A former vice president for inclusive excellence at the College of New Jersey, Felton’s expertise in the field stretches back two decades. He noted that Fordham’s elevation of the role to a cabinet-level position demonstrates a serious investment in a culture of belonging. 

“I was drawn to Fordham thanks to a combination of the people and, given this particular time in history, the University’s commitment to DEI rooted in Jesuit principles,” he said.

“It’s also an unparalleled opportunity to work and learn in the heart of New York City, which for me, is the greatest city in the world.”

What do you see as your role at Fordham?

I bring a holistic approach to looking at people, policies, and practices, particularly the underlying cultural dynamics within the organization. I want to know, what are the historical barriers that have prevented members of particular communities or groups from fully engaging in university life? You have to approach that by looking at an institution’s cultural practices and participating to some extent in the assessment and creation of policies. I’ll be examining these issues closely.

What does success in the field of diversity and inclusion look like to you?

I believe in the old adage that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Engaging people is essential if you want them to feel comfortable and trust you with this work. I also believe that making judgments based on data works effectively.

This year, Fordham’s incoming class is the most diverse in the University’s history. How does that diversity benefit the entire community? 

The diversity of the incoming class enriches the entire community by fostering a vibrant exchange of perspectives, ideas, and experiences that enhance learning and personal growth for everyone. This diversity promotes a more inclusive and culturally aware environment, preparing students to thrive in a global society while strengthening Fordham’s commitment to equity and social justice.

The Supreme Court ruled last year that race-conscious admission programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina were unlawful. How has that ruling affected the job of senior diversity officer?

The Supreme Court’s ruling on race-conscious admissions has significantly impacted the role of diversity officers, requiring them to find new, legally compliant ways to promote diversity on campus. It’s great that Fordham has a diverse incoming class despite that ruling. But the ruling will challenge CDOs and senior leadership to be more nimble, creative, and flexible in terms of a holistic approach to the recruitment process. This will require diversity officers to ramp up their focus on creating race-neutral strategies, such as outreach, mentorship, and socioeconomic considerations, while still advancing institutional diversity goals and ensuring inclusive environments.

How do you hope to utilize the Ph.D. in global leadership that you’re currently working toward?

I believe that I have been able to utilize the program to strengthen my ability to create inclusive, forward-thinking strategies that address complex challenges in diversity, equity, and inclusion. Much like Jesuit values, global leadership emphasizes the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion by fostering collaboration, ethical decision-making, and a commitment to social justice across different cultural contexts. This will allow me to better serve diverse communities and advance equity initiatives within higher education.

An additional 8% are international students. This is the third-largest class ever admitted to Fordham, with more than 2,500 students enrolled as of Monday, Aug. 26.

“With the Class of 2028, Fordham did as it always has done: admitted a group of students whose academic drive and diversity of experience make for an enriching learning environment—one in which all students feel a sense of belonging and support,” said Patricia Peek, Ph.D., associate vice president and dean of undergraduate admission at Fordham.

“It’s wonderful to be able to welcome these students we’ve worked with for such a long time through the admissions process,” she said. “We’re excited to bring them into the Fordham community and to see what they’ll contribute and achieve here.”

A Tradition of Serving First-Generation Students

First-generation students are 27% of the entering class (up from 24% last year), the most in Fordham’s history—a number that resonates with Fordham’s legacy of welcoming students who were first in their families to attend college.

“I’m proud to see that Fordham continues to carry on the legacy of its founder, Archbishop John Hughes, who wanted nothing more than to provide opportunity to struggling Irish immigrants who were unwelcome in the 19th-century school system in New York City, helping them gain a foothold in America,” said Tania Tetlow, president of Fordham University.

Last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision banning affirmative action has created uncertainty in university admissions across the nation, noted John W. Buckley, Fordham’s vice president for undergraduate enrollment.

“This ruling has been unsettling for higher education generally, but Fordham has always pursued strategies that foster diversity at the University,” he said. “A key part of our strategy is recruiting from a wide range of high schools, public and private, to ensure that every entering class comprises the widest possible variety of exceptional students.”

Black and Hispanic students account for nearly 7% and 26% of the incoming class, respectively, he said. The number of students from each group has increased substantially compared with last year’s entering class. The number of Black students is 26% higher, and the number of Hispanic students is 28% higher.

A Diverse Class of Exceptional Students

Other figures attest to the class’s academic strength and diversity:

The class has an average SAT/ACT score of 1404. The average high school GPA was 3.64 on a 4.0 scale.

Students came from 55 countries, 46 states, the District of Columbia, and three U.S. territories. Beyond the tristate area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, the three states that sent the most students were California, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.

Nearly 600 students represent New York City’s five boroughs, including a 32% year-over-year increase in students from the Bronx and an 11% increase in students from Manhattan, boroughs where Fordham’s Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses are located.

Fordham’s international student population also continues to grow year over year. The increase of students coming from Canada and India is notable, Peek said—each country sent twice as many students to Fordham compared to last year.

“We’re thrilled to welcome the Class of 2028!” Buckley said. “We look forward to seeing the impact you make here at Fordham and out in the world.”

High school students and their families seeking to learn more about Fordham are encouraged to connect with the University’s Office of Undergraduate Admission. The University offers numerous opportunities to visit campus or attend virtual information sessions to experience Fordham firsthand.

Note: Data are current as of Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. The final entering class is typically set by late September.

Photos by Argenis Apolinario

Graduating seniors celebrated their heritage and culture at four diversity graduation ceremonies held from April 30 to May 6.

“I am so proud of what each and every one of you has achieved,” Tania Tetlow, president of Fordham, said in a video message to students. 

“Take a moment to give yourself a hug and to revel in everything that you’ve achieved because it is an extraordinary thing, these years of hard work and determination and talent, and glorious love of learning.”

In total, more than 300 students were recognized at the Asian, Pacific Islander, Desi American (APIDA); Black; Latine; and Lavender (LGBTQ+) graduation celebrations. 

Held at both the Lincoln Center and Rose Hill campuses, the celebrations were sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Office of the Chief Diversity Officer, Office of the President, and the 2024 Senior Week committees. 

Remember, on the evening of May 18, New York’s Empire State Building will be illuminated in Fordham maroon for our graduates.

Below are the award winners for each graduation.

Lavender Graduation

George Takei Arts & Media Award – LC Recipient: Maura Johnston

George Takei Arts & Media Award – RH Recipient: Julia Patterson

Marsha P. Johnson & Sylvia Rivera LGBTQ+ Activism Award – RH Recipient: Dorothy Bogen

Marsha P. Johnson & Sylvia Rivera LGBTQ+ Activism Award – LC Recipient: Kenneth Tang

Audre Lorde LGBTQ+ Research Award – RH Recipients: Fareea Khan and Tarchithaa Chandra Sekharan

Fr. Bryan N. Massingale Faculty/Staff LGBTQ+ Award – LC Recipient: Joe Corcoran

Fr. Bryan N. Massingale Faculty/Staff LGBTQ+ Award – RH Recipient: Juan Carlos Matos

Award of Excellence for Outstanding Contributions to the Office of Multicultural Affairs: Dorothy Bogen

Latine Graduation

Sonrisa Award – LC Recipient: Katelyn Figueroa

Sonrisa Award – RH Recipient: Alan Ventura

Estrella Award – LC Recipient: Ernesto Perez

Estrella Award – RH Recipient: Caitlin Asper

Pa’Lante Award – LC Recipient: Andy Cuzco

Pa’Lante Award – RH Recipient: Hector Cruz

Black Graduation

Black Leadership Award – RH Recipients: Tamia Chaney, Chelsea Usiomwanta, Alan Ventura

Black Leadership Award – LC Recipients: Katelyn Figueroa, Rebecca Richmond, Mary Bookman

Black Leadership Award in Athletics – RH Recipient: Skylar Harris

Black Leadership Award in the Fine Arts – LC Recipient: Kierstin Oliver

Black Leadership Award in the Fine Arts – RH Recipient: Zhane Coleman

Black Excellence in STEM Award – RH Recipients: Kennedy Jeter and Kiara Pile

Black Excellence in Business Award – RH Recipient: Janel Codjoe

APIDA (Asian, Pacific Islander, Desi American) Graduation

Lotus Leadership Award – RH Recipients: Tarchithaa Chandra Sekharan and Elena Roden

Lotus Leadership Award – LC Recipient: Kenneth Tang

Most Likely to Sell Out a Lincoln Center Concert: Marie Isabelle Antendido

Most Likely to be on the Cover of Vogue, GQ, Elle, and/or Harper’s Bazaar: Meilin Renee Morefield

Most Likely to Start a Successful Youtube Channel: Julie Kae Trohan

Most Likely to Become Tik Tok Famous: Genesis Yi

Most Likely to Survive the Last of Us: Stacey Dana Zaragoza Cajita

Most Likely to Win Physical: 100: Alexander Joel Lang Hom

Most Likely to be the CEO/Director of their own Company: Yoshimi Pualani Eder

Award of Excellence for Outstanding Contributions to the Office of Multicultural Affairs: Kenneth Tang

*This is a working list. It will be updated as new events are planned.

Love Your Skin: A Tabling Event

Thursday, Feb. 15, 1 p.m.; Lowenstein Plaza, Lincoln Center Campus 

Sponsored by the Black Student Alliance at Lincoln Center and the Office of Multicultural Affairs

WFUV Presents: Music of the Civil Rights and Black Consciousness Movements

The names of many Black artists and cultural icons are woven throughout the decades of the Civil Rights and Black Consciousness Movements, including Nina Simone, Max Roach, Gil Scott-Heron, Archie Shepp, James Brown, John Coltrane, Sly Stone, Curtis Mayfield and more, with the inclusion of Civil Rights allies like Bob Dylan. “Music of the Civil Rights and Black Consciousness Movements” examines the critical social revolution taking place in America and the popular music that accompanied it, 

Thursday, Feb. 15., 10 p.m. to midnight; Listen at 90.7 FM, streaming online

Casa Noir

Join the Caribbean and African Student Association for a night of elegance and illusion celebrating Black History Month. 

Friday, Feb. 16, 7 – 9 p.m.; McShane Great Hall, Rose Hill Campus 

Ilyasah Shabazz: Empowering Voices—A Legacy of Inclusion Within the Youth

Shabazz is the daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz and the author of the memoir Growing Up X (One World, 2003)

Tuesday, Feb. 20, 5:30 p.m.; Fordham Prep Theater, Rose Hill Campus 

Sponsored by ASILI, the Black Student Alliance at Rose Hill; the Office of Multicultural Affairs; and the Office of the Chief Diversity Officer 

WFUV Presents Ashford & Simpson: The Real Thing

Nicholas Ashford and Valerie Simpson look back on their long career as influential songwriters, producers, and performers. WFUV’s Jeff Foxx hosts with stories behind songs like “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “I’m Every Woman,” “Solid,” and more classics this songwriting duo wrote for themselves and artists like Diana Ross, Ray Charles, Chaka Khan, and Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell.

Tuesday, Feb. 20, 9 – 10 p.m. and Thursday, Feb. 22, 10 – 11 p.m.; Listen at 90.7FM, streaming online

Karaoke Night

Thursday, Feb. 22, 5:30 p.m.; Rose Hill Commons, Rose Hill Campus 

Sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs

Black History Month Art Showcase

Thursday, Feb. 22; Lowenstein, 12th floor, Lincoln Center Campus 

Sponsored by the Black Student Alliance at Lincoln Center and Fashion For Philanthropy. Undergraduates only

The Melanin Expo 

Thursday, Feb. 22, 12 – 3 p.m.; Lowenstein Plaza, Lincoln Center Campus 

Sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs 

The Third Annual Eunice Carter Lecture presents A Moderated Conversation with Michelle Alexander “Beyond The New Jim Crow”

Michelle Alexander has played a pivotal role in breaking the silence about racial injustice in the American criminal legal system. Her bestselling book, The New Jim Crow, helped to spark a wave of discussion, debate and activism nationwide. The book explores the political, legal and social dynamics that have led to the morphing and rebirth of systems of racial and social control in the United States, most recently mass incarceration. Alexander points to the wars on crime and drugs, as well as a legal regime that facilitates discriminatory enforcement of our nation’s criminal laws, as central to the maintenance of racial inequality in this country. She persuasively argues, “We have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.” In the years since the publication of The New Jim Crow, Alexander has published opinion pieces on a wide range of topics related to race and social justice, including mass deportation, reproductive rights, restorative justice, climate change, police violence and more. In this moderated Q&A, the acclaimed civil rights lawyer and scholar explores the myths surrounding our criminal injustice system from a racial and human rights standpoint, and reflects on the racial and social justice crises of our time.

Thursday, Feb. 22; 5:30 – 7:15 p.m.; Costantino Room, Second Floor, Fordham Law School  

Museum Outing

Saturday, Feb. 24; Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts

Sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs, more details TBD

Love Your Hair Expo 

Saturday, Feb. 24; McShane Center, Rose Hill Campus 

Sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs, CurlTalk, the Caribbean and African Student Association and ASILI—the Black Student Alliance at Rose Hill

WFUV Presents: Up Front Soul—Women’s History Month

The strong, inspiring voices of Black women, both musicians and activists, uplift this special and include Nona Hendryx, Aretha Franklin, Mavis Staples, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Fannie Lou Hamer, Diana Ross, Leontyne Price, and many other iconic figures.

Monday, Feb. 26, 1– 3 p.m., and Thursday, Feb. 29, 1 – 3 p.m.; Listen at 90.7FM, streaming online

Black History Month Reception

A collaborative environment amongst students, alumni, and faculty in which they can mix, mingle, network, and celebrate Black excellence. The reception will include a featured alumni panel with a student moderator and a buffet-style dinner.

Monday, Feb. 26, 6 – 9 p.m.; Lowenstein, 12th Floor Lounge, Lincoln Center Campus 

Sponsored by the Black Student Alliance, the Caribbean Students Club, the Career Center, the Department of African and African American Studies, and the Office of Multicultural Affairs

Black Women’s Her-Story Week Tabling and Fundraiser

Wednesday, Feb. 28, 12:30 p.m.; Lowenstein Plaza, Lincoln Center Campus 

Sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs

Women of Color in STEM Panel

The Black History Month Women of Color in STEM Panel is dedicated to exploring the journeys, triumphs, and unique challenges faced by women of color in STEM fields. The panel discussion will feature experts who have personal experience navigating obstacles and achieving their goals, which will provide attendees with a comprehensive understanding of the issues that women of color encounter in both academic and industrial environments. 

Wednesday, Feb. 28, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.; McShane Center Room 311, Rose Hill Campus

Sponsored by the Career Center 

“It became very clear to me, very quickly, that women were not being very well treated,” she told PBS in 2013, adding that “what started as a career really was going to be a mission.”

“I think we can be the generation that solves breast cancer, and that’s what drives me,” she said.

It drove her to co-author Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book, initially published in 1990 and often called the bible for women with breast cancer, and to lead the National Breast Cancer Coalition and the Dr. Susan Love Foundation for Breast Cancer Research. Next month, the seventh edition of her book will be published.

The publication comes about four months after the game-changing surgeon, who was also an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, died of recurrent leukemia on July 2 in Los Angeles. She was 75 years old.

A Unique Perspective

Born in Long Branch, New Jersey, in 1948, Love attended college in Maryland for two years and considered becoming a nun. She entered the convent of the School Sisters of Notre Dame in New York City but left after a few months and enrolled at Thomas More College, Fordham’s undergraduate school for women from 1964 to 1974. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Fordham in 1970 and went on to earn an M.D. from the State University of New York Downstate Medical School.

Love completed her surgical residency at the former Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, but her early career was affected by blatant sexism. “I finished, and I was chief resident, and then nobody offered me a job,” she told UCLA in 2018. “Usually, when you’re a chief resident at one of the Harvard hospitals, you get heavily recruited. Nobody wanted a woman.”

Whether they wanted her or not, she was there to stay. In 1980, she became the first woman general surgeon on staff at Beth Israel, and though she initially resisted becoming a breast surgeon, she determined that she could “make a much bigger difference” by helping women with breast issues than she would by specializing in any other area, she said. She believed that “there’s always something unique that … you can bring to the table.”

It was at Beth Israel Hospital that she met a fellow surgeon, Dr. Helen Cooksey, who would become her lifelong partner. They married in San Francisco in 2004 and, in all, were together for more than 40 years.

Not only did she co-found the Boston-based Faulkner Breast Center in the late ‘80s, but she also joined what is now the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and helped establish the Revlon/UCLA Breast Center.

After retiring as a surgeon in 1996, she earned an M.B.A. from UCLA. She joined the Santa Barbara Breast Cancer Institute, later renamed the Dr. Susan Love Foundation for Breast Cancer Research, and helped launch the Love Research Army, which recruits volunteers to participate in clinical trials and cancer research.

Paving the Way for LGBTQ+ Families

In addition to tirelessly advocating for breast cancer care and research, Love’s personal journey to motherhood made her a pioneer in the fight for LGBTQ+ couples to create biological families. With the help of a sperm donation from Cooksey’s cousin, the couple conceived a daughter, whom Love carried. They eventually helped to legalize same-sex families when they successfully sued the state of Massachusetts in 1993 to be permitted to list the names of both the birth and non-birthing mother on a child’s birth certificate.

“They use the term disruptor now for pretty much everybody,” said Christopher Clinton Conway, CEO of the Dr. Susan Love Foundation for Breast Cancer Research. “But Susan was the original disruptor.”

She is survived by her wife, daughter, two sisters, and a brother.

“I was very nervous when I was coming here—halfway through the flight, I was like, ‘Oh, my God, I’m really going,’” said Bhosale, an international student from India who is now a sophomore in the Gabelli School of Business.

But since he’s arrived on campus, Bhosale has found his community; he’s been thriving as a student leader and business student.

A Global Entrepreneur

Studying at Fordham has allowed Bhosale to combine two interests—entrepreneurship as part of his business administration major and global business as a minor.

Bhosale is a student at the Rose Hill campus, but he’s excited to take classes for his minor at Lincoln Center, where the Gabelli School focuses on global business.

“We always have that comforting place other than home, so Rose Hill will be my home,” he said. “But I have a lot of friends at Lincoln Center … and [it’s] a prime location,” he said, noting that the Manhattan campus inspires the creative side of him.

Bhosale said that it was the curriculum that drew him to the Gabelli School, particularly its Ground Floor course for first-year students. The course gives students a background in the major areas of business before asking them to propose a brand-new business idea that meets a current need.

Acting as a consultant, he made a presentation on a company and helped develop an idea for a startup with classmates. “It kind of gave me first-hand experience as to what my future would look like,” he said, and it made him sure he wanted to pursue entrepreneurship.

Community Leader on Campus

Outside of the classroom, Bhosale serves as a leader with the Hindu Students Council, the cultural board of Campus Activities Board, and the International Students’ Association. He’s also a Ramfluencer, making videos and content for Fordham’s social media channels. A favorite is one he made on the Ram Van.

“I cannot stop bragging about it to my friends—I literally go by a shuttle to Manhattan,” he said with a laugh. “So I’ve always loved the Ram Van, and I also made a video on that because I wanted to cover all the points that I did not get to know while I was at home in India.”

He also did a video on Global Transition, a preorientation program specifically for international students.

“I believe that it made me feel at home because when I came here, I was very scattered—I didn’t know what to do,” he said. “But Global Transition, they took us out on an excursion. I went to The Edge. I was in awe when I went to the observatory, and I saw the whole of New York. I was like, ‘Okay, I’m living my dream.’”

Bhosale said that he also made some of his first friends in the program because they all were dealing with similar challenges of being far from home.

Recognized for Success

His efforts to enhance campus community, culture, and academic excellence were recognized last year when he received the DEI Innovative Leadership Award from the Gabelli School of Business.

He said that made him even more excited for his next few years; he plans to get involved at the Fordham Foundry, study abroad with Fordham London, and intern in the city.

“Today we celebrate the glorious variety of religious traditions in this world and the variety within each of those traditions—Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and Christianity, which only begin to scratch the surface of the faith traditions across the globe,” said Tania Tetlow, president of Fordham, at the ceremony. “And we pay attention both to the ways that they celebrate such diversity … where they overlap, and the insights that humanity has gotten from the sacred about who we are supposed to be to each other.” 

The event featured prayers, readings, student performances, and reflections from members of the University community, similar to last year’s inaugural ceremony hosted by Campus Ministry. 

In her remarks, President Tetlow asked the audience “to remember that our lives have a purpose, that the gifts God has blessed each of us with are not for us, but to make the world a better place.” In addition, she urged all those in attendance to hold onto a key takeaway from the religions of the world. 

“The lessons that I hope that you most take from all of our religious traditions, from faith itself, is this: that you are utterly and totally loved by God, just as you are, without ever having to earn it,” she said. “And that from that strength, you will take the courage to be able to love each other well—and most of all, to find the strength to love yourself.” 

“We would like to bring students into the Islamic world and introduce them to important aspects of faith and philosophy, history, politics, all of it,” said Kathryn Kueny, Ph.D., professor of theology and director of Fordham’s Middle East studies and religious studies programs, who helped launch the minor.

Sarah Eltantawi, Ph.D., associate professor of modern Islam in the Department of Theology, said that one of the main goals of the interdisciplinary minor is to get students to understand all parts of Islam.

“Islam is not just a religion, it’s a civilizational complex. So when you learn Islam, you’re learning a whole different approach to the world and a whole different history, a whole different way of experiencing things,” she said.

Eltantawi said that she believed the minor would help students learn how to “look at things from different paradigms,” which is a translatable skill.

Minor Requirements

The minor, which started this fall, will require students to take six courses. They must take at least one on Islamic sacred texts and foundations; one on Islamic theology, history, or philosophy; and one on Islamic arts, culture, and politics. Students can choose their remaining three courses from any of these areas or take an Arabic language class as an elective.

Courses offered include Classic Islamic Texts; Islamic Art; Medicine and Healing in Islam; Women, Gender, and Islam; and Islam, Art, and Resistance.

“So we tried to provide opportunities for students to experience Islam from cultural or political, linguistic, theological, philosophical perspectives, so they would get kind of a taste of all those different areas,” Kueny said.

Eltantawi said that there were a lot of existing courses at Fordham that fit these areas.

“I felt like a lot of our work was a matter of just seeing what already exists at Fordham, what classes already are being taught, already in the bulletin. And we have many faculty, many of whom were very hungry to do this, so it was a matter of us really organizing them,” she said.

Both Eltantawi and Kueny emphasized the student support for this program.

“It was student-driven, so students have approached us both saying, ‘We’re taking all of these classes in Islamic studies, but there’s no way to earn a degree or formalize it in any way,’” Eltantawi said.

About 5% of Fordham undergraduate students said they were Muslim. Eltantawi said that she had both Catholic and Muslim students approach her and ask her to “take action and create more of a formalized Islamic studies at Fordham.”

The Minor as a First Step

Eltantawi called the minor a “first big step” toward giving students the opportunity to engage with Islamic Studies, both locally and globally.

“There’s a pretty thriving Islamic Studies scene in New York. We’re just getting started, there’s really a lot we can do,” she said.

Kueny noted that some of the classes eligible for the Islamic studies minor are community engaged learning courses that allow students to work with and learn from partner organizations, and she hopes more like this can be added. She also noted that one of the goals is to help students get a global understanding of Islam.

“Muslims live all over the world—in China, in South America, in Mexico everywhere—so [we hope]to bring that kind of global approach to Islamic studies as well, that it’s not just something that’s located in the Middle East but all over the world,” she said.

Eltantawi said that there will be welcome events for the minor in both the fall and spring semester to give students more information.

“I didn’t expect to become a Global Transition Assistant and see so many other students come in and enjoy their first day for the very first time, like I did,” said Lamba. “I’m emotional, but also happy to have come this far.” 

Adjusting to American Education  

Lamba arrived at Fordham as a shy teenager from India. She attended a Catholic high school, Holy Child Auxilium School in New Delhi, even though she is Hindu. (In her home country, attending a Catholic school is considered prestigious, she said.) 

Last fall, Lamba joined the Fordham community. She wasn’t familiar with the American style of education—a liberal system where she could freely explore and incorporate her own thoughts and ideas, she said. 

But in time, things fell into place. Lamba found a major that felt right—economics—and was elected vice president of the newly founded economics club at Lincoln Center. Lamba, an aspiring entrepreneur, said she hopes to host discussions about global economic events and invite well-known economists to campus as guest speakers. 

Holding Onto Her Heritage Abroad

Lamba also learned how to celebrate her heritage abroad while embracing new cultures. She was elected event planner and board member of Desi Chai, a student club that celebrates South Asian culture with events like the Bollywood Ball, where students dress up as Bollywood characters. (Lamba cosplayed as Kareena Kapoor Khan from the movie “Jab We Met,” wearing a traditional kurta and jeans.) She also helped to plan a mock wedding or “shaadi” at the Rose Hill campus, in collaboration with Fordham University South Asian Entity and the Rose Hill Bengali Student Association. The wedding featured a bride and groom voted on by the students (who are not dating in real life), as well as traditional rituals and performances.

“India is known for its big fat Indian weddings,” Lamba explained. “It’s a fun way to celebrate the culture—and it’s not just India. Bangladesh, Sri Lanka—all the South Asian countries celebrate weddings with a lot of [fanfare].”

Over time, Lamba became closer with other international students on campus, including those from Azerbaijan, Morocco, and Norway. She was also touched by the kindness of the entire campus community, from the faculty, to the security guards, to the public safety officers. By the end of her first semester, she wasn’t as homesick as she thought she would be. 

Lamba largely credits Global Transition with making Fordham feel like her second home. Through tours, presentations, and community-building events, she figured out practical things, like where to buy a SIM card and how to open an American bank account, and more complex things—finding friendship in a new and unfamiliar place. 

“You’re an 18-year-old coming into a new country where you don’t know anything. Global Transition and the people were so nice—and focused on you,” she said. 

Now Lamba is a mentor to six incoming students from Kazakhstan, Philippines, Switzerland, Vietnam, and her native India. She said she hopes that they maintain a positive and open mind. 

“I was a very introverted person. Not very, but closed off, and I was trying to be someone I was not,” said Lamba. “Fordham helped me to be more direct—to be more of me, rather than someone else.” 

The new international students come from dozens of countries around the world, including China, India, Italy, and Vietnam, and represent 8% of the incoming class.* They are studying a variety of disciplines, including business administration, finance, and psychology.

“I cannot wait to learn about new cultures and perspectives from Fordham’s diverse student body,” said Lucas Lopez, a first-year student from Uruguay who plans on studying computer science. “I want to be part of the University traditions such as the tree-lighting ceremony during Christmas, attend a University basketball or football match, explore the city, and most importantly, I’m excited to meet people from all over the world.”

*Numbers as of 8/28/2023

“I wanted … to have young readers see a multiethnic character in a lead role,” he said. “I also wanted to spark the thought that families with diverse backgrounds are normal. At times in my childhood, I thought I had to ‘pick a side,’ [but]  I really want young kids to be able to embrace their heritage and be proud of their background.”

Yam was inspired to write his debut book after a trip to a major chain bookstore during Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. He found a skimpy few dozen children’s books featuring Asian male lead characters, an example, he felt, of the underrepresentation that persists in other media. 

In the picture book, it’s little Mikey Yam’s fourth birthday, and the menu for his party is causing a bit of a dilemma: Should he serve Chinese or Italian food? He decides he wants to honor both cultures and enlists his grandmothers to help him come up with a new fusion dish: fried rice with marinara sauce. It ends up being the talk of the town and uniting everyone.

This idea of honoring diversity yet coming together is one that Yam has shared before, in a number of op-eds on everything from immigration and racism to charting a path for future Asian American broadcasters.  

Since graduating from Fordham with a degree in communications, Yam, a former SportsCenter anchor on ESPN, has also been an active supporter of students at WFUV, leading workshops, listening to their demo tapes, and helping to connect them with internship and job opportunities.

A few years ago, as a guest on WFUV Sports’ “Off the Air” podcast, Yam told listeners that before he got to Fordham, his plan was to become a pediatrician. Chemistry turned out not to be his “specialty,” though, so he decided to switch gears. He thought back to his first year, when one of his friends got the opportunity to go cover a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden—thanks to his WFUV press credentials. So, Yam walked over to the station and met with Bob Ahrens, then executive producer and sports director at WFUV.

“I joined the radio station. … I’d argue it’s the best training ground in the country if you want to be a sportscaster,” he said. “And there’s some great programs nationally, but my heart’s always in the Bronx.”