On Tuesday, June 15, 2021, the State of New York lifted the vast majority of COVID-19 restrictions after reaching a statewide vaccination rate of 70 percent. These changes follow updated U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, which state that colleges and universities at which all students, faculty, and staff are fully vaccinated prior to the start of the semester can return to full capacity in-person learning, without requiring or recommending masking or physical distancing for people who are fully vaccinated.

Given these changes, Fordham is modifying its policies in the following ways:

Vaccination Status and Campus Policy:

All employees teaching and working in-person are required to be fully vaccinated by August 1, 2021, in anticipation of permanent U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of one or more of the currently available vaccines. Employees may request exemptions on medical and religious grounds here. (Students are already required to be fully vaccinated by August 1.)

All faculty, students, and staff are expected to be registered with VitalCheck, a HIPAA-compliant service that is linked to your Fordham ID card for ease of entry to campus. Faculty and staff can register with VitalCheck at: [email protected]. Students attending in-person classes in the fall are automatically registered with VitalCheck and will begin to receive the daily notifications closer to the start of classes, provided they have uploaded their vaccination records.

Unvaccinated students and employees with a Fordham-approved vaccine exemption must continue to wear masks indoors and maintain social distancing, if possible, consistent with their activities.

Fully vaccinated students and employees are not required to wear masks in any location on campus, indoors or out, including residence and dining halls, athletics facilities, classrooms, offices, conference rooms, hallways, elevators, and other spaces. On-campus personnel may continue to wear masks if they prefer to do so.

COVID-19 vaccinations are available on or near campus through August. Please click here for times and locations.

Neither quarantine nor isolation are required for asymptomatic, fully vaccinated individuals. Employees who experience COVID-19 symptoms should contact their primary care physicians or schedule a virtual consultation through the VitalCheck; students who experience COVID-19 symptoms should contact University Health Services.

COVID 19 Testing:

Asymptomatic, fully vaccinated students and employees will not be required to be tested for COVID-19. Prior to August 1, testing is required every week for unvaccinated employees and students. After August 1, testing will be required every week (on the 7th day) for students and employees with a Fordham-approved vaccine exemption. The University will replace routine PCR tests with rapid antigen tests (backed by PCR tests, if necessary).

Campus Access:

All employees entering campus will be required to be on VitalCheck no later than July 15, and must send their proof of vaccination to VitalCheck at [email protected] and [email protected]. VitalCheck will display proof of vaccination on your smartphone and serve as the campus access card. Validity of vaccination documents is confirmed via the New York state Department of Health database.

Campuses will remain closed to non-Fordham individuals for the fall with the exception of Fordham-sponsored events, individuals attending Mass at the Bronx campus, student and family tours, approved contractors and vendors, and students and staff of Fordham Prep.

Contractors and vendors approved by the University can access campus and be unmasked if they show proof of vaccination. Alternatively, they can provide a negative PCR COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours prior to their arrival, and wear a mask while inside campus buildings.

Temperature screenings will end at all security posts.

Campus Facilities and Public Spaces

All interior spaces will return to pre-COVID seat spacing and occupation capacity, including elevators, stairwells, hallways, and all other spaces. Signs limiting capacity will be covered over but not removed for the time being.

Central building ventilation systems will continue to operate in accordance with American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers and CDC guidelines, and buildings will continue to use windows and outside air settings for window AC units for ventilation.

Custodial Services will revert to pre-COVID cleaning routines; private offices will continue to be cleaned on request by placing the “please clean” door tag on the outside doorknob.

The University will remove all plexiglass barriers except those installed at security stations.

Events/Meetings/Conferences/Athletics

Fordham conferences/meetings with outside speakers or guests are permitted as long as they are part of a Fordham education program that are intended for an audience of Fordham faculty, students, or staff. Events held solely or primarily by external groups on campus will not be allowed this fall. All guests must provide proof of completed COVID-19 vaccination series either prior to arrival or upon arrival at campus security posts. Since all attendees will be vaccinated, masks and social distancing are not required. Capacity is limited only by the space size or Public Assembly permit for larger spaces.

Fordham-sponsored events held outside of the University will follow the venue’s COVID-19 policies.

Travel

University-sponsored travel has been restored. See the policy on University sponsored travel here.

Asymptomatic travelers entering New York from another country, U.S. state, or territory are no longer required to test or quarantine according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and New York state Department of Health. Students living overseas who are not vaccinated before they arrive in the U.S. will be required to notify Fordham in advance so they can be vaccinated upon arrival. Those students will be required to test weekly until they are 2 weeks past their final vaccine dose. Students living overseas can find more detailed information online.

Fordham will resume full occupancy of Ram Vans in the fall: only students, faculty, and staff will be eligible to use the Ram Van service during the Fall semester.

Fordham will continue to follow the evolving CDC and New York state public health guidelines. The University will also continue to bar external groups from meeting or renting space on campus, indoor or out, through the fall semester. This prohibition includes filming and photography by outside groups. Fordham-hosted events and meetings will be permitted, with appropriate protocols for screening non-University guests and speakers, as outlined above.

Finally, I want to thank you all for your cooperation with the University’s COVID-19 protocols and policies over the past 15 months: you have helped keep the campus community safe and healthy, and set the stage for a return to normal campus life in the fall.

Sincerely,

Marco A. Valera, Vice President for Administration
& COVID-19 Coordinator

This communication takes the place of the regularly scheduled Five Things email. Five Things will resume next week.

“That fact that the New York State Department of Education selected the Community Schools Technical Assistance Centers to coordinate and implement the CARES Act funding is recognition of the work the statewide centers are doing,” said Anita Vazquez Batisti, Ph.D., associate dean for educational partnerships and the executive director of the Graduate School of Education’s Center for Educational Partnerships, which is responsible for CS-TAC. “We welcome the opportunity to distribute this much-needed funding.” 

Fordham CS-TAC is one of three state-funded centers across New York that support community schools in a specific region; Fordham’s center has been responsible for more than 250 community schools across New York City’s five boroughs since the center was founded in 2018. 

Last spring, the federal government passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to provide quick and direct economic assistance for American employees, families, businesses, and industries. A portion of the federal funds allocated to New York were given to two of the state’s CS-TACs, which are now responsible for distributing them to areas that have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.  

There are two phases for this 18-month initiative. In a few weeks, Fordham CS-TAC will invite community-based and faith-based organizations across New York City and on Long Island to apply for state CARES funds—which are separate from the city’s CARES funds—in grants ranging from $10,000 to $25,000; grants will be awarded in May or June. 

“Those organizations will be doing everything from providing mental health support to resolving food insecurity—all the different things that families are struggling with now,” said Kevin Coyne, Fordham’s CS-TAC director. “Ultimately, our goal is to connect schools and districts to organizations that already exist in their community so that this initiative can be sustainable.” 

This fall, Fordham CS-TAC will begin the second phase: professional development workshops that train teachers and staff on how to incorporate social and emotional learning into their lessons—and in turn, teach those strategies to their students. To create more inclusive workshops, Fordham CS-TAC will collaborate with professionals in special education, bilingual education, and family engagement. 

“There’s an urgent need to provide not only monetary and physical help, but also the ability to process the trauma that they’ve been experiencing,” Coyne said. “If we want our kids to return to school and be successful, we need to make sure that we’ve met their physical and emotional needs.”

Coyne said he hopes the $1.25 million in CARES funds will be put to good use. 

“It seems like a huge grant when you hear the number, but we’re going up against really significant headwinds in terms of hardship,” Coyne said. “The hope is that these CARES funds will help to resolve some of the inequities and negative impacts from the pandemic.” 

I hope you are enjoying the summer and that you and your families are doing well amid the ongoing health emergency. We are looking forward to the start of the fall semester and have been working hard to make the reopening and move-in process a success despite considerable challenges.

I am writing to share important information about the return to campus and how we will help create as safe an environment as possible. An important part of our strategy is ensuring that people are healthy when they come to school, and modifying our facilities and procedures to mitigate risk. We had hoped to communicate on these matters sooner, but the situation continues to evolve and we are waiting on further guidance from New York state that has not yet been released.

For those of you who will be on campus this fall, it is critical that we work together to ensure the health and safety of our community. We must each do our part to protect ourselves and each other. Many students have shared a preference for as normal a campus experience as possible: whether we can deliver that experience will depend upon your cooperation. Every member of the community will enter into the Ram Pledge, a compact that formalizes our shared commitment to health and safety.

Testing
As we have conveyed in prior communications, all students, faculty, and staff who plan to return to campus for any reason or any length of time will be required to be tested for COVID-19 within the 7-day period before coming to campus or entering any Fordham property.

There are two ways to satisfy this requirement:

1. You are encouraged to get tested at home, at a site of your choosing (find a nearby testing site) within 7 days prior to coming to campus. You must submit proof of testing and clearance, i.e., a negative test result. Please go to the health portal at my.fordham.edu to submit test results. If you choose not to submit your documentation online, you will be required to provide hard-copy documentation upon arrival. If you test positive, you will not be allowed to enter the campus or any Fordham building until you are no longer symptomatic and you have been cleared to return by a physician.

OR

2. You can be tested through the University on campus at Lincoln Center and Rose Hill. You are allowed to come to campus for the limited purpose of getting tested and then cannot return to campus until you have received results. Please note that although the University has arranged for testing through a private provider and should be able to get results more quickly than public testing sites, there may be delays in obtaining results. For this reason, we recommend getting tested early in the 7-day period. The University is developing a sign-up system for scheduling testing appointments. We will let you know when it is available.

Quarantine Requirements
In the spring, New York was the epicenter of COVID-19 activity, but the state’s strict lockdown and the community’s compliance has drastically reduced the infection rate in our state and city. New York is reopening gradually and cautiously to prevent a resurgence and has instituted a quarantine requirement for individuals entering from states with significant community spread of the virus. As of this writing, all individuals entering New York from restricted states and other countries are required to self-quarantine for 14 days. This mandatory quarantine applies to everyone, including those who have tested negative for COVID-19. For more information on New York state’s quarantine requirement, please read the state’s FAQ.

Given the testing requirements noted above, all students coming from restricted states and other countries should plan adequate time both to quarantine and to get tested. Students coming from these states and other countries will need to quarantine for 14 days in locations not on the list of restricted states. After the quarantine period is completed, students will, as described above, need to get tested, either off-site or at Fordham within the 7-day period before coming to the campus or any Fordham property. As noted above, please allow time to receive your test results.

There are three possible ways to satisfy this quarantine requirement, one of which is contingent upon further guidance from New York state on accommodation requirements:

The first option is to make alternative off-site plans for quarantining. We will be providing a list of hotels in the area for your planning and scheduling purposes. This listing will come in a separate communication from the Office of Residential Life on your respective campus. You may also use other hotels, including those outside of the metropolitan area that are in any state that is not on the list of restricted states. If you choose this option, you will be required to provide hard-copy documentation upon arrival (i.e., hotel receipts, air travel receipts, etc.).  More information on submission of this documentation will be provided in upcoming communications.

The second option is to remain home and begin your classes online, until your state is removed from the restricted-state list. We understand that this may be a disappointing option for many to consider. Please be assured that we will be flexible in working with you on your plans to join Fordham’s on-campus community at whatever time in the semester this becomes a comfortable and viable option for you and your family. While we cannot guarantee a particular building or room assignment for those who choose this option, or choose to take a leave from campus housing for the fall, we will guarantee you on-campus housing, whenever you choose to return.

The third option is not yet available, as we wait on further guidance from New York state on accommodation requirements. However, if you are a student entering from a restricted state or another country and are planning to live in University housing, you may be able to quarantine in Fordham housing with assigned roommates and your room or suite will be considered a living unit under these circumstances. We understand that this option is not ideal, and is not available at this time, as it is contingent upon further guidance from New York state. Pending that decision, we must follow the instructions we have received from the New York State Department of Health, which does not allow on-campus quarantine in a way that we can accommodate at this time. We therefore encourage you to make contingency plans with one of the two options noted above that you are most comfortable with. If we receive further guidance from New York state and this situation changes, we will advise you accordingly.

A Safe Return to Campus
The health and safety of Fordham’s students, faculty, and staff remain the highest priority in our reopening plans. We have developed a series of health protocols to mitigate risk and promote the safety of the learning environment. These protocols include the following:

• Hazard elimination, which is aimed at eliminating risk via the universal testing requirements noted above; robust screening; and contact tracing to ensure that people carrying the virus and their close contacts do not come to campus. As part of this process, you will be required to participate in a daily VitalCheck screening. Please look for an email in the coming week to enroll in the screening.
• Personnel substitution, which focuses on limiting the number of students, faculty, and staff on the campus and in the classrooms, and accommodating vulnerable populations.
• Engineering controls, such as improvements to HVAC systems and air circulation, to mitigate risk.
• Administrative controls, which help protect our community with behavioral changes that promote social distancing and reshape the way we work and study.
• Personal protective equipment, such as face coverings, which will be provided to students as a critical component of risk mitigation. Everyone will be required to wear a face covering at all times in all common, public areas, except in areas designated for eating.

For more information about the steps the University is taking to promote health and safety, please see Fordham Forward.

The Ram Pledge
Making the Fordham campus safe is a shared commitment, and so we are requiring every member of our community to take the Ram Pledge, which demonstrates that we are all working together to protect one another from COVID-19.

As a member of the Fordham community:

• I will wear a face covering at all times on the Fordham campus, both indoors and outdoors, and when taking part in University activities off-campus (students can take face coverings off in their individual residence hall rooms);
• I will wash my hands frequently and thoroughly (for 20 seconds, minimum), especially after contact with surfaces and items in public areas, after eating, coughing, sneezing, or wiping one’s nose;
• I will self-monitor for COVID-19 symptoms and complete daily VitalCheck screenings;
• I will follow the directions of University officials regarding testing, screening, and quarantine (if necessary), and cooperate with the University’s contact tracing efforts, if called upon to do so;
• I will act in the spirit of people for others, knowing that I am helping to protect the campus community from illness.

All students who will come onto the campus must sign the Ram Pledge prior to coming to campus. Failure to adhere to it will be considered a violation of the code of student conduct. More information on how to sign this pledge will be included in upcoming communications. In addition, all students will be required to complete an online COVID training program before returning to campus (that information will be available soon). Please look for this in an upcoming communication.

We know you have many questions, and we will do our very best to answer them. Thank you for your patience and your commitment to keeping our community safe. I look forward to staying in contact as we approach the fall semester.

Jeffrey L. Gray
Senior Vice President for Student Affairs

That was the message Marciana Popescu, Ph.D., associate professor at the Graduate School of Social Service, wanted to drive home during a talk to alumni, students, and staff this week.

Her discussion, “The Silent Pandemic—Mental Health Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic for the Most Vulnerable,” which was organized by the Office of Alumni Relations, highlighted how the pandemic has impacted every area of society–from jobs to education to human connection– and how that impact has disproportionately affected marginalized communities.

More than 7.3 million people have been infected by the coronavirus worldwide. But the virus’s effects have been felt most severely by those living in poverty, those who are homeless, minorities, and immigrants–not only in terms of physical health, but mental and financial health as well.

“One major issue we are dealing with that directly affects our mental health is uncertainty,” said Popescu, whose work focuses on migration policies and their impact.

But for those who live in poverty or who are homeless, uncertainty was already part of their lives, she said. People living in poverty, for example, had little access to existing health services, probably suffered from preexisting conditions that were not treated properly, and faced precarious employment situations before the pandemic hit.

A Complex Emergency

“We’re not talking about a public health crisis anymore, we are talking about a complex emergency,” she said.

In a complex emergency, preexisting issues such as mental health concerns, food insecurity, domestic violence, and the internet divide become exacerbated.

“How do you deal with food security, when you counted on the school lunches?” Popescu asked as an example.

Even some of the protections government and health officials recommended furthered divides across groups, she explained.

“When you are homeless, you don’t have access to the basic level of protection,” she said. “Where would you wash your hands? Where would you go for info? Can you access testing—do you know you can access testing?”

Even the ability to social distance or access remote education shows a person’s privilege, Popescu said.

For immigrants as well as migrants, whom Popescu referred to as “people of forced migration,” living situations often include overcrowding and multigenerational households, on top of the fact that many immigrants work in “essential jobs” and have had to continue to go to work through this crisis.

“We are dealing with all this in a context of privilege,” she said. “People might be forced to continue to work. If they lose their jobs, they have no protections in place. [Their homes are] not always safe. [There’s] little time to work and support children.”

‘People Are Losing Hope’

While their individual histories and traumas are often different, the Black community and people in communities of forced migration, particularly those from Latin America, face similar hardships.

The CDC found that in New York City, COVID-19 death rates for Black/African American people—92.3 deaths per 100,000 population, and Hispanic/Latino people—74.3, were much higher than those of both white people—45.2, or Asian people—34.5.

“Both groups were pushed to the margins,” Popescu said, citing high rates of poverty, educational quality, access to health care, and police/ICE brutality.“[We can] see all the steps we as a society took in pushing these groups further to the margins—this was to be expected.”

These communities also feel the impact of previous and current trauma that can dramatically affect their mental health. For example, she said, this generation of migrant children probably has two main experiences in life—one in their home country, living in conflict, and one of the journey of migration to the United States.

Popescu warned that people in distress from the pandemic, particularly those already dealing with depression, anxiety, and PTSD, might be susceptible to potential suicide.

“Death by despair—I’m afraid we have to prepare ourselves to deal with this because people are desperate. People are losing hope,” she said.

Popescu emphasized that it’s not enough to provide individuals with resources and put it upon them to “find help” for their mental health and other issues; it’s up to the community to support them.

Listening to Marginalized Voices

One of the first ways communities can do that is to have people in power listen to both Black and immigrant voices.

“They’re both invisible when it comes to policy—they’re not represented,” she said. “On the other hand, when anything can be used against this population, visibility increases.”

Another way to support them, she said, is to make sure they have accurate information available in an accessible format, including in their native language.

“We really need to think of the fact that engaging the people who are directly impacted—it’s one of the most important steps we need to take,” she said. “Unless you share the lived experience of the population … you’re not an expert.”

Dear Members of the Fordham Community,

I hope this email finds you well and safe, and enjoying as much of a summer break as possible. I am writing to let you know that Fordham has made the difficult decision of suspending all study abroad programs through the end of the fall 2020 semester, in the interest of the health and safety of our students.

For the past few months, we have been closely monitoring the COVID-19 conditions, in the 22 countries where Fordham students had planned to study abroad this fall, and studying the ongoing challenges of international travel as a result of the global pandemic. While Fordham has been working diligently to create a multi-faceted plan for social distancing, sanitation, testing, contact tracing, and isolation protocols on each of our New York campuses, it has become increasingly clear that we cannot provide this critical level of precautionary care at each of our many study abroad locations.

We continue academic planning under the presumption that Fordham will offer face-to-face and online instruction at its New York campuses in fall 2020. We are confident that we can do so while protecting the health and safety of our students, faculty and staff, subject, of course, to Governor Cuomo’s approval for reopening higher education in New York City. We will also offer the option of fully online learning for any of our students or faculty who might need to participate remotely, for a portion or all of the semester, because of health concerns, visa constraints, travel restrictions, etc.

In preparation for restarting campus activities, the University formed thirteen working groups across every area of operations from COVID-19 screening and containment, dining and residential life, student experience and experiential learning, and infrastructure and sanitation, among others. A website provides the charge and membership of each working group and gives you the opportunity to direct questions or concerns to any of the thirteen working groups. The working groups are coordinated by a steering committee that is developing a comprehensive University-wide plan. Fordham’s restart plan will be published and shared with students, faculty, and staff in late June.

We are currently accepting study abroad applications for the spring 2021 semester and look forward to restarting our study abroad programs when the public health situation permits us to do so. Students who had planned to study abroad this semester can instead pursue their fall studies at Fordham and consider deferring study abroad to a future semester, with priority placement.

As we prepare to offer a transformative education for our students this fall semester, please know that the health and well-being of every member of the Fordham community are of principal importance to us.

Sincerely,

Dennis C. Jacobs, Ph.D.
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

“Food is life. And for a family in the restaurant business, we stand by that very strongly,” said Cristina Rocco, a rising junior at Fordham College at Rose Hill who serves meals with her father and two older brothers.

The idea was born a few months ago, when Cristina’s older brother Alex, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, lost his job as a chef at a high-end New York City restaurant. Along with many others in the food industry, he’d become unemployed due to the pandemic. But Alex still wanted to use his expertise to help others. 

On April 20, Alex and his family began serving meals in Bridgeport, a place where more than 20% of the population lives below the poverty line, through their new not-for-profit called CT Central Kitchen. The organization, which receives funding through a GoFundMe page, was founded to help out the local community in a time of crisis. 

No strangers to the restaurant industry, the Roccos know how to feed a crowd. Their family has three generations of experience, starting with Cristina’s grandfather, who owned a coffee shop in the Bronx, followed by Michael and his two brothers, who started the Planet Pizza chain that now has nine locations in Fairfield and Westchester counties, said Cristina. 

Every Monday, the family serves around 250 free plates of chicken, beans, and rice from a food truck to Bridgeport community members, including local health care workers. With the help of their state representative Christopher Rosario, they have identified and traveled to the areas where their food is needed the most.

On May 25, the Rocco family distributed 200 hot meals on East Main Street and donated leftover platters to a nearby family shelter. The following Monday, they worked in tandem with the Southwest Community Health Center, where they gave out free meals and the health center provided free water bottles, masks, and gloves to community members. Most recently, Pepsi donated more than 800 cans of water to accompany CT Central Kitchen’s future meals, said Cristina. 

Each trip is a combined family effort. Every week, Alex and his father, Michael Rocco, GABELLI ’90, prepare the food, including 140 pounds of chicken. Cristina oversees their publicity and social media efforts and helps distribute food. Their brother Serafim Rocco, GABELLI ’18 and ’19, who now works as an assurance associate at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, helps the family manage its resources.

On May 31, state and local leaders honored the Rocco family for establishing CT Central Kitchen. 

“CT Central Kitchen, Alex and his family—they’re heroes during this time, feeding people, making life better. We can all follow that model,” Senator Richard Blumenthal said at a small ceremony in Bridgeport, which was also attended by Joseph P. Ganim, the city’s mayor. 

The pandemic has been stressful for many people, but there are plenty of ways to help out your local community, said Cristina. 

“I’ve seen friends, and even on the news or social media, people going to local hospitals and delivering trays of food. Delivering one tray of food … that goes a long way,” she said. “Even if you can’t go [in person], there’s a lot of online places and venues that need support and donations to help provide [resources]during this time.”

Anne Fernald’s “Whatever” Soup

Anne Fernald, Ph.D., professor of English and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies, has maintained her Sunday night efforts to cook for the work week. “I realized that if I did not do it, I would revert to my natural diet, which is bread and cheese with some butter,” she says. “I do nothing but teach and cook these days and, in a welcome development, my husband has been cooking a tiny bit, too.” Her favorite recipe hails from The New York Times’ Samin Nosrat. It’s called Whatever You Want Soup, and it “serves as a canvas for any kind of chunky soup,” Nosrat writes. Here is Fernald’s take on it.

Ingredients
4 tablespoons butter, olive oil, or neutral-tasting oil
2 medium onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, sliced
Kosher salt
6 to 8 cups meat, vegetables, or other add-ins
Ground turkey
Shredded cabbage
Carrots, cut into rounds
Tomato, chopped
Green onion, sliced
1 1⁄2pounds raw, boneless chicken (optional)
8 cups water or chicken stock, preferably homemade

Steps
1. Set a large Dutch oven or stockpot over medium-high heat and add 4 tablespoons butter or oil. When the butter melts or the oil shimmers, add onions and garlic, and a generous pinch of salt.
2. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are tender, about 15 minutes.
3. Place the meat, vegetables, and other add-ins in the pot, along with the raw chicken (if using), and add enough liquid to cover. Season with salt. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
4. Cook until the flavors have come together and the vegetables and greens are tender, about 20 minutes more. If you added raw chicken, remove it from the soup when cooked, allow to cool, shred, and return to the soup. Taste and adjust for salt.
5. Add more hot liquid if needed to thin the soup to desired consistency. Taste and adjust for salt.
6. Serve hot, and garnish as desired.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings l Time: About 45 minutes
Base recipe courtesy of Samin Nosrat/The New York Times

The Raffetto Family’s Pink Rice

Raffetto’s has been selling made-in-house pasta and other Italian specialties on New York City’s Houston Street since 1906, spanning four generations of the family. The two most recent generations include brothers Richard, FCRH ’82, and Andrew, FCRH ’84, and Andrew’s daughter Sarah, PCS ’13. Romana Raffetto, Richard and Andrew’s mother, made this dish many times over the years. The Raffettos still make it regularly, Sarah says, because it is so delicious, comforting, and easy. “We use the Reggiano crumbs because, like Nonna taught us, we try not to waste anything, and while cutting wheels of cheese for retail we save the broken crumbs for future recipes.”

Ingredients
1 cup Arborio rice
1 ice cream scoop of salt (a common measurement in our kitchen)
4 tablespoons (1⁄2 stick) butter
4 tablespoons Raffetto’s tomato and basil sauce (or a similar sauce of your choice)
Parmigiano-Reggiano crumbs to taste

Steps
1. Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Add rice, cover, and cook for 20 minutes.
2. While the rice is cooking, you can get the butter ready by melting it in a bowl. Otherwise, make sure that the butter is out long enough to soften so it will melt easily when the rice is done cooking.
3. When the rice is cooked, strain with a fine mesh strainer and add to the bowl with butter. Stir in Raffetto’s tomato and basil sauce (or any red sauce) in tablespoon increments, adding more or less as desired.
4. Stir in Parmigiano and eat immediately while everything is warm and the cheese melts, resulting in a beautiful light pink color with chunks of tomatoes.

Note: “Nonna Romana hardly ever measured anything,” Sarah says. “She was a casual cook who
knew by eye more than numbers. Modify slightly to your needs and enjoy!”

Yield: 4 to 6 servings l Time: About 20 minutes

Taylor Ha’s Whipped Coffee

Fordham graduate student and Fordham News staff writer Taylor Ha recently recorded herself making a drink that’s gone viral amid the pandemic. Whipped coffee, a four- ingredient beverage that originated in South Korea, was recently featured on TikTok’s trending page, with more than 312,000 videos using the hashtag #whippedcoffee, according to ABC News. In their home kitchen, Ha and her mother created their own version of the popular drink, complete with a slow-motion video of the production process. They also made spaghetti aglio e olio. “Both were delicious and super satisfying to make,” Ha says. “I’ll admit I didn’t actually cook, since I was filming everything, but it was nice to bond with my mom at home.”

Ingredients
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons instant ground coffee
2 tablespoons freshly boiled water
1 cup almond milk or any other milk (enough to fill a glass 3⁄4 of the way up)

Steps
1. Combine the sugar, instant coffee, and boiled water in a small bowl, whisking the mixture until it becomes silky smooth and turns a light shade of brown. Set aside.
2. Place a few ice cubes in a glass cup and fill the cup three-quarters full with almond milk.
3. Add a few dollops of whipped coffee on top and gently stir the whole thing.

Daejah Woolery’s Jamaican Dumplings with Jerk Chicken and Butternut Squash

When Fordham College at Lincoln Center sophomore Daejah Woolery moved off campus, she started cooking more. She says she doesn’t always have the time to make elaborate dishes, but as a Jamaican, “food is super important to the culture,” so she makes an extra effort to cook from scratch. “I’m excited to make this for my family and show them my slight twist on Jamaican boiled dumplings with chicken!”

Ingredients
Boiled dumplings
2 cups flour
5 teaspoons salt
1⁄4 cup cornmeal
1⁄2 cup cold water
Jerk seasoning (Note: bottled jerk seasoning can be substituted.)
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 to 3 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
1⁄2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1⁄2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1⁄4 teaspoon cinnamon
Butternut squash, as much as you like, cut into cubes
Chicken, any cut, as much as you like, cut into cubes
(Note: I typically use 2 boneless chicken breasts and 12 oz. frozen, pureed butternut squash.)

Steps
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
2. Combine flour, salt, cornmeal, and cold water. Adjust until you have a dough that doesn’t stick to your hands.
3. Make small disc-like shapes and drop them into the boiling water for about 10 minutes. Try not to overcrowd your pot! Remove from heat and set aside. Or they can remain in the water with the heat off.
4. Combine all jerk seasoning ingredients and set aside.
5. Bring another large pot of water to a boil and add squash cubes.
6. When squash is softened, after about 15-20 minutes, puree or mash it finely.
7. Heat pureed squash in a saucepan on medium-low heat and add some of your jerk seasoning to taste. Switch to low heat after you see bubbles. Add about 1⁄4 cup of water if you want a thinner sauce.
8. Season the chicken with jerk seasoning and cook it however you like; throw it in the air fryer if you’re in a rush or sauté it like I usually do.
9. Once the chicken is cooked, add it to the saucepan with the squash and resist the urge to eat it immediately. Let it simmer together on medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Make sure the chicken gets surrounded by the sauce. The sweet and nutty taste of the squash will interact really well with the jerk seasoning.
10. Transfer the dumplings to a plate and put some chicken and squash directly on top!

Yield: 4 servings l Time: About 60 minutes

Clint Ramos’ Filipino Chicken Adobo

Clint Ramos, head of design and production in the Fordham Theatre program, has won several awards, including a Tony and an Obie, for his set and costume designs. He posted a photo of his chicken adobo on Instagram that prompted inquiries about the recipe. With roots in the activist street theater scene in Manila, he advises that one eat the dish while pondering “how much of what you enjoyed was indigenous or a result of Spanish colonialism.”

Ingredients
2 pounds boneless chicken thighs (I like skin but you can also do skinless)
4 dried bay leaves
8 tablespoons dark soy sauce (I use Kikkoman)
8 tablespoons coconut vinegar (apple cider vinegar will also do well)
8 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
11⁄2 cups water
3 tablespoons cooking (canola or any high heat) oil
1⁄4 teaspoon salt (optional—the salinity from the soy may be enough)
1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
1 teaspoon brown sugar

Steps
1. Marinate chicken in soy sauce, vinegar, and garlic for at least 3 hours or overnight in the fridge.
2. Separate chicken from marinade, removing as much of the liquid as possible. Save all of the marinade (this will be your braising liquid).
3. Heat oil in a pan on medium-high heat and brown chicken on both sides (about 2 minutes per side).
4. In the same pan, pour in the marinade (garlic and all) and water. Bring to a boil.
5. Add bay leaves and peppercorns and reduce heat to low to simmer.
6. Simmer for 30 minutes or until chicken is tender. I completely cover it for 15 minutes and let some of the steam out for the remaining 15 with a wooden spoon lodged between lid and pot. Important: Watch that the liquid reduces to a slightly thickened sauce but not completely.
7. Add sugar and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes.
8. Serve over hot white or brown rice and enjoy!

Yield: 6 to 8 servings l Time: About 60 minutes

Loren Avellino’s Banana Lace Cookies

As a first-generation Italian-American woman, Loren Avellino, FCLC ’07, says she practically grew up in the kitchen. In fact, when she got the opportunity to live in McMahon Hall for the summer as an orientation coordinator at the Lincoln Center campus, she hosted pasta nights for fellow summer residents. Today, she has a degree in culinary arts, a catering company, and a food blog. She recently started a video cooking series on her Instagram page, @lo_go_cook. “When I’m in the kitchen, my anxiety seems to melt away, and if I can take others on that journey with me, especially during these uncertain times, then I’ve done a tiny part to help during this crisis,” Avellino says.

Ingredients
1⁄2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon white or apple cider vinegar
1 cup mashed brown bananas (about 2 large bananas)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup almond flour*
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup dark chocolate chips
*Almond flour is important for crispy, lacy cookies (see tip on next page about using only all-purpose flour)

Steps
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy.
2. Add the vinegar and vanilla and continue to beat until incorporated. The vinegar helps to offset the sweetness of the ripe bananas.
3. Add the baking soda in with the mashed bananas, then mix into the butter mixture.
4. Whisk together the all-purpose flour, almond flour, and salt. Add to the batter and mix until just combined.
5. Fold the dark chocolate chips into the batter.
6. Drop tablespoon-size amounts of batter onto parchment or silicone-lined baking sheet, making sure they are about 2 inches apart. You should have 42 to 48 cookies.
7. Bake 12 to 14 minutes until the edges are dark brown. (The dark color is important for crispy cookies). Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for at least 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to complete cooling.

Tip: You could use only all-purpose flour, but the cookies will be denser and less crispy than the almond flour version.

Yield: 42 to 48 cookies l Time: About 45 minutes

B.A. Van Sise’s Ricotta Gnocchi with Roasted Pepper Sauce

Photojournalist B.A. Van Sise, FCLC ’05, jokes that his mother preferred food “so heavy that a black hole would not easily escape its pull.” For her homemade gnocchi, she’d replace the potato with rich, creamy ricotta and make the supple dough herself, rolling it and cutting it by hand. “It’s an easy activity that does not need but asks for six hands,” Van Sise says. “Recruit your kids for help, if you’ve got them. Trust me: they’ll remember it, fondly.”

Ingredients
Pasta
2 pounds ricotta cheese
4 eggs
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Sauce
1 16 oz. jar roasted red peppers
1⁄2 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons garlic
2 tablespoons butter
1⁄2 teaspoon dried basil
black pepper

Steps
1. In a large mixing bowl, mix the ricotta and eggs. Gradually add the flour, salt, and pepper.
2. Knead well on a floured board and roll into finger-sized long rolls, then cut into pieces about 3⁄4 inch long.
3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the gnocchi, stirring gently from time to time to make sure they don’t mingle too much. Cook for 8 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a blender, add the roasted red peppers as well as about 2 tablespoons of liquid from the jar, and puree.
5. In a saucepan, sauté the garlic and butter for approximately 2 minutes until both the butter and garlic soften; add the pureed peppers, the basil, and a little bit of black pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes, then add the heavy cream and simmer for 5 more.
6. Cover the drained gnocchi with the sauce, and either serve right away or put into a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes to crisp them up.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings l Time: About 40 minutes

Serving Those Who Are Hungry

The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic has led to an increase in the number of people who can’t afford food and are at risk of going hungry. Fordham graduates are among the many professionals working to meet the challenges of this deepening public health crisis. Read our interviews with Camesha Grant, Ph.D., GSS ’00, ’07, vice president of community connection and reach at the Food Bank for New York City; and Janet Miller, GSS ’97, senior vice president at CAMBA, a Brooklyn-based nonprofit that provides social services to New Yorkers in need.

Additional reporting by Tom Stoelker.

“We greatly mourn the loss of Father Dimler,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham. “He was a teacher through and through, a gentleman, a warm and engaging colleague, a dear friend to many within the Jesuit community and without, and he had a profound effect on several generations of students. Our hearts go out to his family and friends at his loss.”

Father Dimler was born on October 21, 1931, in Baltimore, Maryland, to George H. Dimler and Gertrude K. Dimler. He graduated from Loyola Blakefield, a Jesuit college preparatory school for boys, and attended Loyola College for one year before entering the Novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues, a Jesuit seminary in Wernersville, Pennsylvania, in 1950. A little more than a decade later, he was ordained a priest.

Over his lifetime, Father Dimler earned many degrees from institutions across the U.S. and the world, including two degrees from Fordham; a master’s degree in German from Middlebury College in Mainz, Germany; a doctorate in German literature from the University of California, Los Angeles; and a master’s degree in computer science from Iona College in New Rochelle, New York. He also completed his Jesuit studies at Fordham in 1951.

Father Dimler put his extensive education to use as a lifelong teacher. In 1970, he taught German literature at Loyola College for several years. Two years later, he moved to Fordham, where he taught German and computer science for more than three decades.

“Whenever you saw him on campus, as a greeting, instead of a wave, he would do that ‘V’ symbol from the peace movement in the ’60s or ’70s,” recalled a past colleague, Susan Ray, Ph.D., professor emerita of German and co-chair of Fordham’s self-study steering committee. “He was a good colleague.” 

He was a good teacher, too, according to former student Kevin Munnelly, FCRH ’83, GSAS ’85. Munnelly recalled the days when Father Dimler would walk into German class wearing a tweed jacket. He was an engaging, enthusiastic professor who held a “German cultural day” for his class and never judged his students, he said.

“Some really intelligent people talk at you. He talked with you,” said Munnelly, who is now assistant vice president for academic budgets and logistics at Fordham. 

In 1999, Father Dimler became a research professor of Jesuit emblem studies, “a role dear to his heart,” according to an obit by the Jesuits’ Maryland Province. He later published several books on the subject, including The Jesuit Emblem in European Context (Saint Joseph’s University Press, 2016), co-authored by Peter Daly, professor emeritus of German at McGill University. 

Jesuit emblems were a powerful teaching tool in a time when many people did not read, explained Frank Borchardt, Ph.D., a longtime friend and Fordham colleague.

“The Jesuits used those to teach people religion. We don’t think about it in today’s society, but during the time that the Jesuits started the emblem books, many people couldn’t read,” Borchardt said. “The purpose of the emblems was to give them a picture of whatever they were trying to teach.”

Borchardt was one of Father Dimler’s closest friends. They first met in 1972, when Father Dimler joined Borchardt’s office space in the German department. The two scholars shared an interest in computer science, spirituality, and Jesuit emblems. In the following years, they shared meals at least two or three times a week. Father Dimler often invited Borchardt into the Jesuit community for lunch. On Fridays, Borchardt invited him to Arthur Avenue for a classic Italian meal—typically fillet of sole Francese, a flounder cooked in butter and white wine. 

When Borchardt got married and had two sons, Father Dimler baptized them both. On the day his oldest son got married in Helsinki, Finland, in 1981, Father Dimler blessed the newly wed couple. 

“I wouldn’t have asked anybody else. He knew the kids from the time they were born, and he knew me many years before,” said Borchardt, who retired from Fordham six years ago. “He was my best friend.” 

“We celebrated the important dates in each other’s lives,” he added. “The other day was my birthday. It was the first birthday in all of those years that I didn’t get a card from him.”

In addition to writing numerous articles, Father Dimler served as editor of the University’s quarterly publication, Thought, which published articles and reviews related to theology, philosophy, sociology, history, and education.

After retiring from teaching, Father Dimler moved to Venice, California, and served as a parish priest at St. Mark Church for several years. In 2009, he returned to Wernersville to serve in pastoral ministries at the Jesuit Center for Spiritual Growth. He retired from active ministry and moved to the Colombiere Jesuit community in Baltimore, but continued to research Jesuit emblems. 

Around the time of his death, he had been living at the Manresa Hall health care center in Philadelphia, where more than a third of the Jesuit priests who lived there were killed by the coronavirus. Father Dimler was the first to pass away. At Fordham, he is among more than 50 members and close relatives of the Fordham community who have died in the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Father Dimler was buried in a private service in Wernersville. He is survived by two sisters, two brothers, and his nieces and nephews. Memorial contributions for Father Dimler can be made to the Jesuit Seminary Guild at 7400 York Rd., Towson, MD 21204. 

She and other Fordham experts offered advice for coping with the psychological effects of this pandemic while also strengthening overall well-being.

Give Thanks

David Marcotte, S.J., is a Jesuit priest, clinical psychologist, and associate professor who teaches a popular undergraduate course on the psychology of well-being and living  a happy life.

“Negative events are like a sponge” in the mind, he told students in one class session last year. “When [sponges]get wet, they start getting bigger and bigger, and if we’re not doing something to counteract that, the sponge gets so big that it fills our head.”

He begins each class with a five- minute mindfulness meditation and teaches other techniques for building resilience and keeping calm. Gratitude is better than optimism, hope, or even compassion for boosting mental health and satisfaction, he said.

Studies have shown that people who practice gratitude generally fare better than people who don’t. They cope better with stress, take a rosier view of life—and recover faster from illness.

Journal writing is one of many ways to practice gratitude. Carol Gibney, GSS ’03, an associate director of campus ministry at Fordham, said that she and her friends have started a daily text thread, sharing “three things that we’re grateful for.”

Find Community and a Sense of Purpose

In times of crisis, “what we know is important is a sense of family and community and connection,” even if it’s attained virtually, Mamber said.

Dr. Philip A. Pizzo, FCRH ’66, a pediatric oncologist and immunologist and former dean of the Stanford School of Medicine, has called for physicians to prescribe ways for their patients to foster this sense of community and connection. In a January 2020 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, he noted that poor social relationships are tied to a greater risk of cardiovascular disease and strokes.

“Having a purpose, seeking social engagement, and fostering wellness through positive lifestyle choices (e.g., exercise, nutrition, mindfulness) are important in reducing morbidity and mortality and improving the life journey,” he wrote. “These variables are important at all stages of life and particularly for those in midlife and older.”

Volunteer

Finding ways to help  others,  like making phone calls to seniors or sewing protective masks, can provide purpose and address the sense of helplessness associated with not knowing what to do, Mamber said.

It’s also a way to cope with any sense of guilt at being spared others’ suffering, said Hilary Jacobs Hendel, GSS ’04, a psychotherapist and author of It’s Not Always Depression: Working the Change Triangle to Listen to the Body, Discover Core Emotions, and Connect to Your Authentic Self (Random House and Penguin UK, 2018).

Helping others could mean bringing food to a neighbor’s doorstep, for instance, or simply doing your part to contain the virus, she said. “Just taking care of your family and staying at home is being a good citizen,” she said.

Feel Your Emotions

Hendel emphasized the need to address and validate the emotions triggered by distressing news. It could be as simple as taking five minutes a few times a day to tune in to them. “If you start to just block the emotions, eventually it’s going to make one feel worse,” possibly leading to anxiety and depression, she said.

One tool for addressing strong emotions is the change triangle. Detailed in It’s Not Always Depression, it’s a way to identify blocked emotions, work through them, and keep them from becoming debilitating, Hendel said. Other techniques for managing anxiety include going to a quiet room, closing your eyes, and imagining a favorite place as experienced through all five senses.

Change Your State of Mind

Also helpful is keeping a list of “state changers” such as exercising, taking a bath, playing with a pet, calling a friend, watching a funny show— anything that can reliably help you feel better, Hendel said.

“The tiniest bits of relief are good enough just to take the edge off,” she said. “If the nervous system is firing away ‘danger, danger, danger,’ releasing adrenaline into the system, we don’t have conscious control over it. All we have conscious control over is how to try to calm it.”

She noted the many support groups that can be found online, as well as apps that help with meditation. Also useful are simple things like positive self-talk or mantras—“this is temporary,” “one day at a time.”

Take Time to Grieve

It’s important to balance empathy for others’ travails with self-care, she said, noting that highly sympathetic people can be “triggered all day long by the suffering.”

“Find your own balance, because it’s unique for everybody,” she said. “It’s an ongoing lifetime practice of getting to know yourself and what you need and what’s best for you.”

Be Kind to Yourself and Your Loved Ones

Jeffrey Ng, Psy.D., director of counseling and psychological services at Fordham, noted the importance of self-compassion.

“The current circumstances will likely make it more challenging for us to stay on track or get things done as effectively as we might have wanted or planned for,”  he said. “Being kinder, gentler, and more patient with ourselves when this happens will go a long way toward preserving and enhancing our mental health and well-being.”

Also, parents should be sensitive to all the events—concerts, plays, sporting events, graduations—that their children are missing because of school closures, said John Craven, Ph.D., associate professor of education in the Graduate School of Education.

“The impact of this pandemic on students emotionally may run in deep, quiet waters,” he said.

Go On a News Diet

Mamber advised moderating one’s consumption of pandemic-related news to avoid being overwhelmed. “I have to monitor that for myself, something I learned during 9/11. You feel compelled to watch the news to learn what’s going on, but find it hard to disconnect. Finding the right balance will help support your natural resilience.”

Hendel recommended scheduling news watching for the least disruptive time of day (not right before bed if it impedes your sleep). Ng recommended focusing on more factual news rather than sensational pieces that could spread misinformation.

Get Outside If You Can

Unless there’s a public advisory to the contrary, “social distancing doesn’t mean never leaving our homes, going for a walk, shopping for groceries, or interacting at all with others,” Ng said. “What it does mean, though, is that we’ll need to be doing these in a more limited, intentional, and conscientious manner.”

Gibney said one of her favorite ways to feel centered is to explore nature. “The great outdoors always speaks to me. Looking at the clouds, looking at a tree, being aware of nature’s beauty— [these]are ways that can help people find consolation,” she said.

And then, sometimes, consolation comes from displays of community. Mamber said it’s been inspiring to hear people in her Manhattan neighborhood open their windows and call out in support of health care workers every night at 7 p.m.

“It’s amazing to hear that, to know that people in that moment are apart, yet together,” she said. “Creating something beautiful, a new social ritual and structure, out of the uncertainty and fear gives us hope for the future.“

When to Seek Help

Seeking help is “a sign of strength and maturity rather than weakness,” said Jeffrey Ng, director of counseling and psychological services at Fordham. He encourages people to seek professional help for any of the following:

• persistent sadness, anxiety, anger, irritability, hopelessness, or feelings of being overwhelmed;
• sustained loss of interest in social or pleasurable activities;
• significant impairments or changes in daily functioning, such as sleep, appetite, or hygiene;
• thoughts about death, dying, or suicide; or
• impulsive, reckless, or risky behaviors, such as substance abuse or self-injury.

Mental health resources have been posted online by these and other organizations:

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: cdc.gov
• The American Psychiatry Association: psychiatry.org
• The American Psychological Association: apa.org

To make this happen, the University is undertaking an unprecedented overhaul of the way it delivers academic instruction.

Dennis Jacobs, Ph.D., Fordham’s provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, said the new model, a “flexible hybrid learning environment,” will make it possible for the University to offer an excellent education to students during an uncertain time. And just as importantly, if another outbreak of COVID-19 forces New Yorkers to once again shelter in place, it will enable Fordham to shift seamlessly away from face-to-face instruction.

“None of us can anticipate how the next year will unfold in regard to the virus, because the epidemiologists are still studying and learning about it, and so much of it depends on human behavior,” Jacobs said.

“Unlike some institutions that have tried to play the crystal ball and said, ‘We need to start early and get done early,’ or, ‘We have to start late and get done late,’ what Fordham said was, ‘We wanted to create an environment that’s versatile and resilient, to deliver a quality Jesuit education under any circumstance.’”

The new model, which Jacobs announced to the University community on May 11 and detailed in the document Fordham’s Academic Approach in 2020-2021, relies on a blend of asynchronous learning, where students pursue assignments on their own time, and synchronous learning, via either in-person classroom teaching or through video platforms such as Zoom.

Planning for Social Distancing

Jacobs, one of the primary members of a task force convened by the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (CICU), charged with quickly developing guidelines and best practices for restarting of higher education in New York, said this approach will fulfill two distinct challenges the University expects to face when it welcomes nearly 16,000 undergraduate and graduate students back for the fall semester. For starters, it will enable Fordham to follow social distancing requirements that are expected to be mandated by the State of New York.

“We can take a class of 24 students who would normally meet once a week for three hours, split them into two groups, and have one group come for the first 90 minutes, and then the second group for the next 90 minutes, knowing that each group will also engage in asynchronous material, to balance out the course,” he said.

Many specific aspects of the plan are still in the works, and all nine of Fordham’s colleges and graduate and professional schools are working to implement it in ways that make the most sense for their students.

In addition to achieving lower campus density, Jacobs said the second concern the model addresses is the possibility that not every student or instructor will be able to attend class, due to health concerns, visa issues, or family issues related to the ongoing pandemic. Students who cannot attend classes will still be able to access asynchronous content, and synchronous content such as live lectures will be made available to them through videoconferencing technology. And if an instructor is unavailable for a time, students will still have access to the content they have prepared in advance.

Building a Flexible Model

He said the framework is akin to the bones of a skeleton, and that the University’s schools and distinct academic programs such as performing arts, lab sciences, and humanities, are currently putting flesh on it. It was borne out of open discussions held within the University community in April, and incorporated many lessons learned from the shift to online learning that took place in March.

“It would be like if you are in the middle of performing a play on Broadway, and someone says, ‘Stop! Now we’re all going to go into a TV studio and finish the play.’ How you do that on TV is very different in how you shoot and act than how you would do it on stage. That’s what we were faced with this year,” he said.

“What we’re doing now is building something flexible that can be done on stage or on TV, and therefore can accommodate all the possible scenarios that anyone might dream up for the next year.”

Doing that requires the development of content for courses that can be delivered asynchronously, a new skill for many faculty members. So this summer, professors are working with teams under the supervision of Steven D’Agustino, Ph.D., Fordham’s director of online learning, and Alan Cafferkey, director of faculty technology services, to transition elements of their course into Blackboard, the University’s learning management system.

“We start with the question, ‘What is the kind of learning you’re hoping students achieve?’ and then build out the kind of experiences in either the asynchronous or synchronous portions of the course that support that,” Jacobs said, noting that faculty will continue to refine plans for curriculum throughout the summer.

Fostering Community and Collaboration

The classroom isn’t the only aspect of University life that will change in September. In addition to the work being overseen by Jacobs’ office, 13 separate working groups from around the University are working on plans for how everything from housing and dining to the library will function once health authorities deem it safe to bring students back to campus. One group, led by Jonathan Crystal, Ph.D., vice provost, associate vice president and associate chief academic officer, is working on ways to help incoming first-year students form a sense of community over the summer that will carry on into the fall when they meet in person.

Through all the planning, Jacobs has consulted with counterparts at colleges in New York City such as Columbia, New York University, Yeshiva, and CUNY, as well as other schools throughout New York state and members of the Association of Jesuit and Colleges and Universities. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, sits on the state’s New York Forward Reopening Advisory Board.

“It’s remarkable, but perhaps not surprising, how similar our situations and our challenges are,” he said, noting that many institutions’ first instincts were to try to outsmart the virus, predict what its next move would be, and then create a solution that would match it.

“What we recognized is, whatever we come up with, if we try to do that, we’re going to be wrong. The virus is going to follow a course that’s far much more complicated than any of us can understand,” he said.

Maintaining a Commitment to Cura Personalis

The clarity and stability that are built into the flexible education model are also meant to enable the University to uphold the Jesuit tenet of cura personalis, or “care for the whole person,” during challenging times.

“Today’s generation certainly connects via social media to one another. Their sense of relationship is already very much tied to using technological tools. It is not as incompatible for them to engage in relationships virtually, and I think what we’re trying to do is build out opportunities for their relationships to bud and flourish,” he said.

Professors and administrators from offices such as Counseling and Psychological Services, Disability Services, or Mission and Ministry, and Multicultural Affairs are also striving to make themselves available to students, he said.

“They’re making efforts to make contact with every student, even during these remote periods, to let them know we’re thinking about them and care deeply about them.”

Fordham will post brief updates on reopening and other University matters by end-of-business each Friday on the Fordham Coronavirus webpage.

As we all know, the 2019-2020 Academic Year was unlike any other in the University’s 179-year history. Therefore, let me begin this letter by thanking all of the members of the Fordham community for the extraordinary response you have made to the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of your hard work, devotion, and creativity, we have been able to ensure that in spite of the disruption we experienced, our students continued to receive a recognizably Fordham education marked by our commitment to cura personalis. Words could never adequately convey how deeply grateful I am to all of you. Building on your hard work, I have outlined below our framework for planning the re-opening of the University.

Timing for Restart of Fordham’s New York Campuses

The restart of Fordham University must and will conform with the Governor’s plan to restart New York. As outlined in New York Forward, the State’s ten geographical regions will reopen on a region-by-region basis as each region meets the criteria necessary to protect public health. The Governor’s office has chosen to track a set of seven health metrics, each with a well-defined numerical threshold, to determine an overall daily score for each region of the State. Only when a region achieves a passing score on each of the seven health metrics outlined in New York Forward can it proceed cautiously in a phased approach toward reopening. As of this morning, nine of the ten geographical regions have been authorized by the state to begin the first phases of reopening. The state is committed to doing all it can to help New York City, the final region, arrive at the goal of reopening.

Guided by the directives contained in New York Forward and in collaboration with our local health department and regional medical providers, Fordham will establish a tiered system of safeguards including surveillance, modified operations, safe behaviors, and contingency plans that optimize the health and well-being of Fordham students and employees, as well as our local community.

The plan to restart Fordham will adopt a phased approach, beginning from our current phase where all but essential employees work remotely, to a final phase where the institution’s standard operations can once again occur fully on campus. It is not possible at this time to predict the dates on which Fordham will be able to proceed from one phase to the next. In preparation, Fordham is currently engaged in intense planning to be ready to implement a set of measures and protocols to safely restart all three of our New York Metropolitan-Area campuses when the time is right.

Preparing Fordham for a Restart

Earlier this month, to oversee and coordinate our plans for re-opening the University in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, I established a task force, consisting of a seven-person steering committee and thirteen working groups.

The members of the steering committee, which I chair, are:

• Jeffrey Gray, Senior Vice President for Student Affairs
• Martha Hirst, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer
• Dennis Jacobs, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
• Frank Simio, Vice President for Lincoln Center
• Peter Stace, Senior Vice President for Enrollment and Strategy
• Marco Valera, Vice President for Administration

The members of the steering committee will oversee and coordinate the efforts of the thirteen working groups, each of which will be focused on a different aspect of safely restarting operations and welcoming students, faculty and staff back to campus.

The thirteen working groups are the following:

1. COVID-19 Screening and Containment
2. Facilities: Infrastructure and Sanitation
3. Human Resources Considerations
4. Dining
5. Residential Life
6. Student Experience and Experiential Learning
7. Intercollegiate Athletics
8. Learning Spaces
9. Technology-Enhanced Teaching and Learning
10. Study Abroad
11. Research Continuity
12. Coordination with External Agencies
13. External Events and Welcoming Guests

I am immensely grateful to the more than 160 faculty, administrators, and staff who have agreed to serve on these thirteen working groups.

Fordham’s planning efforts will be informed and guided by the following:

• Creating Safe and Resilient Campuses: Suggestions for Reopening and Reimagining Colleges and Universities in New York – a May 2020 report produced by The Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (CICU) in New York in collaboration with the State University of New York (SUNY) system
• Guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
• New York Forward – the governor’s plan for reopening the State of New York
• Several other reports and recommendations from professional societies

I began this letter by acknowledging the tremendous work that you have all done to sustain the University and its mission in a moment of unprecedented challenge. I close with a heart filled with gratitude for your generosity, your gritty creativity, and your deep devotion to our students. As we move forward, I assure you that our every action will be guided by three commitments: a commitment to ensure the safety and wellbeing of every member of our community; a commitment to sustain and nourish our distinctive mission-driven and mission-centric culture; and a commitment to doing all we can to prepare for a future filled with hope for Fordham.

Please be assured of my prayers for you, your families and all whom you hold dear.

Sincerely,

Joseph M. McShane, S.J. A Message on Fordham Reopening from Father McShane