Awardees will travel to countries in Asia, the Americas, Africa, and Europe for 10 months of teaching and research, immersing themselves in new cultures. The University announced 12 Fulbright winners in early May; the number rose to 14 a few weeks later, and has now risen to 15, because of awards granted to students who had been named Fulbright alternates.

“We are overjoyed that we have a record number of Fulbright awardees this year! It’s a testament to the outstanding work of our students and alumni, and the faculty and staff who support them,” said Lorna Ronald, Ph.D., director of Fordham’s Office of Prestigious Fellowships.

She noted that Fordham’s number of applicants has risen from 25 to 38 over the past two years. “We’re working hard to let all our students know that they can apply,” she said. “There is no GPA cutoff or ‘right’ type of student. Fordham students are interested in service, and many have studied abroad, speak multiple languages, or come from multicultural backgrounds, so they make excellent Fulbright candidates.”

In February, for the sixth time, the U.S. State Department recognized Fordham for being one of the colleges and universities with the highest number of Fulbright awardees.

A Focus on Immigrants and Refugees

Jennifer Espinal, FCRH ’24, who grew up in the Bronx, is headed to Spain’s La Rioja province to work as an English teaching assistant. She hopes to expand her knowledge of Spanish—“I speak very ‘Nuyorican’ Spanish,” she joked—and learn more about the nation’s culture and its large refugee population.

Espinal double majored in history and Latin American and Latino studies, with a political science minor, and wants to become an attorney who serves immigrant families. She comes from one herself—her parents immigrated from the Dominican Republic, and her mother works as a custodian at the Rose Hill campus.

Seeing her daughter graduate on May 18 was an emotional moment. “None of this would be possible without you,” Jennifer told her in Spanish that morning. (Watch Espinal and other first-generation graduates give thanks to their families at commencement.)

Making Early Childhood Education Inclusive

Bailey Kaufman, a doctoral candidate at the Graduate School of Education and adjunct professor at the school, will be traveling to the Slovak Republic to study early childhood math instruction, as well as the cultural biases in educational materials that can hinder learning.

One aspect of her research is the bias in picture books used to teach math and how that makes them less accessible to children from the country’s Romani minority. Romani children are already marginalized, Kaufman said, noting that only a third of them are enrolled in early childhood programs, compared with the republic’s national average of 72%.

Based at the University of Prešov, she’ll work with European organizations seeking to improve early childhood education and build a comparative analysis. A question she hopes to answer, she said, is “how are other countries approaching mathematics in early childhood and training future teachers, and what can we take from that and bring to U.S. institutions of higher education?”

Studying National Identity in Wales

In addition to the 15 Fulbright scholarships, one student was accepted into a different Fulbright program, the highly competitive U.K. Summer Institute for first- and second-year college students. Mackenzie Saenz De Viteri, a CSTEP Summer Scholar and first-year student at Fordham College at Lincoln Center, will spend three weeks at Aberystwyth University in Wales.

She looks forward to learning directly about Wales’ history and identity, as well as how the country attained independence and structured its government, which may hold lessons for Puerto Rico, said De Viteri, an international studies and anthropology double major from Central Islip, New York.

Her interest is “taking examples from other parts of the world who have similar dilemmas and using that to help solve current issues,” said De Viteri, a first-generation college student who has family in Puerto Rico.

In addition to Kaufman and Espinal, 13 other students and alumni received awards from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program:

Caroline Albacete, FCRH ’21, from Pennsylvania, a member of the Honors Program who earned a bachelor’s degree in international studies, with minors in French and history, was awarded an English teaching assistantship to Colombia.

Michael Au-Mullaney, from the Bronx, a doctoral candidate in philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, received a research award for study in Denmark.

Richard (Ricky) DeSantis, from California, a doctoral candidate in philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, received a Fulbright-ifk Junior Fellowship for study in Austria.

Alexandra (Alex) Huey, FCRH ’23, from Florida, who earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science, with a minor in economics, received a Fulbright-CY Initiative Award to pursue a master’s degree in Paris, France.

Nathan (Nate) Johnson, LAW ’22, who is from New York City and earned a juris doctorate, received a Fulbright/Ulster University Award to pursue an LLM in Northern Ireland.

Kathleen Kye, FCLC ’22, from New Jersey, who earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and Spanish studies, with a minor in psychology, was awarded an English teaching assistantship to Argentina. 

Sophia Maier, FCRH ’23, from New York state, who earned a bachelor’s degree in American studies and will receive a master’s degree from the Graduate School of Education this spring, was awarded an English teaching assistantship to Spain.

Isaac Mullings, FCRH ’24, from the Bronx, a member of the CSTEP program who earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology, received a research award for study in Ghana.

Anna Nowalk, FCLC ’23, from Virginia, who earned a bachelor’s degree in theology religious studies with minors in philosophy and peace and justice studies, received a research award for study in El Salvador.

Christian Ramirez, FCRH ’23, who is from Minnesota and earned a bachelor’s degree in English and theology religious studies, with a minor in Spanish, was awarded an English teaching assistantship to Colombia.

Margaret (Daisy) Salchli, FCRH ’24, from Chicago, who earned a bachelor’s degree in political science, international studies, and Chinese studies, was awarded an English teaching assistantship to Taiwan.

Emilia Tesoriero, FCRH ’24, from Connecticut, who earned a bachelor’s degree in international political economy with a minor in Spanish, was awarded an English teaching assistantship to Spain.

Connie Ticho, LAW ’24, from Pennsylvania, received a research award for study in South Africa.

One alumnus is a Fulbright alternate:

Hanif Amanullah, FCRH ’24, from Texas, who earned a bachelor’s degree in international studies with a minor in environmental studies, was named an alternate for a study and research award to Kenya.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated from an earlier version.

CSTEP and STEP are programs that provide support to New York high school and college students from underrepresented backgrounds, including academic support and counseling, scholarships, and research opportunities. (CSTEP is for undergraduates, while STEP is for middle and high school students.) 

Fetal Development, Eel Health, and Neurodegenerative Disease 

Students in Fordham’s programs presented their research to judges at the programs’ regional student conferences and were recognized for the quality of their projects. 

Three CSTEP students, who are all undergraduates at Fordham College at Rose Hill, were honored at the 29th annual CSTEP statewide student conference on April 16 in Lake George, New York: Daphne Buitron, a May graduate who earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology, won honorable mention in the natural sciences category for her project “Influence of COVID-19 Infection during Pregnancy on Infant Neurodevelopment,” conducted through a summer scholars program at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine; Latif Diaoune, a rising senior who studies general science and sociology, won 4th place in the natural sciences category for his project “H(eel)ing Our Rivers: An Assessment of River Health and a Survey of the American Eel,” conducted through Project TRUE; and Isaac Mullings, a rising senior who studies psychology on the pre-med track, won third place in the health sciences category for his project “Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Biomarkers of Disease Progression,” conducted through Columbia University’s PrIMER program. 

In addition, Laura Maca Vela, a high school senior at West End Secondary School in Manhattan, won third place in the biological sciences category for her research project “TLS Polymerase Activity in B. Subtilis in MMS” at the 23rd annual STEP statewide student conference in Albany on March 26. She conducted her research with Elizabeth Thrall, Ph.D., an assistant chemistry professor at Fordham. 

A Bronx Native Studies the Bronx River 

Diaoune, a Bronx native and commuter student, studied the Bronx River, the only freshwater river in New York City. In a project conducted with Project TRUE, he researched the impact of macroplastics and other pollutants on the American eel, a keystone species that lives in the Bronx River. 

“We saw the result of accelerated plastic production combined with [poor]waste disposal management, which is ultimately causing the oceans and rivers to suffer,” said Diaoune, who caught and measured local eels and plastics. “These consequences are felt by marine species like the American eel.”

The purpose of his project was to get his hands wet with research, said Diaoune, a pre-med student who is considering becoming a surgeon. He learned how to run his own experiment and mentor younger scientists. (Diaoune supervised several research assistants who are high school students in the Bronx.) 

Diaoune has presented his research before, at a Project TRUE symposium held at the American Museum of Natural History, but he said the CSTEP symposium was different. 

“I realized how big CSTEP really is,” said Diaoune. “It’s a huge community.”

Fordham students welcomed Vice President Kamala Harris to New York City when she arrived at LaGuardia Airport on Air Force Two on April 14.

The vice president was in town to attend the National Action Network’s 2023 Convention. Two days prior to her arrival, her office reached out to Fordham to invite students to meet her.

Claudia Dabie, a Fordham College at Rose Hill student and a member of Fordham’s Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP) program, said the moment when Air Force Two landed was “so majestic.” Then the vice president approached the Fordham group.

“She started walking towards us, and she started saying hi. And she was smiling and she’s so nice,” said Dabie. “It was amazing. I loved it.”

Lesley A. Massiah-Arthur, associate vice president and special assistant to the president for government relations at Fordham, said that when the invitation was extended, she jumped at the chance to recruit as many Fordham students as possible.

By reaching out to CSTEP, as well as Fordham’s Higher Education Opportunity Program, the Center for Community Engaged Learning, the Office of Student Involvement, and several members of the Fordham faculty, she was able to send a list of interested students and arrange for transportation from both campuses with the generous support of the office of Fordham President Tania Tetlow.

Massiah-Arthur submitted the names of 135 students and around 70 received invitations from The White House. She said that officials in Harris’ office were so impressed with Fordham’s quick and enthusiastic response, they will be inviting the students who did not receive an invitation to this event to a future event when the vice president returns to New York City.

The invitation is a testament to the University’s standing, she said.

“I still remember to this day the first opportunities that I had to engage with elected officials, and I think it’s important that students get those opportunities,” she said.

“So when this opportunity came up, I didn’t think that it was something we could pass up. Regardless of your political affiliations or your beliefs, there should still be a fundamental belief that engaging in a political dynamic and engaging in democracy is the best way of affirming change. By participating in this opportunity, we’ve taken one more step in doing that.”

—Video by Hector Martinez

“You have achieved great things, and in the heart of the pandemic, you have managed to keep this community alive,” Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, said to the CSTEP students and staff. “This is a program that is a community. You all watch out for one another—and you inspire us.”

Fordham CSTEP is a statewide program that supports minority and economically disadvantaged students through mentorship and academic and career-oriented resources. The program prepares students for professions in areas where they are underrepresented, including STEM, health, and other licensed fields, and provides a “transformational, educational experience to future professionals and leaders,” said Renaldo D. Alba, associate director of the CSTEP and STEP programs. 

This spring, 73 CSTEP students will receive their diplomas, said Alba. After graduation, they will pursue different opportunities across the country. Among them are four students heading to dental, medical, or law school; one student attending a Ph.D. psychology program; 12 students pursuing master’s degrees in various disciplines; and one student participating in the City Year program, he said. 

In addition to recognizing graduating seniors, the ceremony celebrated other CSTEP scholars, including more than 100 students who achieved a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher and about 50 students who served as tutors and peer counselors in the pre-college STEP Program for middle and high schoolers. 

Rafael Zapata, chief diversity officer, special assistant to the president for diversity, and associate vice president for academic affairs, was recognized with CSTEP’s Outstanding Service Award, which is presented to faculty, administrators, and partners who have provided exceptional service to CSTEP students. In his acceptance speech, Zapata lauded Michael A. Molina, director of the CSTEP and STEP programs, for leading the program over the past 35 years. (Molina was unable to physically attend the event because he is recovering from a medical procedure, but he joined via Zoom.) 

“No other office at Fordham better serves the needs of first-generation college students, low-income students, and students of color, with more dignity, understanding, love, support—and challenge—than CSTEP,” Zapata said. 

Zapata, a native New Yorker who grew up in public housing and became the first in his family to graduate from college, said he wished he had a community like CSTEP when he was younger. 

“I had a lot of loving and caring teachers. But I never had anyone who I could talk to about my life … I didn’t have this community. I wish I did,” Zapata said. “There’s so much pressure on you to sound differently, to act differently, to even walk differently. And for that, I’m grateful to remind you that I can be [myself], and you can be [yourself here].” 

In heartfelt speeches, students described their own experiences in the program. 

“CSTEP has been the best part of my undergrad experience and it has helped me grow socially, personally, and academically,” said Anusha Imran, FCLC ’22, a first-generation college student and aspiring physician who will receive CSTEP’s highest award at Fordham College at Lincoln Center’s award ceremony for graduating seniors. “I found a tight-knit community and met students who have similar stories, which only made me and them more resilient and fierce in the advocacy of our own education.”

In his keynote speech, CSTEP alumnus Braulio Carrero, FCRH ’04, senior counsel at Cityblock Health—a company that provides medical services to marginalized populations—congratulated the seniors and offered them advice for life after graduation.

“In my 20s, my purpose was trying to find my purpose,” Carrero said. “Some of you are very determined in the path that you want, and others aren’t. But at the end of the day … always remember what matters and why you’re doing what you’re doing.” 

(Vincent Harris, FCRH ’22, who was scheduled to receive CSTEP’s highest award at Encaenia—Fordham College at Rose Hill’s award ceremony for graduating seniors—died suddenly on May 10. The University published an obituary and held a memorial Mass for Harris at the University Church at Rose Hill on May 13.)

“Everyone brings something important to the table, regardless of the level of education you have,” said J.D. Lewis, Ph.D., a biological sciences professor who is leading the Fordham team in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Inclusive Excellence 3 Learning (IE3) Community. “Through this collaborative effort, we want to figure out how to teach STEM in a way that is accessible, relevant, and interesting to all our students.” 

Fordham is among more than 100 institutions involved in the IE3 Community. The goal of the initiative is to improve STEM teaching and learning in higher education, especially for first-generation college students, transfer students, and students from underrepresented backgrounds. 

More Inclusive Intro STEM Classes

After applying to be part of the initiative in 2019, Fordham was accepted into the inaugural cohort in 2021. The institutions were grouped into seven clusters, each with an assigned goal. The goal of Fordham’s cluster is to make introductory STEM course content more inclusive. Ultimately, Fordham wants students who better reflect the racial and intersectional diversity of the Bronx community to enter STEM disciplines and graduate at rates comparable to those of majority students, said Lewis. 

Lewis leads Fordham’s IE3 leadership team, which is currently planning the details of the project. They are joined by Dean of Fordham College at Lincoln Center Laura Auricchio, Dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill Maura Mast, Associate Professor of Chemistry Robert Beer, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Patricio Meneses, and CSTEP Director Michael Molina.

One of the team’s goals is to build on the University’s previous successes with mentoring and early research experiences, especially Project TRUE, the ASPIRES Scholars program, the Calder Summer Undergraduate Research Program, and Fordham’s Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program, said Lewis. For example, they are currently working with CSTEP to include more CSTEP students in research opportunities earlier on in their time at Fordham, said Lewis. 

The team will also assess the University’s data on students taking STEM classes, starting with the biology department. They are planning on studying student outcomes, including the DFW rate—the number of students who earn D’s or F’s or withdraw from the course, said Lewis. They may also interview introductory biology instructors and students to understand the support they might need, said Lewis. 

“From them, we can get a sense of what’s working, what isn’t, what they’re struggling with, what they’re concerned about, and where and why they may not feel included,” Lewis said.  

Earlier Research Opportunities Built Into the Curriculum

In addition, the team is working on integrating student-directed research earlier in the STEM major. Upperclassmen typically conduct their own research in labs on campus, said Lewis, but their team is revising the curriculum so that they can introduce research to students as early as their first year of college. For example, the biology department recently introduced “research modules,” a new component in an introductory biology lab that gives students more creative freedom, said Lewis. 

“Instead of students simply following a manual type of lab activity, they are doing research where we don’t know the answer beforehand. They are experiencing those eureka moments, while still learning biology skills,” Lewis said. “Instead of waiting to work in a lab as a junior, they’re doing research that is yielding an unknown result—now, as a second-semester first-year student.” 

This fall, Fordham will finalize its project plan in collaboration with 14 other universities. Over the next six years, they will work together to achieve their goal through nearly $8 million in shared funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a science philanthropy organization founded by aviator and industrialist Howard R. Hughes. 

“We want all Fordham students and prospective students to see and feel that they can be successful in a STEM major and career,” Lewis said. “I hope that our data will lead us to what that should look like.”

“I don’t have to be shy about what I want to ask. I don’t have to lie about my financial needs. Sometimes on campus I have to deal with cultural differences and I feel like I have to code switch, but at CSTEP, I can throw that all away and come as I am,” she said.  

Reynoso is a senior in Fordham’s Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program, known as CSTEP. The statewide program prepares minority and economically disadvantaged undergraduates for professions in areas where they are underrepresented; Fordham’s chapter, which currently serves about 250 students, is one of the largest in New York. Its counselors have helped many first-generation students find community and stay on track.

‘A Backbone Throughout My Years’

CSTEP was established at Fordham’s Rose Hill campus in the Bronx in 1987 and expanded to the Manhattan Lincoln Center campus about 15 years ago. Students benefit from multiple academic and career-oriented resources, including paid internships and research opportunities, career seminars, networking events, and support classes for pre-health courses. But one of the greatest resources, students say, is the relationship they build with their CSTEP counselors. 

Fiona Sampaney was struggling with the coursework in her natural sciences major, but she couldn’t devote enough time to studying. In her free time, she said she often babysat her three younger siblings and worked as a supermarket cashier. But thanks to her CSTEP counselors, she found a solution. 

“Changing majors was something I had already thought of, but I didn’t know how to go about it. They helped me draw out a two-year plan for the rest of my time at Fordham and see how a major switch would affect my GPA and academic standing for medical school,” said Sampaney, a Bronx-born first-generation student at Fordham College at Lincoln Center who plans to become a pediatrician. 

Rashain Adams Jr., another first-generation student and a senior at Fordham College at Rose Hill, said CSTEP feels like a family. 

“Nobody is trying to compete with you when it comes to grades or success. Everyone truly just wants you to be OK, mentally and emotionally,” said Adams, who joined CSTEP in his second semester at Fordham. “The program has been a backbone throughout my years here.”

This past spring, Gerald “Geraldo” De La Cruz, a first-generation student and a senior at the Gabelli School of Business, became a residential assistant at the Rose Hill campus. He felt stressed and isolated, thanks to pandemic restrictions. But he was able to open up to his counselor, Renaldo Alba, who also serves as CSTEP’s associate director. 

“I was in a really bad place last year, mentally. I felt burnt out and drained,” De La Cruz said. “But when Renaldo starts his conversations with you, he’ll be like, ‘How are you?’ I was honest with him.” 

Sometimes students just want to be heard, Alba said. 

“They may just need to vent in a space that is judgement-free and confidential,” Alba said. “If you’re a first-generation student, you’re grappling with issues that parents and perhaps previous support systems cannot continue to help with.” 

To help students find community and perspective, he said, counselors work to connect students to colleagues in other offices, CSTEP alumni, and peers. “Finding others in moments of isolation helps a great deal,” he said.

A Parent’s Love and Pride

For many students, feelings of isolation begin even before they stepped foot on campus, as they navigate the application process largely on their own. Once they arrive, they feel the pressure to perform—both self-imposed and from family members who don’t fully understand college life. But at the end of the day, the students say they know their parents are proud. 

Adams, a history major raised by a single mother in the Bronx, said his mother loves talking about her three children: “She’s very excited that all of her kids have gone to college at this point. My brother graduated from John Jay, and he’s looking at his master’s degree. My sister just started her first year at New York University, and I’m about to graduate.” 

Others had similar things to say about their families.

“My mom is the cutest. She’s a home attendant, and she tells one of her patients about me all the time. When I finish a paper or get a good grade, she’ll be like, ‘Send it to me so he can read it!’” said Reynoso, an environmental studies major who wants to improve health outcomes for urban populations, especially people of color.  

De La Cruz, the son of immigrants from the Dominican Republic, said he is thankful for his family, especially his mother, a small business owner who once wanted to study psychology. 

“I have an opportunity to do something that my parents couldn’t,” said De La Cruz, who wants to become a marketing executive for an entertainment company. “The sacrifices they made in life made it possible for me to do this.”

‘Lifting Myself and Those Around Me’

One of the most meaningful parts of being a first-generation college student is starting a legacy of education and generational wealth, said the students. 

“I can graduate and have a higher paying job,” said Sampaney. “That provides more knowledge for not just myself, but my future children and grandchildren.” 

For Reynoso, being a first-gen student also means representing others like her. Through Project TRUE, a youth development program between Fordham and the Wildlife Conservation Society, she has mentored local high schoolers who may become the first in their families to attend college, too. A good education also means personal freedom, she said. 

“I can think and make decisions for myself more freely. I’m given some sort of authority to validate my opinion more, but at the same time, I’m creating space for others who may not have had the same opportunities that I have, while saying that their experiences have equal authority,” Reynoso said. “I’m lifting myself and those around me.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“It is a tragedy to lose someone so young, so gifted, and so full of promise, especially as Chad devoted his considerable gifts to the well-being of others,” Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, wrote in an email to the University community. “We mourn the loss of this bright light, and keep his loved ones, friends, and colleagues in our hearts during their hour of grief.”

Davis was a doctoral intern who was scheduled to complete and defend his dissertation this August and graduate with his Ph.D. in clinical psychology. He was on a full-time internship at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, and he had recently accepted a postdoctoral position at the University of California-San Diego. 

Tyler Stovall, Ph.D., dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, said the loss is felt deeply by students and faculty.

“The death of Chad Davis is a tragic and serious loss for the graduate student community at Fordham,” he said.

Davis received his bachelor’s degree in theater studies from Montclair State University and a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Fordham in 2014. Over the past 16 years, Davis touched many lives as an educator, researcher, and mentor. He served as an ESL teacher in the U.S. and abroad, a teaching/research assistant at several schools in New York, an administrator at Weill Cornell Medical College, a counselor at a California camp for overweight children and teenagers, and a volunteer at a non-profit that supported people suffering from eating disorders. As a clinical psychology extern, he counseled patients at Fordham Counseling and Psychological Services, as well as at New York University, St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Davis also founded Pipeline to the Ph.D., an initiative within Fordham Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP) that provided mentorship to young psychology students of color. He wrote about his passion for mentoring undergraduate students in The Chronicle of Higher Education. 

Davis stood out in his cohort of clinical psychology students, said his dissertation mentor, Mary Procidano, Ph.D., associate professor psychology. He was an energetic, engaging student with an unusual ability to integrate different perspectives in psychology to help his patients, she said. Davis wanted to better understand eating disorder-related distress, and he was especially interested in serving people from diverse backgrounds, she added. 

“Not only did he have a real aptitude for looking at different perspectives in psychology, but he also had training as an actor. That really added to his insight and his ability to understand and be helpful to people,” Procidano said. “We used to have many conversations about what he knew about human nature as an actor and [as a therapist], and how to put it all together. This, to me, is the essence of cura personalis—he embodied it.” 

For his dissertation, Davis, who spent several years working as a professional actor and singer, surveyed more than 200 professional and aspiring performers and explored how they were affected by eating disorders and outside pressures from the entertainment industry.

Other Fordham faculty described Davis as a friend who cared deeply about his colleagues and mentees and a therapist who was dedicated to the well-being of his patients, particularly Black and Latinx individuals struggling with obesity and eating disorders.

“Chad was an absolutely wonderful, extraordinary person and rising psychologist. His smile could brighten the hardest day, and he truly cared for everyone who came his way,” said Rachel Annunziato, Ph.D., associate dean for strategic initiatives at Fordham College at Rose Hill. “He was devoted to helping others as a therapist, scholar, teacher, and to so many as a friend.”

Davis emitted so much energy and positivity in the classroom that it was easy to gravitate toward him, said another mentor. 

“He was such a bright light,” said Mónica Rivera-Mindt, Ph.D., a professor of psychology who worked with Davis when she was the director of the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program. “He had this really beautiful smile and bright eyes, and he was really funny and engaging. He’s somebody you just wanted to be around, and everyone adored him.”

Davis overcame many obstacles to practice in a field where he would help others overcome their own trials and tribulations, said Eva Badowska, Ph.D., dean of the faculty of arts and sciences and former dean of GSAS. He was also a stalwart friend and colleague who wrestled with personal challenges while continuing to support his peers, said Rivera-Mindt. 

“It was a testament to his grit, resilience, and love of helping people,” Rivera-Mindt said. 

Davis was born on June 17, 1980, in West Islip, New York, to Norma Davis and Ralph S. Davis Jr. and grew up on Long Island and in New Jersey. He was a fun-loving, smart child who excelled in school, played the trumpet in his high school band, and adored the arts, said his mother, Norma. In his free time, he enjoyed singing songs from Broadway shows and working out. As an adult, he wanted to help people with eating disorders because he struggled with his own weight when he was a child. He understood the challenges of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, she said. 

“He was very smart, very hardworking. He loved what he did, and he really wanted to help people,” Norma said. “That’s the biggest loss for us—he had so much going for him.” 

But in his 40 years of life, Davis made a big impact, said Rivera-Mindt. 

“We are so proud of everything that he accomplished and all the lives that he touched. He helped so many people during his short life,” said Rivera-Mindt. “And those gifts and that beautiful energy is going to live on.” 

Davis is survived by his parents; three siblings—his fraternal twin brother Bryce Davis and his wife Sandy Davis, younger sister Cherise Davis, and older sister Laurie Moss; one niece; several nephews; and many cousins. Due to the pandemic, there is no immediate information yet on the burial and memorial services. This page will be updated with details as they are confirmed.

A GoFundMe site has been set up to help the family with the funeral and burial expenses.

“It’s been a godsend,” Michael A. Molina, director of the CSTEP and STEP programs, said of the fund. “This money has enabled us to at least try and help students and their families.” 

CSTEP is a statewide program that has provided academic support, counseling, internships, scholarships, and research opportunities to minority and economically disadvantaged undergraduates at Fordham since 1987. The CSTEP program, along with its sibling STEP program for junior high and high school students, has been a source of community for many students, especially during the pandemic. 

Eight years ago, the Dow family established the Christina Seix Dow College Science and Technology Entry Program Endowed Scholarship Fund with a $2 million gift to help CSTEP students stay at Fordham and graduate from college with little to no debt. Now they are giving an additional $2.5 million to support students who remind them of themselves. 

“My wife and I came from very little. For a long time, we’ve felt we’ve been fortunate, and it’s time to pay it forward or pay it back for students who may come from even more difficult situations than we had,” said Robert Dow, a former managing partner at Lord Abbett, an investment management company. “We hope that whatever they do, they’re successful in life. And if they become successful financially, hopefully they’ll think about what gave them a start and pay it forward as well.”

Seix Dow has much in common with the CSTEP students she supports. She’s Puerto Rican, from the Bronx, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Fordham. She was raised in a small apartment with limited resources, but, she has said, was surrounded by a loving family that developed her core values. She became a multimillionaire bond manager, eventually forming her own investment management firm. She later founded the Christina Seix Academy, an independent school for underserved children. Seix Dow was among the first class of pioneering women in philanthropy at the inaugural Fordham Women’s Summit in 2017. 

About 90 CSTEP students have benefited from the Seix Dow scholarship fund over the past seven years, including recent alumna Arnell Stewart, who delivered the student scholarship speech at the 2018 Women’s Philanthropy Summit. 

These students have received significant awards from the scholarship, depending on individual need, to help pay for the full cost of tuition. Molina estimates that over the next decade, approximately 300 to 400 more students will benefit from the additional $2.5 million added to the scholarship fund.

The scholarships are a significant gift for the CSTEP students, many of whom are thousands of dollars in debt, said Renaldo D. Alba, associate director of the CSTEP and STEP programs. They not only help graduates leave Fordham in good financial health, but also prepare them to give back to their own communities. 

“Our students often require graduate or professional school training, and at that level, there’s little to no financial aid. But if they’re in good [financial]health after graduation, they can take on additional loans at the next level. And if they do well and manage their loan debt as graduate students, they’re more likely to consider working in fields that may not be as lucrative in compensation, in communities that often don’t have the resources or money, because they don’t have to pay off these loans,” Alba said. “A scholarship of this magnitude is so significant for students like these that are naturally inclined to stay in their community.”  

Among the Seix Dow scholarship recipients is Leslie Abreu, a Dominican student from the Bronx who realized that Fordham was her “dream school” while attending the adjacent Fordham High School for the Arts, where she became class valedictorian. 

“At one point, I was considering not going to my dream school because of finances,” said Abreu, who is currently the only employed member of her immediate family. “Receiving help like that gives you reassurance that you are on the right path.”

Life hasn’t been easy for Abreu. Her father passed away in her senior year of high school, but he had encouraged his daughter to apply to Fordham. In her three years at the University, she has tutored middle and high school students in math as a STEP tutor and peer counselor for pre-college students and advised two seventh graders in the Mentoring Latinas program. Someday, Abreu plans on following Seix Dow and her husband’s footsteps and paying it forward. 

“[Seix Dow’s story] reassured me that that path is possible,” said Abreu, a psychology student on the five-year teaching track. “And the fact that she has been able to help people like us shows me that I can also do that in the future.”

CSTEP is a statewide program that prepares minority and economically disadvantaged undergraduates for professions in areas where they are underrepresented, including STEM, health, and other licensed fields. The STEP program, similar in design, focuses on junior high and high school students. Both programs at Fordham provide academic support and counseling, internships, scholarships, and research opportunities throughout the academic year and summer. Together, the Fordham CSTEP and STEP programs serve roughly 800 Fordham undergraduates and local high school students. 

Over the past nine months, CSTEP/STEP have remained a constant in the lives of students dealing with the tricky transition to remote learning, technology glitches, and a loss of normalcy. Through reimagined ways of learning—from a virtual student lounge where students have bonded over popular games like Kahoot! and Among Us, to shorter meeting times designed to decrease screen fatigue—their programs have continued to serve students. They’ve also recently expanded their reach with new partnerships in local schools. Their events haven’t been canceled, either. This December, around 30 Fordham CSTEP alumni spoke with STEP students about their careers on a virtual panel; next January, the CSTEP program will launch its third mentoring program that pairs alumni with current students who share similar career goals. 

“Our meeting space has changed, but what really has stayed the same is our impact,” said Renaldo D. Alba, associate director of the CSTEP and STEP programs and a 2002 graduate from Fordham College at Rose Hill and its CSTEP program. “That’s something that we’re really proud of.”

The two programs have also addressed traumatic national events with special activities for students in the wake of George Floyd’s murder this past spring.

“The issues that were raised by George Floyd’s murder and the Black Lives Matter movement that followed it are issues that our students and my staff have personal experience with. We’ve been subjected to it or we’ve had family and friends who have,” said Michael A. Molina, director of the CSTEP and STEP programs. “We were sensitive to these issues, and we knew that we wanted to do something.” 

This past July, Mark L. Chapman, Ph.D., associate professor of African and African American Studies, spoke with STEP students about the similarities between the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s and today’s world. Ashlee W. Davis, Ph.D., a supervising psychologist and coordinator for diversity, inclusion, and social justice initiatives at the Rose Hill campus, also helped students understand racial trauma, find words for their emotions, and identify strategies for self-care. 

“We want our students to understand that you should always have strong feelings about these things that happen in life: the pandemic, George Floyd, and the Black Lives Matter movement. You should feel whatever you feel. But you should also have facts and some balance when you’re looking at what’s going on,” Molina said. 

Staying ‘INSTEP’ with High School Students in the Bronx

Through virtual learning, CSTEP counselors and students have also continued to extend their pre-pandemic “INSTEP” college access initiatives to outside schools and community-based organizations, including KAPPA International School, a public school located a few blocks south of the Rose Hill campus. 

“How do you select a college or university? Should you go away? Should you stay in New York City? Should you apply to a CUNY or a SUNY or an independent school? What does living on campus look like? These are the kinds of discussions that our college students, the CSTEP students, do in small groups with the INSTEP high school kids,” Molina explained. 

Over the past two years, KAPPA students have visited the Rose Hill campus and learned about the transition from high school to college—the thing they struggle with the most—from Fordham CSTEP students who can empathize with them, said their assistant principal, Casey Smith. 

“It really hits home,” Smith said. “The kids really find it beneficial to work with college students and to have what feels like a mentor to walk them through the process.” 

Help with College Applications

This fall, the INSTEP program focused on a more timely topic for high school seniors: college application season. 

“I’ve learned signing up for FAFSA and TAP as soon as possible will help you go to college with barely any debt,” Amado Reynoso, one of the 26 KAPPA students who participated in the INSTEP program this fall, wrote in an email. “My favorite part of the program is when we did fun activities like college-themed Family Feud. It taught us more about college and stuff and financial aid, and [the Fordham counselors and students]kept it fun while doing so.” 

The virtual workshops also helped Leslie Garcia Torres navigate the financial aid process—something unfamiliar to many potential first-generation college students like herself. 

“The college process is stressful, especially if you don’t have any family members that have gone to college. It was just me, alone. I had to do the CUNY application, the FAFSA, all of that, the TAP application, by myself, but with a little bit of help,” said Torres, a high school senior from the Bronx and a Fordham STEP student. 

Among the CSTEP students co-leading the sessions was Anita Adu Manu, a junior at Fordham College at Rose Hill. Manu said they also discussed how to manage being a person of color in a predominantly white institution.

“These are kids who want to go abroad, in a way—outside of the city. We had to talk about that and how to find your own community,” Manu said. “We definitely used CSTEP as an example of one of these communities that other schools might have.”

‘Hey, I’ve Been In Your Shoes’

Manu said she found her own home through CSTEP. Before she became a program scholar in her sophomore year, she tagged along with her CSTEP friends to their program-sponsored biology and chemistry review sessions. She said she was also welcomed to a CSTEP potluck in her first year, even though she wasn’t officially part of the program. 

“I was able to build a community that I didn’t know I needed,” said Manu, a pre-med biology major from Van Cortlandt Village in the Bronx. “All the people I met freshman year at CSTEP are basically all my friends now.” 

She said her CSTEP counselors also helped her believe in herself. 

“There were a lot of things I didn’t know about the pre-med track, but all the counselors steered me in the right direction. And when I felt like I wanted to switch my major because I just wasn’t good enough, they reassured me. They were like, hey, I’ve been in your shoes,” Manu said, adding that many counselors are Fordham alumni, including Anya Patterson, FCRH ’19, a past Coro Fellow. 

Manu said she’s now considering becoming a sports cardiologist who travels with a soccer or football team. But at first, she wasn’t sure it was possible. 

“I felt like I was lagging behind. But when I would sneak into the review sessions,” Manu said with a laugh, “I had a boost of confidence. The professors were there. My peers were there. We were all collaborating. It made me feel like, OK, yeah. I think I can do this.”  

Thirty-Four Years of Growth 

Collectively, the CSTEP and STEP programs have been thriving at Fordham for decades. The STEP program at Rose Hill was created in 1986, while the STEP program at Lincoln Center became official in 2011. CSTEP has existed at the Rose Hill campus since 1987 and expanded to the Lincoln Center campus about 15 years ago.

“What the University has done over these past 34 years with the Rose Hill STEP program and for the past 10, 11 years with the STEP program—if you look at those numbers, you probably have somewhere between 8 and 10 thousand students over the life of these programs that have been positively impacted and who have been introduced to the possibilities of going to college and pursuing a career in a STEM, health, or licensed field,” Molina said. 

The oldest Fordham STEP graduates are now in their 40s, said Alba. The oldest CSTEP graduates are in their mid-50s. 

“These are folks that are doctors, physicians, Ph.D.s, accountants, lawyers, scientists, social workers, teachers,” said Alba, adding that many of them are originally from the Bronx. “And they proudly carry the STEP flag wherever they go.” 

Molina said the most rewarding part about their work is seeing their students as young as 11 realize their options in life and become adults. “You see these kids come in. They’re looking around like tourists … They’re wide-eyed with a lot of ideas and ambition and they’re highly motivated,” said Molina, a graduate from a similar program, the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP). “It’s really a joy to see them grow, develop, and become these really accomplished young people by the time they leave us.”

“I loved finance and economics. I tried to figure out a career [that used both]. I would not have been very good as a journalist or poet. I obviously am not going to be a great basketball player,” he said in Lowenstein’s Plaza View Room, to laughter from the students. “You’ve got to be true to yourself.”

Ferguson was raised in Washington, D.C., during the civil rights movement. His father served as a U.S. Army cartographer; his mother was a public school teacher. Ferguson started his education at a segregated elementary school and later won a scholarship to Sidwell Friends School, one of the top private schools in the nation. From there he was on to Harvard, and, later, embarked on a career path that took many twists and turns. 

“Careers are not very predictable,” said Ferguson, who often speaks to students and meets with administrators at colleges and universities, which are a large portion of TIAA’s client base. “People often talk about a career ladder. The image is very clear, very straight[forward]… My experience is much more like a climbing wall. You move left, you move right. You try something that maybe you trained for and didn’t like—in my case, the law—but then you can figure out ways to go forward.”  

Ferguson’s three degrees in economics—all from Harvard—carried him across the country. He worked as a lawyer, consultant, and leader at several different companies. Among them is the U.S. Federal Reserve, where he served as vice-chairman of the board of governors from 1999 to 2006—the first African American to do so. In 2008, he started his current role at TIAA, a Fortune 100 financial services company that has managed people’s savings for more than a century. 

For almost an hour, he spoke with a small group of undergraduates, who hail from boroughs as close as the Bronx and states as far as California. Most of the students are in Fordham’s Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP), which helps minority and economically disadvantaged students prepare for their careers. 

The main theme of their discussion was diversity and inclusion. Prioritizing these things not only leads to better decision-making, said Ferguson—it’s also “the right thing to do, morally and ethically.” 

“The phrase that we [TIAA] use around that is, ‘Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being invited and dancing on the dance floor with somebody,” he said. 

Ferguson described the ways that TIAA has incorporated diversity and inclusion at home. In the 1980s, the company hired Clifton Wharton, the first African-American CEO of a Fortune 500 company. TIAA also has several employee resource groups—diverse organizations that provide professional development for employees. The association for LGBTQ+ professionals and their allies has helped conduct internal company training, said Ferguson. Meanwhile, the Latino and Hispanic network has improved TIAA’s ability to counsel in Spanish, he added.  

“It allows diverse populations to find the place where they might feel a bit more at home, so to speak. But importantly, everyone is allowed to be a member of all our ERGs,” Ferguson said. “We don’t want them to be isolated.” 

In a Q&A session, students asked Ferguson about the challenges of being the first person of color in a high-level position and how TIAA is teaching young people about financial literacy. They also talked about microaggressions, including the ones that Ferguson has personally faced. He said it’s often difficult for him to catch an uptown cab in New York City. He also recalled the time he dined at a “fancy” restaurant and the waiter gave the check to the white person at his table—but Ferguson was the one paying the tab.  

“That kind of stuff does happen all the time,” Ferguson said. “But again, I can’t let somebody else’s foolishness demean my own sense of worth and self-confidence.” 

Hector Bonilla, a Fordham College at Lincoln Center senior studying economics, asked Ferguson about how difficult it is to find and hire candidates of color. Ferguson recalled a person who once asked him, “What do you say to a CEO who says, ‘I can’t find a woman qualified to be on my board?’”

His answer was short but simple: “You’re not looking hard enough.” 

In his last comments to the students, Ferguson advised them to finish their education at Fordham, take “reasonable” risks in their careers, and leverage their natural strengths. He also reminded them of what diversity and inclusion are all about. 

“Ultimately,” he said, “it’s about being very respectful of human beings.”