Traina delivered her talk, “This Year’s Model: Updating Dulles,” after being installed as the second Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J., Chair in Catholic Theology. The chair was established in 2009 in honor of Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J., who was the Laurence J. McGinley Professor of Religion and Society at Fordham from 1988 until his death in 2008. The first holder of the chair, Terrence Tilley, Ph.D., professor emeritus of theology, was also present.

Traina began by noting that Cardinal Dulles’ groundbreaking book, Models of the Church, (Penguin Random House, 1973) was a perfect example of his “creative approach to ecclesiology,” because its use of models instead of strict definitions offered a path forward.

“His vocation was to help ordinary Christians understand and be inspired by the church so that we could embody it. Divided over gender and sexuality, abortion, racism, war, economics, and even sacraments, we need his wisdom now more than ever,” she said.

Dulles’ book described the church in terms of different models: an institution, a mystical communion, a sacrament, a herald, a servant, and a community of disciples. It was published right after the conclusion of Vatican Council II, which, Traina said, “let a thousand ecclesiological flowers bloom,” and encouraged Catholics to think about different ways of communing with God.

To the many ideas put forth about the church during Vatican II, she said, “Dulles replied that we should run toward multiplicity, not away from it. Because the church is a mystery—a graced reality beyond our full experience or knowledge in this life—only by embracing many simultaneously true visions of the church could we even begin to capture the church’s full reality,” she said.

The Woman by the Well

Traina said that during his life, Dulles knew that his own ideas—groundbreaking as they were at the time—would need to evolve. Building on his work, she suggested that an image of a Samaritan woman meeting Jesus in the Gospel of John, when seen through the lens of queer and feminist theology, inspires a vision of inclusiveness that the church aspires to but fails to live up to.

In the story, the woman was Jewish, as Jesus was, but as a resident of Samaria, she would have been eyed with suspicion by residents of Jerusalem. In the story, Jesus stops in the town and encounters the woman who, by virtue of being alone at noon, must be someone of “ill-repute.” 

He offers her “living water,” in exchange for a drink from the well, but it is not until he tells her that he knows about her five husbands and her lover that she recognizes him as a prophet. Traina noted that womanist scripture scholar Wil Gafney has said that this is where “Jesus shows up in the place where private lives become public fodder…. where those who have been stigmatized and isolated because of who they loved and how they loved, thirst.” 

“Jesus welcomes all whose loves the world shames,” Traina said.

What’s also relevant is that for a time, Samarians had worshiped the gods of five foreign tribes, even though, as the woman explains to Jesus, they firmly expected the Messiah. His knowledge of her “five husbands” is what lets him pass her test, proving he is the messiah.

“The question is not whether the Samaritan woman is worthy of Jesus, but whether he is worthy of her,” Traina said.  

In addition to showing that a person who is “only a lay person” can be theologically sophisticated, Traina also noted that the woman points out that Samaritans worship on a mountain, and not in Jerusalem, as the Orthodox Jews do.

“Jesus could have responded by saying, ‘That’s OK, we’re inclusive, from now on you can worship with us in Jerusalem; we welcome you to join us there.’” she said.

“Instead, he says, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. … the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.’”

John’s message, she said, is that Jesus preserves diversity:  Samaria does not have to follow the style of Jerusalem to be faithful, but neither does Jerusalem have to follow the style of Samaria. The same goes for Christians of all varieties today.

She noted that the time is right to reexamine Dulles’ models, because in recent years, American Catholics have given into a temptation that Dulles himself emphatically condemned, “sliding from acknowledging the church’s institutional dimension to equating church with “institution”—at the expense of its other essential characters.”

This has led to clericalism, which places all power in the hands of clergy; juridicism, which leads to excessive policing of who is “in” and therefore eligible for the benefit of the sacraments; and triumphalism, which Dulles wrote “dramatizes the Church as an army set in array against Satan and the powers of evil,” Traina said. 

Catholics can look to the example of the woman at the well as they wrestle with the ways that race and sexuality get in the way of true inclusivity, she said.

“With respect to God, the distinction between Jerusalem and the mountain, between Israel and Samaria, has dissolved, for the Samaritans but also for the Jews in Jerusalem.  There is no inside, no outside. Rather, there is just “spirit and truth.”

“In this new role, Vanessa will be a critical partner in implementing the shared vision and mission of Fordham University in London, which includes offering distinctive academic programs, developing strategic institutional partnerships, and establishing the London campus as a vibrant and visible hub for Fordham’s multifaceted activities in the region,” Provost Dennis Jacobs, Ph.D., said in a statement.

A Londoner and a Ram 

Beever is a Londoner living in the city’s Twickenham district. She served for nine years as the deputy head at the business school of another Catholic institution, St. Mary’s University. She last served at London South Bank University, which is comparable in size to Fordham; she had been director of education and student experience there since 2018. In addition to her experience in higher education, she holds significant legal experience in New York and London, where she worked for the firm Shearman & Sterling. She earned an LL.B in law from the University of Bristol and graduated magna cum laude from Fordham’s LL.M. program in International Business and Trade Law.

“I relish the opportunity to reestablish connections with Fordham and to make a significant contribution to its ongoing success and development,” said Beever.

Of her time as a student at Fordham she said, “The professors were very keen for us to share our experiences from our own countries—different legal traditions and approaches.”

She said that experience underpinned her work in corporate finance at Sherman & Sterling, where she worked as a transactional lawyer across a variety of cultures and jurisdictions. She’s confident that cross-cultural experience will serve her well in her new role.

“I was an English woman practicing U.S. and New York law, working with European clients and U.S. investment bankers. This project management expertise will help me as I am working across many functions at Fordham,” she said. “So, for example, I might have worked with a European company where the client had no familiarity with the Securities and Exchange Commission requirements in the U.S. Now, similarly, I’m sure I have colleagues in New York who won’t have any idea of the U.K.’s Quality Assurance Agency [for Higher Education]requirements, but I’m very confident I can guide them through.”

Indeed, one of the first items on Beever’s desk will be to usher potential master’s degree programs through that governing body, colloquially known as the QAA.  But, she said, her primary concern will rest with the undergraduate students already there, and the 300 or so undergraduates arriving this spring.

Fordham has offered programs in London for over 15 years. In 2018, the University moved its London offerings to a new campus in the Clerkenwell area. Fordham London’s programs are split between the Gabelli School of Business and the liberal arts, with liberal arts courses are open to all undergraduates from Fordham College at Rose Hill, Fordham College at Lincoln Center, the Gabelli School, and the School of Professional and Continuing Studies. Students take 15 credits a semester.

Changes at an Inflection Point

Among the many changes well underway at the campus is Beever’s very role itself, which replaces the British-inflected position of “head” with that of senior director, reflecting an emphasis on the many administrative realities of operating an overseas campus for a large New York-based institution like Fordham, said Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs Ellen Fahey-Smith, Ed.D.

Fahey-Smith chaired the executive search committee tasked with finding a leader who could work well with academic deans in New York and liaise with governing bodies like the QAA—while also ensuring that students, faculty, and staff adhere to U.K. health protocols in an ever-shifting post-pandemic landscape.

Other changes include physical renovations to the building. The pandemic opened up the opportunity to reconfigure former theatrical spaces into more classroom space while the building sat empty. The renovations, as well as robust online programming, were overseen in part by Mark Simmons, who was operating as the interim head after Richard P. Salmi, S.J., stepped down in June 2020.

Fahey-Smith said the provost’s office will also continue to work with the International and Study Abroad Programs Office to find ways to continue some of the innovative online opportunities that were created as a result of the pandemic.

“What we learned from the pandemic is that it’s not necessarily business as usual any longer, and that holds true for Fordham London,” she said. “Whether it’s through lectures or the Gabelli London speaker series, which was really a phenomenal success, the online programs really brought the two cities so much closer together.”

Fahey-Smith clarified that any continuation of online programming would require bringing a variety of stakeholders to the table in today’s new normal. She said that was a strength of Beever’s which impressed the Fordham London Advisory Board.

Andrea Mennillo, who chairs that board, said its members are excited to welcome Beever to the Fordham family.

“We are confident that Vanessa will bring talent and experience to support Fordham’s advancement internationally,” Mennillo said. 

Diversity of Thought

Greg Minson, FCRH ’98, the global COO of real estate at Goldman Sachs in London and vice-chair of the Fordham London Advisory Board, said that it’s a big plus to see a woman take the helm. Many on the board cited Beever’s background, both inside and outside of academia, as an important asset that will help move Fordham London forward.

“Vanessa hasn’t been in academia her entire career, and anytime there is significant change, like there is now, diversity of thought is hugely powerful,” Minson said. “She has a very fresh perspective and can react to a changing environment.”

Minson is an Irish Catholic from the New York tri-state area who graduated from Fordham when it was still more of a regional school filled with students from similar backgrounds. His first day on the job in downtown Manhattan was something of a culture shock, as he joined a large, diverse, international firm, and it took him time to adjust to the different cultures. He added that he hopes that students attending Fordham London won’t be coddled by a home-away-from-home environment. Rather, he’d like to see them challenged with international perspectives that prepare them for a diverse and global workforce.

An International Hub in an International City

Minson’s perspective gels with Beever’s view of her hometown.

“London is so well connected to Europe as well as to the rest of the world. It’s ideally located geographically, but also academically and intellectually to many different cultures,” she said. “It is also an extraordinarily diverse city,” she said. “I will be encouraging students to explore and go to different neighborhoods and eat the food, shop the shops, and to hang out and see what’s going on.”

She added that there will also be opportunities for Fordham to collaborate with other London-based institutions that will help enrich the students’ experience.

“Fordham was an absolutely transformative experience for me,” she said. “It had really good programming that allowed me to get a fantastic job in New York and make my career. I’m hoping that I can contribute to the success of students who come here.”

“It seems like 14 years since we last gathered to celebrate, in person, your amazingness,” Maura Mast, Ph.D., dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill, told students and faculty mentors in Keating Hall’s first floor auditorium on May 5. “I’m so grateful and happy that we’re here today.”

In his congratulatory remarks to students and faculty, Dennis Jacobs, Ph.D., provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, recalled when he was an undergraduate who landed his first research opportunity through a faculty mentor. 

“I really fell in love with the process of discovery and research because someone gave me a chance,” said Jacobs, who has a research background in chemistry and physics. “You’ll look at the world differently because of the experiences you have engaged through research.” 

This year, more than 200 students shared their projects through in-person presentations in Keating Hall classrooms, live Zoom sessions from their homes, and pre-recorded videos available online. Their research spanned many fields, including health sciences and technology, healing and well-being, COVID-19, and anti-racism and social justice. 

Asian Music and Jazz

The symposium kicked off with a live concert performed by Miguel Sutedjo, FCRH ’23, an Indonesian American jazz pianist, and two classmates in Butler Commons. Sutedjo’s project explored how Asian and Asian American musicians blend jazz with Asian sounds to create a unique style of music. 

“I wanted to investigate the music of other great Asian American and Asian jazz musicians in order to understand my positioning within this art form,” Sutedjo said, addressing more than 30 students and faculty members seated in chairs spaced six feet apart.

Transitioning to Adulthood in A Pandemic

In a Keating classroom, several students presented research on community and environmental health. Valeria Venturini, a senior at Fordham College at Rose Hill who studies anthropology and psychology, analyzed factors that shape the decisions of young American adults who are considering moving out of their childhood homes, especially during the pandemic. She interviewed six Fordham students and found that financial concerns in today’s economy were stronger factors in delaying a move than the pandemic. The young adults were motivated to move out because of independence and the ability to make their own decisions without parental consent, but some students, especially second-generation American males, felt pressured by their families to stay at home or close to home. 

“Not a lot of research is being done about this in the United States,” Venturini said. “The intersection of cultural values, economic status, and mental health in this population of emerging adults should be looked at further.” 

Learning How Rice Adapts

Colleen Cochran, a senior at Fordham College at Rose Hill who studies economics, environmental studies, and sustainable business, examined the genes of rice—one of the most important crops worldwide—to better understand how the plants might respond to the increasing threat of climate change. Cochran and her co-authors hypothesized that more diverse genes make rice more resilient to environmental change. After analyzing existing data on 230 types of rice that were subjected to drought, they found that the plant’s ability to adapt to different environments was not strong. 

“Rice probably feeds more people in the world than any other crop, so understanding how it [responds to climate change]… is extremely important in global food security,” said Cochran, who served as a 2019 Fordham-New York University research intern and a Udall scholar. 

Cochran was honored by the Fordham College Alumni Association for her dedication to undergraduate research, along with two faculty mentors: Edward Dubrovsky, a biological sciences professor, and Mark Naison, professor of history and African and African American studies. 

Pride: Not Always a Deadly Sin

At the end of the symposium, Rachel Annunziato, Ph.D., associate dean for strategic initiatives, played a video montage with photos of this year’s more than 60 faculty mentors and the ’90s classic “Simply the Best” by Tina Turner playing in the background, while students in Keating Hall’s first floor auditorium cheered and applauded. Finally, Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, lauded the mentors and mentees for their tenacity during a difficult year. 

“I know that pride is one of the deadly sins, but in the case of Fordham pride, it’s actually a virtue. And on this day, you have every reason to be very proud,” Father McShane said, addressing his audience live from Zoom. “My heart is filled with gratitude to you for your courage, your desire for knowledge, and all that you have done this year.”  

The grants—totaling $600,000— have been awarded by the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation. They will fund University efforts to provide mental health services to young people, help women asylum seekers, and teach English language learners.

Fordham Provost Dennis Jacobs, Ph.D., said he’s grateful to the foundation for supporting the University’s work in the community.

“Fordham is deeply committed to applying its academic and programming expertise in partnership with organizations in the surrounding neighborhood to help address the most pressing needs within the Bronx community,” said Jacobs. “Through the generous support of the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, Fordham is particularly focused on how it can assist those who have been most devastated by the interconnected crises of 2020.”

The Mother Cabrini Health Foundation provides grants to improve the health and well-being of vulnerable New Yorkers, aiming to eliminate barriers to care. The foundation’s values reflect Fordham’s mission and those of the organization’s namesake, Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, who was known during her lifetime as a staunch advocate for immigrants, children, and the poor. The foundation originated from the 2018 sale of Fidelis Care, a nonprofit health insurer run by the bishops of the Catholic dioceses of New York.

Virtual Mental Health Services

The first grant of $300,000 will support a virtual mental health program to be run by the Graduate School of Education called Clinical Mental Health Services in the Bronx Community. It will use telemental health services to reach at-risk students between the ages of 8 and 16. The program responds to the pandemic-related suspension of existing programs that Fordham delivered at schools and community organizations before the crisis began. Four cohorts of 25 students in need of help—whether from stress related to gun violence, racism, the pandemic, or other factors—will be assessed and receive therapy. The program will offer two 45-minute intensive sessions per week for the students. Anita Vazquez Batisti, Ph.D., associate dean for educational partnerships at GSE, helped facilitate the grant and GSE psychology professor Eric Chen, Ph.D., will direct the program.

Helping Women Asylum Seekers

A second grant of $150,000 will be used to help women asylum seekers in New York City gain access to much-needed mental health care. According to a 2020 report from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, more than 79 million people are displaced worldwide, more than half are under the age of 18, and more than 50% are women. In 2019, there were 46,000 asylum seekers in New York City alone, said Associate Professor Marciana Popescu, Ph.D., of Graduate School of Social Services (GSS). Popescu has extensively researched the problem and will be directing the program with GSS Professor Dana Alonzo, Ph.D., a specialist in mental health treatment. With increasingly restrictive policies pushing asylum seekers to go underground, few attempt to access mental health care services, said Popescu. The pandemic has only made the situation worse—for asylum seekers in general, and for women in particular. The project aims to identify the challenges of these women and connect them to services that are within their rights.

English as a Second Language

An additional $150,000 will go toward expanding the Institute of American Language and Culture’s Community English as a Second Language Program (CESL). That grant follows a $116,000 grant awarded by the foundation in 2019. The program provides free ESL instruction primarily to adults in the Bronx in partnership with churches and other community organizations. The CESL program began in 2018 with financial support from the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development, which has annually renewed funding, scoring the program’s attendance, educational gains, and program management as “above standard.” The Cabrini grant will help the initiative continue to grow. CESL serves more than 300 students and hopes to serve at least 500 a year by 2023.  Institute director James Stabler-Havener will continue to direct the program with Jesús Aceves-Loza, who serves as the institute’s advisor for Latin America.  In spite of the pandemic this year, students continued learning and instructors continued to teach virtually via apps and cell phones. In the coming year, the group plans to build on existing partnerships with community organizations and the city to offer citizenship courses as well. The growing initiative will also provide internship opportunities to underrepresented students at the University.

In March 2019, Leviashvili was still reaching out to lawyers for advice, and connected with a lawyer who specializes in cryptocurrencies like BitCoin.

“He said, ‘you know, I’m a sole practitioner, I can definitely use some legal work. I could use legal assistance from a law student. I don’t have the overhead to be able to bring you on full time, but would you be willing to do project-based work for me?’” she said.

A Business Idea Blossoms

And with that, GigLaw was born.

Leviashvili went on to recruit nine more clients like that lawyer, and she was able to use the revenue to completely pay off the tuition of her final year of law school. She’s now ready to scale up to include others, having won the Fordham Foundry’s fourth annual pitch challenge. The competition, which culminated with a live Zoom meeting on April 4 in which finalists made their cases to judges, featured 115 participants from 38 teams from around the University.

Because contestants were unable to make their pitches in person, the first round of the competition were held asynchronously, with teams submitting three-minute-long videos that judges could weigh in on at their convenience.

In the end, the teams that came out on top were Leviashvili’s Gig Law, SwapUP, from Gabelli School of Business MBA students Jaz Foster and Liz Stack, BeautiMaps Technologies LLC from Gabelli School of Business MBA student Brandon Adamson, and Shadow Me, from Fordham College at Lincoln Center freshman Alex DeVito.

While SwapUp describes itself as a “circular fashion company” that allows consumers to swap special occasion clothing based on a credit system, BeautiMaps is a global freelancing platform tailored to the wellness and make-up industry. Shadow Me is job shadowing platform that connects students with career professionals to help them find their true calling through on the job experiences.

The social impact award was given to North Node, a platform for connecting volunteers to nonprofit institutions run by Gabelli School EMBA students Hallie Anderson, Emily Penzo, and Doug Wallner.

The winners were announced at the end of the final round of the competition on April 4, and invited to a May 1 meeting with Fordham Provost Dennis Jacobs, Ph.D., and Donna Rapaccioli, Ph.D., dean of the Gabelli School of Business.

Harnessing the Entrepreneurial Spirit

Al Bartosic, GABELLI ’84, the Foundry’s executive director, said the Foundry briefly considered canceling the pitch contest because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ultimately, he said, he realized that entrepreneurial spirit is exactly what is needed now.

“In this environment, everyone’s an entrepreneur, right? Because no matter what you’re doing, you’re improvising on the fly, you’re pivoting to figure out what works and what doesn’t, and you’re trying to see what’s effective,” he said.

“Whether you’re trying to reopen a university or start up a business, all of these things really come to the fore right now.”

Although the Foundry had no experience with holding a large event via Zoom, Bartosic said he was very proud of how it ultimately pulled it off. Among the tools they employed to keep it interesting was an interactive tool that gave audience members an invisible pot of $25,000 to invest in whoever they were most interested in.

He also found a silver lining in the new format: access to representatives from private industry that might not have been able to make it if the competition was held in person.

“We had two judges in California, we had a judge in the first round who was in Hawaii. We got the benefit of their expertise and insight, and these were people we’d asked before if they could come and be a judge, and they said their schedule wouldn’t allow for it,” he said.

Equally exciting, he said, was the breadth of talent that the contest drew from the University. He credited the Office of the Provost for spreading the word via several emailed solicitations earlier in the year. The pitch challenge drew teams from Fordham Law School, the undergraduate and graduate divisions of the Gabelli School of Business, and in a first, the Graduate School of Social Service. Leviashvili is the first Law School student to win the contest.

“It really changed the scope of the playing field,” he said.

Very few of the entries required major retooling in light of the pandemic, which also gives him hope, he said

“All four of the businesses that were in the finals were really all about using technology that makes problem-solving more efficient. I think that’s kind of a foreshadowing of what’s happening now, post-COVID-19, which is figuring out how to use new virtual realities to get some of these needs met,” he said.

A Boost of Confidence

Leviashvili said she knew that the success she’s already had with GIGLaw factored in her win. success. But it would have been worth going through the process even if she hadn’t won. She plans to used her $9,500 prize money to fund the design and launch of an online platform in the fall that will connect students with firms interested in 13 areas such as intellectual property law, start-up law, trusts and wills, bankruptcy, energy law, entertainment law, and technology law.

“There’s no resource for law students who don’t take the traditional route to figure out and get experience, and on the other side of it, there’s no resource for small firms and practitioners to get high-quality talent to do project-based work for them,” she said.

She said praise from judges from places like Adobe and venture capital funds was the “nail in the coffin” for a more “traditional route” she might have once been considering, like corporate law. “It gave me this boost of confidence that I absolutely wouldn’t have had before.”