services, because the general ed teachers don’t have the knowledge as to what to look for. As a special ed teacher, I will be able to make sure that those students receive all the services that they need.”

Andrews was surrounded by her family, many of whom traveled to see her graduate.

“I’m really so proud of her, I actually flew in from Florida to be able to support her,” her sister Cavell Lilly said. “She really is amazing.”

Andrews said that earning a master’s degree with her family’s support felt very significant

“I’m the first [in my family]to receive a master’s degree, so it’s breaking that generational curse.”

Mardoqueo Arteaga, who earned a Ph.D. in economics from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and served as the president of the Graduate Student Government, said a speech six years ago by Joseph M. McShane, S.J., then president of Fordham, inspired him to enroll in the doctoral program.

“I was a DACA recipient,” said Arteaga, referring to the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows young people brought to the U.S. as children to remain in the country. “In 2017, Father McShane sent out a message that was pretty convincing about this place being a place where I felt safe to come—and inclusive. I knew I wanted to get a Ph.D., and I thought this would be a good place to kind of be intellectually free, while also knowing that the community was rather supportive of someone like me.”

Arteaga, who goes by Marc, will be starting work as an economist with KPMG. He views earning a Ph.D. as both a privilege and responsibility.

“It’s a privilege to do so because I know that my family, and where I come from—you don’t have those kinds of opportunities,” he said. “But more than anything, I also consider it a responsibility, because I’m changing a narrative that would otherwise remain unchanged.”

New York City: The Finance and Fintech Capital

Shafrin Mustafa said that the reputation of the Gabelli School of Business’ MBA program and its location drew her in.

“I know that they had a really great reputation and it was located in New York, and this is where I wanted to be,” said Mustafa, who is graduating with an MBA with a double concentration in finance and fintech.

Mustafa, who is from Canada, said her time in the program flew by, as she’ll be starting work with American Express in July.

“It’s been a very exciting journey. It almost feels like it just started yesterday so I can’t believe we’re here already.”

Research for Single Mothers and Education

Three students graduating with their doctoral degrees from the Graduate School of Social Work, Carolyn Peguero Spencer, Danielle Jimenez, and Denise Gosselin, said that they leaned on the community they developed at Fordham.

“You really have to have a beautiful cohort to get through. You’re not going to get through this alone,” said Spencer, a licensed clinical social worker, who got her master’s at the Graduate School of Social Work in 2000. She decided to return for the doctoral program to finish some “unfinished work.”

“I just saw a lot of things and we didn’t have data for it and research for it, so I was told, ‘You do it. You research it.’”

And so she did, putting together her thesis on single mothers in the Latina community, titled Intersecting Identities, Education, and Economic and Subjective Well-Being: A Qualitative Testimonio Study Among Latina Single Mother Community College Students.

Additional reporting by Patrick Verel

Jesuit Educated: Caring for the Whole Person

For Fordham College at Rose Hill friends Dylan Hakim and Laura Rose Kelly, Fordham was a transformative experience.

“We have lived so many lives and undergone so much change over the past four years,” said Kelly, a digital technologies and emerging media major and Italian minor from Western Springs, Illinois. “I feel very grateful to be here and to have a normal graduation after so much change and so many moments when we were unsure.”

Hakim, who earned a degree in mathematics with a double minor in philosophy and computer science, said that he feels like he’s become a more well-rounded person.

“People told me when I was going to college, I was gonna learn how to be a person. And I did not believe it because I thought I was already one,” he said.

But Hakim said that the Fordham ideals of cura personalis, or care of the whole person, and eloquentia perfecta, or clear expression for the common good, helped him on his way to becoming “complete.”

Hakim will be teaching math in the Bronx through the NYC Teaching Fellows program, and Kelly will be a marketing coordinator at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Enhancing Asian American Culture

Finding a community at Fordham was essential to Fordham College at Rose Hill graduates Maleiya Lorenzo and Arthur Ze An Liu. The two met through their work with multiple Asian clubs and organizations on campus; Lorenzo was vice president of FUPAC (Fordham University Philippine-American Club) and Liu led the Asian Cultural Exchange Club.

“I think for me, the sense of community, and being connected to my culture has been a really big part of college for me,” said Lorenzo, who majored in communications with a concentration in film and TV and a minor in biology. “My favorite club event ever is called Simbang Gabi, which is a Christmas event.”

Liu, who is from Hong Kong, said that he found a second home in New York.

“The culture shock was the toughest part, and that’s a legit phenomenon that people experience,” said Liu, who double majored in economics and political science and double minored in accounting and philosophy. “But what I love about New York City, in particular, is the diversity. And I think that you always find someone of your national origin, if you look hard enough.”

Both said that they appreciated the support of their families along the way.

“I’m happy that we’re finally here, and I get to celebrate with my family. They’re coming from out of state,” said Lorenzo, who is from Charlotte, North Carolina.

Professional and Continuing Studies: Flexibility and Fun

When the COVID-19 pandemic sent students home to take classes remotely, Alicia Wilcox used that as an opportunity to switch schools for more flexibility.

“I always wanted to live in New York, and I started out at [Fordham College at] Lincoln Center, but then I switched to PCS because it was easier with my job,” said Wilcox, who was graduating from the School of Professional and Continuing Studies with a degree in psychology. “I do freelance writing, so I liked PCS because it had night classes.”

Although she took most of her classes at Lincoln Center, Wilcox said some of her favorite memories came from trips to Rose Hill.

“I always love coming to Rose Hill for the games and the events, like Homecoming—that was so fun,” she said.

Finding Friends and Community

Izzy Budetti, who majored in new media and digital design, at Fordham College at Lincoln Center, said she also changed colleges during the pandemic, transferring from Rose Hill to Lincoln Center, which she said helped her find her place.

“I met my best friends here,” she said, adding that they met over Instagram, went to each other’s birthdays, and then participated in the same clubs, such as Splinter Group, Lincoln Center’s musical theater group. That reinforced some of her friendships, including with Lucy Murray, who served as the co-president of the group for more than three semesters.

Drawn to New York City

Murray, who graduated from Fordham College at Lincoln Center as a double major in music and psychology, said that she will miss the activities she was involved in.

“I feel really lucky because all my people are staying in the city, and we all live pretty close together, so I’m excited to just continue living life,” she said. “But I am going to miss the clubs I was involved in a lot.”

She said she was drawn to Fordham because of its location in New York City.

“I grew up in Raleigh [North Carolina]. I lived in the same house my whole life … I knew I liked that city feel, but I wanted bigger, more to explore. I really decided New York was for me and then Fordham was just what I was drawn to,” Murray said.

Murray said that her favorite class was Race and Gender in Latin American Pop Music with Professor Angelina Tallaj-GarcÍa, assistant professor of music.

“She’s just so fabulous. I took that class over Zoom during Covid and it felt like an actual class [happening]in person,” she said. “Everybody was really talkative—we hung out in the chat, we all had a really nice community.””

Murray said she will be returning to New York City after traveling and visiting with family for a while, with a plan to work in music therapy.

Julia Rinaldi, who came to Fordham from Bergen County, New Jersey, also said she was drawn to Fordham for its location.

“I applied to Fordham Rose Hill,” she said. “And then I started touring the campuses and thought, ‘I didn’t even know Lincoln Center existed, and this is perfect for me.’ I wanted to be in Manhattan.”

Rinaldi, a psychology major, said she’s starting a doctoral program in clinical psychology at Felician College in New Jersey next.

A Supportive Business School Community

Shaquille Kampta said that the Gabelli School of Business at Lincoln Center community helped him get through the last four years, despite pandemic-related challenges.

“I’m happy that we were able to persevere, especially with Gabelli, that camaraderie, and that group sense was very strong with our class, and as a group we were able to push through even though the pandemic was holding us back,” said Kampta, who majored in global business with a concentration in business economics and finance.

Kampta said that he will be working in wealth management in M&T Bank but plans to eventually go to law school.

Catherine Sperl entered Fordham as a transfer student and also said she appreciated the community she found at the Gabelli School.

“For Gabelli students, we’re all driven by the need to succeed and by academic markers that are visible and tangible,” Sperl said. “I think there’s something intrinsic to Fordham students, the spirit of Fordham is very collaborative and community-based.”

Sperl was a global business with a concentration in marketing and consumer insights along with her friend Melanie Sztulman, who had the same major. Sztulman said some of her favorite memories came from the University’s orientation program.

“I had a wonderful orientation experience, and at Lincoln Center, I worked as an orientation coordinator last year,” Sztulman said. “So it was a full circle moment for me to start off having such a positive experience in orientation and meeting so many wonderful people, and then helping new students.”

Sztulman is going off to Boston College Law School in the fall, while Sperl will be working in corporate communications at BlackRock.

Additional reporting by Patrick Verel

“I looked to my roots in neuroscience. I thought surely there was a scientific way to being happier,” said Chiles, who majored in integrative neuroscience.

Three Tips for Happiness

But instead he found it in positive psychology, a field credited to psychologist Martin Seligman, Ph.D. Chiles cited three tips from Seligman and tied them back to his Fordham experiences and lessons.

“First, go out, find someone who needs help, and help them.That reminds me of the Jesuit tenet we all know—to be people for and with others,” Chiles said to fellow students in Rose Hill Gym.

“Second, he tells us to learn and cultivate optimism,” he said.

“Finally … he says anything you’d like doing, do it with someone else.”

A Roast from the Lady of the Manor

Chiles’ speech followed the Lady of the Manor address—a traditional humorous student’s reflection—from Samantha Sheridan, a political science and digital media major. Sheridan joked that her inspiration for the address came from a speech she heard from Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president emeritus of Fordham, who stepped down last June.

“It was move-in day and I was very nervous,” she said. “And Father McShane provided us with the answers to some questions. He said, ‘You may be wondering if you will make lifelong friends here at Fordham? Yes. You may be wondering if you will find your purpose here at Fordham? Yes. You may be wondering if your high school boyfriend still loves you? No!’ And he was right. On all three accounts.”

Sheridan joked that she and her classmates experienced something that not a lot of Fordham students got to experience: “genuine excitement about our basketball team.” And, she said, a new president.

Looking Backward to Look Forward

Fordham College at Rose Hill Dean Maura Mast encouraged graduates to participate in an Ignatian examination with four steps—presence, gratitude, review, and response.

“The response moves us from looking backward to looking forward,” she said. “My hope is that as you look backward over your time at Fordham, you go through these steps … and you begin to understand what you need to go forward.”

Celebrating the 2023 Graduates

The ceremony, which traces its roots to the ancient Greeks, recognized students inducted into top academic honor societies and those who won prestigious awards, fellowships, and scholarships.

Two awards are a surprise to the recipients. The Claver Award, given by the Jesuits of Fordham to a FCRH senior who exemplifies dedication to service, was given to Michela Fahy.

“We are struck by and so grateful for how much you did to foster recovery for our community, as we all sought that recovery in the wake of the pandemic,” Mast said about Fahy’s community work with the Center for Community Engaged Learning.

The Fordham College Alumni Association Award, awarded to a senior who “exemplifies the Fordham spirit,” was given to Arthur Ze An Liu.

“He’s known and respected as a mentor, a role model, a hard worker, a problem solver, a conflict mediator and what one person termed, an amazing friend,” Mast said. “[He] is someone really committed to promoting Asian American Pacific Islander culture, along with the values of diversity, equity and inclusion.”

“As leaders, your number one job is to inspire your soldiers to be better than they thought they could be,” Major General Deborah L. Kotulich, director of the Army Recruiting and Retention Task Force, told the ROTC cadets in an address. “You’ll be responsible for building cohesive teams that are highly trained, disciplined, and fit, and ready to fight and win.”

“You’ll start,” she said, “by building and promoting climates of dignity and respect, where every soldier in your formation feels a sense of belonging and wants to be a member of your team.”

Fordham’s NROTC and ROTC programs held back-to-back commissioning ceremonies at the University Church on the Rose Hill campus. The 20 cadets—five of them NROTC cadets—included students from Fordham as well as other New York-area universities.

Tania Tetlow, president of Fordham, addressed the cadets at each ceremony, and—at the ROTC ceremony—noted the parallels between the military and the Jesuit order, with which Fordham is affiliated.

“Both see talent everywhere, invest in that talent by giving opportunity, and bring together a fierce community bonded by service and by honor,” she said. “You embody our Jesuit mission in your service—to be men and women for others; to be leaders grounded in knowledge, critical thinking, and respect; to be full of courage and willing to sacrifice even your life for another. We are so proud of you.”

Commencement Season

The ceremonies took place the day before Fordham’s University-wide commencement ceremony, its fourth since the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the education of first-year students who were this year’s graduating seniors.

“Dealing with and powering through COVID has been a tremendous training experience in resilience for each of you, whether you look at it that way or not,” Kotulich said at the ROTC ceremony.

She called on the cadets to set an inspiring example that helps the Army cope with a difficult landscape for recruitment. She also spoke of changes in the Army like greater supports for military families and more opportunities for women—noting that she was barred from Ranger School and the infantry early in her career because of her gender.

“I’m proud of our leaders recognizing that those exclusions didn’t make sense,” she said.

The ROTC ceremony followed the NROTC ceremony, during which John P. Coffey, general counsel of the Department of the Navy, told cadets of the “glorious history that precedes you” as the newest officers in the Navy and Marine Corps.

“Never forget that you have an obligation, at all times, to act with utmost integrity,” he said, advising them to “choose the hard road” when tempted to turn away from a difficult situation and take the easy way out. Also, he said, “know there will be times when you fall down.”

“Pick yourselves up, dust yourselves off, learn from experience,” he said. “No one’s perfect. We don’t live in a zero-defect military. The most important thing is how you learn from it.”

“This time of celebration is special for me because it is a reminder of how incredible our students are, and makes clear to me that our best days will always be in front of us, with leaders such as these exemplary future Gabelli School of Business alumni, leading the way,” said Lerzan Aksoy, the school’s dean.

Emme Simning, one of three co-valedictorians for the Gabelli School at Rose Hill, said that the education she got at Fordham is what made them exemplary.

“What makes a Gabelli graduate stand out in this world? My answer to that question does not involve the technical skills or business knowledge that we acquire, but rather that at Gabelli, we are taught to care for the world we live in,” said Simning, a finance major with a concentration in global business and member of the Global Business Honors Program. “The ability to be a part of something greater than ourselves and care for others is what sets Gabelli students apart.”

The event recognized students who were in honors societies and the business school’s honors programs, as well as students who received departmental awards and leadership awards. It also honored two Fordham graduates, Lorem Basile, GABELLI ’18, and Daniela Basile, GABELLI ’20 as Alumnae of the Year and recognized multiple faculty and staff members.

The three capstone student awards of the evening were the Alumni Chair Award, presented to a senior who exhibits “exemplary Fordham spirit and pride,” given to Natalia Kimmelshue; the Mozilo Future Distinguished Alumni Award, presented to a senior who has personified Fordham’s mission by “making excellence the focus of their life,” given to Beerdavinder “Bobby” Singh; and the Gabelli School of Business Dean’s Award, which recognizes a student’s “remarkable commitment to the Fordham community,” given to Amanda Evans.

Recognizing Parents: ‘You Are the Reason’

Both Aksoy and Vanessa Marku, a co-valedictorian, recognized the sacrifice of parents and families to send their students to Gabelli.

“This moment is for my mom—you are the green light at the end of the dock, my symbol of hope, and my greatest friend; for my dad, my greatest inspiration … for my grandparents who sacrificed everything in coming to America as ethnically Albanian immigrants from Montenegro,” said Marku, a finance major. “You are the reason I will be pursuing a juris doctorate at Hofstra University.”

‘Unique Experiences,’ from Monaco to London

Richard Torres Jr., a co-valedictorian, said that he was grateful for all the support and opportunities the Gabelli School gave him.

“You’ve afforded me so many unique experiences that I couldn’t have been exposed to anywhere else, including a study trip to Monaco, business meetings with Eli Manning and Giants executives, and an entire semester abroad in London,” said Torres, a business administration major with concentrations in finance and consulting.

All three valedictorians said that they were honored to be a part of this class.

“Many of you here in the crowd tonight will be the next changemakers and business leaders of the world,” Torres said.

At the ceremony, the second of its kind since debuting last year, awards were given to honors students who’d completed a senior thesis, won prestigious fellowships, and been admitted to academic societies such as Phi Beta Kappa.

In her remarks, FCLC Dean Laura Aurrichio, Ph.D., noted that like them, she arrived in August 2019. And like them, it took her a while to get used to her new surroundings. By spring 2020, she felt truly ready to pull up her sleeves and get to work on long-term projects.

“Of course, the universe had other plans,” she said, noting that the pandemic and the murder of George Floyd made for stressful times. Nevertheless, students persevered.

“You might be too modest to celebrate yourselves, but I also know that you are all too kind, too supportive, and too community-focused not to celebrate your classmates.”

Awards were also given to students who excelled in disciplines ranging from the arts and sciences to the social sciences and the humanities–and student speakers from each field got up to speak.

‘Soul-shimmering’ clarity

Anna Nowalk, a theology/music double major who was admitted to the Phi Beta Kappa honors society, spoke about the humanities.

“Throughout my time at Fordham, I’ve brushed against potentially life-altering understandings of the Christian mission and have on occasion felt my soul shimmer as I saw with clarity for a moment how I might be called to it,” she said.

Fordham Theatre Student Honored with Alumni Chair

Amara McNeil, an acting major and a founder of the BIPOC Theatre Alliance of Fordham, was honored with the FCLC Alumni Chair Award. Aurrichio expressed personal gratitude to McNeil for joining the inaugural cohort of the FCLC Student Advisory Group.

“I really just cannot say enough about how grateful I am to her for all the work that she has done and for her work in leaving this place much better than she found it,” she said.

Trystan Edwards, a theater and African and African American studies double major, implored his fellow graduates in his keynote address to live in what he called “the gray” areas of life.

“I was ready to set my future ablaze with fiery reds and opulent oranges, and I was ready to seize every opportunity and take the city by storm,” he said of his move to Manhattan.

When the pandemic interrupted everything in 2020, the gray returned, and it was here that Edwards discovered resilience.

“As we accept our awards tonight and our diplomas tomorrow beautifully bedecked in our rosy reds, bright blues, gorgeous greens, and yappy yellows, remember to leave room for the gray,” he said.

“It is the land of all possibilities, truth, and humanity.”