ENROLLMENT
GOAL: Develop Robust Admissions Strategies for Effective Recruitment of Students of Color to Fordham.

The Office of Undergraduate Admission continues to center diversity, equity, and inclusion in all of our admission and recruitment practices. By design, we are projecting to enroll a smaller entering class this fall of between 2400-2500.  As of mid-May, we were able to increase the percentage of domestic students of color in the class from 43% to 46%.  Additionally, international students increased from 7% to 9%.

• Asian-identifying students increased to 16% of this fall’s incoming class from 14% last year.
• Black-identifying students stand at 5% for the class of 2026 versus 7% for the class of 2025.
• Hispanic/Latinx-identifying students increased to 20% of the incoming class this year compared to 18% last year.
• The percentage of students identifying as more than one race increased to 5% this year compared to 4% last year.

To assist in the recruitment of such a talented group of students, the Office of Undergraduate Admission also continued participation in the National Recognition Program Scholarship program. These full tuition scholarships included the National Hispanic Recognition Program (NHRP), the National African American Recognition Program (NAARP), and for the first time, the National Indigenous Recognition Program (NIRP). For fall 2022:

• 184 NAARP Scholarships were awarded with 38 students enrolling;
• 281 NHRP Scholarships were awarded with 62 students enrolling;
• 19 NIRP Scholarships were awarded with 5 of those students enrolling.

The Office of Undergraduate Admission also offered programming specifically for admitted students of color. Sessions involved students, faculty, and administrators from various departments including the Office of Multicultural Affairs. Three events were held virtually on the topics of Finding Your Community, Academic Life, and Student Services. More than 200 students attended these events with 52% of those students enrolling. For the first time, two in-person Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging sessions were also held at Spring Preview. These in-person events featured a panel discussion with audience participation followed by a reception. Approximately 75 students and families attended at the Lincoln Center campus, and approximately 100 did so at the Rose Hill campus.

Fordham News

• The Faces of Fordham’s Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Med/Pre-Health Program
• Fordham Students Meet with Lawmakers to Make Case for Increased Funding
• Scholars and Donors Reception: ‘Thanksgiving in April’

HIRING
GOAL: Recruit and Retain a More Diverse Faculty, Administration, and Staff.

In support of the chief diversity officer’s equity advisor initiative, Human Resources is sponsoring fellowships for employees to complete the Advanced Diversity and Inclusion Certificate Program at Cornell University’s Industrial and Labor Relations School.

Fordham News

• Convocation Celebrates Longtime Faculty and Staff

CURRICULUM
GOAL: Develop Curricular and Co-curricular Initiatives That Support the Imperative of Confronting Racism and Educating for Justice.

The Office of the Chief Diversity Officer completed a review of twenty-five Teaching Race Across the Curriculum (TRAC) Grant proposals for AY 2022 -2023, ultimately funding eighteen of them, primarily in the School of Arts & Sciences, with grants also awarded to faculty in the Gabelli School of Business, and the Graduate School of Education. Seven of the grants will fund the continuation of current TRAC Grant projects that demonstrate special potential for sustainable impact.

Arts & Sciences DEI Events

• An Uneasy Embrace: Africa, India and the Spectre of Race | March 9 | Lincoln Center
• Decolonizing Anthropology presents Queer Fractals: Making Histories of Repair in Modern Jamaica | March 9 | Lincoln Center
• “I Wonder as I Wander”: AfroFrench Visuality and Black Spatiality in Contemporary France | March 10 | Zoom
• Reckoning with Slavery: Gender, Kinship, and Capitalism in the Early Black Atlantic | March 10 | 12 p.m. | Zoom
• Why Health Professions Need Fordham Students with Health Conditions and Disabilities | March 21 | 5:30-6:30 p.m. | Zoom
• Black Studies and Jewish Studies in Conversation: Bryan Roby, Blackness in Motion: The Centrality of Black Thought for Afro-Asian Jewry in Israel | March 22 | Zoom
• Disabilities of the Color Line: Redressing Antiblackness from Slavery to the Present | March 24 | Zoom
• The Racial Projects of “Latinx”: Lessons from Centring Artivisms and The Economies of Culture | March 28 | Lincoln Center
• What Would Ignatius Tweet? Jesuit Education, Political Polarization, and Today’s Controversies | March 28 | Zoom
• Shirley Geok-lin Lim Poetry Reading and Book Launch | March 28 | Zoom
• Distinguished Lecture on Disability – Nobody’s Normal: How Culture Created the Stigma of Mental Illness | April 4| Zoom
• Sociology Anthropology Colloquium – Locating Racial Equity in Institutions’ of Higher Education Plans and Partnerships: The Case of the Illinois Equity in Attainment Initiative (ILEA) | April 6 | Zoom
• Disabilities of the Color Line: Redressing Antiblackness from Slavery to the Present | April 7 | | Zoom
• A Seminar of Digital Intimacies | April 7 | Lincoln Center
• The Study of Human Life: An Evening of Poetry and Prose with Professor and Artist Joshua Bennett | April 12 | Lincoln Center
• The MLL Vocab Diversity Initiative 2.0: “You Can’t Take My Language From Me” Roundtable | April 13 | Zoom
• Project FRESH Air Update | April 13 | Zoom
• The 3rd Annual Margaret Mead Lecture | April 21 | Zoom
• Book Talk: Talking to the Girls: Intimate and Political Essays on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire | April 22 | Zoom
• Reid Writers of Color Series Presents: Renee Gladman | April 25 | Lincoln Center
• MLL Vocab Diversity Initiative 2.0 Roundtable: Linguistic Terrorism | April 27 | Zoom
• The Decolonizing Anthropology Project presents Diaspora on Trial: Obeah in the Americas | April 27 | Lincoln Center
• MLL Vocab Diversity Initiative 2.0 – Workshop on Bilingual Activism in Public Education: Creating an Action Plan & Design a Roadmap | April 28 | Zoom
• Melting Pots of Various Sizes: Jewish and Catholic Approaches to Americanization | May 4 | Zoom

Fordham News

• How One Fordham Grad Learned to Take Up Space and Work for Systemic Change
• Black History Month Lecture: Examining Art with ‘A Black Gaze’
• Grad Student Studies Impact of Social Media Discrimination on Adolescents of Color
• Biography of Trailblazing Fordham Law Grad Eunice Hunton Carter Earns PROSE Award
• Nationally Renowned Racial Justice Lawyer Addresses Anti-Asian Hate in Law School Lecture
• Fordham’s New Annual Theology Lecture to Host Scholars Who Address Racism
• The Impact of Racism and Environment on Students’ Sleep
• Teaching Theology to Women in Prison
• ‘What It Will Save Us’: MOSAIC Panel Addresses Environmental and Climate Justice
• New Group Connects FCLC Students with University Leadership
• Celebrated Anthropologist Explains Origin of Stigma at Disability Lecture
• Finding ‘Meaning, Purpose, and Hope’: Spirituality and Disability Symposium Explores Life Under New Culture

CAMPUS LIFE
GOAL: Create a More Welcoming and Affirming Campus.

The Office of the Chief Diversity Officer hosted a virtual convening of faculty of color and allies on Wednesday, May 18, to plan gatherings and activities for the 2022-2023 academic year.

The Office of the Chief Diversity Officer continues to partner with the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment and the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council to build Fordham’s DEI data infrastructure, focusing on student access, retention and success.

Fordham News]

• A Growing Network Supports First-Generation Students at Fordham
• Seniors Celebrate at Diversity Graduations

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
GOAL: Build Lasting Partnerships With Our Neighbors
GOAL: Amplify our Voice in Educating for Justice Beyond the Campus

The Office of the Chief Diversity Officer co-sponsored the Bronx Summit 2022: All the Way Up, led by FCRH alumnus, Kevin Brooks, on Friday, May 13. The summit was held at the Andrew Freeman Home on the Grand Concourse, and was the culminating event of the borough’s Bronx Week 2022 Celebration.

Fordham News

• Fordham Teams Up with New York Giants, Local Partners to Help Families Impacted by Bronx Fire
• Errol Pierre Is Promoting Health Equity Through Mentorship, Education
• Friends from Distant Quarters: Celebrating Lunar New Year with Fordham’s Newest Alumni Group
• Fordham Launches ‘Visions of the Good’ for Bronx High School Students

ENROLLMENT
GOAL: Develop Robust Admissions Strategies for Effective Recruitment of Students of Color to Fordham.

Undergraduate Applicant Pool Updates
Building on last year’s success in enrolling the largest and most diverse class of students in Fordham’s history, the Office of Undergraduate Admission is continuing its efforts to increase the number of students from underrepresented groups in the entering class. Applications from students of color are up across all categories.

Our total applicant pool for early action, early decision, and regular decision for students who identify as Black has increased by 6% to 4,079 students. During notification for early action and early decision, offers of admission to Black students were also up 6% to 735 students. Applications for all three rounds for Hispanic-identifying students are up as well. Currently, that number stands at 8,993, an increase of 4%. Early action and early decision offers of admission for Hispanic students also increased by 7% to 1,973 students.

There has also been an increase in applications during EA, ED, and RD from students who identify as Asian. To date, these are up 11% to 6,867 students. Likewise, 1,843 Asian students have already been offered admission during early action and early decision, an increase of 19% from this time last year.

New Scholarship Opportunities
Fordham has expanded our National Recognition Scholarship eligibility. For the first time the scholarship is available for students who are National Indigenous Recognition Program designees. This program, sponsored by the College Board, is being added to our existing National African American and National Hispanic Recognition programs.  Students admitted with this scholarship receive full tuition.

Programming and Events
The Office of Undergraduate Admission is offering programming throughout the admission cycle providing content specifically for students of color, as well as first-generation, local, and HEOP students. To provide continued access, most of the events are being held virtually. A combined 412 students and guests already participated in seven of these  programs which were held in the fall. Additional programming is being planned for our admitted students this spring.

Professional Development
In October, the Enrollment Group held a DEI town hall featuring Rafael Zapata, chief diversity officer from the Office of the Chief Diversity Officer; Juan Carlos Matos, assistant vice president for student affairs for diversity and inclusion from the Office of Multicultural Affairs; and Corbin Wong, director of organizational development from the Department of Human Resources. Representatives from the offices of Academic Records, Enrollment Services, Enrollment Research, Enrollment Technology, Student Financial Services, and  Undergraduate Admission participated. Additionally, Undergraduate Admission continued its engagement in DEI-related professional development opportunities through programs such as Linked-in Learning as well as the National Association for College Admission Counseling’s Antiracist Education Institute.

Fordham News

• In New Group, First-Generation Students Connect and Find Support

HIRING
GOAL: Recruit and Retain a More Diverse Faculty, Administration, and Staff.

Mandatory Student Affairs Divisional Training Day for Staff

• December 3, 2021: Universal Design: Intersections of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion with Disability and Accessibility
• Presentation/Training from the NYC Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities as the day’s keynote session

CURRICULUM
GOAL: Develop Curricular and Co-curricular Initiatives That Support the Imperative of Confronting Racism and Educating for Justice.

On January 27, Rafael Zapata, chief diversity officer, and Anne Fernald, Ph.D., special assistant to the provost for faculty development, convened the recipients of 2021-2022 Teaching Race Across the Curriculum (TRAC) Grants for a robust discussion on progress and challenges and provided ongoing support.

OMA completed training for the LGBTQ and Ally Network of Support and the Racial Solidarity Network cohorts for the fall, with the LGBTQ network wrapping up 2021 with over 1,000 community members that have participated since that program’s creation in Spring 2010. These two signature network programs invite students, faculty, and staff to engage in an interactive 5-hour workshop which has been offered in multiple formats during the fall: two days in person – 2.5 hours each, one 5-hour day in person, and one 5-hour day virtually. Participants are also added to a Blackboard organization with a variety of resources to supplement the workshop.

The spring Racial Solidarity Network has continued to be offered in February and anyone interested in joining this semester can click here to register. Participants can select to attend on either February 15 and 22, or February 16 and 23.

Fordham News

• Students GO! to the Bronx and Beyond Under a New Learning Model
• The Liberation of Music and Religion: Q&A with Theology Professor Rufus Burnett Jr.

CAMPUS LIFE
GOAL: Create a More Welcoming and Affirming Campus.

February 1 at 6 p.m.: the Office of the Chief Diversity Officer is co-sponsoring an event featuring journalist and creator of the 1619 Project, Nikole Hannah-Jones, and hosted by Fordham Law School, titled: Speaking Truth to Power: A Conversation with Nikole Hannah-Jones. Click here to register.

February 3 at 6 p.m., the Office of the Chief Diversity Officer is co-sponsoring an event hosted by the Department of African & African American Studies, featuring Tina Campt, Ph.D., Brown University, presenting her new book A Black Gaze: Artists Changing How We See. Click here to register.

February 9 (time TBD): the Office of the Chief Diversity Officer is co-sponsoring a virtual event featuring eminent philosopher and theologian Cornel West, Ph.D., Union Theological Seminary. The event is being hosted by the FCRH student organization ASILI: The Black Student Alliance. Specific details are forthcoming.

The Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA) cultural committees hosted a series of events for both LGBTQ History Month in October and Native American and Indigenous People’s History Month in November. Some of the events included the signature LGBTQ “Flags on the Lawn” program held at both Rose Hill and Lincoln Center, and the 5th Annual Native American Festival on November 20.

In celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, OMA held Masses and receptions at Rose Hill and Lincoln Center on December 10 in collaboration with Campus Ministry, Student Involvement at Lincoln Center, the Center for Community Engaged Learning, and the Office of the Chief Diversity Officer. While connecting with Mano a Mano: Mexican Culture Without Borders, both events were able to invite a mariachi band to provide music during the Mass in addition to assistance with interactive paper flower making during tabling the days before the event. If you are interested in learning more about Our Lady of Guadalupe’s significance and history, please view this video recorded by Juan Aguirre, Director of Mano a Mano.

The OMA slate of events for Martin Luther King Week 2022 (January 18 through 24) included a screening of King in the Wilderness, interactive tabling, and a social media campaign on Instagram.

Lunar New Year Week 2022 (January 31 through February 4) will consist of interactive tabling, a “Food Crawl” in New World Mall, and a movie screening of The Joy Luck Club: Rose Hill, McGinley Commons; Lincoln Center, South Lounge: 6:30 p.m.

Black History Month 2022 events include speakers, movie and trivia nights, and “Love Your Hair Expo” series of programs which will include a virtual panel and interactive tabling with self-care giveaways highlighting Black-owned businesses: Thursday, February 24: Virtual Panel 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., and in-person tabling from 12 to 2 p.m.

Please follow OMA’s various Instagram accounts to stay up to date on upcoming events
@fordhamOMA, @blackhistoryatfordham, @fordhamAAPI

Fordham News

• Black History Month Events
• Lunar New Year Events
• Asian American Writing Group Expands to Lincoln Center
• Fordham Panelists Explore Latin American Roots and How to Define Themselves
• LGBTQ Hudson Valley Retreat to Offer Fall Foliage and Spirituality

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
GOAL: Build Lasting Partnerships With Our Neighbors
GOAL: Amplify our Voice in Educating for Justice Beyond the Campus

Fordham News

• Fordham Partners with Bronx School to Revive Playground
• Fordham Students and Professors Document History of Immigrant Families in East Harlem

Academic Affairs/Office of the Chief Diversity Officer (CDO)

With funding from the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the Office of the CDO, this academic year we enthusiastically welcome sociologist Daniela Pila, Ph.D., our inaugural Postdoctoral Fellow in Critical Race Studies, in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. Pila’s research and teaching focus on race, ethnicity, immigration, and the law, with a focus on the experiences of Filipino immigrants in the greater New York City area.

The Office of the CDO has awarded 22 mini-grants across more than 20 departments for exploring ways to integrate questions of race into their introductory and major/minor courses as part of the Teaching Race Across the Curriculum grant program, launched last spring.

In August 2021, during the annual planning retreat, the University Deans Council— which includes the deans of all of the schools, the Provost, and other academic leadership—participated in a Racial Justice Examen, connecting the work of racial justice to the goals of the division for the coming year.

This summer, Chief Diversity Officer Rafael Zapata helped create and facilitate a series of mission-based racial justice workshops for about 50 participants of Cohort 14 of the Ignatian Colleagues Program (ICP) held at Loyola University Chicago’s Retreat and Ecology Campus, focusing on the Racial Justice Examen created last year by a group of mission officers and chief diversity officers of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) network.

Building on the success of these workshops, the Office of the CDO will be piloting a series of mission-based community building/racial justice workshops adapted to Fordham students, faculty, and staff. The four workshops (roughly 2.5 hours each) are based on foundational Ignatian concepts and designed to foster action. They are titled: Building Community Toward Racial Justice, Developing Discerning Leadership in Service of Racial Justice, Discerning Leaders in Action, and Eyes to See: Committing to the Work of Racial Justice.

Office of Undergraduate Admission

In August, Fordham welcomed the most diverse class it has ever had—and also its largest ever, with more than 2,800 students. The Class of 2025 has more than 44% domestic students of color. The new Rams hailed from 45 states, 51 countries, and all five boroughs of New York City. More than 600 students in the incoming class are from New York City, including more than 160 from the Bronx—up significantly from last year. Finalized admissions numbers are as follows:

• Hispanic 18%
• Asian 14%
• Black 7%
• International 6%
• Unknown <1%
• American Indian/Alaska Native <1%
• Pacific Islander <1%
• Two + 4.5%
• White 49%

As the office continues its hiring process for a new associate director of admission for diversity initiatives, Ike Uche has recently been promoted to senior assistant director and will be working on many of our DEI-related initiatives.

Fordham School of Law

In August, Fordham Law School launched its Realizing Excellence and Access in the Law (REAL) program to expand opportunities for first-year law students from historically underrepresented backgrounds, including underrepresented racial, ethnic, geographic, socioeconomic, LGBTQ, and first-generation college student backgrounds.

REAL will orient students to the study of law and help new first-year law students feel prepared, confident, and welcome in the Fordham Law community. It provides a pre-orientation program consisting of classes that introduce students to the foundation of law and focus on the basics of legal reasoning and analysis and fundamental legal concepts.

There is a wellness component to the program, which includes peak performance sessions to manage the personal aspects of navigating law school. Participants will also learn useful information from peer mentors during the program.

“The practice of law and our law school community benefit when students from all backgrounds are provided a real opportunity to succeed,” said Kamille Dean, Esq., director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Fordham Law. “We find that prospective lawyers thrive when they learn the skills they need from individuals with shared experience, and that’s what drives our new program.”

Student Affairs

New Student Orientation hosted a number of enhanced, annual programs for incoming students, including multicultural receptions for students and families, a reception and mixer for LGBTQ students, a presentation and video from the Office of Multicultural Affairs, DEI speaker Mohammed Soriano-Bilal from Stanford University, and DEI-focused small-group conversations facilitated by orientation leaders.

These conversations continued after orientation through the mandatory Civility Core Program for new students, in which students explore a number of DEI concepts and terms and receive an overview of the University’s bias policy and how to report a bias incident. Survey results indicated that 84% of students agreed, or agreed strongly, that the presentation was interactive and engaging.

The Office of Multicultural Affairs hosted its first OMA Block Party at the Rose Hill campus with various cultural clubs and committees advised by the office, followed by BIPOC student mixers at both Rose Hill and Lincoln Center.

The Office of Residential Life has continued to see progress in increasing the diversity of the resident assistants (RAs) and resident first-year mentors (RFMs). The percentages below represent the racial and ethnic breakdown by campus (identity categories differ by campus) for 2021-2022:

• Lincoln Center total number of RAs and RFMs: 42
  • Asian 26%, Black 14%, Hispanic/Latinx 10%, White 29%, Mixed Race 21%, Total BIPOC 71%
• Rose Hill total number of RAs: 95
  • Asian 12%, Black, Afro-Caribbean, or African American 21%, Hispanic/Latin/Latinx 19%, White 48%, Total BIPOC 52%

Office of Alumni Relations

Alumni Relations held its MOSAIC (Multicultural Organization Supporting Alumni Initiatives and Community) fall networking event on September 30 at the Princeton Club in New York City. MOSAIC  supports the inclusion and engagement of diverse Fordham community members in the life of the University—it is the premier annual event for alumni of color.

Recent Fordham DEI News

Fordham CSTEP: A Home for First-Generation College Students

STEPping into Biology with Hip-Hop

Fordham Welcomes First Diversity Fund Aid Recipients

Fordham Welcomes Most Diverse, Largest Class in History

Fordham STEP Receives ‘2021 Inspiring Programs in STEM’ Award

Dean of Students Jenifer Campbell on Holistic Care for All Students on Campus

School of Social Service Receives $1.9 Million to Support Graduate Students of Color and Help Underserved Youth

Board of Trustees

Fordham’s Diversity Fund has received $329,000 in gifts to date.

University Leadership

In addition to attracting accomplished and talented leaders, the University is committed to ensuring that the senior leadership of the University is diverse and representative of the city we serve. This year Fordham brought on board several experienced and gifted senior leaders: Tyler Stovall, Ph.D., as dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; José Luis Alvarado, Ph.D., as dean of the Graduate School of Education; Anand Padmanabhan as vice president for Information Technology and CIO; Jenifer Campbell as dean of Students at Lincoln Center (a promotion from director of Residential Life at that campus); and Tracyann Williams, Ph.D., as the assistant dean for Student Success at Fordham College at Lincoln Center.

Office of the Chief Diversity Officer

Teaching Race Across the Curriculum

The Office of the Chief Diversity Officer (OCDO) launched its inaugural Teaching Race Across the Curriculum (TRAC) Grant Program, designed to aid academic departments in their efforts to thoughtfully and intentionally integrate questions of race into their curricula, both in core offerings and within a major or minor, and support excellence in the teaching of topics related to race in the curriculum.

The OCDO also added new resources to its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) pages:

• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Fordham
• Anti-Asian Racial Violence Resources
• Teaching Race Across the Curriculum (TRAC) Grant Funding

Academic Affairs

On May 6 and 7, the Department of English held a Teaching Racial Justice Symposium, bringing together English teachers and writing tutors who are committed to supporting the department’s Teaching Racial Justice Initiative, setting goals for the upcoming academic year, and learning from some of the leading scholars of antiracist pedagogy. The two half-day events, Visioning an Antiracist Writing Program and Visioning an Antiracist Writing Center, featured the panels “Directions in Antiracist Writing Pedagogy & Program Design” and “Directions in Antiracist Writing Center Work.” The symposium was one of the signature initiatives from this year’s Teaching Race Across the Curriculum (TRAC) grant program.

The Graduate School of Education (GSE), with the OCDO, co-sponsored “We’re Speaking: Giving Voice to Empirical Research on Anti-Racism and Social Justice,” a conference
highlighting the research of GSE students, on April 21. Nearly 100 students, faculty and staff attended.

Arts and Sciences

The Conference of Arts and Sciences Deans (CASD) offered capacity-building workshops on “Antiracism as Everyday Practice” to department chairs, program directors, and associate chairs, in partnership with the education and training organization ArtEquity this spring.

Fordham School of Law News

• PRIDE: Fordham Law OUTLaws Are a Catalyst for Inclusion
• Juneteenth Event Explores Race and History Through a Family Lens
• The Fordham Law Community Reflects on Pride’s Past, Present, and Future

Undergraduate Enrollment

The Office of Undergraduate Admission has been committed to the goals of increasing diversity, equity and inclusion in our efforts to recruit, admit and yield the Class of 2025. As of June 30, more than 43% of the class identify as domestic students of color and an additional 7% are international. The largest percentage increases were among Black and multiracial students. In order of percentage increases they are:

• Increased representation in the incoming class of students who identify as Black by 181% to 216 students.
• Increased representation in the incoming class of students who have more than one racial or ethnic identity by 84% to 136.
• Increased representation in the incoming class of students who identify as Hispanic/Latinx by 62% to 551 students.
• Increased representation in the incoming class of students who identify as Asian by 31% to 432.

The Class of 2025 represents a 39% increase in students from New York City, and a 79% increase of students from The Bronx over last year’s incoming class. Overall, we believe the test-optional policy played a major part in enrolling the largest, most diverse, and most accomplished entering class in the University’s history, as did our close collaboration with the DEI Council.

Our efforts included a number of initiatives at every stage of the admission process including most notably:

• Developed and implemented 7 new programs for students of color throughout the college application cycle including: 2 sessions for applicants in the fall (introduction to Fordham, its community and the application process) as well as sessions for admitted students this spring (3 on academics and 2 on Student Life). Ninety-five students enrolled who attended these programs.
• Granted eligibility to National African American Recognition Program (NAARP) Scholars as candidates for our National Recognition Program Scholarship, in addition to our existing consideration of National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholars. This year we have awarded the scholarship to 129 NAARP Scholars and 256 NHRP Scholars.” We enrolled 15 NAARP scholars with full-tuition awards. 1 additional NAARP student enrolled as a Dean’s scholar and 1 student is joining the class as a Cunniffe Presidential Scholar.  We have also enrolled 40 NHRP students with full-tuition awards.
• Executed outreach to students of color with a welcome email from Dr. Anthony Carter, member of Fordham’s Board of Trustees.

Student Affairs

Divisional Staff Training: Student Affairs requires all full-time and part-time staff to participate in a Divisional Training Day each semester. The topics for the training days vary, but are focused on issues related to our students and how staff in the Division of Student Affairs can best serve students. Diversity and inclusion have been the main topics for numerous mandatory Divisional Training Days with significant focus during the 2020–2021 academic year on anti-racism, including the spring 2021 Jesuit Mission and Commitment to Anti-Racism training.

Diversity Graduation Celebrations: In collaboration with the President’s Office, the Office of the Chief Diversity Officer, and Senior Week committees at Rose Hill and Lincoln Center, the Office of Multicultural Affairs formalized four identity-based graduation celebrations for Asian, Black, Latinx, and LGBTQ seniors. Spring 2021 marked the first year these programs were offered to the undergraduate student population in this way. While there had been some similar events for Black and LGBTQ students during spring 2019, this iteration involved student committees for each graduation celebration.

Human Resources Management (HR)

HR prepared an Affirmative Action Plan (AAP) for Women and Minorities, which sets up flexible goals to mitigate underutilization of these populations to reflect the gender, race, and ethnic profile of the labor pools from which Fordham recruits and selects.

HR revised its New Hire Orientation Seminar, which now includes a video greeting from Father McShane; a video greeting from Rafael Zapata, Fordham’s chief diversity officer; and a video greeting from Kareem Peat, Fordham’s Title IX coordinator, as well as information on the University’s DEI initiatives.

HR instituted Monthly Diversity and Inclusion E-News, which covered: