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

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

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

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

Contacting Celebrity Alumni

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Now Susan Conley Salice, FCRH ’82, and Thomas P. Salice, GABELLI ’82, have made another investment in Fordham and its students. Their latest gift—$2 million—will support several important initiatives, leading with student scholarship as a part of Fordham’s Faith & Hope | The Campaign for Financial Aid.

The Salices are among the University’s most generous alumni. In addition to other gifts, they donated to Fordham’s last capital campaign, Excelsior | Ever Upward | The Campaign for Fordham, to build the Salice and Conley residence hall on the Rose Hill campus, named in honor of their parents. The residence has housed hundreds of Fordham students since 2010.

Susan says there’s a good reason why they give.  

“We both required scholarship dollars in order to be able to attend Fordham,” she said. She was one of the first members of her family to earn a bachelor’s degree, as was Tom the first to attend college in his family.

“If Fordham hadn’t come through, our lives would likely be quite different. We felt that the Jesuit education and values we received and embraced at Fordham made a significant difference in our lives individually—and, of course, together. That’s very powerful when you think about it.”

She has fond memories from her four years at Fordham—tutoring middle school students in the Bronx, working the grill at the McDonald’s on Fordham Road, studying for what seemed like endless hours in the library, sitting at Sunday night Mass at the University Church with her future husband. She also recalled a more recent special moment from last May—the day she and her husband saw their daughter graduate from Fordham’s Graduate School of Social Service. But perhaps most importantly, she feels the weight of her Fordham education at work in the skills she developed as an undergrad: leadership, curiosity, and awareness of the world around her.

“I graduated from Fordham being much more community-aware, world-aware. You question everything, interested in understanding the why,” she said, “and understanding that you have an opportunity and a responsibility to become engaged difference makers in the community and the world at large, for the greater good.”

Tom, a Fordham trustee fellow, went on to become co-founder and managing member of a private equity firm SFW Capital Partners, and the chairman of its investment committee; Susan became a vice president at Diversified Investment Advisors, a retirement investment firm.

Today, Susan devotes much of her time and resources to the causes that are important to her and her family. She is co-chair of Fordham’s Faith & Hope | The Campaign for Financial Aid and a University trustee. She also serves on other nonprofit boards. In 2017, she was also a keynote speaker at Fordham’s first annual Women’s Philanthropy Summit.

“Giving [to scholarships]  is an opportunity to change a life—to make an impact in whatever capacity you are able to do so,” she said in her keynote speech.

“Many people can usually afford more than they think they can—and I mean that in a very simple way,” she added. “Perhaps one can give up Starbucks for a week and donate that money. Over the course of a year, that amount can add up and have an important impact.”

She encourages potential donors to reconnect with their alma mater and recall how it felt to be a young, 20-something college kid with all the possibilities in the world.

“When you first graduate, you’re busy. You’re working. You may be raising a family,” she said. “But if you are able to make time to go back to campus, listen to a lecture, attend an event, actually talk to students and professors, you’re going to reconnect with Fordham. You will see the promise students hold in their faces and the potential each has to live as women and men for others.”

With a recent $1 million gift, Brent Martini, GABELLI ’86, has ensured that those efforts will grow exponentially.

“This will be, and can be, core to who Fordham is, in my humble opinion,” said Martini, a former president of the pharmaceutical firm AmerisourceBergen and current owner of vintage car dealer Martini Vintage LLC.

“I’m driven to make Fordham as great as it can be. I’m not sure why I take it so personally, I just believe there’s lots of good people doing good things, and I have the privilege of participating in it fully.”

Carey Weiss, director of the collaboratory, a university-wide initiative managed by the Gabelli School of Business, said Martini’s gift is the largest it has received to date, and is a bona fide game changer.

“It puts us in league with peer Changemaker Campus institutions around the world that have also been suitably resourced in ways that we have been emulating, and we can now express in our unique way.”

A Network of Changemakers

Weiss said the collaboratory was conceived by Fordham’s late provost Stephen Freedman in 2014 as part of the process for designation as an Ashoka U Changemaker Campus. In receiving that designation, Fordham joined a network of 25 other universities and colleges around the nation that are helping change the world through social innovation.

At the time, Ashoka’s review team expressed concern that Fordham had social impact projects happening everywhere, but lacked connectivity between initiatives. Weiss said the collaboratory takes all of that faculty and student thought leadership and turns it into practice, with measurable impact and outcomes for society.

The collaboratory’s programming, which was at the outset offered only to Gabelli School students, has in the last three years expanded to include students at Fordham College at Lincoln Center and Fordham College at Rose Hill students as well. And since 2015, faculty from five of the University’s colleges have participated.

Now, thanks to Martini’s generosity, the collaboratory is poised to expand to make an even greater impact.

Thinking about the Next Generation

Martini previously funded the chair in global sustainability occupied by Gabelli School of Business professor James M. Stoner, Ph.D., and has served as executive in residence at the Gabelli School since 2015. He became interested in environmentally sustainable and inclusive business practices in 2011, when he decided to reenter the job market with COVE Financial Group, a lease-to-buy real estate business that he ran for four years. He credited Stoner, with whom he’d stayed in touch over the years, with bending his ear to talk about sustainability and social innovation.

“That’s kind of the way Jim’s always been with me. Give me something to think about, and then wait for me to think about it. This time around, he also had a hook, which was, ‘You have a young daughter, right? So while you’re building a new business, it would be appropriate to really think about the world that you’re creating, the business you’re creating, and the environment you’re impacting,’” he said.

“So, he really planted the seed around me to learn more about these topics.”

An example of an initiative the collaboratory has spearheaded is Sustainable Business Foundations, a course at the Gabelli School where students could, for their midterm, work in teams to identify a real-life problem for either BMW’s new fleet of electric vehicles or the city of New Rochelle, and design a sustainable solution. Social innovation has also been embedded in the Ground Floor, an introductory course that every first-year undergraduate student at the Gabelli School takes. And a new course, Impact Investing, was recently unveiled for junior and senior finance majors.

Weiss said Martini’s gift will allow the collaboratory to build out its infrastructure so it can serve other colleges and centers in the University. That includes more physical space that can accommodate students who want to plan events such as its Our Story gatherings, the second of which will be held Nov. 12. It will also increase opportunities for research and new coursework.

“With a better understanding of our own university, who the players are, and what the needs are, we can build this out to serve a much broader section of community,” she said.

“What we’ve needed is more funding for professional staff, for faculty involvement—particularly research and curriculum development—and also for student leadership.”

Eliminating Barriers

Weiss said part of the beauty of focusing on social innovation is that it provides a common theme on which seemingly disparate disciplines around the University can find common ground, allowing faculty and students to break out of the “silos” that are common in many large organizations. One initiative that the University will be launching soon is a GiveCampus Campaign, which will be spearheaded by the Fordham Fund, and will be dedicated to raising awareness and funds across all units of the university, including the collaboratory, for social innovation activities.

Martini said he’s excited to not only be a part of building out the collaboratory, but also to have a front row seat to the action. Although he lives in Laguna Beach, California, he visits New York City every five to six weeks, and says spending time with the students is the richest experience he has these days. Helping to provide them with innovative spaces to work in is his way of thanking them.

“I believe spaces are critically important, not just as symbols, but as places where people come together and do work. At any given student leader meeting today, you would see 25 kids jammed into a room,” he said.

“But you’d see a couple hundred kids if you could actually ask everyone involved in the social innovation collaboratory, in one shape or form, to all come to one space at one time. That, to me, is incredibly exciting. It’s just begun.”

“Philanthropy is all about inspiring people to give to causes that they’re excited about,” said Dan Nasta, FCLC ’19, Fordham College at Lincoln Center’s senior class gift chair. “I’m interested in getting people to think about what parts of Fordham they are inspired by, and to give back specifically to those.”

Over the next two weeks, members of the Fordham Fund and the Student Philanthropy Committee will be on campus highlighting careers in philanthropy, demonstrating the importance of charitable giving, and explaining how fundraising works. Perhaps most importantly, they will show how philanthropy—and Fordham’s philanthropists, in particular—have changed Fordham for the better. Case in point: the funding of scholarships for those who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford a college education.

“We’re not gonna flag you down for money, despite what it sounds like we’re doing,” said Kathryn Mandalakis, FCRH ’19, the senior class gift chair at Rose Hill. “We really just want to build community overall.”

Philanthropy Week launches on Tuesday, Oct. 16, at Lincoln Center with a Thank-a-Thon—an event where students sign personal thank-you cards that will be mailed to Fordham Fund donors. But the bulk of Philanthropy Week takes place from Oct. 22 to the 25. It begins with “Spooky Seniors,” an event where seniors can come and learn about why to give back to Fordham. Event-goers can expect to see Halloween-themed refreshments like apple cider and donuts, a pumpkin painting contest, and a raffle for prizes. Other events scheduled for that week include an open house for Ram Line—Fordham’s on-campus phonathon—and senior class gift tabling.

Last year, Fordham Fund hosted the University’s first Philanthropy Week. Thirteen seniors contributed to the senior class gift, and more than 700 thank-you cards were filled out.

“Just come and say hi, have fun, write a thank-you note, because of course we’ve all benefited from someone’s philanthropy somewhere in the University,” said Mandalakis.

“Philanthropy means giving future Fordham Rams the opportunity to experience everything that I’ve been able to experience—understanding that we have all these opportunities given to us, and just really wanting to continue those for the people who will come after.”

Philanthropy Week Schedule:

Tuesday, Oct. 16: Thank-a-Thon | 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. | Lowenstein Plaza, Lincoln Center Campus

Thursday, Oct. 18: Thank-a-Thon | 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. | McGinley Lobby, Rose Hill Campus

Monday, Oct. 22: Senior Class Gift Kickoff Event – “Spooky Seniors”

• Rose Hill Kickoff: 5 – 7 p.m. | McGinley Student Lounge | McGinley Center
• Lincoln Center Kickoff: 5 – 7 p.m. | Multipurpose Room G76A | 140 West 60th Street

Monday, Oct. 22: Thank-a-Thon | 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. | McKeon East Entrance, Lincoln Center Campus

Tuesday, October 23: Senior Class Gift Table

• Rose Hill Campus: 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. | McGinley Lobby
• Lincoln Center Campus: 2:30 p.m. – 4 p.m. | Lowenstein Plaza Level

Wednesday, October 24: Thank-a-Thon | 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. | McGinley Lobby, Rose Hill Campus

Thursday, October 25: Senior Class Gift Table

• Lincoln Center Campus: 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. | Lowenstein Plaza Level
• Rose Hill Campus: 2:30 p.m. – 4 p.m. | McGinley Lobby

Thursday, October 25: Ram Line Open House | 6 – 7 p.m. | O’Hare Hall, Room 1841, Rose Hill Campus

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

An invitation to a private baptism and communion from a close family friend not only led the Puliafito family to the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where Pope Francis resides, but to an encounter with the Pope himself.

Puliafito said her friend Adrian Pallarols had met Pope Francis when the pope was still serving as a cardinal in Argentina. A silversmith by trade, Pallarols had worked for then-Cardinal Bergoglio and has since crafted all of the pope’s chalices. They have remained very close, making the pope a father figure in Pallarols’ eyes.

Typically, the Domus Sanctae Marthae has high security measures, not even allowing visitors to bring in a bag. However, in a room of about 14 people, Puliafito said she had a different experience.

“I was allowed to bring my stroller in, and the kids were using the hallway as their own personal play area,” she said. “It was surreal.”

Puliafito was hesitant to allow her son, Loual Jr., to roam free in the beloved room, but decided it would be fine once she saw how “warm and grandfather-like” the pope was.

“As soon as I put my son down, he started crawling up to the altar and looked up at him. My son was very calm, and Pope Francis definitely has a spiritual aura. It was a sweet moment to experience.”

Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, had given Puliafito some books which were received and blessed by the pope. He gave everyone an individual blessing and blessed anything that the visitors had chosen to bring with them—from pins to crosses to everything in between.

The group communicated in Spanish, said Puliafito. “My husband had a beautiful speech prepared, but all I managed to get out was ‘I pray for you’—to which the pope responded ‘Good. I need it.’”

From hearing about the times Pope Francis would enjoy tea and cookies with his friend Adrian when they were both in Argentina to seeing him interact with the children, Puliafito left Rome viewing Pope Francis as a true pastor.

“He’s a pope of the people,” she said.

— Veronika Kero 

The inaugural campaign, which encouraged students, alumni, parents, and supporters of Fordham to make a monetary gift of any amount to any Fordham school or area that meant the most to them, was organized in honor of Fordham’s Dodransbicentennial and Faith & Hope financial aid campaign.

Top supported areas included FCRH Scholarships, Gabelli School of Business Undergraduate Scholarships, and Fordham Fund Scholarships.

More than 80 people served as advocates for the campaign— pushing out the message of Fordham Giving Day to their networks and to the major gift donors who issued challenges and matching donations.

Successful challenges involved Bill Loschert, GABELLI ’61, a Trustee Fellow, who contributed $100,000 after 1,000 donors made a gift; Patricia Dugan-Perlmuth, FCLC ’79, who contributed $75,000 in support of the Ailey/Fordham BFA in Dance program after 1,000 members of the Fordham community made a gift; and Buzz Zaino, FCRH ‘65, who contributed $50,000 after 300 donors made a gift in 24-hours.

Rams from far away as Japan, Ghana, Brazil, Australia, and Uzbekistan showed their Fordham pride with support, helping to put a Fordham education within reach for countless students of every class, race, and creed.

As the University sponsors its first-ever Giving Day campaign, student ambassadors and alumni alike have been taking to University community social media to encourage peers to give back to a Fordham school or program that has meant the most to them.

“Fordham has done a lot for us,” said Emily Lindo, GABELLI ’18, a student ambassador from the Fordham Fund’s Student Philanthropy Committee who is helping to promote the campaign. “We want to be able to share that experience with the next set of students who are coming in. Giving Day is a way to do that.”

Fordham’s inaugural Giving Day, April 5, is a 24-hour fundraising event that encourages students, alumni, parents, and supporters of Fordham to make a monetary gift of any amount to any Fordham school or area. The day’s goal is to engage 1,750 donors in honor of Fordham’s Dodransbicentennial and Faith & Hope financial aid campaign.

“Fordham is helping to change the world one student at a time,” said Elaine Ezrapour, annual giving officer of the Fordham Fund. “By providing these educational opportunities to students, they’re gaining the resources to then go out and make a difference.”

-Bill Loschert, GABELLI ’61, a Trustee Fellow, will contribute $100,000 to support scholarships and financial aid if 1,000 people give;

-Buzz Zaino, FCRH ’65, will contribute $50,000 if 100 or more people make a gift to support the Fordham College at Rose Hill Scholarship Fund.​

-Paolo Santonocito, FCRH ’07, will contribute $5,000 toward scholarships and financial aid if 200 alumni from the Classes of 2007 through 2016 make a gift during the 24-hour period.

-Patricia Dugan-Perlmuth, FCLC ’79, will contribute $75,000 in support of the Ailey/Fordham BFA in Dance program if 30 people support the Denise Jefferson Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Ezrapour said that two anonymous donors will also match all gifts made by members of the Class of 2017 up to $10,000.

In addition to bringing attention to the campaign on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with the hashtag #FordhamGives, student ambassadors have been sharing their own philanthropic experiences with their classmates.

“It’s part of the Jesuit philosophy to give back to your local community and people that have given to you,” said Caitlin Sakdalan, a Fordham College at Lincoln Center senior and student ambassador for Giving Day. “Giving back is another way we can help Fordham grow.”

Student ambassadors will be drumming up support and enthusiasm for campaign at the Lowenstein Plaza at the Lincoln Center campus from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and the McGinley walkway at the Rose Hill campus from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with help from Rameses on Wednesday.

There will be information tables at both locations, as well as refreshments, treats, a photo booth, and Giving Day t-shirts. Students participating in the event will be able to make personal cards for donors. The ambassadors will live stream the results of the fundraiser throughout the day.

While students are encouraged to give gifts of any amount, the committee recognizes that not all students have the financial means to give toward the campaign, Sakdalan said.

“One thing that we always tell students is that it’s never about the dollar amount, but about the actual effort that goes into it,” she said. “If people can’t give, we encourage them to share the campaign and educate others to take action.”

The success of Giving Day relies on participants pushing out the campaign to their networks, organizers said.

“This is an opportunity to rally up support around Fordham,” said Ezrapour. “Getting people engaged in giving back is the ultimate goal.

It’s a surprisingly easy request, as most of the students quickly pick up a pen and start writing.

Hannah Murphy, a Fordham College at Lincoln Center sophomore and native Californian, said that her scholarship allowed her to live on the East Coast.

“The scholarships make it possible for students from all over the country to attend, not just the ones from the New York area,” she said.

Sophomore Aizi Arif said he was about to enlist in the military when his scholarship came through.

“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for that,” he said.

His fellow classmate Aohaib Kahn had a similar experience. He already made a deposit at a New York City public college when his scholarship arrived.

“Looking at my financial aid package compared to other private universities, it’s pretty high,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity.”

Nearby, Nicole Drepole, also a sophomore, was just finishing up a thank you note. When asked about her scholarship, she said she didn’t get one. She said she went to Catholic schools all her life and Fordham was at the top of her list because the University shares her values. She was writing a note because the scholarships reflect that.

“I remember a couple of weeks, or even months before I got accepted, my family would sit and pray with me so I could just get in, it was honestly just a dream to go to this school. I had been going to Catholic schools my whole life and it creates this kind of family. I wanted to go to a school that cares for their students like this.”

In 2009, Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis starred in the wildly successful comedy The Hangover, which followed the aftermath of a Las Vegas bachelor party gone horribly wrong.

But if an alternate-universe theory is to be believed, the iconic trio of Dean Martin, Jack Lemmon, and Jerry Lewis might have starred in the movie instead—some 60 years ago.

These are the colliding universes created by Peter Stults, associate director of the Fordham Fund in the Office of Development and University Relations. Stults has turned his fascination with film, graphic arts, and nostalgia into a successful niche business revolving around imagined retro movie posters.

“It’s a fun little formula where you take a contemporary movie like Inception and you ask, ‘What if this movie were made in the 1940s? Who would have directed the movie, who would be in the cast? What actor would be the equivalent of today’s Leonardo DiCaprio?’” he said.

Stults’ talent for creating fake yet seemingly plausible movie posters was first discovered by business insiders in 2012, when he shared his first posters on behance.net, a social media site for artists and designers. Re-imagined posters featuring James Dean in Drive and Sean Connery in The Fifth Element struck a chord. The news sites Buzzfeed, Gizmodo, The Daily Mail, Fast Company, and The Huffington Post wrote about Stults’ work, and he was invited to display his posters in Collette, a clothing boutique in Paris.

He has since been commissioned to do illustrations for Time Out magazine and Paul Schrader’s film The Canyons. Once a month for the last three years, the French magazine So Film has published his alternate take on a movie that is premiering.

One of the foundations that inspired Stults’ creation of his “What If” series was his discovery of “cast-aways” that included Jack Nicholson. (He was was originally cast as the dad in A Christmas Story, but replaced) and Sylvester Stallone (he was up for the role of Superman before Marlon Brando put the kibosh on it.) The other was his interest in retro design.

“There are so many facets of retro design, like art deco, pulp covers, rock posters, and even World War II posters. To me it was a form of art history that nobody talks about – the aesthetic of retro/vintage designs.”

SciFi films are the most popular, he says, because they lend themselves to more creativity and fantasy—whereas movies based on true stories are next to impossible to replicate. He gave The Social Network and American Sniper as examples of films that are too closely linked to one era to translate into another one.

What resonates in Stults’ artwork, he says, is the way the images can both disrupt and intrigue the viewer. Seeing a poster profile of Leonard Nimoy (cast as John McClane instead of Bruce Willis) shot against the exploding high rise in Die Hard “makes one do a double-take.”

“Once you’ve seen it, then you ponder…. Could he be an action star? Is it possible?”

And although film purists occasionally kvetch about his casting choices, sometimes he manages to actually convince people the posters are real.

“I did a poster for Jurassic Park and when it surfaced, people said ‘I had no idea Cary Grant did a Jurassic Park!’  I did one with Pam Grier starring in Aliens, and a guy popped up on Tumblr and wrote, ‘Ok guys, I’ve gone on IMDB and I cannot find this movie,’” he said.

“It’s fun when I’ve straight-up convinced people these are authentic,” he said.