“When the pandemic first broke, we were able to pivot, keep the kids tuned in, and give them a sense of community and belonging,” said Michael A. Molina, director of Fordham’s STEP program. “I think that was extremely important and part of why we received this award.” 

STEP is a state-funded program that helps minority and economically disadvantaged junior high and high school students prepare for professions in areas where they are underrepresented, especially STEM. Fordham spearheads two STEP programs—one at Rose Hill, the other at Lincoln Center—that collectively serve more than 500 students every year. 

In typical years, STEP students receive academic counseling, internships, scholarships, and research opportunities both on and off campus. In addition to regular programming after school and during the summer, they have conducted research with professors at the Rose Hill campus and presented their findings alongside Fordham students at research symposiums. During the pandemic, they continued to learn and stay connected through reimagined ways of learning. In a virtual winter panel, successful Fordham alumni offered advice to STEP students. Last summer, a Fordham professor helped STEP students make connections between the civil rights movement and the Black Lives Matter movement; a University psychologist also offered guidance on how to understand racial trauma and identify strategies for self-care. 

This fall, more STEP graduates than ever will be entering Fordham as first-year college students, said Molina. 

“This is the largest contingent we’ve had since 1986, when we first started the program at Rose Hill,” said Molina, adding that the usual cohort is about five students, but this year, the number is 18. “And this is not an accident—this is something we’ve been working on for a long time. For the past five to 10 years, our team and the admissions office have been emphasizing to the STEP kids to consider coming to Fordham and joining CSTEP so we can continue to support them.” 

CSTEP is similar to STEP, but the C stands for “collegiate.” The state program prepares undergraduate scholars from underrepresented groups for careers in STEM, health, and licensed fields. Fordham’s program is one of the largest in the state. This fall, Fordham CSTEP will resume in-person programming because students on campus are required to be vaccinated. But the STEP program, which serves local junior and high school students, will stay virtual until vaccinations are available and mandated for all children, said Molina.  

“We’re going to continue doing what we’ve been doing: create a program that’s as interactive as possible with less lecturing and more of a hands-on approach with projects and faculty,” Molina said. “I’m optimistic. We have a lot of partners, great staff, and teachers who are creative.”

In a few weeks, Molina and his team will welcome to campus not only first-year students, but CSTEP sophomores who never stepped foot on campus during the pandemic when they were first-year students themselves. The CSTEP students, who served as virtual mentors to STEP students during the pandemic, will continue in that role, said Molina. 

“One of the biggest things we’ll be focused on is building community with the kids. In-person relationship-building, the academic and non-academic relationships that students build with each other and us—all of that, we’re going to need to rebuild with the kids,” Molina said, referring both to STEP and CSTEP students. “We’re looking forward to having them back.”

That was the 2017 theme for the Fifth Annual Diversity Leadership in A Global Society Conference, which was held on March 8 in the McGinley Center at the Rose Hill campus.

Presented by the Offices of Career Services and Multicultural Affairs, the conference aimed to help participants recognize themselves as allies in creating a welcoming, safe and inclusive environment for individuals of different races, ethnicities, religions, genders, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, and political belief systems.

“If you look around the room, this is the future, not only at Fordham but also the future of our country,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, who delivered the welcome remarks.

“For every event of this nature, let’s fill the room, spread the word, and build a strong and supportive effort in which everyone is respected, revered, and loved.”

The conference hosted several workshops about the skillset, tools, experiences, and attitudes that are key to building a diverse and inclusive workforce. Presenters included:

— health professionals from Bronx Lebanon Hospital explaining how residents, social workers, and program development professionals are trained to provide medical services to the Bronx’s culturally diverse community;

— experts from EY, Deloitte, KPMG, and PwC describing best practices for promoting diversity and inclusion, as well as how their companies respectively develop and advance diverse talent; and

— Lauren Click, director of community and public programs at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, sharing how the internationally recognized cultural institution promotes cross-cultural dialogues and diversity through its art exhibitions and programs.

Juan Carlos Matos, assistant dean and director of the office of multicultural affairs, who helped to organize the conference, held an informational session about one of Fordham’s newest alumni groups, Rainbow Rams. Through educational, professional, social, and service events and initiatives, the LGBTQ+ alumni chapter seeks to build meaningful connections between LGBTQ+ alumni, current students, and the University as a whole.

Matos said life after college can be challenging for Fordham LGBTQ+ alumni, who are trying to navigate the job search process and the workplace. In environments with little to no diversity, LGBTQ+ individuals often have to hide parts of their identities in order to feel accepted, he said.

“The optical experience of someone in the workplace impacts people, and it’s meaningful,” said Matos. “Having individuals that can then identify with other individuals with similar identities or similar lived experiences is just as valuable.”

Matos said people of all backgrounds, races, and orientations must commit to making progressive movements toward equity all across the board. They must also stand up when language, behaviors, and attitudes about different groups are problematic, he said.

“In every field, we should have people that have diversity competencies to recognize when something isn’t aligning with diversity inclusion,” he said. “All of us should have the skillset to be able to talk about diversity inclusion beyond the identity that we each have.”

The conference concluded with an alumni panel discussion featuring Ramon Cabral, FCRH ’14, deputy district director at the U.S. House of Representatives; Yesenia Santana, FCRH ’14, a former educator at Harlem HBI and current social work intern at Manhattan Hunter Science High School; Sergio Lora, FCRH ’14, ‎a construction crew leader at Habitat For Humanity West Hawaii; and Michael Soriano, FCRH ’13, a substance abuse counselor at St. Joseph’s Hospital.

Maria Aponte-Gonzalez, diversity initiatives coordinator at Fordham’s Career Services, said the goal was to give students insider perspectives on how to thrive in a multicultural world and work environment after college.

“A lot of students think the word diversity is only for a certain population, and it’s not,” she said. “ It’s about learning how to engage in the community that you want to get a job in. It’s broadening your concept about dealing with the world because you can’t always live in a little box. Eventually, you have to get out of the box.”