As Father McShane said in September, “Doubling Pell is not only the most effective way to make college affordable and accessible for students, but also the easiest and most efficient way for Congress to make higher education a reality for all students who want to attend college. It does not require new social programs and already has longstanding bipartisan support.”

• Since February 2021, Father McShane and the Office of Government Relations and Urban Affairs have engaged than two dozen Members of the United States House and Representatives and the United States Senate in advocacy related to Doubling Pell Grants, efforts which continue today.
• Fordham students and their parents were mobilized by a University campaign to participate in the national effort to Double Pell Grants by contacting their representatives in the House and Senate.
• In the last academic year 1,898 Fordham students received Pell Grants totally $10.2 Million.
• The University has encouraged all members of the campus community to engage in this national conversation with direct advocacy to members of the House and Senate.
• Fordham student Yuriy Holiyat was featured on the Community’s Double Pell “Pell Voices” page.
• Father McShane’s OpEd is featured on the Double Pell Community Website. He also joined in an OpEd which ran in the Gotham Gazette (other signatories the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities, New York Institute of Technology, St. Francis College, and The Cooper Union).

Fordham has also long participated in the American Talent Initiative, the mission of which is aligned with the goal of Double Pell.

“In short,” Father McShane said, “Doubling Pell Grants results in the greatest good for the greatest number.”

The fundraiser? An online auction, the third such event hosted by the Fordham College Alumni Association (FCAA), with a novel twist this year: celebrity alumni. Several offered virtual face time to the highest bidder, helping to propel the event far beyond its usual total.

The auction “gets bigger and better every year,” with all proceeds going toward scholarships and grants for students, said Debra Caruso Marrone, FCRH ’81, the association’s president.

It’s one of several events sponsored by the FCAA each year, complementing the broader efforts of the Fordham University Alumni Association, the Office of Alumni Relations, and other groups that serve students and the alumni community.

Founded in 1905, the FCAA is the University’s oldest alumni organization, and primarily serves Fordham College at Rose Hill students and alumni.

Contacting Celebrity Alumni

The idea of featuring celebrity alumni in December’s auction was driven in part by the pandemic, which put the kibosh on, say, auctioning off event tickets. “We really had to pivot,” said Christa Treitmeier-Meditz, FCRH ’85, who spearheaded the effort to reach out to various prominent alumni.

In the end, they were able to auction off a virtual comedy writing lesson with Saturday Night Live writer Streeter Seidell, FCRH ’05 (someone bought that for his wife, an aspiring comedy writer, Treitmeier-Meditz said). They also got help from some prominent alumni thespians: Golden Globe winner Dylan McDermott, FCLC ’83, contributed a virtual meet, and Golden Globe winner and former Oscar nominee Patricia Clarkson, FCLC ’82, contributed a virtual master class and a post-pandemic in-person engagement—dinner out and tickets to the next Broadway show she appears in.

People also contributed various items, memorabilia, or experiences, such as a master cooking class or a trip around Manhattan by yacht. “It’s everything and anything,” Treitmeier-Meditz said. “The Fordham alumni community is very generous.”

Other planned events were canceled due to the pandemic lockdown last year: a sit-down for a dozen alumni with John Brennan, FCRH ’77, former CIA director and counterterrorism adviser to President Barack Obama, and an event with sportscasters Michael Kay, FCRH ’82, and Mike Breen, FCRH ’83.

Through such events, the association has raised money for various funds, including a summer internship fund for journalism majors, recently renamed for Jim Dwyer, FCRH ’79, the New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner who died in 2020. A new scholarship fund named for Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, is for students who reach new heights of academic achievement after arriving at the University.

The association provides other important support such as funding for undergraduate research and for student travel, noted Maura Mast, Ph.D., dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill. “I’m so pleased to see how that support has grown over the past several years,” she said. “I am grateful for their commitment to the college, to our alumni, and to the larger Fordham family.”

The association’s Giving Day gift—a matching gift—was split between two scholarship funds: the FCAA Endowed Legacy Scholarship, a need-based scholarship for legacy students, and the Rev. George J. McMahon, S.J., Endowed Scholarship, awarded to students at Fordham College at Rose Hill and the Gabelli School of Business.

Serving on the board is a labor of love, Caruso Marrone said. “We’re doing something good: we’re raising funds, we’re helping students go through school,” in addition to bringing alumni together at events, she said. “The members of our board [are] of various age groups, various backgrounds, various careers, [and] we all come together and do this work and enjoy it immensely. We have just a great group of people who are dedicated to Fordham.”

In an 1841-minute period from March 1 to March 2, 2,779 donors contributed just over $1.3 million to Fordham schools, initiatives, programs, and scholarships. Participants came from 44 states, the United Kingdom, and China.

This year’s Giving Day theme was “Imagine More,” and encouraged donors to help “change the world through Fordham and support causes that matter.”

Fordham Law School, the Fordham Greatest Needs Fund, and Athletics were some of the areas receiving the greatest support.

Individuals and groups, such as the Fordham College Alumni Association, offered matches to encourage participation and make donors’ contributions go farther. The alumni association contributed $30 for every graduate who donated, regardless of the amount, up to $30,000. More than 1,000 alumni donated to help unlock this challenge.

For the first time ever, the University also hosted a Marymount Giving Day, which raised over $28,000 from 106 donors. The donations will go to the Marymount Legacy Fund to help continue the legacy of Marymount College, provide educational access to students, and continue the efforts of the women of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary.

Current Fordham students were also involved in the day through the Student Philanthropy Committee. They were encouraged to either make a gift or log volunteer hours in the community. Over the two-day period, Fordham students logged 2,165 volunteer hours, surpassing their goal of 2,021 hours. They volunteered in areas such as healthcare, homelessness, religious organizations, and more.

Valerie Rainford, FCRH ’86, is the driving force behind the new Diversity Fund, which will provide financial aid to economically disadvantaged undergraduates and those from underrepresented groups who are living on campus. 

“The difficulty of getting into college if you don’t have the ability to pay is enormous. The ability to stay in college without the proper means is even harder. And if you’ve managed to get in, there’s also the setback of working and paying off student loans,” said Rainford, a Fordham alumna and University trustee who spent 17 years paying off her student loans. “It’s disproportionately impacting Black and Latinx students, and Fordham needs to give these students a more equitable opportunity to attend. This fund was intended to do some of that.”

The goal of the new fund is to encourage a diverse student body, Rainford said. She explained that it will provide “last-dollar” financial aid, including funding for student housing, to undergraduate students at the Rose Hill or Lincoln Center campuses. Funds can also be used for University-accredited study abroad programs. 

“It’s almost like a top-off fund,” Rainford said. “There’s a student that wants to come to Fordham, we want them to come to Fordham, and we do not want them turning down a Fordham education because they don’t have that final $2,000 or $5,000.” 

Rainford, a Bronx native who overcame many hardships as a young woman, is now the founder and CEO of Elloree Talent Strategies, a consulting firm that helps senior leaders increase diversity and inclusion within their companies. She was previously a managing director at JPMorgan Chase, where she led the company’s Advancing Black Leaders strategy, and a 21-year veteran at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where she became the first Black female senior vice president. 

Two years ago, Rainford created the Valerie Irick Rainford Scholarship Fund to help students of color attend Fordham. But she said there were still many students who didn’t receive enough financial aid. Rainford said she wanted to multiply her initial effort, especially after a year marked by racial unrest. So at the end of 2020, she set the wheels in motion for the Diversity Fund. 

“There’s something to be said about diversity in the leadership positions. This is the kind of thing you can do and spark others to do when you have a seat at the table,” said Rainford, who joined the Board of Trustees in 2019. 

Several other trustees have already donated to the fund, including Thomas J. Regan, S.J., co-chair of the board’s Mission and Social Justice Committee and rector of Fordham’s Jesuit community. 

“The Jesuits at Spellman are happy to contribute to the Diversity Fund in the hope of advancing the University’s goal to make Fordham the most diverse and welcoming community it can be,” Father Regan said. 

Rainford said anyone can contribute to the fund, and she challenges more members of the Fordham community—alumni, parents, families, friends, corporate sponsors—to help her meet this new commitment. 

“The goal is to have others match what I’m trying to do: to create more opportunities for students of color to attend an elite school when they may not have the funding to,” Rainford said. “Funding should not be the thing that keeps them from going to college. This is intended to close that gap.”  

Make a gift to the Diversity Fund here. Visit the 2021 Fordham Giving Day website for more information.

The annual campaign aims to raise funds for Fordham scholarships, sports teams, academic programs, and more through donations from alumni, students, faculty, and friends of Fordham. Like last year, the campaign will last 1,841 minutes in honor of the University’s founding year of 1841 and end the next day, March 3, at 6:41 p.m. As in years past, the goal of Giving Day is to give back to the community that has positively shaped the lives of thousands of Rams around the world. 

“I get to be a part of a really incredible community that wouldn’t be possible without our donors,” said Nicole Goldin, GABELLI ’22, the Student Philanthropy Committee Giving Day chair. “Everything on campus is partially funded by donors, whether it be our clubs, sports teams, GO! trips, the libraries where we study, or the Plaza at Lincoln Center. Those are really what add to the Fordham experience and the incredible community that we have here. I just think it’s so important to make sure you give back to the community that gives so much to you.” 

Three Perspectives: Why Giving Day Matters 

Last year, donors raised nearly a million dollars on Giving Day. Among the students who benefited from the support is Kaitlin Morley, a senior at Fordham College at Rose Hill who has played on the University volleyball team since her first year. 

“Giving Day supplies us with everything, basically. It really funds our program. It helps us get an extra pair of shoes for training, our bags and kneepads—everything,” Morley said.  

Thanks to last year’s donations, her team was able to travel to Italy this past spring and play against their international peers for two weeks—a rare opportunity for student-athletes, who often have limited study abroad opportunities because of their busy practice schedules, said Morley. The day after commencement, they flew across the Atlantic Ocean and visited Venice, Milan, and Rome. It was hard to hold long conversations with their Italian-speaking opponents, but they shared meals, including pasta and salad at a vineyard, and felt “united by one sport,” said Morley. All of these experiences wouldn’t have been possible without the support of donors, she added. 

“It really means everything to us. You feel their support, and you want to play harder for not only yourself and your teammates and coaches, but for the other people invested in the program,” Morley said. 

Among the donors who made their first-ever gift to Fordham on Giving Day 2019 were Leanne and Hugh Mohler, parents to Hughie, a sophomore in the Gabelli School of Business. Over the past two years, their son has flourished, said his mother. Hughie, the first in his family to attend Fordham, is studying accounting, playing club lacrosse, and flying to London next fall for a semester-long study abroad program, she said. 

“The main reason we decided to give was that our son is having a really positive experience at Fordham. He is very happy—and because he’s very happy, we’re very happy,” said Leanne.

It’s a sentiment shared by many alumni, including Brendan O’Grady, GABELLI ’13. When he was a student at Fordham, he said he learned from professors who not only helped him with academics and professional challenges but also personal growth. Those lessons helped him better communicate and care for his colleagues at Ernst & Young, where he works as a manager in digital strategy, he said. 

These days, O’Grady is giving back to Fordham. On Giving Day 2020, he’s sponsoring the Class of 2020 Challenge. (If 50 students or parents from the class of 2020 make a gift, O’Grady will donate $2,020 to Fordham.) This will be his third time sponsoring a challenge gift for Fordham’s Giving Day. 

“For me, it’s very important to make sure that I do what I can do to contribute and hopefully help other people have that experience,” O’Grady said.  

Other day-long 2020 Giving Day challenges include:

• Big Giving Day Challenge: If 1,841 people make donations, Trustee Darlene Luccio Jordan, FCRH ’89, and Gerald R. Jordan will donate $50,000 towards scholarships and financial aid. 
• Parent Challenge: If 250 Fordham parents donate on Giving Day, Michael Emerson and Kathryn Naassan, PAR ’20, will donate $5,000.
• Student Club Challenge #1: The approved club that receives the most gifts—no matter the amount—will earn $250.
• Spirited Selfie Challenge: Share a photo of yourself donning your best maroon-and-white gear. Ramses will pick one lucky poster and give $250 toward the Fordham cause of their choice. Make sure to use #FordhamGivingDay.
• All Things Cute Challenge: Share a photo of your baby—or fur baby—in Fordham gear, including #FordhamGivingDay and the area of the University that matters most to you. One post will earn an extra $250 for their cause.
• Campus Beauty Challenge: Post your favorite picture of the Fordham campus with #FordhamGivingDay. Make sure to mention your favorite Fordham cause in the caption—one person will earn an extra $250 for their program of choice.

Make your Giving Day 2020 gift here. Visit the Fordham Giving Day website for more information.

When he was only 3 years old, a military coup forced Osman and his family to flee their native Sudan. After short stints in several Middle Eastern countries, the family joined Osman’s uncles in the United States and settled in the Bronx, where they had to start over again financially.

“We were fortunate, but we were also pretty humble while I was growing up, and it gave me a different perspective on many things,” Osman says. It also meant that being accepted to Fordham College at Rose Hill with financial aid and support from the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) was a huge relief to him and his family.

Entering college undecided about his major, he stumbled onto economics while fulfilling a core curriculum requirement.

“I was always good at math, but I wasn’t necessarily a fan of it, because I questioned the need for all the formulas. This class gave me a reason to apply those formulas and logic,” he says. “Economics included politics. It included math. It was everything I loved.”

Now an associate and global alternatives product specialist at JPMorgan Asset Management, Osman traces his professional success back to that Jesuit curriculum and to his first work-study job in Walsh Library, part of his financial aid package. “I had jobs before,” he says, “in fields like retail, education, and politics. But that was really my first office type of experience. And that eventually helped lead me to the Office of Career Services, where I really learned what I wanted to do and where I wanted to be.”

After several internships, he landed a position in a two-year rotational program at JPMorgan right after graduating in 2014.

“I owe a lot to Fordham, and that’s why I give back however I can. There’s a kid in my shoes out there, a kid from the Bronx who isn’t afforded the luxury of being able to pay for college, and that sucks,” Osman says. “We should be able to help them out.”

Osman has helped by contributing to scholarship funds at Fordham, sponsoring receptions for Fordham alumni who work at JPMorgan, and participating in events run by MOSAIC, Fordham’s multicultural alumni affinity chapter.

In 2016, he joined the advisory board of the newly formed Fordham University Alumni Association (FUAA). The thing he’s most proud of is helping launch the Alumni Career Fair with fellow members the FUAA’s networking and engagement task force. It’s an opportunity for alumni to network with each other and with the University’s employer partners.

“We were lucky to go to an institution that focuses on job placement, on interview training … and that takes a true career-oriented approach,” he says.

Osman is committed to enhancing that support by creating opportunities for Fordham alumni who have not yet found the right path, or for those ready to take the next step. The third annual Alumni Career Fair will take place at the Lincoln Center campus on March 4. More than 100 alumni of all levels of experience have already signed up for this year’s event, and more than 25 employers across industries—some of which will be sending Fordham alumni as representatives—are set to attend.

“It’s amazing to see this event materialize, to help arrange this forum for alumni relationships,” he says.

Fordham Five

What are you most passionate about?
I would say philanthropy, honestly. Just giving back in general. It’s always been a pillar of mine. Not only does it help other people who are less fortunate in whatever situation, but I think it’s a good reminder of what you’re afforded in life, to be grateful for what I have and understand that there are others without these opportunities. 

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
One of the first memories I have is from when I was 3 years old and we were leaving Sudan. It was the first time I had been on a plane. I was with my father and I said, “Oh wow, I get to go on a plane!” My dad looked at me and said, “You know, yeah. Enjoy it. Experience it. But also be grateful for it.” At the time, I was so young that it kind of went over my head. But I’ve realized that the idea has grown with me. I think my dad wanted me to enjoy the moment while also being mindful that it was a privilege to experience something like that, especially considering other folks’ less fortunate circumstances (regardless of how unfortunate our own circumstances may have seemed). Now that’s become part of my normal thinking. Aim for the best, listen and be present in it, and enjoy what you have. It’s a way to see through that bubble, that privilege bubble, that everyone has in some way.

What’s your favorite place in New York City? In the world?
Would it be cheating if I said Fordham’s Rose Hill campus is my favorite place in New York City? I don’t want to be cheesy, but honest to God, I was awed during my first visit to campus. I grew up in the Bronx, in a very urban environment, and to walk onto that campus and see this beautiful place with unbelievable landscaping and immaculate Gothic architecture … I was like, wow. And every time I’m there, I have to take photos. I love it. Especially that walk from Dealy Hall toward the library, with that view of Martyrs’ Lawn and Walsh and Duane. You couldn’t get more picture perfect. That’s the image I think of when I picture campus. And the fact that it’s in the Bronx just makes it much sweeter for me.

As for my favorite place in the world, this might be mainstream, but it’s Paris. I’ve been four times total, twice for work in the past year. I can’t speak a lick of French, but I love it. It’s a romantic city, and it’s truly beautiful. There’s so much history behind it, so many sites to see, intricate neighborhoods … it reminds me of New York because it has its own little districts that are each their unique environments, and you can find something interesting in each one.

Name a book that has had a lasting influence on you.
So, I have two, and they’re both a bit controversial.

The first is The Autobiography of Malcolm X. And the second is The Art of the Deal by Donald Trump. I know, big contrast.

What’s important about Malcolm X … I wasn’t born here, my family hasn’t been in America for hundreds of years. We’re from Africa directly. But I grew up in New York, and I still connected with many of the experiences in the book. His logic for a lot of things, obviously, was a little too extreme. But in the latter part of his life, he was much more welcoming. It taught me about perspective, and how when you’re given new insight you can vastly change your initial perspective. In the beginning of his conversion to Islam, for example, he had a much more conservative position. And then he started to travel and interact with more folks and realized that’s not all this religion is about. He evolved. He actually visited Sudan, and that was one of the reasons I decided to read his book back when I was 12. And I’ve read it every five years since then.

And then for Art of the Deal, I don’t necessarily agree with his political views, but I just think business is always impressive to me. It’s very hard to make it, to be a very successful businessperson. And when someone does it, even if they started with money, it’s impressive. I first read that when I was 14, I think. It really taught me about the passion you have to have, the kind of work ethic you have to have, the things you have to think about, or the kinds of decisions you have to make to progress. From a career or networking perspective or just from a personal development perspective, it’s important to understand how to make your argument, how to weigh your options. I’ll be frank: A lot of the book is self-promotion. But there are some key things in there, and those left a lasting impression on me.

Who is the Fordham grad or professor you admire most?
This might be another mainstream answer, but Denzel Washington. For me, the fact that this guy, a New York guy from Mount Vernon who went to Fordham, found his calling and his craft, and followed through with that and became the success he is today, and also remains a good family man, that means a lot to me. Not that I’m anywhere near the guy, but that’s a good person to look up to and aspire to be like. That’s my favorite Ram.

The all-day event aims to raise money for Fordham scholarships and financial aid through donations from alumni, students, faculty, and friends of Fordham. Unlike years past, the 2019 event features a new challenge: to garner the support of 1,841 donors in 1,841 minutes—in honor of Fordham’s founding year. All donations will support Faith & Hope | The Campaign for Financial Aid or the donor’s fund of choice. Rams have until March 5 at 6:41 p.m. EST to make a gift.

But the purpose of Giving Day extends beyond financial donations, says a Gabelli School student.

“Giving Day is more than fundraising for Fordham,” said Chirayu Shah, GABELLI ’21, the Giving Day chair of the Student Philanthropy Committee at Rose Hill. “It’s about making time to reconnect with Fordham.”

This year, Fordham will host evening Giving Day receptions on March 4 for alumni, students, faculty, friends, and future Rams at the Rose Hill, Westchester, and Lincoln Center campuses. From 12 to 1:30 p.m., the Rose Hill reception will launch a kick-off toast, courtesy of the Fordham athletics department. From 4 to 7 p.m., the Westchester reception will feature face-painting, caricatures, and a visit from Ramses. And from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., the Lincoln Center reception will provide refreshments and giveaways.

For the first time, there will also be a Giving Day challenge for Fordham’s 36 regional chapters. The regional alumni chapter that exceeds its participation goal by the highest percentage will win a free happy hour.

The Giving Day festivities also extend to social media. If you download and print out a Ramses cut-out, snap a photo of him in action, and share it on social media with #FordhamGivingDay and a Fordham tag, then $1,000 could be donated to Fordham in your honor, courtesy of Cathy O’Brien Skinner, FCRH ’89.

Other 2019 Giving Day challenges include:

• Big Giving Day Challenge: If 1,841 people donate during Giving Day, Trustee Darlene Luccio Jordan, FCRH ’89, and her husband, Gerald R. Jordan, will donate $50,000 toward scholarships and financial aid.
• Future Rams Challenge, 3–6 p.m. EST: Have a future Ram in your family? Use #FordhamGivingDay and post a photo of your child (nieces, nephews, or grandkids are fine, too!) dressed up in Fordham gear. Rob Howley, FCRH ’89, will donate $500 to Fordham in the poster’s honor.
• Cap and Gown Challenge, 9 p.m.–12 a.m. EST: Dig up your favorite Fordham graduation photos and share them using #FordhamGivingDay for a chance to have $500 donated in your honor, courtesy of Rob Howley, FCRH ’89.
• Love Is in the Air Challenge, 7–10 a.m. EST: Did you meet your significant other at Fordham? Post a photo of yourselves, using the hashtag #FordhamGivingDay. Thanks to Jessica Leto, GABELLI ’98,’06, FAC, and Michael Leto, GABELLI ’06, $500 could be donated to Fordham in your names.
• Pet Post Challenge, 10 a.m.–1 p.m. EST: Share a photo of your pet celebrating Fordham Giving Day while dressed in Fordham swag using #FordhamGivingDay. Ramses will pick one lucky photo at the end of Giving Day and $500 will be donated toward the Fordham cause of your choice, courtesy of Gerry Tenebruso, GABELLI ’13.
• Faculty and Staff Challenge, 1–4 p.m. EST: Which Fordham faculty or staff members changed your life? Give them a shout-out on social media and use #FordhamGivingDay for a chance to have $500 donated to Fordham in honor of you and your mentors, courtesy of Eileen Hornor, GSAS ’92.

Brendan O’Grady, GABELLI ’13, helped sponsor the Recent Graduate Challenge. (If 200 alumni from the classes of ’09 through ’18 make a gift, $2,000 will be donated to Fordham.) He said he owes much of his success to Fordham, particularly his mentors at the Gabelli School of Business.

“The leadership at Gabelli really took the time to get to know each and every student—what they were going to school for, what they wanted to achieve, and most importantly, pushed them not only to achieve that but to think a little bit beyond that,” said O’Grady, who is now a manager in digital strategy at Ernst & Young. “That’s something that I’m incredibly appreciative of.”

The past two Giving Days have surpassed Fordham’s original goal. Thanks to the generosity of donors, the past two fundraising events have collectively raised more than $1.4 million.

The philanthropists are also very diverse. Last year’s donors span four continents and almost every U.S. state. Two donors are members of the class of ’23; one alum is from the class of ’51. And more than 120 donors are from the classes of 2018 and 2019.

Hara Chung, GABELLI ’20, the Giving Day chair in the Student Philanthropy Committee at Lincoln Center, recalled meeting Judy Zoller, a donor at the 2018 Women’s Philanthropy Summit. Zoller and her husband had created a scholarship that paid homage to their son, a Graduate School of Education alumnus who died at age 39.

“After being able to listen to the donors and the reasons why they give, it impacted me emotionally,” Chung said. “I wanted to give back more, even though I’m [still]a student.”

“Fordham has given us all so many different opportunities, whether it’s the people we’ve met or the professors we’ve had or the internships that we’re able to have because we’re in the city. So to give back to Fordham would be to give back to the next generation.”

Make your Giving Day 2019 gift here. Visit the Fordham Giving Day website for more information.

“I knew I wanted to be in the city,” says the New Jersey native. “I grew up Baptist, so the whole Jesuit thing was new to me. But I always felt I should be a man ‘for and with others,’” he says, citing one of the central tenets of Jesuit education. “That helped me connect to it and opened my mind. Now I can view issues from a variety of perspectives.”

Glenn, who majored in communications with a concentration in film, is now using that skill in his role as a business development coordinator at a New York City law firm.

As a member of the Young Alumni Committee, he’s also helping people who graduated in the past 10 years stay connected to the University. “I’m passionate about keeping our young alumni base strong so that, when we get to Golden Ram status, we can look back on this journey and see that Fordham has remained in our lives,” he says. In his role on the group’s philanthropy subcommittee, he focuses on encouraging his fellow graduates to help the next generation of Rams by supporting scholarships and financial aid.

“Had it not been for the 9/11 Scholarship, I would not have received a Fordham education,” says Glenn, whose father, Harry, an assistant vice president at Marsh & McLennan, was killed in the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center. “So I know the importance of scholarship—whatever it looks like, in any shape or form,” he told Fordham News in 2016. “That’s why giving back is such a big thing.”

Glenn also represents his fellow recent grads as the youngest member of the Fordham University Alumni Association Advisory Board, where he volunteers with the lifelong learning task force. “Fordham alumni are always trying to learn and enrich their minds,” Glenn says, “so we want to find better ways to engage them as they do that.”

“I think it’s incumbent upon me to give back in any way I can, whether it be time, resources, or enhancing the Fordham experience in some other way,” he says.

Which is why Glenn also joined Fordham’s new multicultural alumni affinity chapter, MOSAIC. “We want to be a resource for alumni and students in any way we can,” Glenn says of the budding group. “We want to build that community.”

On June 7, Glenn attended the Block Party at Lincoln Center, which this year featured a celebration of the first 50 years of Fordham College at Lincoln Center. Glenn particularly enjoys seeing people across generations and classes at the annual event. “Of course I love my class,” he says, “but it it’s always great seeing people who were seniors when I was a freshman, to catch up with lots of people and hear about what has changed.”

Fordham Five

What are you most passionate about?
Continuing to learn, helping others learn and enhance themselves, striving for more, and never really settling—it’s that Fordham value of magis.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
That’s a tricky one. But I think it’s what Father McShane said in his speech at our graduation. He broke it down into three parts. Never forget where you came from; love them and thank them for supporting you. Never forget where you went to school; never forget the relationships you developed and all you learned. And matter; be somebody in the world who makes a difference and an impact. I’ve especially taken that last one to heart. I think that’s one of the reasons I stay connected to Fordham, because I want to matter to Fordham. I want to make an impact there and hopefully in the greater global community.

What’s your favorite place in New York City? In the world?
In the city it has to be the Central Park Reservoir. At the end of every semester at Fordham, I would take a walk to the reservoir and use it as an opportunity to reflect on the semester and all my accomplishments, and also to think about what I could improve on. It’s such an interesting place because of the contrast. It’s so quiet in the middle of Manhattan. I find that fascinating and quite calming also.

In the world, this is a little cheesy, but it would have to be Walt Disney World. My bucket list is to visit every Disney park in the world. Some of my favorite memories with my father were going to Disney World, and the last vacation we had was there. That’s also part of the reason I wanted to come to school in the city. He was from New York and obviously worked here, so that was a deeper connection to him.

Name a book that has had a lasting influence on you.
I have two. The first is a nonfiction book called Racecraft, which is by sisters Barbara and Karen Fields. It’s about racism in America, but the way they talk about it is so fascinating, and I had never really thought about it that way. Their main thesis is that most people believe that race comes first and racism follows, but they invert that and say that racism is an action that produces race. It’s a small change but it has tremendous repercussions. I share the book with anybody who will listen to me talk about it.

The second is The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything by Father James Martin. The way he takes Jesuit values and puts them in real-life situations … he has the answers. It really is the guide to almost everything. I still use a lot of the methods in the book in my day-to-day life, like decision-making, finding out what you’re passionate about.

Who is the Fordham grad or professor you admire most?
I have two again. The first is Professor Jennifer Clark, who was my adviser and teaches film. She taught the theoretical underpinnings of film in a way that was easy to understand, and she’s brilliant.

The second is Professor Tom McCourt, another communications professor. His Popular Music as Communication course opened my mind to looking at music in a scholarly way. I can’t even look at music the same way because of that class. He also advised me on a summer research project I received a grant for which compares gangster films from the 1930s to gangster rap from the 1980s. He always asked me to think a little bit harder and deeper about certain issues. And his closing lectures for his courses are so well done. If I could go to a closing lecture for any of his classes every semester, I would.

In March 2017, during the University’s yearlong 175th anniversary celebration, Fordham launched Faith & Hope | The Campaign for Financial Aid, an effort to raise $175 million to help make a Fordham education more affordable for the best and brightest students. Alumni, parents, and friends of Fordham responded by making the 2017 fiscal year the most successful single year of fundraising in the University’s history. As of April 2018, Fordham donors have contributed more than $131 million toward the $175 million goal, creating more than 130 new scholarships for students.

Here are some of the people who have benefited from and supported the campaign.

The Denzel Washington Scholars

“In a very cool, non-publicity-seeking way, Denzel Washington has been mentoring artists of color for a long time and really providing space for a lot of us to succeed,” says Eric Lawrence Taylor, a Fordham College at Lincoln Center senior and current recipient of the Denzel Washington Endowed Scholarship.

“I would not be here right now without this scholarship,” he adds, noting that by supporting Fordham Theatre students, the acclaimed actor shows that he has “not forgotten where he came from.”

Washington graduated from Fordham in 1977 and has long been a champion of Fordham students. In 2011, the Oscar and Tony award winner established a scholarship fund and an endowed chair to offer students positive influences, like the kind he received from his Fordham mentor, Robinson Stone, who once predicted that Washington’s talent would be “among the most exciting and fulfilling of our time.”

Taylor is the seventh recipient since 2012, when MaYaa Boateng became the first.

“The scholarship gave me a beautiful sense of hope and encouragement to stick to that thing which I love,” says Boateng, who recently met up with Taylor and four other past Denzel Washington Scholars on the Lincoln Center campus. They expressed deep gratitude for the generosity of someone they consider a role model, and for the mentorship they’ve received from Fordham faculty.

Boateng says Washington’s support has created a resounding buzz about Fordham Theatre among students and faculty, not to mention casting directors. “It just felt like a huge shift in this program,” she says. “And I felt a sense of electrifying energy.”

Armando Nuñez: Media Executive Pays It Forward

As a Fordham business student, Armando Nuñez, GABELLI ’82, took the D train to Rose Hill from his home in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen. Today, when he comes to town from Los Angeles, the president and CEO of CBS Studios International looks out over his old neighborhood from the company’s 30th-floor New York executive offices.

“I don’t think you can realize how fortunate you are when you’re getting a quality education. … It can take years to realize the benefits,” says Nuñez, adding that his father, a Cuban immigrant who worked in the media business, was a big proponent of Jesuit education.

“The moral compass the Jesuits instill in you, the idea of being men and women for others—that drives me to do what we do for our scholarship students,” Nuñez says. He established the Nuñez Family Scholarship Fund to help give Gabelli School of Business students the same opportunities he had, and he hopes its recipients “go out to change the world—and give back themselves.” Several students receive the scholarship each year, including eight in 2017–2018.

Nuñez, a Fordham trustee, has also boosted Fordham’s presence in California—one of Fordham’s largest feeder states—by hosting high-profile events, including a tribute to sportscaster Vin Scully, FCRH ’49, held on the set of CBS’s Entertainment Tonight. He hopes the events “show prospective students and parents how incredible Fordham is, and encourage alumni to stay connected and give back.”

Jessica Kar: A Vibrant Community with Jesuit Values

When Jessica Kar heard that Fordham had awarded her a Susan M. Wallace Memorial Endowed Scholarship, she felt that a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. “I knew I had to think about my parents and my younger sister,” she says. “I had a responsibility to make sure I didn’t become a burden of debt.”

Kar emigrated from India with her family when she was 4 years old. She’s now president of the South Asian cultural awareness group as well as vice president of the Commuting Students Association at Fordham. The senior mathematics and economics major also participates in the Fordham Mentoring Program.

“My mentor has given me recommendations and helped me decide what programs and companies in the financial industry might be better for me,” she says. “I feel like the alumni network is really strong.”

It’s this sense of community that attracted Kar to Fordham in the first place, and something she hopes to take with her. “I knew there were strong academics, but I also really liked the diversity and vibrancy of the college and the city,” she says. “Even though I’m Hindu, the Jesuit values have really shaped not only my education but the way I look at things. I make sure to integrate that into everything I do.”

Patrick Casaccio: Defining Success as Helping Others

As he nears his graduation from the Gabelli School of Business, Patrick Casaccio looks to the future with a twofold vision of success: achieving his own career goals and helping others achieve theirs.

Of all his endeavors at Fordham, he takes the most pride in mentoring Fordham students in the Social Impact 360 business plan competition. He loves to give guidance—“I think that being successful yourself is exciting, but knowing that you have that ability to lead is very important and rewarding as well,” says Casaccio, an applied accounting and finance major from Commack, N.Y.

He hopes to work in finance after graduation and build a broad skill set before founding his own company. A Fordham Fund Scholarship gave him more freedom to choose jobs in which he’ll learn and grow the most, but it also gave him the idea of giving back by eventually being a teacher. And it fuels his desire to come back to the Scholarship Donors and Recipients Reception one day—as a benefactor.

“I want to be in that position where I get to shake Fordham students’ hands 20 or 30 years down the road,” he says, “and thank them for choosing this school and continuing the Fordham legacy.”

The Toffolon Scholars: Supporting Women in Business

Cindy Vojtech makes John Toffolon proud. She was valedictorian of the Gabelli School of Business Class of 2000, earned a doctorate in economics, and serves as a principal economist at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C. And, Toffolon says, “she’s a terrific volleyball player.”

Vojtech was the first recipient of the scholarship fund created by Toffolon, a former Wall Street executive, and his wife, Joan, to support women studying at the Gabelli School, where Toffolon earned a bachelor’s degree and where both he and Joan each earned an M.B.A.

“During my formative years on Wall Street, it was generally male dominated,” says John, a Fordham trustee fellow. He and Joan thought the Joan and John E. Toffolon Jr. Presidential Endowed Scholarship Fund “would be a way to not only give back but to help balance the ranks.”

Inspired in part by the Toffolons’ generosity, Vojtech recently joined Fordham’s President’s Council and has given in support of scholarships as well as the volleyball and crew programs in which she took part as a student. “I can’t imagine my college experience without sports,” says Vojtech, a California native.

Toffolon says he and Vojtech “have a really lovely friendship.” He even co-signed an apartment lease for her when her father couldn’t, since he lived out of state. The two recently met up at Fordham, where they got to chat with the current Toffolon scholar, first-year Gabelli student Samantha Barrett, who plans to use the award to make the most of her time at Fordham. A global business honors student, she expects her studies to take her to London; Santiago, Chile; and Beijing. “I will be forever grateful,” she says.

Lauren Beglin: Striving for Sustainability

Lauren Beglin was in fourth grade when environmental experts came to her school to talk about the polluted Passaic River—two blocks from her Lyndhurst, N.J., home—and the species that were coming back as a result of cleanup efforts. The presentation fueled her interest in the natural environment, and that interest brought her to Fordham, in part because of all the research opportunities at its Louis Calder Center Biological Field Station in Armonk, N.Y.

She has since spent a summer at the Calder Center, collaborating with a professor on a study of a disease afflicting North American bats, which will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. Today she is working with a chemistry professor to develop a more efficient solar cell, serving on the University’s sustainability committee, and planning to pursue graduate studies right after earning her degree in environmental science. Her ultimate goal: working for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, conducting research into renewable energy and ways to implement it.

Scholarships made all of this possible. “They’ve had an absolutely amazing impact for me,” she says. Her awards include the Clare Boothe Luce Scholarship for women in science and engineering and the Dennis and Patricia Ruppel Endowed Scholarship. By allaying her financial worries, she says, “they helped me focus on the things that I wanted to accomplish.”

Peter Vergara: A Career in the Global Art World

Peter Vergara’s arts education began early. Born in Washington, D.C., he later moved with his family to Madrid, where he spent countless hours at the Prado Museum. “Some of my earliest memories are of just lying on the floor of the gallery,” he says.

Fordham was “a huge draw” for him because of the opportunities to work in New York City and experience its art museums. With support from his professors, he landed internships at the Hispanic Society of America; the Met Cloisters; and Sotheby’s, the global art auction house. After graduating from Fordham this May, he’ll take part in Sotheby’s prestigious 12-month paid trainee program, which prepares graduates for long-term opportunities at the company.

None of it would have been possible without scholarship support.

“In addition to letting me attend, the scholarships have motivated me,” says Vergara, who has received the UPS Endowed Scholarship; the Annenberg Foundation Endowed Scholarship in honor of John L. Marion, FCRH ’56; and the Anthony C. Howkins, FCRH ’48, and Marguerita C. Howkins Endowed Scholarship. “Each summer, my family has been unsure about my ability to come back,” he adds. “But scholarships and jobs, as a resident assistant and a work-study tutor, have allowed me to complete four incredibly productive and fun years.”

Erica Scalise: From the Windy City to the Big Apple

Erica Scalise wanted to leave her tight-knit Chicago neighborhood and go away for college, and she chose Fordham in part because of the opportunities to learn and practice journalism at WFUV, Fordham’s public media station.

But with a brother heading to college soon and a sister in medical school, her family was concerned about cost. Scalise, however, had faith that it would all work out. And she was right.

“I was sitting in my room last spring when I saw the email,” says the sophomore journalism major, describing how she learned she had received a Heller Family Scholarship, established by Fordham parents Patti and John Heller, who sent three of their four children to Fordham. “It was that feeling that my hard work was paying off. I called up my parents right away; they were so happy and really proud.”

Scalise is now an editor of The Ram student newspaper and a newscaster at WFUV. “Being in the Bronx has been so eye opening,” she says. “Seeing the injustices around me … there are so many people whose stories never get told.” And she has embraced service, taking part in urban gardening with the Bronx is Blooming, a community nonprofit, and tutoring young men at Cardinal Hayes High School. “I’m so grateful that they chose me [for this scholarship],” she says. “It’s great incentive to do more.”

Arnell Stewart: Finding Support, Building Community

After her older brother died suddenly last fall, Arnell Stewart feared she wouldn’t be able to continue at Fordham. Her parents needed to travel to the Southwestern U.S. several times to put his affairs in order, which strained the family’s finances.

She stayed home in Mount Vernon, New York, commuting to Fordham, interning at Derek Jeter’s Turn 2 Foundation, and helping her two younger sisters get ready for school every day. But she didn’t know if she would be able to register for spring classes.

She spoke with Tiffany House, her academic counselor at Fordham’s CSTEP, a New York state-sponsored program to help minority students prepare for science- and health-related careers. She told House about the kind of support, financial and otherwise, that she needed. And then, after a nail-biting week or two, she learned that she would receive a Christina Seix Dow College Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP) Endowed Scholarship.

“I told my mom, and she was really happy. That probably was the first good thing that happened since the whole tragedy,” she says. “Now life just seems so much clearer.”

The Fordham sophomore recently declared her major—business administration, with concentrations in finance and the business of healthcare—and she participated in a Gabelli School-sponsored Women in Business retreat. “No matter what career I have,” she says, “I want to make a positive impact on people’s lives.”

The Cosenzas: From Recipients to Donors, A Shared Experience

Todd Cosenza and Elizabeth Pinho-Cosenza met at Fordham and would later get married in the University Church. They also had similar Fordham experiences that continue to inform their efforts on behalf of the University’s students.

Having graduated from Catholic high schools, they had some idea of what to expect at Fordham, but didn’t know just how much mentoring and personal attention they would receive. They also received critical help from scholarships, which only reinforced their awareness of how others were invested in their futures.

Today they serve on the Fordham University President’s Council and regularly give guidance to students, among other efforts. “People along the way helped me, so I think it’s incumbent on me to help others,” said Todd Cosenza, GABELLI ’95, LAW ’98, a partner at the law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.

They have generously supported Fordham priorities including the Founder’s Undergraduate Scholarship Fund, and it’s always a joy to learn more about the scholarship recipients, says Elizabeth Pinho-Cosenza, FCRH ’98, a Harvard Law graduate and associate professor of law and ethics in the Gabelli School of Business. “I feel grateful,” she says, “that we’re able to help students get a high-quality Fordham education the way we both did.”

Amanda Jara: Aspiring to International Service

Fordham was appealing to Amanda Jara because of its emphasis on service, something she had always been interested in. Growing up in Bergen County, N.J., she volunteered at a summer camp for disabled children—giving them one-on-one support throughout the day—to fulfill a high school graduation requirement, and found that the work felt like anything but a requirement. “It was really rewarding,” she said.

She kept volunteering at Fordham, serving at Bronx agencies including the Rosedale Achievement Center, where she was a tutor and mentor. And in sophomore year, something happened that transformed her ambitions for helping others. She was awarded a Founder’s Scholarship, which relieved her concerns about student debt and brought service-related career options into greater focus.

An international political economy major who’s interested in law school, she hopes to work for a nonprofit in international development after graduating. And she also hopes to one day give back in a way that’s more personal—by offering another student the kind of scholarship support that made a deep impression on her.

“It really makes you feel special and motivated that you’re worthy of this scholarship, that all of these people believe in you, she said. “I felt so honored.”

Elodie Huston: Service and Learning

In her first semester at Fordham, Elodie Huston began volunteering at Rauschenbusch Metro Ministries in Manhattan as part of a service-learning course in theology. She worked in programs supporting young immigrants and homeless children at the nonprofit, and the experience sparked her passion for education policy.

But by her second semester, the Wisconsin native wasn’t sure she and her family could afford another year at Fordham, especially with two younger sisters who would soon be applying college. Just before her sophomore year, however, Huston earned both a J.T. Tai & Company Foundation Scholarship and a Joan M. Pease Endowed Scholarship. She later earned the Peter and Kitty Quinn Endowed Scholarship. The extra financial aid allowed her to stay—and thrive—at Fordham.

“Getting the scholarships was absolutely incredible. The money was going to run out, and I didn’t know if I would be able to finish,” Huston says. “But Fordham really rallied for me.”

Since then, the English major has interned at a small mobile marketing startup company; revamped Lincoln Center’s literary magazine, The Comma; and worked extensively with the Office of Prestigious Fellowships to apply for postgraduate awards to further her academic career.

That work paid off this spring, when she earned a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant award to Germany, where she has some relatives and where some of her ancestors lived before immigrating to the U.S. in the 1920s and 1930s. After completing her Fulbright, she plans to pursue a master’s degree in international education policy.

“I get to have this education because my parents and grandparents and others put me in this position,” she says. “Now I want to be able to use that and spread that to other people.”

Photos by Michael Falco, Bud Glick, John O’Brien, Matthew Septimus, Chris Taggart, and Robert Voets

In 1966, when Ruppel was a sophomore English major, he booked both the Beach Boys and the Lovin’ Spoonful for a concert in the Rose Hill Gym. Managing the tension between the two groups—who were mistakenly placed in the same dressing room—turned out to be harder than getting them to campus in the first place.

“I remember walking into George McMahon’s office,” he says, referring to the Jesuit priest who was then dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill, “and telling him that I had this contract for a group called the Beach Boys to come and perform. And oh, by the way, I need a check for $3,750 to make the deposit,” Ruppel says, laughing.

Father McMahon gave him the check after Ruppel assured him that the concert committee would sell enough tickets to reimburse the dean’s account.

“I don’t know that I would have done that if I was him, quite honestly,” says Ruppel, who is now a Fordham trustee. “So when I say Fordham was nurturing, I mean it in a big way.”

Rockin’ Rose Hill Again

Ruppel’s love for the classic rock hits of the ’60s is one of the things he has carried away from his time at Fordham. He and his wife, Patricia, who Ruppel says has “adopted Fordham,” are both big fans of the Beatles, and are looking forward to sharing their love of the Fab Faux with Fordham during a private concert for alumni, faculty, and staff on Friday, June 1, to help kick off Jubilee Weekend. “In our opinion there’s nobody who plays Beatles music more faithfully,” Ruppel says, “and they don’t try to look or act like them.”

Ruppel is also looking forward to reconnecting with his classmates during Jubilee (June 1 through 3), including those who helped him plan his class’s memorable sophomore spring concert.

“It’s been my experience that when you see a classmate, even if you’ve not seen them since the last reunion, you just pick up where you left off,” he says. “You have the same affinity as before. Friendships from that era are very special because of that shared formative time.”

Sharing the Experience

Ruppel says that he has felt “really fulfilled by my college experience,” and that’s why he and his wife started the Dennis and Patricia Ruppel Endowed Scholarship Fund at Fordham.

“I know Fordham has changed, and I’ve changed, and times have changed, but I still believe there’s a core that persists,” he says. “And I would really prefer that anybody who wanted to attend Fordham would not be prevented from doing so because of money.”

Ruppel’s history of supporting education dates back to his two-year stint as a social worker shortly after he graduated from Fordham. As a registered conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, he deferred his law school acceptance and was assigned to work for the Department of Families and Children’s Services in his native St. Petersburg, Florida, where he still resides.

“It turned out to be an absolute blessing,” Ruppel says of the experience, which exposed him to a level of poverty he had not been fully aware of while growing up in the area. “It became very clear to me that education was really the only path out of that economic deprivation, and if the youngest kids were not prepared for school before they got there, there was little chance they would succeed.”

While he now juggles multiple professional roles—as a lawyer, a chairman of both a bank and an insurance company, and a co-owner of a hotel in Maine—he has remained committed to educational causes.

“We’ve been fortunate enough in our lives that we have the resources to make contributions,” Ruppel says, “and one of the things we care about is helping provide students with a high-quality education.” 

Fordham Five

What are you most passionate about?
I am most passionate about quality preschool education, especially for the economically disadvantaged. Our future and their future is highly dependent on their school readiness. Studies show that quality in this arena makes a material difference.

Some of this passion stems from my own experience as a single parent of two preschoolers while I was attending law school. I vowed then it was a cause I would support for my lifetime. I have been fortunate to do so. For 30 years I have served on the board of directors for R’Club Child Care in St. Petersburg, Florida, a local nonprofit that currently cares for more than 4,000 children per day in highly educational and nurturing settings.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
My dad, who was an incredible mentor, told me that the most important decisions in life are picking one’s partners—whether that be your spouse, friends, law partners, or business partners—and that there is no more important activity in life than nurturing those partnerships.

What’s your favorite place in New York City? In the world?
In New York City, the New York Yacht Club. Its architecture, art, and nautical artifacts and models collectively make it the Sistine Chapel of sailing. It is our home when my wife and I are visiting New York; I discover something new on every visit.

My favorite place in the world is Maine in the summertime and early fall. We are fortunate to have a summer home there and make it our base from June to mid-October. Our family and friends share time with us there. I love the people, the environment, and climate. It’s a thoroughly restorative place.

Name a book that has had a lasting influence on you.
The entire Bob Dylan songbook. I remember clearly the first time I heard his music in the dorm room of a friend near the beginning of my first year at Fordham. I was immediately captivated by Dylan’s mastery of words and moments. To this day, at times of quiet, it is most often his words and lyrics that come to me. It’s a lifelong love for sure.

Who is the Fordham grad or professor you admire most?
John Costantino—who was recently and justly honored at the Fordham Founder’s Award Dinner—is the Fordham grad I most admire. A true Fordham man, always gracious and thoughtful, a lifelong learner with the courage to take well-thought risks and who always shares his wonderful sense of humor. I admire his loyalty to family, friends, and Fordham.

And Nicholas Loprete was the English literature professor who opened my eyes to the depth and wonders of fiction and poetry. He loved what he taught. He taught me to love it too.

Darlene Luccio Jordan, FCRH ’89, a member of the Board of Trustees, and her husband, Gerald R. Jordan Jr., have made a $6 million gift to the University. The largest portion of the funds, $5 million, will be allocated to the Darlene Luccio Jordan, Esq., and Gerald R. Jordan Jr. Endowed Scholarship Fund, established by the couple in 2010. The new investment to the fund would allow Fordham to provide significant grants to promising Boston high school students who demonstrate financial need.

A former prosecutor and assistant attorney general of Massachusetts, Luccio Jordan and her family live in Palm Beach, in Boston, and on Cape Cod.

“We believe that the impact of financial aid is not only real, tangible, and measurable—it is our responsibility,” said Luccio Jordan, who serves as the chair of the Trustee Advancement and University Relations Committee and as co-chair of Fordham’s Faith & Hope | The Campaign for Financial Aid, which her gift supports. “A significant reason for making this gift is to thank Fordham for shaping my life and providing me with an education and spiritual foundation.”

“Darlene and Jerry’s gift is characteristic of their generosity and a major investment in Fordham’s longstanding commitment to making a Jesuit education in New York City accessible to talented students of all socioeconomic backgrounds, including immigrants and new Americans,” said Roger A. Milici Jr., Fordham’s vice president for development and university relations. “For that, we are all grateful.”

Of the remaining donation, $500,000 will be allotted to the Frank McLaughlin Family Basketball Court, $250,000 will go to Fordham Founder’s Undergraduate Scholarship Fund, and $250,000 will be used to boost the trustee’s Fordham Fund Challenge Initiative. Gifts to the Fordham Fund are unrestricted and help the University to support scholarships, career services, and improved facilities and technology.

While Luccio Jordan did not receive financial aid when she enrolled at Fordham over 30 years ago, she had to take out student loans to attend, she said.

“Today, the average undergraduate student has accumulated almost $40,000 in debt upon graduation,” said Luccio Jordan. “Unfortunately, large sums of debt are discouraging students from pursuing careers in education, the public sector, and social services. These areas of study are vital for our communities and are the basis of Fordham’s educational foundation—to serve others.”

Gerald (Jerry) Jordan, a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School, has been positively impacted by financial aid. With the help of a scholarship, he was the first in his family to go to college, said Luccio Jordan.

“Jerry has always said that this was the greatest thing anyone could have ever done for him,” she said. “The amazing gift of a scholarship left an indelible mark on him. Because of his gratitude and recognition of the value his education provided to him, he has been working to pay it forward.”

Similarly, Luccio Jordan credits her Fordham education for giving her the tools to excel in her career and her community. Through her family’s gift to the University, she hopes to extend Fordham’s long maroon line.

“Fordham instilled in me the Jesuit principles of excellence, pursuing justice, sharing gifts, civic engagement, and the power of an educated mind,” she said. “Our hope is that by establishing this scholarship fund, the next generation of leaders will embrace the Jesuit values and become engaged, concerned, and contributing citizens of the world.”