In addition, Fordham leaped to No. 57 in the U.S. News & World Report rankings of the best colleges for veterans, released earlier this fall.

The two rankings reflect Fordham’s many efforts to meet all student veterans’ needs—from career development to health and wellness to help with the transition to college life, said Matthew Butler, PCS ’16, senior director of the Office of Military and Veterans’ Services at Fordham.

“We’re engaged on multiple fronts,” he said. “We’re not just offering an education but supporting the full student veteran life cycle.”

The recognition coincides with rising enrollment numbers for veterans: The number of new student veterans who enrolled at Fordham this fall is up 131% over fall 2023, and the 470 student veterans and veterans’ dependents now enrolled marks the highest total in at least five years, noted Andrea Marais, Fordham’s director of military and veteran higher education, engagement, and transition.

Free Tuition for Student Vets: No Cap

Likely important for the rankings, Butler said, was Fordham’s decision last year to eliminate its cap on tuition benefits under the federal government’s Yellow Ribbon Program/Post-9/11 G.I. Bill. The University covers 100% of tuition and fees for eligible student veterans or their dependents

He said the Military Times ranking was particularly welcome because of the publication’s presence on military bases and stations around the world. In its ranking, Military Times cited other things like Fordham’s Veterans Promise program, which guarantees undergraduate admission to the School of Professional and Continuing Studies (PCS) for students who graduated from New York high schools with a 3.0 and meet other standards.

Butler also noted Fordham’s career-focused events for student veterans such as the Veterans on Wall Street symposium that Fordham will host on Nov. 7. “Veterans make great hires,” said Butler. “They can make good decisions under pressure, they know how to build a team, and they are not afraid of hard work.”

Commander’s Cup

The Military Times ranking closely follows an event that highlighted the University’s tightly knit military-connected community. On Saturday, Oct. 26, Fordham hosted nearly 700 students in Junior ROTC programs from 17 area high schools for the annual Commander’s Cup competition.

The event included drill competitions, physical fitness tests, and tours of Fordham’s Rose Hill campus, as well as opportunities to learn about the ROTC program at Fordham and its scholarship opportunities, said Lt. Col. Rob Parsons, professor of military science at Fordham.

Students at the event were able to see that there’s “an affordable way to go to school and continue to serve,” he said.

“I don’t think it can be overstated how robust and integrated the veterans community in New York is, and how many ties exist to Fordham and Fordham grads,” he said.

Student Veterans of America Build Community

Members of Fordham’s Student Veterans of America chapter volunteered at the event, fielding questions from JROTC members, said Rico Lucenti, a student in PCS and chapter member.

“A lot of kids came up to the booth asking about the veteran presence and military-connected families on Fordham’s campus and what Fordham is doing for those families and students,” he said.

Jorge Ferrara, a PCS student and SVA chapter president, said the chapter arranges service and social events that help student veterans transition to college.

“What we’re doing is trying to establish a sense of community and bring everybody together so everybody knows we’re all going through the same thing,” he said.

A Veterans Day Mass will be celebrated at the Rose Hill campus on Sunday, Nov. 10, the day before Veterans Day. Other upcoming events for Fordham’s student-veteran community include the RamVets Fall Social on Friday, Nov. 8.

A ceremony on May 17 honored the unique experience of student veterans as well as the character they’ve shown in pursuing their Fordham degrees—which they would earn the following day, at Fordham’s 179th Annual Commencement.

“Think back to when you first made the decision to continue your education. It likely wasn’t an easy choice,” said Robert Molina, PCS ’18, a onetime student veteran and 2023 Harvard Law graduate, at the annual Yellow Ribbon and Bell Ringing Ceremony.

“Many of you juggled the demands of work, family, and studies while navigating the transition to civilian life,” Molina said. “But you persevered. You showed up, day after day, to achieve this goal.”

“The discipline, leadership, and problem-solving skills you developed in the military have served you well,” he said.

At the ceremony, held every year at the Rose Hill campus, 29 graduating student veterans and military-connected students each received a Yellow Ribbon medallion and got a chance to ring the nearby Victory Bell in celebration of their achievement. The honorees included 2nd Lt. Miguel-Angel Sandoval, PCS ’24, a former Army enlisted man who had earned his gold bars at Fordham’s ROTC commissioning ceremony that very morning.  

Fordham’s president, Tania Tetlow, and Armando Nuñez, chairman of the University Board of Trustees, also showed up to offer the graduates their congratulations.

‘Something About the Atmosphere Here’

In his remarks, Molina recounted an experience that is common to student vets: serving for years in the military—in his case, for three years in the U.S. Marine Corps—and initially feeling out of place among students in their late teens who had only recently been in high school. “Like St. Thomas Aquinas, we were all adult learners,” he said.

Soon, however, the required philosophy and theology courses piqued his interest in Christianity, and he eventually took advantage of the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults offered by Campus Ministry.

And he absorbed the ethos of Fordham in other ways. “Something about the atmosphere here—the reverence in the campus chapel, the community service rooted in Catholic social teaching—it all spoke to me in a way I couldn’t quite explain,” he said.

He said the student veterans, educated in Fordham’s Jesuit tradition, are prepared to address the current “division, mistrust, and self-interest [that]too often overshadow the common good.”

He remains active with the Student Veterans of America at Fordham and urged the student veterans to help others like themselves.

“Never forget the sacrifices you and your fellow service members have made,” he said, according to prepared remarks. “Use that experience to be a leader in your community, to advocate for causes important to you, and to inspire the next generation of veterans to pursue their education and dreams.”

Photos by Taylor Ha

Thirty-three cadets officially began their military leadership careers on May 17 at Fordham’s Rose Hill campus. At the 94th commissioning ceremony for Fordham’s Army and Navy ROTC program, speakers praised this year’s cadets for all they had accomplished so far while also describing what’s required of those who lead America’s soldiers and sailors.

For one thing, the guest speaker said, there are no days off.

“You are leaders 24/7, 365,” said Lt. Gen. Maria Barrett, commanding general of the U.S. Army Cyber Command, at the ceremony held at the University Church. “Lead by example. … You should hold yourself to a higher standard, because trust me, soldiers notice everything their leaders do.”

She conferred several other lessons gleaned from her 36-year career: Get to know your troops. Listen to noncommissioned officers; they’ll tell you what you need to hear. When you inevitably make a mistake, “get over it, fast,” and learn from it. Enjoy yourselves, as hard as it may be sometimes, and serve with passion and zest. Set high standards, communicate them clearly, and hold your service members accountable.

“At the end of the day, soldiers want to be part of a winning team, and they want a leader they trust and respect,” Barrett said.

Love-Driven Leadership

She then administered the oath of office to the cadets, who came from several New York-area universities including Fordham, which was to hold its University-wide commencement the next day. Most cadets were bound for the Army, the Army Reserve, and Army National Guard. One was commissioned in the Navy and one in the Marine Corps. One cadet, Miguel Angel-Sandoval, was an Army enlistee who would take part in a Yellow Ribbon ceremony honoring Fordham’s student veterans later that day.

Lt. Col. Paul Tanghe, Ph.D., professor of military science and the officer in charge of the Army ROTC program, noted the diversity of the cadets: they comprised 24 ethnicities and hailed from 11 states as well as countries as far away as South Korea and Senegal. And 40% were multilingual, speaking a total of 13 languages, Tanghe said in his remarks.

He lauded the cadets for demonstrating the love-driven leadership exhorted by two of their recent class dinner speakers, not to mention St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order, and legendary football coach Vince Lombardi, FCRH ’37.

“Love-driven leadership is how great officers lead, it’s how the Jesuits educate, it’s why ROTC has the home and the partnership that we have here at Fordham,” Tanghe said.

Cadets received various awards and honors, including the President’s Saber, presented to Brian T. Inguanti, a member of Fordham College at Rose Hill’s Class of 2024 who was headed for the Army Corps of Engineers. The Rev. Joseph M. McShane Award for Excellence in Faculty Support to ROTC was presented to Matthew Butler, PCS ’17, senior director of military and veterans’ services at Fordham.

In her own address, Fordham’s president, Tania Tetlow, noted the essential role played by the cadets’ family members gathered in the University Church.

“You have raised, supported, challenged, inspired these extraordinary men and women graduating here today,” she said. “You have rooted them in service, you imbued them with courage, and so we are so grateful for you this morning.” 

“Since the Civil War, Fordham’s men and women have distinguished themselves with courage and honor on America’s battlefields—wherever it has taken them,” he said on Saturday at Fordham’s inaugural military ball, celebrating 175 years of military training and service at the University. “My family, as well as many of yours, has courageously stepped forward when our country called them.”

Gregory was inducted into the Fordham University Military Hall of Fame at the dinner, which was held at the University’s Lincoln Center campus.

“Warren exemplifies cura personalis,” or care for the whole person, said Matthew Butler, PCS ’16, senior director of the University’s Office of Military and Veterans’ Services, referencing one of the tenets of a Fordham, Jesuit education—the promise to encourage and support students, mind, body, heart, and soul. Butler, who graduated from Fordham in 2016 after serving in the Marines, said he counts himself among the Fordham student veterans Gregory has mentored.

From Military Service to Social Work

During the Vietnam War, Gregory served in Chau Doc Province, and he received a Vietnam Air Combat Medal, a Bronze Star, and a Vietnam Service Ribbon for his actions. After he was discharged, he worked in politics and finance in Washington, D.C., before he felt a familiar pull toward service, albeit of a different kind.

He joined Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), a national organization that works with state court systems to offer counseling and support to children in foster care. He went on to earn a master’s degree in social work and become a licensed master social worker, putting his new skills to use in the Army once again, at Fort Cavazos and Fort Hood, where he helped service members returning from combat deployments and worked on suicide prevention and other programs “that made an impact on the lives of his soldiers,” Butler said.

Before retiring, Gregory returned to CASA, first in California and then in Westchester County, New York. He now lives in Utah, and he continues to work with veterans—including at Fordham, where his influence helped lead to the creation of an art history and appreciation course for veterans. The course is open to students in the School of Professional and Continuing Studies and is held at the Lincoln Center campus.

His support isn’t limited to veterans, though. In 1991, Gregory and other members of the Class of 1966 established an endowed scholarship to honor George McMahon, S.J., a former dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill who drove home the value of service, calling it “the rent we pay for our time on Earth.”

“We have to believe in the totality of ourselves, and that’s, I think, what my Fordham education gave me,” Gregory said. “We are part of the universe; we are part of a lot of different things. Military service is an important part of that. My memories of Vietnam are a part of that mix, but there’s also another part: There’s the humanity of life, the opening of understanding, the ability to listen.”

In addition to Gregory, Stephanie Ramos-Tomeoni, a 2005 alumna of Fordham’s Army ROTC program who is now a correspondent for ABC News and a major in the U.S. Army Reserves, was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

The military ball was held to help underwrite academic, social, and career transition programming for student veterans, ROTC cadets and midshipmen, and other military-connected students at Fordham.

“The Military Ball is a time to celebrate Fordham’s proud and historic military legacy and to remember those from Fordham who have given the full measure of devotion while serving in the military in the last 175 years,” said Matthew Butler, senior director of the University’s Office of Military and Veterans’ Services.

The ball is also an opportunity for attendees to reconnect with the military-connected community, not only from Fordham, but also the New York City area. Two alumni will be honored for their service: Warren T. Gregory, FCRH ’66, a Bronze Star and Vietnam Air medal recipient, and Stephanie Ramos, Fordham Army ROTC ’05, now an ABC News network correspondent and major in the U.S. Army Reserve. In addition, attendees will have the chance to sponsor a current student veteran or cadet. 

“Members of our armed forces and veterans operate on very low budgets, and being able to attend a formal military ball might be a once-in-a-lifetime event for them—certainly one that they would remember for years to come,” said Andrea Marais, Fordham’s director of military and veteran higher education, engagement, and transition. 

The ball is open to members of the Fordham community, including alumni, veteran alumni, parents of cadets, cadets, student veterans, and those who support the veteran and military community. Proceeds will help student veterans, ROTC cadets, and other members of the Fordham student military community to pay for academic, social, and career transition programming.

The deadline to purchase an ad for the printed dinner journal is Oct. 6. Tickets for the ball are on sale through Oct. 29. Register online. 

“Things are happening at a scale which I could not imagine,” said Andriy Zelinskyy, S.J., during a short visit from the front lines of the war in Ukraine. 

Father Zelinskyy made a 28-hour last-minute trip from Kyiv to the Bronx at the invitation of Fordham’s Army ROTC/Military Science Program and the Center on Religion and Culture after the campus Jesuit community helped make the connection. He was told by his commander last Tuesday that he had been granted a four-day leave.

After spending part of the day with cadets from eight colleges and universities who participate in the ROTC program at Fordham, the chaplain spoke to a crowd of more than 200 in the Keating Hall auditorium on March 2. LTC Paul Tanghe, director of the ROTC program and professor of military science, led a one-on-one discussion with the chaplain followed by questions from the audience.

“The greatest surprise for me is that a human being in the 21st century can be so cruel,” he said. “There is no reason for all this violence.” While he believes there is good in everyone, Zelinskyy said acts committed by Russian troops are empirical evidence of the damage caused by a corrupt society where people are so “unfree.”

The atrocities he has witnessed he only alluded to, but he said it is clear to him that Russian soldiers have been so indoctrinated they don’t know how to be human. He cited as an example the bombing of a theater clearly marked as having children inside. “That pilot knew what he was doing. There was no danger. There was no one standing over his shoulder (making him drop the bomb).”

Father Zelinskyy said that while we think of the war as a year old, he has served as a combat chaplain for nine years—since Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014, serving unarmed alongside soldiers on the front lines. A chaplain for 17 years in all, he served most of that time as a volunteer while advocating for Parliament to structure a formal role for chaplains in the armed forces. It did so in 2021.

He calls the role of combat chaplain “humble, but a very rich and effective ministry.” He said, “Chaplains have to find a way to share feelings with the soldiers and find sense even in the suffering. Friendship is one of the best ways. For me personally, the greatest reward is when you feel that you can unite people and reinforce them.”

An audience member asked what the rest of us can do to help.

“Don’t give up on the truth. Don’t give up on justice, on what’s really good. Don’t stop contemplating the beauty of the human heart. Stay human. That’s our responsibility,” Father Zelinskyy concluded.

The  “Chaplain in Combat” audience included a contingent of 20 U.S. Army chaplains as well as a New York Army National Guard chaplain. Members of the Jesuit community, Fordham Ukrainian Society students, and Fordham College at Rose Hill Dean Maura Mast also attended.

“Fordham is the flagship of the military-connected community in New York City,” said Tanghe. This event was part of a yearlong celebration of the University’s 175-year military legacy.

The parade is the country’s largest Veterans Day event, bringing together roughly 20,000 participants including 300 marching and vehicle units, along with marching bands, floats, and more. Participants were led by this year’s Grand Marshal, Vince M. Patton III, the Eighth Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard, as they marched up Fifth Avenue from 26th to 45th Street.

“As you will soon find out, your service will be a transformational experience,” said Lt. Gen. Maria R. Gervais, a highly decorated 35-year Army officer who serves as deputy commanding general and chief of staff with the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia.

As Army officers, she said, “you will practice leadership each and every day, in everything you do.”

“You will lead the best soldiers in the world, and they will be hungry, hungry, for your leadership,” Gervais said. “My advice to you is even on your worst day, your worst day, it must be the best day for the soldiers that you lead. Each and every day, you should strive to be a leader that inspires your soldiers.”

It was the 93rd commissioning ceremony for the Fordham University Army Reserve Officer Training Corps, also known as the Yankee Battalion. The program trains cadets from Fordham and other New York-area universities; nine of this year’s cadets were graduating from Fordham.

It was also the last commissioning ceremony for Joseph M. McShane, S.J., who is stepping down as president of Fordham at the end of June. In his own remarks, Father McShane lauded the cadets for being leaders and role models on their respective campuses.

“You have spent long hours in drills. You have spent your summers not at the Jersey Shore but in camps where you rubbed shoulders with other young women and men for whom the service of others is a passion and service of our nation is a sacred vocation,” he said.

“On behalf of the proud and grateful universities that you represent, I would like to thank you for being a leaven in all of the collegiate communities in which you have lived,” he said. “I find myself awestruck whenever I see you, and whenever I think of what it is that you wish to do with and through your service of our country and the world.”

Honoring Father McShane

Michael K. Hoblin Sr., FCRH ’91, GSAS ’03, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, former professor of military science with Fordham ROTC, and president of the Fordham Veteran Alumni Chapter, praised Father McShane for all he had done to advance the program and raise its national profile.

Father McShane was presented with the President’s Saber from the original Fordham ROTC class of 1929, which alumni located for the occasion. “I respectfully request that this saber … be displayed in your office for years to come,” Hoblin said, calling it “a token of our gratitude for all you have done for Fordham, the Fordham ROTC program, and our country.”

At the same time, Father McShane was announced as the first recipient of a new award, the Father Joseph McShane, S.J., Award for Outstanding Faculty and Administrative Support to ROTC.

Among other awards to distinguished cadets, Elizabeth Thomas, of Columbia University, was presented with a separate President’s Saber that is given to a graduating cadet every year; Olivia McNeil, of Fordham, was given the General Jack Keane Distinguished Graduate award, named for the retired general and 1966 Fordham graduate.

Gervais was presented with a Yankee Battalion shillelagh—or traditional Irish fighting stick—of the type awarded to cadets.

‘You Are Ready’

In her address, Gervais told the cadets to “listen to your NCOs and veteran service members, because great officers learn to listen, and continually learn in order to lead,” she said.

She addressed the cadets’ families as well. “These young men and women represent the very best of our nation. These young men and women have decided to serve the people of the United States and defend the Constitution, and that speak volumes about the strength of their character, a strength of character I know was instilled in them by you.”

“They made it to this point in their lives because of the … values you instilled in them—values like loyalty, integrity, duty, honor, and country. We owe you a sincere thanks and a debt of gratitude for supporting your cadet’s decision to serve in … the best trained, the best equipped, the best fighting force, and the most respected force, in the world.”

Among her final words to the cadets? “You are ready.”

“You have achieved so much in such a short period of time,” she said. “In the process, you gained confidence in yourself, in others, and in your team. You have learned self-discipline and what it takes to be the best you can.”

At the March 16 event at Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus, Funk spent time with students, answering their questions and discussing his role as the head of TRADOC, which oversees the training of Army forces and the development of operational doctrine for the Army. Funk oversees about 500,000 personnel who conduct all of the Army’s education, training, and doctrinal development, and he is one of the four most senior general officers in the Army, reporting directly to the chief of staff of the Army.

He and the students listened to a livestream event featuring his deputy Lieutenant General Maria Gervais, and the Army’s chief personnel officer, Lieutenant General Gary Brito that addressed the need for cohesive team building.

On the livestream, Funk asked his two lieutenants to share their “Army stories,”—or why they decided to serve—because “nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Funk broke down some of the topics discussed, including communication, trust, and the need for hardwork with the students.

“Our job is to do hard stuff and connect people,” he told the students. In order to do that, “we’ve got to overcome things.”

He gave the example of Gervais, who he said wanted to be an example for those she commanded, so she goes to the gym every day at 5 a.m. to work on her physical fitness and stay in top shape.

Funk also emphasized how TRADOC has been changing its communication practices to address the needs of their current officers and their loved ones.

“Now when you communicate with families—it used to be we brought them all into the gym, we laid it all out a bunch of powerpoint slides, and then we left—now you’re talking across continents because our soldiers are far and wide—immigrants from all over the place—and we have to communicate with those families,” he said.

Funk emphasized the need for honest and open communication because without it, he said, “they’re not going to follow you.”

The event was organized by Jennifer Alvarez, assistant professor of military science and head of Fordham’s Army ROTC program. It was Fordham’s first joint-event featuring a four-star general in charge of Training and Doctrine Command, which is the branch that oversees ROTC programs.

The parade, which first took place 102 years ago, is the largest in the country, featuring over 300 marching units, over 25,000 marchers, 30 floats and over 150 military vehicles. It begins at Madison Square Park, where a ceremony is held at the Eternal Light Memorial, and proceeds up Fifth Ave to 42nd Street.

At a Fordham panel, a retired Central Intelligence Agency officer, a U.S. Army Special Forces officer, and an award-winning journalist shared behind-the-scenes stories from the CIA’s first post-9/11 mission to locate Al Qaeda and prevent another terrorist attack in the U.S. The panel, hosted by Fordham’s military science department at the Lincoln Center campus on Nov. 4, is part of the University and its ROTC program’s 20th anniversary commemoration of 9/11 and its legacy.

“The team is modest about this, but it’s hard to overstate the dangers they faced,” said Toby Harnden, a panelist who wrote a book on the mission. “They were a tiny group of Americans working deep in enemy territory in a very ambiguous situation.” 

Each of the panelists has a special connection to the mission. Justin Sapp, now military chief of staff to the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, was a Green Beret captain who was assigned to the team. David Tyson, a Central Asian sociologist who became a Central Asian expert for the CIA, was the team’s linguist. Harnden, a former foreign correspondent who has reported from 33 countries, wrote First Casualty: The Untold Story of the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11 (Little, Brown and Company, 2021), which chronicles their infiltration into Taliban-controlled territory. 

Sapp and Tyson were among eight members of Team Alpha. In some contexts, they resembled a group of dads going on a fishing trip, said Harnden, showing the audience a 2001 photo of the team standing together. But their cross-section of abilities and backgrounds made them invaluable, he said. 

The team prepared for their mission with a light packing list, including night vision equipment, Soviet chest racks, and first aid pouches, said Sapp. As they approached the Afghanistan border on two U.S. Special Operations helicopters, said Sapp, he could see the lights in Uzbekistan and the moon reflecting off the Amu-Darya River. But the world beyond was nearly pitch black. 

“It was dark, except for little fires here and there. That was something stark that I’ll never forget,” Sapp said.  

After they landed in Afghanistan, there were moments of levity. The team met their new partners: ethnic Uzbek calvarymen who were fighting the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Tyson said that when they shook hands for the first time, the Uzbeks marveled at his “soft hands,” a stark difference from their calloused palms. 

The Americans joined the Uzbek men on horseback. Their journey included 10-hour rides across mountains, with only one or two breaks, said Tyson. This was a challenge for Tyson, who had only ridden ponies at a fair. He and his teammates often fell off their horses, while the Uzbek soldiers smiled, he said. 

“Here we are coming to save the world, so to speak, and we can’t even ride a horse,” Tyson said.

But for the most part, said Tyson, the atmosphere was serious and stoic—and sometimes deadly. 

In Nov. 2001, Team Alpha lost fellow CIA officer Mike Spann, the first American casualty in Afghanistan. Tyson and Spann had been gathering intel from a group of Al Qaeda prisoners—one of America’s first opportunities to extract information from men trained by Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind 9/11—until gunfire erupted. A few prisoners had hid weapons and started an uprising. Spann was killed; Tyson managed to escape. 

“I was on autopilot mode. I went to a place I’ve never been to before and never been to since, mentally,” said Tyson, who received the Distinguished Intelligence Cross—the CIA’s highest award for valor—for his work on the mission. “There was no courage or bravery.” 

Spann is a hero, said Tyson, as are their partners in Afghanistan. Their team bonded with many people, including a commander named Abdul Rashid Dostum, and others who were killed. 

At the end of the panel, the three men reflected on how their time in Afghanistan had reshaped their view on what it means to serve their country. Sapp said that he learned to stay vigilant and learn as much as he can about the world. “As military officers, you never know where foreign policy will take you,” he said. Tyson said that good people across the world are caught in bad systems, politically and economically, that destroy them as individuals. But most Americans don’t know what that’s like. 

“I wish we Americans could transport ourselves, mentally, and see what the rest of the world experiences,” Tyson said. “At home, we’re fighting each other for all kinds of odd reasons. But we have something worth preserving and protecting in this country.”