In his senior year, the Rams won the 1987 Liberty Conference title—an experience that helped him see the value of “finding a niche for yourself” on the team and contributing “in a meaningful manner” even if you aren’t the “star” player, he said.

He also found a mentor in Rich Marrin Sr., FCRH ’67, LAW ’70, a former Fordham football player who helped Curcio navigate Fordham Law School and his early career.

Today, Curcio is an equity partner at Quirk and Bakalor, a law firm in Garden City, New York. And he’s following in Marrin’s footsteps as president of the Gridiron Club, a booster club for Fordham football alumni and others who wish to support the team—with fundraising, yes, but also through one-on-one mentoring.

“We have these career nights for the kids on the team, where we give them the opportunity to ask us questions about different industries and how we can help them make connections in those fields,” Curcio said. “I’m trying to help out in every way I can.”

A lifelong New Yorker, Curcio was born in Parkchester, not too far from Fordham’s Rose Hill campus in the Bronx. His family moved to the Whitestone neighborhood of Queens when he was just 2 years old, but they were back in the Bronx often—to visit his grandmother, for afternoon trips to the New York Botanical Garden and the Bronx Zoo with his aunt and cousins, and for family parties on Arthur Avenue.

When it was time for college, Curcio was drawn to Fordham—and to the opportunity to continue playing football. “I had a friend from high school that was on the team who took an interest in bringing me up there, having me visit with the coach, that kind of thing—and I just fell in love with the campus,” he said.

Today, Curcio is not the only Ram in the family: He and his wife, Christine, are members of the Parent Ambassador Committee. And their son, Matthew, graduated from Fordham College at Lincoln Center in 2022.

Fordham Five

 What are you most passionate about?
I try to make it a rule to be passionate about whatever it is I’m doing at the time. More specifically, I am passionate about traveling, food, Fordham football, and the New York Rangers.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?Whatever you’re doing, do it. I know it’s a necessary skill in this day and age, but I find that if you’re multitasking, you’re often doing two things wrong at the same time.

What’s your favorite place in New York City? In the world?
I love New York City—I have never had an address outside of New York City and have a chip on my shoulder about being from the greatest city in the world. There are so many places we love, but if I had to pick two, I’d say the 1964–’65 Panorama Map of New York City at the Queens Museum and Madison Square Garden. The former has fascinated me since I was a little kid, and the latter has been a mainstay in my life since my dad, who is no longer with us, started taking me to Ranger games when I was 6 or 7. I’ve shared season tickets with a buddy from high school for the past 30 years. When I look up at that iconic ceiling, I feel at home.

In the world, we’ve been fortunate to travel a good amount, and there are a ton of places that have left me with great memoires, especially along the Amalfi coast. But to pick one specifically, I’d probably have to say Notre Dame—the cathedral in Paris, not the school in South Bend. We were there when my son was 12, and we walked up to the top and took pictures with all the gargoyles. They’re absolutely some of my favorite photos of him. It really hit home to see it burning on television. We’ve made donations to the restoration effort.

Name a book that has had a lasting influence on you.
Who Moved My Cheese. I wish I had a more profound response, but this simple book about change in your life has left a lasting influence. I’ve gone back to it a couple of times at different transition times over the years.

Who is the Fordham grad or professor you admire most?
I’d have to start with my head football coach, Larry Glueck. The life lessons learned playing for him have served me well. Rich Marrin Sr., who was president of the Gridiron Club when I was a player, helped guide me when making the tough decision to go to law school. He also made me understand the importance of paying that mentoring role forward, and he gave me the advice listed above.

John Lumelleau, FCRH ’74; John Costantino, GABELLI ’67, LAW ’70; John Zizzo, FCRH ’69; Pete Signori, GABELLI ‘68—and all the other gentlemen who played football before me and remain involved with the program, including former teammate and law school classmate Judge Robert Holdman, FCRH ’86, LAW ’91, who reached out and brought me back to be a part of the Gridiron Club.

Now, as she helps plan this year’s Jubilee reunion weekend, she wants her fellow alumni to reconnect with their own college memories—and how their Fordham experiences have fueled their lives and careers.

“I had a world-class education, and I took every bit of advantage of it … but I also loved that I was in New York City,” said Sullivan, a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Hogan Lovells, a global law firm. “I had organized my life so that I had no classes on Friday, and I would walk up to the D train, and I would go down to Fifth Avenue and window shop in stores that I couldn’t begin to afford.”

Sullivan is one of 15 alumni serving on the Class of 1973 planning committee, a dedicated group of volunteers helping to plan engagement events and reach out to fellow classmates leading up to the reunion celebration, from June 2 to 4. Though class years ending in 3 and 8 will be celebrated this year, all Rose Hill alumni are welcome.

As vice chair of the University’s Board of Trustees, Sullivan gets back to campus fairly often, but she said it’s not quite the same as getting to reunite with her fellow Rams.

“I am really excited at the prospect of seeing people who I have not seen in many cases since graduation,” she said, “and in some cases just rarely because I’m not in New York and a lot of my friends from Fordham stayed in the New York area.”

Breaking Ground—and Glass Ceilings

The women of Thomas More College—Fordham’s undergraduate school for women from 1964 to 1974—are known for being trailblazers in various fields, and Sullivan is certainly no exception. She’s one of the top energy lawyers in the country, having served as general counsel for the U.S. Department of Energy in the Clinton administration and as the department’s deputy general counsel for environment and nuclear programs.

Both of Sullivan’s parents—Eileen Ahern Sullivan, UGE ’42, LAW ’46, and Francis J. Sullivan, LAW ’34—were Fordham graduates, and they showed her firsthand the value of public service, particularly through their involvement with the fair housing movement. “We didn’t talk about ‘men and women for others’ then,” she said at a Presidential Welcome Reception she hosted with her husband, Larry Petro, at her firm’s offices in Washington, D.C. “That’s just the life they lived. And what they taught me.”

That sentiment fuels her efforts to combat climate change, both personally and professionally: She provided critical legal support for the world’s first deep geologic disposal facility for radioactive waste, for example, and negotiated the first agreements with electric utilities on voluntarily reducing greenhouse gas emissions. At Fordham’s 2015 Commencement, the University bestowed an honorary doctorate on her in recognition of “her exceptional and groundbreaking leadership in energy law.”

She’s passionate about giving back, as well. She’s a member of Fordham’s Doty Loyalty Giving Society and the 1841 Society, and has created and supported a number of endowed scholarships funds, including the Eileen Sullivan & Francis J. Sullivan Endowed Scholarship (named in honor of her parents), the Thomas More College Endowed Scholarship Fund, and the Fordham Founder’s Undergraduate Scholarship Fund.

Sullivan also has supported the Global Outreach program, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.

‘A Very Fordham Thing’

Though she was a self-described “nerd” and serious student who focused her studies on metaphysics, Russian literature, and economics, she was among the student protesters who “took over” the University’s administration building during the Vietnam War. She described the early 1970s as an “era of protest” but added that their particular occupation was a very “Fordham experience,” meaning it was more orderly than most.

“I will never forget this guy in the business school had a can of Pledge,” she said, “and as we were leaving the building, he was polishing the table. We were very respectful of the space. It was totally Fordham, you know.”

Fordham Five (Plus One)

What are you most passionate about?
I am passionate about climate change. We are frying the planet, and there is too little urgency about the need to change our behavior. It is on all of us to do what we can to turn things around: Insist on carbon-free power from your local utility—it is available if you ask—take public transportation, don’t drink water that has traveled on the road (i.e., bottled water), “reduce, reuse, recycle” in every part of life, don’t order anything for home delivery if you can pick it up the next time you are out running multiple errands, and never order just one thing for home delivery. The traffic jam of delivery trucks in my neighborhood drives me crazy because of the horrific carbon footprint it represents. There are promising big solutions out there, but the little stuff that we can control matters more than we acknowledge.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I got was probably in first grade, when I told my mother school was too hard. She told me I could do it if I tried. Effort is not everything, but in my life, it has counted for a lot.

What’s your favorite place in New York City? In the world?
In New York City, my favorite place is the Brooklyn Bridge, on foot. You can see the skyline of New York and the Statue of Liberty, which cannot help but inspire. At the same time, you can look at the river and New York Harbor and imagine New York before it was New York, when nature was all around. I think it is a magical walk.

The world has so many spectacularly beautiful and exciting places. Picking one favorite is hard. In the end, I come down to Antarctica. It is spectacularly beautiful and different from everywhere else I have been on the planet. And it is where I learned that penguins operate their own, very organized daycare centers. It was amazing to see some adult penguins stay behind with the babies who cannot yet swim while others went out and got food and brought it back for the babies and the daycare workers. For some reason, that made more of an impression on me than almost anything else I have seen in my travels.

Name a book that has had a lasting influence on you.
I confess that I am not as much of a reader as I wish I were or should be. Sitting quietly is not my strong suit. However, a couple of years ago, I picked up Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman from one of those little neighborhood library boxes. I loved it so much I read it cover to cover twice in short succession. It was a tale of overcoming incredibly challenging personal circumstances with the help of acts of kindness of others. Notwithstanding the trauma underlying her story, I found it a very hopeful story.

Who is the Fordham grad or professor you admire most?
I was a philosophy major when Fordham was home to a pantheon of philosophy giants: Norris Clark, S.J., Robert O’Connell, S.J., and Quentin Lauer, S.J., to name a few. I cannot pick one among them. I loved the education I got as a philosophy major and can remember 50 years later some of the insights I took away from their classes.

What are you optimistic about?
In my family, I am often referred to as Pollyanna, which has become a noun that means “an excessively cheerful or optimistic person.” Does that mean I am optimistic about everything? I think it really means I am good at forgetting the bad stuff. But I guess I am optimistic that we can make a difference in this world, which has many things to be pessimistic about, if we try.

Cicione, a 1987 graduate of Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH), believes that college is about learning how to think and finding yourself, so he encourages students to apply to schools where education isn’t limited to the classroom. He thinks the ideal place for that experience is Fordham—and for more than 20 years, that’s what he’s told his students.

This year, he’s bringing that philosophy to his fellow alumni through Forever Learning, a monthlong series of programs focused on the intersection of humans and technology.

Created by the Office of Alumni Relations in collaboration with the Fordham University Alumni Association (FUAA), it kicks off on April 3 with presentations online and in person at the Lincoln Center campus by faculty and alumni at the forefront of tech innovation. Later in the month, alumni will have a chance to sit in on a Fordham class. The series will also feature a tour of Red Hook, Brooklyn, a former industrial neighborhood now home to Pioneer Works, a cultural center led by artists and scientists.

“New York has so much to offer,” Cicione said, “and Fordham is fortunate to have that as one of the ancillary aspects of its education—that by choosing a school like Fordham, you’re choosing a place where your education extends beyond the classroom.”

The Immeasurable Value of Mentorship

A Long Island native, Cicione first learned of Fordham from his own high school English teacher, Ed Desmond, FCRH ‘67, who touted Fordham’s location as a major selling point. Desmond became Cicione’s mentor, offering him advice and leads when, after working in book publishing right out of college, he wanted to pivot to education.

“[He told me] how I could be better prepared to go into education, what I would need to do, where I was deficient, and how I could make that up,” Cicione said.

Desmond and his son even helped Cicione secure his current role at Commack High School, where he’s been mentoring students and schooling them on the merits of a Fordham education for the past two decades. (His own son, Conor, is also a Fordham alumnus; he graduated from FCRH in 2018.)

Some may think that it’s hard to stay fresh and motivated after teaching at the same high school for two decades, and Cicione admits that it can be challenging, but he finds ways to shake things up, he said. And he embodies a piece of advice he gives to students: Once you know what will truly make you happy, “the other things will fall into place—the money, the wanting to wake up every day and go to work: Those things happen only when you feel good about where you’re going and what you’re doing.”

Forever Fordham, Forever Learning

As an alumnus, Fordham parent, and New York resident, Cicione finds it easy to stay connected to the University in ways that are personally meaningful.

He’s been a loyal supporter of the Fordham men’s crew team, where he met many of the people he still calls close friends. He has fond memories of “getting up early in the morning to run down Fordham Road and go to the boathouse,” he said.

For roughly 10 years, he’s served as leader of Fordham’s Alumni Chapter of Long Island. The chapter is a way for alumni to reconnect, he said, but it’s also a way for them to pay it forward by supporting Fordham students. In 1991, the chapter launched the Long Island Scholarship in Memory of John Cifichiello, GABELLI ’68. Funded through contributions from chapter members and through fundraising activities, such as an annual golf outing, the scholarship provides four years of tuition assistance to high school students from Long Island.

Last but not least, Cicione serves as vice chair of the FUAA Advisory Board, through which he has been helping to plan this year’s Forever Learning month. He said he’s looking forward to the mix of in-person and online events, where faculty and alumni will share their research and thoughts on the role of artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and other technologies in education, business, and art—and the larger implications for the human experience.

Cicione sees the Forever Learning initiative as just another example of education not ending with graduation.

“You’re going to get that kind of education that Mark Twain talked about when he said, ‘I never let my schooling get in the way of my education,’” he said. “You’re breaking down boundaries and you’re going beyond the textbook … to extend your curriculum to the things you love.” 

Fordham Five (Plus One)

What are you most passionate about?
I am most passionate about the four B’s—books, baseball, beer, and Bruce Springsteen.  When I’m in school, it’s only three B’s and I omit beer. Everything else stems from that.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
The best bit of advice I ever received came from the book The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving. He wrote: “You have to get obsessed with life and stay obsessed with life.” I’ve taken that to mean you have to try new things and don’t let opportunity pass you by.

What’s your favorite place in New York City? In the world?
My favorite place in NYC is Yankee Stadium. I truly realized this after things eased up regarding COVID-19 protocols in 2021. When I first approached the stadium for the first time since 2019, I could feel myself getting excited like a child on Christmas Day. The limestone facade against the elevated tracks of the 4 train resonates with the vast differences of this great city.

Name a book that has had a lasting influence on you.
The book that has left a lasting impression on me is The Catcher in the Rye because it made me want to be a reader. The book that means the most to me is The Things They Carried—I quoted it in my father’s eulogy.

Who is the Fordham grad or professor you admire most?
The Fordham professor who I admire most is Constance Hassett, Ph.D. I still talk about her to my students. I didn’t have great grades with her, but she is brilliant and she helped me realize that what was good enough for high school wasn’t good enough for the next level.

What are you optimistic about?
I am the eternal pessimist. To borrow an idea from one of my professors in my master’s program: The optimist believes that everything is good; the pessimist believes that no matter how good things are, they can always get better. I have used that mantra in my teaching and my life. Get smarter and better—no matter how good you think things are at the moment.

So he spent the next two years cold-calling professors in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Rhode Island. And he worked his way up in positions of increasing responsibility in the publishing field while nurturing ideas for an innovative series of self-help books.

At first, traditional publishers weren’t buying into his ideas, but he found a home with IDG as a founding member of its new book division. Before his 10th Fordham reunion, he was living in Silicon Valley and working as the CEO of IDG Books Worldwide, the startup publisher of the popular “For Dummies” book series that he created.

“My premise was that dummies are smart but are made to feel dumb by the techno, financial, and pervasive ‘babble’ across a wide variety of topics,” he explained. “There was no limit to topics that my team and I believed could help improve the quality of people’s lives and enrich their careers.”

Perseverance Pays Off

Since the release of the first book, DOS for Dummies, 30 years ago, IDG and Wiley (the series’ publisher since 2001) have put out more than 2,000 titles and sold 250 million copies. The series has generated $2 billion in retail sales.

“I can safely say I used every bit of the knowledge gleaned from my four years at Fordham throughout my career,” Kilcullen said, adding that the icon for the series was inspired by an advertising class he took at Fordham that covered mnemonics. “It’s about creating a character, a device, or a geometric shape that’s instantly recognizable and memorable. That Dummies caricature was literally me with a spiky haircut. It translated well in the packaging, and having this androgynous icon would speak to the dummy in all of us.”

When it comes to growing businesses, Kilcullen is certainly no dummy. After taking IDG Books public in the late 1990s, he held several leadership roles in book and magazine publishing, including president and publisher of Billboard magazine and The Hollywood Reporter. Today, he’s a consultant for startup CEOs, guest lectures on innovation and entrepreneurship at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and treasures family time with his wife, Jessica, and their four sons.

Coming Home to Fordham

Last fall, Kilcullen returned to his alma mater to deliver the keynote speech at an event marking the 10th anniversary of the Fordham Foundry, the University’s hub for innovation and entrepreneurship. His messages were humble and inspiring: “Be intellectually curious.” “Spot gaps in the market and take the road less traveled to separate yourself from the pack.” “Carpe diem!”

Above all, he encouraged entrepreneurs in the Fordham community—alumni included—to take advantage of the support available at the Foundry, which “can help you realize your startup dream,” he said. “I wish it was available to me when I was here. It is Fordham’s best-kept secret.”

Although his connection to the Foundry is fairly recent, he looks forward to deepening it while enhancing Fordham’s growing presence in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is already planning an event he’ll host at his vineyard later this year.

“I am so stoked about the Fordham Foundry and its mission to support innovators and entrepreneurs throughout the entire Fordham ecosystem,” he said. “Their small team of entrepreneurs and mentors have accomplished so much in 10 years. I have no doubt the best is yet to come.”

—Claire Curry

Fordham Five (Plus One)

What are you most passionate about?
My family. My wife, Jessica, and my four sons are my world. I am also one of eight [siblings] and live in California, but most of my family live back East, so I love organizing family reunions and fun get-togethers. Fordham has been home to some of those gatherings in part because two of my six sisters attended Fordham, and my nephew is a Fordham Law graduate. On one of those occasions, I remember charging our home court at Rose Hill with my young son Conor on my shoulders at the conclusion of a riveting, upset victory. Conor was mesmerized and excited by all the students flooding the court. On the professional front, I am passionate about helping entrepreneurs achieve their dreams.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
I was asked by a former colleague who sat on the Amazon board to meet with Jeff Bezos in Seattle during Amazon’s first year. I asked Jeff about his plans to create Amazon’s culture. He enthusiastically replied with a story about how he and his dad built desks for each member of his team using wooden doors (instead of purchasing desks). His message to his employees was simple: leaders lead by example. Employees notice when founders and senior executives do the small things instead of delegating. Jeff’s story reinforced my own view that when there is a trade show to attend, for example, get there early and help the team assemble the booth. Get in the field and make sales calls. Lead from the front, not from the corner office.

What’s your favorite place in New York City? In the world?
It depends. When I need to pray for a loved one, St. Patrick’s Cathedral is my sanctuary. Central Park has a special place in my heart, as that is where I completed the New York City Marathon. I also enjoy working with the V Foundation, which affords me the opportunity to shoot hoops at the Garden before the annual V Classic. Madison Square Garden has been the venue for so many memorable concerts and basketball battles throughout my life.

I love returning to my mom’s home county of Mayo, Ireland, to visit my aunt and cousins. No trip to Mayo is complete without a visit to the Ashford Castle. Maui is my happy place for relaxing beach time and collecting art. The north and south islands of New Zealand are epic for food, wine, and hikes—and Whistler, B.C., is amazing for family skiing.

Name a book that has had a lasting influence on you.
I spent most of my career in publishing, so there are so many books I enjoyed reading and working on. The Power of Positive Thinking spoke to my entrepreneurial soul. I also loved Lee Iacocca’s book, Iacocca: An Autobiography. Lee joined me for lunch with key retail clients in Chicago and shared an incredible story about reinventing Chrysler. I identified with Lee’s zeal in battling established industry giants and championing the underdog. I created the unconventional “For Dummies” series and an innovative company culture emulating Lee’s esprit de corps. I am proud that the “For Dummies” book series and brand has helped tens of millions of people around the world and continues serving that mission 30 years later. Remaining positive during the early years and establishing a contrarian, underdog culture was influential in scaling the company from startup to IPO.

Who is the Fordham grad or professor you admire most?
My favorite professor was Dr. Maurice O’Connell, who taught Irish history and was the great-great-grandson of the legendary Irish Liberator, Daniel O’Connell. The Fordham icon I admire most is easy: Father Joseph O’Hare. I have fond memories of sitting next to Father O’Hare at football and basketball games, sharing laughs and cheers. His quick wit, insightful stories, radiant smile, and love of alma mater were always evident. He was a Fordham president who was a man of the people and a true friend. I dedicated a study room in the [Walsh Family Library] to honor our shared love of books.

What are you optimistic about?
My wife’s nickname for me is Captain Optimistic. I see the world as a glass half full. And every day I wake up optimistic as it’s a new day. Embrace it, enjoy it, and be a lifelong learner—and give back. I firmly believe in the resilience of the human spirit to triumph over adversity, persevere against all odds, and see the good in everyone.

Interview conducted, edited, and condensed by Claire Curry.

Watch John Kilcullen’s keynote address at the Fordham Foundry’s 10th anniversary celebration:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvcyhA4fAn4

“Fordham made me enjoy and pursue continuing education,” he said. “That’s probably why I have done so many different things, and I have changed every five years—not because I didn’t enjoy what I was doing [but because I wondered,]  ‘Now, what else can we learn? What new thing can we do?’ The lasting experience is that passion for learning—to continue learning.”

Drawing Some Inspiration from ‘Ol’ Blue Eyes’

Born in the Bronx not far from Fordham, Lamoso moved with his family to their native Puerto Rico when he was a toddler. Though the 1986 Fordham College at Rose Hill graduate doesn’t “remember anything about New York as a kid,” the city lured him back for college.

“It was clear to me and my parents that Frank Sinatra was right: If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere,” he said, referencing the singer’s 1979 hit about New York City, “Theme from New York, New York.”

Continuing the Catholic education he received in Puerto Rico, Lamoso enrolled at Fordham to study political science and economics. He had a grand plan to take what’s now known as a gap year, trekking through Spain with his friends, before ultimately returning to New York to attend law school.

That didn’t quite work out, and he went “from having it all figured out” to facing a year “with nowhere to go, no school applied to or anything.” As he’s done many times since, Lamoso made a new plan: He landed an internship at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, a white-shoe law firm based in the city, thanks to his educational background, Spanish proficiency, and Fordham connections—the hiring partner was a fellow Fordham graduate.

Creating Opportunity, New Business Ventures on the Island

After the internship, Lamoso returned to Puerto Rico to study law at the University of Puerto Rico, earning a J.D. in 1990. He’s displayed an entrepreneurial spirit throughout his career since: he’s practiced law, managed a venture capital fund, and launched various communications ventures.

In 2017, as he was contemplating his next career step, his mother was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. It got him thinking not just about his own health and path but also about the health prospects of Puerto Rico as a whole.

“My friend at Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center was head of the colorectal division, and he asked me to send him pictures of my mother’s fridge and her food cabinet,” Lamoso said. “He sent it back to me with circles and said, ‘This is the reason. This is why.’”

His friend had circled all of the packaged, processed, microwaveable food his mother had been eating, having ceased cooking fresh, homemade meals after Lamoso’s father died 15 years earlier.

Lamoso became a pescatarian and started to examine the island’s food landscape: More than 80% of Puerto Rico’s food is imported, he said, including more than 95% of its greens. Thinking of his grandfather and great-grandfather, who were coffee farmers, he decided to return to his family’s roots. He launched Explora Greens, a 60,000-square-foot hydroponic farming operation in Isabela, about two hours away from San Juan.

Just as it was getting off the ground and Lamoso was preparing to open a new greenhouse, Hurricane Maria hit, delaying his expansion plans for a few months but underscoring the need for greater self-sufficiency and a stronger local food system on the island.

Improving Fresh Food Access

Fast forward five years, and Lamoso’s farm is up and running. Explore Greens produces a leafy, Dutch lettuce in the butterhead lettuce family, and romaine, which they distribute to more than 80 supermarkets on the island.

“I saw that we have a food safety issue, and it became amazingly obvious after Hurricane Maria,” he said. “When it comes to greens, we import over 1,200 containers—just in one food stuff, one of the line items in the supermarket.” He shared his hope that his company can help bring down that number. “If I can import-substitute at least 20 containers a year, I’ll be happy.”

Today, Lamoso has his hands in every facet of farm operation. Unlike the romantic notion his lawyer friends and many others have of running a farm, Lamoso said he does everything—from accounting and marketing to waking up at 4 a.m. to help harvest and package the greens—because “the farm doesn’t take care of itself.”

Fostering Fordham Ties

Amid all his entrepreneurial ventures, one thing has stayed constant: Lamoso is deeply tied to Fordham and committed to helping more students from Puerto Rico find a home at the Jesuit University of New York.

As a longtime member of the Alumni Chapter of Puerto Rico, Lamoso said he’s worked closely with Joseph M. McShane, S.J., Fordham’s outgoing president, to expose students on the island to the University.

Lamoso has done his part, too. He “started making calls” to prospective students and even met with them and encouraged them to apply to Fordham. As word spread that his was “the Fordham family,” he said he took it upon himself to interview and recommend even more students, with some help from his own children, who would spread the word among their friends, their friends’ siblings and relatives, classmates, and others.

As Fordham welcomes its new president, Tania Tetlow, J.D., next month, Lamoso said he’s hopeful the University can keep the momentum going in Puerto Rico.

“I actually feel very optimistic: I think that our new president can do it, can transmit that” excitement, he said.

Fordham Five (Plus One)

What are you most passionate about?
Learning experiences. I despise stagnation.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
At Fordham, I learned that the best advice actually comes from the dead—I mean books. Seneca, a Roman Stoic philosopher, keeps “instructing me” not to suffer in my imagination. Over the years, I have become better at this, but I still have work to do.

What’s your favorite place in New York City? In the world?
McSorley’s in the East Village. There is something about a beer house that has survived so much, especially the fads and taste of young generations in these fast-fashion times.

In the world, I have to say Laos because of the innocence kept by its people despite what the rest of the world has made them endure.

Name a book that has had a lasting influence on you.
Well, I am an avid reader, so you are going to have to allow me to mention more than one book.

The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm: A copy of it was given to me during Senior Week at Fordham by a retired Jesuit that had taught in Colegio San Ignacio in San Juan and was fond of Puerto Rico.

Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. My three colleagues in the [internship at the law firm] were so smart they made my head hurt. They got me into Dostoyevsky. I must be one of the few persons that misses having to ride the subway for an hour in the morning so I could read Russian literature.

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl has … actually helped me take business risk and have the courage to embrace the changes that have allowed me to learn and grow.

Who is the Fordham grad or professor you admire most?
Father McShane, who I met after his first year as president. Both of my children are big fans of him, too, since they have known him since they were in kindergarten. Father McShane navigated Fordham through such difficult times and through so many challenges in the first part of the 21st century, such as lower government funding and aid, higher operating costs, increased competition for students, recruiting and retaining professors, a transformation to digital learning, and of course a pandemic. And he did it with an ace fighter pilot finesse that made it look so easy.

What are you optimistic about?
Now, I believe my children will live their mature lives in a democracy. I was afraid of the contrary until not long ago. I am also optimistic about Fordham, and in the long run I am even optimistic about climate change.

Browne credits her college years at Fordham for laying the foundations for a resume that includes high-profile reporting and anchoring positions at News 12 Long Island, MSNBC, and Fox News. As a communications major, she began developing her journalistic chops working at WFUV (90.7 FM, wfuv.org), Fordham’s radio station. That experience sparked a passion for broadcast news, although she joined the station in her first year with a different goal in mind: She wanted to host Ceol na nGael, the station’s popular Irish music program.

“I became involved in the news department because it was a requirement if I wanted to be on the Irish show,” she said. “My parents would always listen to the show when I was growing up. But I had to work my way up to that. WFUV said, ‘Write some newscasts, eventually anchor the news. Then you can be a gopher on the Irish show.’”

A Training Ground for Success

Browne spent most of her free time in the studios, then located on the third floor of Keating Hall, where she wrote and presented short news updates and eventually anchored the half-hour Evening Report. By the time she reached her junior year, Browne had risen to WFUV news director and was assigned to co-host the Irish show with Kathleen Biggins, FCRH ’87, GSE ’91, who is now a longtime CBS News writer and still a host on WFUV. Browne praised her former classmate for being a supportive mentor and “extremely well-versed in Irish music and culture.”

As an undergraduate, Browne worked with many other WFUV colleagues who went on to successful careers in broadcasting, including Lou Rufino, FCRH ’86, the WFAN and WABC broadcast engineer who worked on Don Imus’ nationally syndicated morning show for years; New York Giants play-by-play announcer Bob Papa, GABELLI ’86; and sports journalist and New York Yankees analyst Jack Curry, FCRH ’86.

“WFUV is a 50,000-watt radio station. That is the same size as commercial stations in the tristate area,” Browne said. “It is taken very seriously, and the training was rigorous. I’m glad I got to make my mistakes there and learn a lot.” During her years at Fordham, Browne also worked part time at Newsweek and served as editor of a Fordham literary magazine called Alternative Motifs.

After graduating, Browne worked as a morning news anchor at Long Island’s WLIM Radio. She later earned a master’s degree in communication arts at New York Institute of Technology, where she taught undergraduate news writing and served as a reporter on NYIT’s evening cable news show.

Following a stint as Michigan bureau chief on WSJV-TV in South Bend, Indiana, Browne returned to New York to work at News 12 Long Island. She was then an anchor at MSNBC for three years and spent 17 years at Fox News. Her reporting earned her an Associated Press Regional Award for a documentary feature, a FOLIO Award, and the Dennis Puleston Award for Environmental Achievement. She was also named one of the top 30 in Irish American Media by The Irish Voice. And in 2012, she was inducted into the Hall of Fame for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, which includes Queens, where she grew up.

‘Living with Integrity and Working Hard’

Browne’s retirement was something she foresaw from the beginning of her career. “When I was in my 20s, I said, ‘I’m not going to do this forever. Probably when I hit 50, I’m going to stop because it’s a difficult job.’ You’re not working nine to five. You’re working weekends, holidays, early mornings, late nights, overnights. It’s very difficult to be present for your family.”

Family has always been important to Browne, who has two sisters, including a twin. She is grateful to her parents for instilling in her and her siblings faith, gratitude, and a solid work ethic. “They set a really good example for how to be successful in life by living with integrity and working hard,” she said.

While she was living in New York City, Browne met her husband, Mike, at Holy Trinity Church on the Upper West Side, where they eventually married. The couple has a son, Connor, who was born 11 weeks premature, weighing just over two pounds. In her book, she describes how motherhood—and Connor’s early and challenging start to life—instantly shifted her priorities.

Over the years, Browne has remained connected to her alma mater. She is a member of the Fordham Alumni Chapter of Long Island and has participated in fundraising efforts and career seminars at WFUV. In 2016, she moderated a forum about Pope Francis prior to his New York visit.

Her Fordham roots also grew deeper with her marriage. “I ended up marrying a guy whose parents went to Fordham and actually met at Fordham, so we have Rams on both sides of the family,” said Browne, who fondly recalled many tailgate parties and said she’s looking forward to celebrating her upcoming 35th Jubilee in June.

Browne’s son, Connor, is now a college-bound high school student who runs track, plays the tuba, and is a soon-to-be Eagle Scout. She is grateful to have more time to spend with him and her husband camping and enjoying the outdoors and volunteering at their church in Nassau County. She also does freelance voice-over work and has devoted the past year to writing her book. In addition to recounting the perks and challenges of her career, Browne writes about growing up in Queens, her years at Fordham, and her decision to walk away from the spotlight to focus more on faith and family. The message she hopes to send readers is that it’s possible to “take control of your own destiny and write your own story.”

Fordham Five (Plus One)

What are you most passionate about?
Motherhood. Twenty years ago, I would’ve said “my career,” but priorities shift. My son is my pride and joy.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
There’s a famous quote by author and motivational speaker J. Richard Lessor that I have found to be true throughout my life: “Happiness is like a butterfly: the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.”

What’s your favorite place in New York City? In the world?
My favorite place in the city is Central Park. While living on the Upper West Side, I explored every nook and cranny of this beautiful oasis. I miss it now that I’m in the suburbs. My favorite place in the world is the west coast of Ireland.

Name a book that has had a lasting influence on you.
Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis. It makes the case that faith and logic are not incompatible.

Who is the Fordham grad or professor you admire most?
I had some excellent professors, but I think Fordham’s former president Joseph A. O’Hare, S.J., might be the person I admire most. A Bronx native, son of a cop and a teacher, he was inspired to become a priest by watching Jesuits fight corruption in the 1940s. He was an open-minded man of intelligence, integrity, honesty, and civility. He was influential not just on campus but in the world beyond, as editor-in-chief of America magazine and founding chair of New York City’s Campaign Finance Board. More personally, he was accessible to Fordham’s students. I was fortunate to spend some time with him over my four years at Fordham. In addition to the qualities I already mentioned, he also had a great sense of humor. He was witty and a great storyteller. He left his mark on Fordham and the world.

What are you optimistic about?
The future of faith in America. The trend in the U.S. has been toward secularization, but I believe the pendulum will start to swing back toward God as people figure out the current path isn’t working.

Interview conducted, edited, and condensed by Claire Curry.

“There’s so many issues that impact the ability for people to be healthy in low-income communities like the Bronx,” Pierre said, such as high unemployment, low graduation rates, and limited access to affordable fresh fruits and vegetables.

Pierre said Bronx County, where he’s lived for more than 15 years, ranks last out of 62 counties in New York when it comes to health outcomes. He’s on a mission to improve that statistic, not just through his work at Healthfirst, but also by mentoring Fordham students as a member of the President’s Council and by teaching health economics as an adjunct professor at Columbia University and other schools across the city. He said a holistic approach is what’s needed.

“There’s so many downstream impacts of not having [good] health [outcomes], but the solutions are outside of just giving people a health insurance card; it has to do with the total environment,” he said.

The Value of a Fordham Education

Born in New York City to Haitian immigrants, Pierre said the value of education was drilled into him and his older brother “the entire time growing up.” He watched as each of his parents worked multiple jobs to provide for their family and make higher education that much more accessible for him and his brother.

“My dad actually started a business cleaning offices, and the sole purpose was for his children to go to school, get an education, work hard,” Pierre said.

Pierre said that in high school, Fordham was on his radar as one of the city’s top schools. He liked that he could live on campus but still visit his family often. He also liked the University’s proximity to countless internship opportunities and the reputation of its business school. Add in the fact that he could continue running track, which he did throughout high school, and Pierre said he was sold.

“I knew I wanted to be a business major somewhere that would afford me the opportunity to have an internship. I remember, once I got the acceptance from Fordham and the ability to join the track team, that was my decision; that was it.”

Beginning a Lifelong Commitment

Pierre’s start as a Fordham student is imprinted in his mind for more than the opportunities and change it provided, though: 9/11 happened at the beginning of his first semester.

“I remember going to the rooftop of Dealy Hall with other classmates and looking at the city skyline,” he said. “I remember every single piece of that moment. There was so much bonding for that cohort.”

Pierre said that those moments, along with his time on the track team and in the classroom, were defining for him. “[You] figure out what you want to be when you grow up, figure out the type of man you’re going to be for the rest of your life,” he said. And that’s why he’s so committed to the University still.

“After I graduated, there was always a goal to stay connected to Fordham—you just want to give back because of how much was given to you as a student,” he said.

Offering Current—and Future—Students a ‘Hand Up’

One of the ways he tries to meet that goal is by serving on the President’s Council, a group of successful professionals and philanthropists committed to mentoring Fordham’s future leaders.

Last September, he joined two other council members on a panel titled “Born, Bred, and Making It in NYC.” He told Fordham students that a series of internships really helped drive him to his career and passion: equitable access to health care for everyone.

After graduating from the Gabelli School of Business in 2005, he earned a master’s degree in health policy and financial management from NYU, and now he’s pursuing a doctorate in health economics at Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business—all to be better equipped to both find solutions to public health crises and to educate students to be able to do the same.

As a member of the President’s Council, Pierre has also contributed to the Fordham Founder’s Undergraduate Scholarship Fund. He recalled one incident when he was able to help clear the barriers of entry for one student of color with her heart set on enrolling in the Ailey/Fordham BFA in Dance program. Now, she’s in her second year of the program, he said.

In the past, he’s also had a chance to reach students before they enroll, offering advice and sharing his experiences with Black male student-athletes through his involvement in Fordham Gents, a mentoring group consisting of Black male alumni.

“I would sit at a table with 10 to 12 kids, and we literally would just talk about college life, school, how to write a resume, how to look for scholarships, things to think about when thinking about a school, my experience at Fordham as a Black student,” he said. “Giving back that way was very impactful for me, and I just felt it was a must-do because I wish I had that sort of exposure, training, and guidance. I wished I was able to meet alumni that were of color that said, ‘Hey, I’ve been through it.’”

Since December, Pierre, who recently finished a term on the President’s Athletic Advisory Board, has also been serving as a member of the Athletics Steering Committee and is hoping to facilitate a partnership between Healthfirst and the University. He said that recruiting from the communities it serves is a priority for Healthfirst, so the organization is looking to Fordham and other New York City schools for interns and recent graduates.

“Once COVID-19 is dying down, and we can go back into the community and be safe, where there’s opportunities for Healthfirst to do community engagement events in partnership with Fordham, we’ll definitely connect.” More than recruiting students, Pierre said the partnership would also focus on what can be done to help the community overall.

“My passion has been trying to work with anybody … because we shouldn’t be in a society where we have so much money, yet there’s so many people that need a hand up to help them have a better life and thrive.”

Fordham Five (Plus One)

What are you most passionate about?
I’m most passionate about mentoring and helping people along their path to being the best version of themselves.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
The sweet isn’t as sweet without the bitter.

What’s your favorite place in New York City? In the world?
I have forever fallen in love with Harlem, New York. After that, Johannesburg, South Africa, is my second favorite place.

Name a book that has had a lasting influence on you.
On Beauty, by Zadie Smith. Actually, any book by Zadie Smith!

Who is the Fordham grad or professor you admire most?
I admire Anthony Carter, FCRH ’76 [a Fordham trustee and former member of the President’s Council]. He has been a thought leader and high-level executive in his industry. He sets a high bar and an amazing example of how to give back to the Fordham community. Lastly, he has created unique opportunities for other alumni, like me, to give back, too. He’s a Fordham titan!

What are you optimistic about?
I am optimistic about the COVID-19 recovery in New York City. As we return to normal, vaccinations are quickly becoming the gateway to our new, post-pandemic economy. This means the unvaccinated working class of New York could potentially be shut out due to their lower vaccination rates. This comes at a time when the need could not be greater. But I am hopeful that New York and the new administration in City Hall will find the light at the end of this tunnel.

Interview conducted, edited, and condensed by Sierra McCleary-Harris.

For Luigi Fata, however, a keen focus on mentorship is not just for the new year; it’s business as usual.

“My fundamental belief is it’s always beneficial to you to help others—as much as it’s beneficial to them getting the help,” said Fata, a 1991 graduate of Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business.

He’s a firm believer in empowering people, whether he’s working as vice president of E.T. Browne Drug Company, which manufactures the Palmer’s brand of cocoa butter products, or participating in the Fordham Mentoring Program, which he said he’s done for about 10 years.

“I realized, now I have the ability to share my story with others and help them get through the process of what they want to be when they grow up,” he said. “It’s very important to find what makes people tick and what their passions are and, as a leader or a manager or a mentor, help them do more of that.”

Navigating Fordham as a First-Generation Student

Born in the Bronx to an Italian immigrant and a Yonkers native, Fata grew up just miles from Fordham’s Rose Hill campus, but he “had no real idea” or sense of the University until his older sister enrolled in an evening course.

“My mom was a high school student and my dad, being an immigrant, only went to third grade,” Fata said. “So, we never really knew what college was about until my sister went.”

Now, attending Fordham is a family affair: Fata met his wife, Maria Calicchia-Fata, FCRH ’92, at the University, and he and Maria are two-time Ram parents. Their son, Nicholas, is a junior at Fordham College at Rose Hill and their daughter, Marisa, majored in communication and culture, earning both a B.A. and M.A. after completing an accelerated master’s degree program through the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences last year.

Fata said that as soon he and his father drove onto campus to drop his sister off for class, he knew he’d apply to Fordham when the time came. He initially enrolled as a liberal arts major in hopes of becoming a teacher, but switched things up, ultimately earning a degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing and a minor in management.

Fata also played basketball at Fordham. As a standout player on his high school team, he had received athletics scholarship offers from some Division II schools, so he assumed it would be pretty easy to “walk on” to Fordham’s Division I team. He quickly learned just how wrong he was when he arrived “as a scrawny little freshman,” he said, and discovered how much “bigger, stronger, and faster” the team was.

But it wasn’t a total bust: Fata ended up captaining the junior varsity basketball team and meeting “most of my good friends to this day.” And he credits his tryout woes with teaching him new ways to approach—and ultimately solve—problems.

“Those experiences really help define you,” he said. “That’s why playing basketball was one of the best things I did at Fordham: learning how to fight for something like that is a lifelong skill. Never give up on an idea, and find your way through a problem.”

Teaching It Forward

That drive and appetite for problem-solving has served him well in his sales career, he said. Starting with his first sales job with Duracell fresh out of college—an opportunity he discovered when he attended a Fordham career fair—Fata has worked in sales and marketing for various consumer products, from batteries and razors to makeup and skin care.

“I started as a sales rep, where I’d go into the store, and I would literally do things like clean the shelves, straighten up the product on shelves, dust off the product, make it look good, and then jump in my car, go to the next store, and do the same thing,” Fata said. “It was real grunt work at the time, but it was all about learning.”

Fata’s desire to teach never left him, and in 1992 he decided to pursue an M.B.A. to be better positioned to teach as an adjunct professor down the line. He graduated from Long Island University’s satellite campus at Mercy College in Westchester County, New York, in 1996. Degree in hand, Fata has taught at a community college in Westchester “as part of my giving back, as part of me feeling like I could scratch that itch of being a teacher while being in the business world.”

In that vein, Fata got involved in the Fordham Mentoring Program. “It’s partially teaching” and “partially helping people understand their opportunities,” he said.

In May, he participated in the University’s First-Generation Celebration, a virtual event featuring alumni speakers and mentors familiar with the challenges associated with being the first in your family to attend college.

His participation in that celebration and his service as a mentor have created a “virtuous circle” of sorts. At the kickoff event for the 2021–2022 Fordham Mentoring Program, Fata shared a story about one of his mentees, Marie Lynch, FCRH ’18, and his daughter. When Marisa was a first-year student at Fordham, Lynch helped her secure an internship in the athletics department. Now Lynch is officially a mentor herself, having joined the Fordham Mentoring Program last fall.

“As Fordham alumni, we always will put out a hand,” Fata said. “It’s a question of whether you choose, as a Fordham student, to take that hand and run with it. At some point [after you graduate, you reach your hand out, too], like Marie did. She reached her hand out to my daughter, and it came full circle.”

Fordham Five (Plus One)

What are you most passionate about? People!

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? Be uniquely, genuinely, honestly you!

What’s your favorite place in New York City? Grand Central Station. In the world? Fontana di Trevi in Rome.

Name a book that has had a lasting influence on you? The Catcher in the Rye

Who is the Fordham grad or professor you admire most? My wife—teacher and best mom ever!

What are you optimistic about? Life in general.

“We arrived on August 26. And right after Labor Day, I started the third grade,” Lopez said. “I didn’t really speak English. I didn’t really know what was happening. We didn’t really have a network, and we had to do a lot on our own.”

Being on their own was new. Though she’d grown up with 12 siblings in the Dominican Republic—each of her parents was married and had six children before they met each other—she arrived in New York City with only three family members: her mother, one brother, and one sister. The rest of the family stayed put while the four of them set up a home in the U.S.

The family settled in the Inwood area of Manhattan, home to “a large Dominican contingency” that allowed Lopez to remain connected to her cultural roots while trying to bridge the gap “between being a Dominican and being an American,” she said.

Part of the network she developed, as a newly arrived third-grader attending public school, ultimately led her to Fordham. Lopez attended John F. Kennedy High School in the Bronx with a “dear friend from the third grade.” The two were discussing where they wanted to attend college when the friend asked her to tag along for a visit to Fordham’s Rose Hill campus.

“I came in through that entrance on East Fordham Road, [past]the gate, and onto that pathway that leads up to [Duane] Library, and I’ve never seen anything more beautiful in terms of, ‘Wow, this is what a college looks like, a university,’” she said.

Not only did Lopez fall in love with the campus, but she also said it immediately “felt so safe to me after coming from a Bronx high school where girls felt quite unsafe. I just very much immediately felt at home in an odd way.”

Finally afforded a “chance to really learn,” Lopez said her Fordham experience wasn’t filled with many extracurricular or community activities. Instead, the academics alone made her feel that she was finally getting what she “came here to this country for.”

As a psychology major, Lopez enjoyed studying the human mind—delving into “some of the mental issues that people in society face, and how people deal with them”—and she threw herself into preparing for her next step: law school.

“I knew that I needed to have very good grades to get into law school, so I spent a lot of time in Duane Library studying to get the best possible,” she said. “It was the academic deep dive that I was sort of waiting to have all my life.”

She found another love at Fordham, too: her husband, Ray Garcia, FCRH ’89. They met in a class as first-year students, and after some relentless note-passing, Lopez agreed to go out with him. “The first few weeks of school, classmates would send a little note up from the back row where he sat to the front row where I sat.” She usually declined his invitations, but “after a while I just decided, OK, I guess I’m going to go on a date,” she said, “and so that was the beginning.”

They were eventually married in the University Church, with longtime Fordham sociology professor Joseph Fitzpatrick, S.J., presiding, and they have two children: a son, Nicholas, who graduated from Fordham College at Rose Hill in 2019, and a daughter, Giselle, who is currently attending George Washington University.

After earning her B.S. from Fordham, Lopez earned a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992 and has been practicing law ever since. For the past 23 years, she’s worked at McKinsey & Company, but soon she’ll take over as general counsel and chief legal officer at Spencer Stuart, an executive search and leadership advisory firm, in what she described as a dream role.

“One of the things I love doing is leaning into the development of people because we can all be really smart and really capable, but if we’re not investing in people and their growth and their excitement, and we’re not making them feel like they’re part of something special, I’m not sure we’re accomplishing very much,” said Lopez, who was honored as a Latina Trailblazer in 2018 by the nonprofit advocacy group LatinoJustice.

The imperative to invest in young talent to create future leaders isn’t one that’s limited to Lopez’s legal work; she thinks ensuring that current and future students can thrive is one of her duties as a Fordham alumna: playing a role so that “other students have the benefit of the experience I had.”

“Fordham taught me how to think differently and focus on being a good human and a student of life, not just a student for four years. To focus on doing good things and service and living in service.” There’s something more that comes with being a Fordham graduate, she said: “It’s something broader; it’s about purpose.”

Fordham Five (Plus One)

What are you most passionate about?
Making the community in which I live and work better. One of the ways in which I do this is through my involvement in Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York, both as a member of the board of trustees and as a mentor. I have mentored several young women since they were in high school, and they are all moving successfully to the next chapter in their lives. Seeing kids succeed is awesome!

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
My mother told me to get the best education possible because it would be the path to a better life. She was right.

What’s your favorite place in New York City? In the world?
My favorite place in New York City is the neighborhood I grew up in, 215th Street and Seaman Avenue, tucked in the most northern part of Manhattan near Inwood Hill Park. What a gem of a neighborhood. I love the stairs that connect Broadway to Park Terrace East, built in 1915 and a great reminder of the world before the automobile. My favorite place in the world is Italy. I love the food, culture, people, and variety of landscapes. Somehow, I feel very much at home there. I’ve dragged my children there several times, starting when my youngest was 5 years old. It’s never too early to learn a different culture.

Name a book that has had a lasting influence on you.
Night by Elie Wiesel. It is a beautifully written, wrenching, and deeply moving memoir. I have read it many times and will read it many times more. Night helped me understand the suffering and anguish of a people and the imperative to be ever mindful of the suffering of others.

Who is the Fordham grad or professor you admire most?
I admire many Fordham professors who opened my eyes to the world, including “the Notorious Ph.D.,” Mark Naison; Raymond Grontkowski, Ph.D.; Joseph Fitzpatrick, S.J.; and Claude Mangum, Ph.D. There is one [grad]who stands out above the rest: my husband, Ray Garcia. Ray has been a huge supporter of everything I’ve tried to do professionally since we both graduated from Fordham. He has been my biggest fan, and I admire him for his willingness to sacrifice so much so that his partner can shine. Thank you, Ray! You embody everything that is good and genuine in this world.

What are you optimistic about?
The ability of young people to change the trajectory of the world we live in. This next generation of leaders is less patient and hopefully will not tolerate injustice for as long as prior generations have. I am optimistic that new leaders will demand more, as they should.

Interview conducted, edited, and condensed by Sierra McCleary-Harris.

Molly Hellauer, who studied communications and political science at Fordham College at Lincoln Center, plans to be among those tuning in.

Though she graduated in 2016, Hellauer said her ongoing connection to the University has made the time fly. “Fordham still feels very close. It doesn’t feel like five years at all, but it is nice to have that community as a resource five years later—and I know it will continue to be a resource 10 years, 15 years from now.”

Staying Connected Through Service

Hellauer immersed herself in the Fordham community as a student, serving on the Campus Activities Board and volunteering as both an orientation leader and captain prior to working as an orientation coordinator for two years. Each of these activities helped her learn “a great deal about professionalism,” she said, and inspired her to keep the Fordham connection going after graduation.

She joined the Young Alumni Committee in 2016, and last year led its social justice subcommittee, which organizes service projects for recent graduates. In recent years, they have worked with the Bronx Is Blooming to plant new trees and clean up parks, and with Socks in the City—a nonprofit founded by Cat Fernando, FCLC ’20—to get socks and other supplies to New Yorkers experiencing homelessness.

Before the pandemic, that meant organizing a day for young alumni to go out in small groups and distribute supplies. “It’s also really about building connections,” Hellauer said. “So, they’re not just giving things to folks; they’re talking to them, learning about their lives, hearing their stories, and making them feel heard.”

In the past year, the subcommittee embraced remote service work, joining a Socks in the City initiative to order supplies and have them shipped to a central location for volunteers to distribute. And Hellauer helped organize a Zoom-based letter-writing campaign, during which alumni gathered virtually to write letters and holiday cards to people living in nursing homes.

“We all just figured it out and were able to keep people engaged, and that’s just a really good feeling,” she said. “Obviously, I would rather do things in person, but I’m just really impressed with everyone’s adaptability.”

Putting Her Fordham Education to Work in Politics and Public Relations

Giving back to Fordham and its local communities may keep Hellauer quite close to the University, but she has indeed spread her wings since graduating. The summer following her senior year, she was awarded a Students for a New American Politics PAC Organizing Fellowship. Run by Yale University students, the political action committee provides a stipend for fellows to work as grassroots organizers for progressive candidates running for Congress. Hellauer was sent to Rochester, New Hampshire, to work on Carol Shea-Porter’s campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives.

To Hellauer’s surprise, she was placed with another Fordham Ram working as a field organizer in the state’s 1st Congressional District. “It was a very exciting time to be working on a statewide national campaign—and it was doubly exciting because New Hampshire is a very politically active state,” she said. She was able to learn “a lot about campaigns and electoral politics, and it was just a really exciting way to spend your first summer out of college.”

Once the fellowship concluded, Hellauer went into public relations. Today, she’s the manager of communications and research for the Office of the President at Columbia University—a “really good fit” for her, she said, in part because it allows her to draw on the skills she picked up as a student leader and orientation coordinator at Fordham. 

Fordham Five (Plus One)

What are you most passionate about?
For my entire life, reading has been one of my absolute favorite things to do—definitely because it is a pleasant and relaxing activity but also because I get excited about how much there is to learn from a new book. After finishing—or often even while still reading—a great work of nonfiction, I have to immediately go down a “Wikipedia hole” to learn more about the figures or events covered in the book. But even in works of fiction that we might not consider as instructive, I learn so much about how to improve my own writing and how to be a person moving through the world.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
That you don’t have to do everything right on the first try. Personally and professionally, I always find myself fighting off embarrassment after making a mistake when doing something for the first time—even and especially when I am alone in my own kitchen screwing up a new recipe, despite there being no one around for me to be embarrassed in front of. It helps me to take a breath and ask myself: Why would I be expected to get something perfect when I’ve never done it before? It’s wonderful when you turn out to be a natural at something new, but learning where you may have veered off course and how to do something better the next time is valuable, too.

What’s your favorite place in New York City? In the world?
There are so many corners of the city that I’ve missed visiting during the pandemic. If I had to choose a favorite, I’d have to say the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I used to love visiting during their late-night hours on Saturdays. It’s a favorite because I like to pick a certain section deep in the museum and immerse myself in it. I love the feeling of being so far removed from the city outside, but it’s also an experience that is quintessentially New York.

In the world, definitely Cape Cod, Massachusetts. My family has been spending summers there for most of my life. My absolute favorite day is spent on a beach in Cape Cod in the sunshine with a book, with dips in the ocean in between chapters. As I’ve grown older, I’ve enjoyed visiting at all times of year, not just summer—it’s a very special place that has something wonderful to offer year-round.

Name a book that has had a lasting influence on you.
My favorite books as a child were in the Eloise series by Kay Thompson. I love her spirit and independence. Eloise was always able to have a good time on her own, but she was also glad to take others (humans or animals) along for the ride. And, looking back on it now, I think she may have had an influence on my desire to one day live in New York City.

Who is the Fordham grad or professor you admire most?
Most of my best friends are Fordham grads, and I admire and look up to them all for their intelligence and passion for doing good—qualities that were instilled in us all at Fordham.

The professor I admire most is Christina Greer, who I had for several courses in political science as a student (the thrill of seeing her on MSNBC has not grown old in the five years since I graduated, for me or my parents). I appreciate how she is able to communicate political concepts to students—no matter their major—and make them eager to know and do more outside the classroom. She [helps people]understand the issues and how they directly affect our lives. She cares a great deal about each and every student, and it shows.

After earning a B.A. in English from St. John’s University, McGuire said he “stumbled” upon Fordham’s Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education (GRE) during the 1980s. As the world grappled with issues of peace, war, and the proliferation of nuclear arms, he knew he wanted to “serve the people of God,” ultimately enrolling because GRE and its religious education program curriculum “just answered all my wants and desires.” McGuire added that John Shea, S.J., FCRH ’69, then a professor of psychology and his thesis mentor, “really opened up a whole new world” for him.

While many students hold full-time jobs while attending graduate school, just as he did when he was a doctoral candidate, McGuire said he considers himself “privileged” that he was able to attend Fordham full time. And when he graduated, he began what would become a decades-long career as an educator, often returning to the same institutions that stoked his own love of learning. He returned to his alma mater, Monsignor Scanlan High School, where he taught religion for five years before hopping over to another alma mater, St. John’s, where he simultaneously taught theology and served as a dean in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Years later, he once again resumed work at Monsignor Scanlan, becoming the first alumnus of the school to serve as principal. “I was a student, faculty [member], and then 20-something years later, I became the principal,” he said.

Always eager to learn more, McGuire earned an Ed.D. from Teachers College at Columbia University in 1994, and has studied higher education development at Harvard University. And though the lion’s share of his time is currently spent volunteering and caring for his elderly parents, he said he’s eager to return to a full-time position in education after the pandemic.

Embracing Jesuit Ideals to Pay it Forward

McGuire said he strives to honor the Jesuit ideal of magis—the call to be more and do more for the world—by volunteering and performing community service. “Fordham opened up so many worlds and relationships,” he said. “And it was that Jesuit [mindset]of magis that really helped me to understand what Fordham and Jesuit education are all about. … It really speaks to me; it grounds me in my community service and my educational leadership in my role as a dean, teacher, and principal.”

He just celebrated his fifth anniversary with God’s Love We Deliver, volunteers with New York Cares and Coalition for the Homeless, and has also spent five years volunteering at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where he works in the Payne Whitney Clinic with adults who have acute psychiatric illnesses—though he’s had to take a break from that due to COVID-19 protocols.

“I am the education and recreational consultant, and I work with a retired, now part-time, occupational therapist,” he said. “In a way, it’s a privilege because I take a lot of my counseling skills that I learned from John Shea and the different faculty at Fordham and bring that into my volunteering—my ministry with the patients.”

Though he’s a trained counselor, McGuire said his volunteer work at the hospital often has included anything from playing bingo and holding ice cream socials to reading scriptures or leading calming and relaxation exercises.

Learning from Within

The Forever Learning series is being held digitally—everything from the kickoff and livestream of Mass from the University Church on Easter to a culinary demonstration and panel discussions. And instead of the one-day agenda planned for last year, the programming will now happen all month long, with sessions recorded in case people aren’t able to attend live— although McGuire hopes that holding some events in the evening will mean that “people working can still log off, have some dinner, and then jump on the Zoom and learn, network.”

Plus, because last year’s Forever Learning initiative was canceled due to COVID-19, McGuire said he and his colleagues on the alumni association’s Forever Learning task force had a bit of a head start this year. The planning committee was able to incorporate last year’s speakers into the new agenda, scheduling them throughout the month. Looking ahead, McGuire said that he and other members of the committee are thinking of a hybrid experience in 2022, with some events held online and some held in person on campus.

Whether it’s community college, undergraduate or graduate school, or a handful of webinars during Forever Learning Month, McGuire stressed the importance of finding the subject and format that works for you—when it works for you.

“Some students work best with their hands,” he said. “Whatever their gift is, that’s what God has given them. I used to say, ‘If you’re not happy reading Shakespeare, look at a different area of study. Whatever makes you happy, that’s what you have to study.’ And then contribute to society.”

Fordham Five (Plus One)

What are you most passionate about?
Through service, I am most passionate about improving the quality of life of others, whether by listening (empathy), reading to children and adults, providing a meal, or serving as a mentor with Fordham’s Mentoring Program or StreetWise Partners. Currently, my service is in volunteering with some New Yorkers with mental health challenges. Magis.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
The best piece of advice I received was from my Fordham mentor:  The best dissertation is a DONE dissertation.

What’s your favorite place in New York City? In the world?
My favorite place in New York City is relaxing in Central Park with a good cup of NYC coffee.

Name a book that has had a lasting influence on you.
The published book that has had the most significant influence in my life—spiritually and professionally as a teacher of religion and theology—is Jesus Before Christianity, written by Albert Nolan, OP. Nolan’s writing has empowered me to continue serving others.

Who is the Fordham grad or professor you admire most?
Two former GRE faculty members who have helped shape my personal and professional life, rooted in the ethic of care and spirituality, are John Shea (the interface of religion and psychology) and Maria Harris, Ed.D., (children before God) to think critically about important issues and make sound moral-ethical decisions.

What are you optimistic about?
I am most optimistic about teaching and mentoring individuals of the next generations, who will have a strong foundation of ethical principles and a deep commitment to serving others.