Our photographers snapped these snowy scenes at our Lincoln Center, Rose Hill, and Westchester campuses and the Louis Calder Center, Fordham’s biological field station in Armonk, New York.

Photos by Argenis Apolinario and Taylor Ha

Heyman is a well-known expert on intergenerational social work—something that she gets to practice in her own home, especially now. While granting a phone interview with Fordham News, she sat at a table cutting shapes out of paper with her grandchildren while her mother-in-law futilely tried to disengage a face-to-face video chat.

“My mother-in-law, who’s 94, tried to connect with us, but now she can’t figure out how to turn it off,” she said with a laugh. “I’m sitting here with three generations trying to help while making triangles and rectangles.”

Heyman noted that the phone situation with her mother-in-law, while amusing, is also a graphic example of the challenges sequestered older adults face during the COVID-19 restrictions. ­­­While much of America engages on social media and in video chats, many older adults do not know how to use the technology. Most are not just being cut off from the population at large, but from their family and friends as well.

“We talk about all our students and everybody going online, but for many older adults, they’re not online or able to connect,” said Heyman.

She said that some social workers who are used to seeing their clients at the senior centers for lunch and social activities are reaching out to them with phone calls to check in on their mental and physical health.

Social worker Colette Phipps spearheads one such effort in Westchester. After 10 years as an adjunct lecturer teaching human rights and social justice courses in the Graduate School of Social Service (GSS) at Fordham’s Westchester campus, Phipps was teaching “Social Work Practice with Communities and Organizations” this semester when the pandemic broke out in her near her home in New Rochelle. She also works with seniors through Westchester’s TIPS program (the Telehealth Intervention Programs for Seniors), part of Westchester County Livable Communities/Age-Friendly Initiative, of which she is the executive director. She said the closing of community programs has been tragic for seniors.

“I was talking to a site director last week who said to me, one of the seniors came in when they knew that the site was going to close and said, ‘Oh, you don’t have to worry about feeding me a hot meal. I’ll just bring a whole sandwich. I just want to be here,’” recalled Phipps.

Up until the pandemic, the TIPS program sent trained student technicians, often GSS students, to take seniors’ vitals at community centers, nutrition sites, housing authorities, and independent living facilities for seniors. Referred to as social support associates, the students were trained to transmit the health care data to telehealth nurses who review it remotely, saving the county money by reducing unnecessary hospital and doctor visits. The program also familiarized seniors with county services and doctor referrals when necessary.

Phipps said the seniors adored the students and would happily go to get the routine procedure done in order to interact with the young people. With physical encounters halted, Phipps organized TIPS in Touch two weeks ago. The intergenerational program allows the same students to call and check in on the seniors, who now long to hear a familiar voice.

“Can you imagine when Daria calls and says, ‘Hi Ms. Jones, it’s me, Daria. How you doing?’ They’re gonna be thrilled!” Phipps said while planning the new intervention.

She said that while the students can no longer gather the vital signs data, they can get other important information by asking a series of questions.

“The trusty old phone is old school, but it works,” said Phipps.

As students began making the calls from their homes over the past week and a half, Phipps deemed the program a success. She said they ask key questions, including: Have you fallen? Have your medications changed? Are you taking them on time? How are you feeling? If the social worker determines there is a problem they will connect the senior with any number of services available to them within the county, from food delivery to emergency care.

Both Phipps and Heyman said there are lessons that all caregivers and families can take away from the skills social workers use in reaching out to their clients by phone. Here are a few tips:

Call! 

Phipps: “I think more than anything, we can simply talk to a person who is home alone because they feel so socially isolated.”

Be Kind

Phipps: “Let them know you miss them. You can say ‘Mary, I really miss you. I can’t wait to see you again. But this is what we’re going to do to keep as connected as possible.'”

Be Real

Phipps: “Acknowledge the obvious and simply say, ‘This really something. It’s really changed our lives around.’ You don’t want to talk with the older adult like you are above them or that you’re not experiencing some of the same things they’re experiencing.”

Be Blunt

Phipps: “You want to have a lilt to your voice, but you don’t want to invalidate how they’re feeling or how you’re feeling. It’s OK to say, ‘This really sucks!'”

Be Practical

Heyman: “Talk about any type of daily activities. Make sure they’re not having any further impairments, that they’re getting their nutrition, their meals. If not, in New York City there’s a lot of services through 3-1-1, and in Westchester, 2-1-1 is providing a lot of outreach as well.”

Listen

Phipps: “I can sort of tell just by the tone of voice, even though I can’t see the face, what kind of affect they have. I can tell if they are down. I like to be very careful about talking about being depressed. It is something many older adults are not interested in revealing. You might say, ‘Wow, your voice is not the same today, Agnes. What’s going on?’ Then listen to what they have to say.”

Finally, Heyman advised caretakers and social workers to care for themselves.

“When they’re on the frontline, they really need to take a deep breath and realize they’re doing the hero work just like our physicians, our nurses, and our caregivers,” said Heyman. “Day in and day out, they’re the ones really making the difference in the lives of the individuals and their families.”

Phipps also stressed self-care.

“You’ve got to take a little time off. You really do. You have to have some time for yourself because the stories that you hear are very much heartbreaking,” said Phipps. “You have to refresh. It may be that you just sit down and meditate for a bit or do a little exercise or read a book. You know, I tell my students that we are like Sisyphus pushing that rock up the hill, but we have to find joy in doing it.”

A new image will be revealed every night as we count down to Halloween 2018.

 

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Spooky season is upon us ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Fordham presents: The 13 Nights of Halloween. Enjoy these haunting illustrations by Peter Stults; a new one will be revealed every night. . . [Image: an illustration shows a ghost photobombing two girls standing on a path on the Rose Hill campus] . #fordham #halloween #Fordhams13NightsofHalloween

A post shared by Fordham University (@fordhamuniversity) on Oct 19, 2018 at 3:24pm PDT

 

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You never know who — or what — is watching over the Plaza… ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #Fordhams13NightsofHalloween . . [Image: An illustration of a gargoyle perching on a clock overlooking Fordham Lincoln Center’s Plaza] . #fordham #halloween

A post shared by Fordham University (@fordhamuniversity) on Oct 20, 2018 at 3:44pm PDT

 

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There’s a new resident in Loyola Hall #Fordhams13NightsofHalloween .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ . [Image: An illustration of a ventriloquist dummy sitting on the floor inside a residence hall room] . #fordham #halloween

A post shared by Fordham University (@fordhamuniversity) on Oct 21, 2018 at 3:33pm PDT

 

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*Turns around and runs the other way* #Fordhams13NightsofHalloween . . [Image: A flock of rams with red eyes blocks a hallway in Lowenstein] . #fordham #halloween #rams

A post shared by Fordham University (@fordhamuniversity) on Oct 22, 2018 at 3:37pm PDT

 

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Spooky illustration or actual @fordhamcats photo? #Fordhams13NightsofHalloween . . [Image: A black cat sits in a graveyard] . #fordham #halloween #blackcat

A post shared by Fordham University (@fordhamuniversity) on Oct 23, 2018 at 3:21pm PDT

 

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It follows #Fordhams13NightsofHalloween . . [Image: A shadowed figure floats next to a Ram Van parked in front of Fordham Lincoln Center] . #fordham #halloween #ramvan #nyc

A post shared by Fordham University (@fordhamuniversity) on Oct 24, 2018 at 3:34pm PDT

 

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When you think you’re finally safe on the Westchester campus but you’re wrong #Fordhams13NightsofHalloween . . [Image: A disgruntled student walks around Fordham’s Westchester campus while bats follow him] . #fordham #halloween #bats #fordhamwestchester

A post shared by Fordham University (@fordhamuniversity) on Oct 25, 2018 at 3:17pm PDT

 

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Go Rave — we mean, Rams! #Fordhams13NightsofHalloween . . [Image: The Ramses mascot stands in front of the football stands holding a raven on his hand] . #fordham #ramses #halloween #raven

A post shared by Fordham University (@fordhamuniversity) on Oct 26, 2018 at 3:43pm PDT

 

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Beware of the Flying Dutchman #Fordhams13NightsofHalloween . . [Image: An illustration of a ghost ship passing behind Fordham Law School] . #fordham #halloween #ghostship

A post shared by Fordham University (@fordhamuniversity) on Oct 27, 2018 at 3:20pm PDT

 

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Down to take a dip in Calder Lake? #Fordhams13NightsofHalloween . . [Image: An illustration of a creature emerging from the lake at Calder Center] . #fordham #halloween #CalderCenter

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Tomorrow is our @fordhamlondon dedication! Be sure to check out our Instagram story and Facebook Live stream for the ribbon cutting ceremony, tours of the building and surrounding neighborhood, and more! #Fordhams13NightsofHalloween . . [Image: An illustration of a werewolf sitting on top of the Fordham London Centre building with a full moon in the background] . #fordham #halloween #werewolf #london #clerkenwell

A post shared by Fordham University (@fordhamuniversity) on Oct 29, 2018 at 4:32pm PDT

 

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Have you seen the pesky poltergeists playing in the Keating Bell Tower? #Fordhams13NightsofHalloween . . [Image: An illustration of poltergeists playing in and around the Keating Bell Tower] . #fordham #keating #bells

A post shared by Fordham University (@fordhamuniversity) on Oct 30, 2018 at 3:17pm PDT

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Happy Halloween, Rams! Thanks for taking this spooky journey with us #Fordhams13NightsofHalloween . . [Image: An illustration of zombies on Eddies as the sun rises over Keating Hall] . #fordham #DawnOfTheDead #Keating #EdwardsParade #Eddies

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Then a catastrophic surfing accident on the New Jersey shore in September 2013 shattered his life in an instant. A wave slammed him headfirst into the ocean floor, fracturing his neck in five places. His heart stopped. Emergency workers resuscitated him on the ambulance ride to the hospital.

When Keenan awoke, he was paralyzed from the mid-chest down. His prognosis was bleak. Doctors weren’t sure he’d ever be able to breathe on his own.

‘I Cried to God for Mercy’

Five years later, Keenan visited Fordham’s Westchester campus in West Harrison to speak about his recovery, and how he clawed his way back to once more live a fulfilling life. It was a steep climb for the Fordham ROTC grad, who served as a U.S. Army platoon leader in Honduras in 1992.

“My grief was so profound I couldn’t sleep,” recalled Keenan. “I lay there, listening to the sound of the ventilator. I cried to God for mercy, and mercy meant a peaceful passing. I felt I could be of no good, of no service, only a burden to my children, my family, and my friends.”

What changed Keenan’s attitude was a conversation he had eight weeks after his surfing calamity with former New York City police detective Steven McDonald, who’d been living with quadriplegia since 1986, when he was shot three times in the line of duty. McDonald told Keenan that God had a role for him, that life would return.

Gone were many of Keenan’s joys: playing guitar and tin whistle with the band, Summer Wind; competing in sports; and teaching history to teens in the high school classroom.

“I had a huge decision to make: Do I allow the darkness to consume me and beat me down and defeat me?” he said.

Keenan chose life.

Four months after he broke his neck, Keenan was off the ventilator. He learned to maneuver a motorized wheelchair with the “sip and puff” technology that lets him steer it with inhalation or exhalation.

Among Keenan’s friends is James J. Houlihan, managing partner of Houlihan-Parnes Realtors, who knew Keenan’s father.

“I can’t imagine going through a small piece of what Billy has gone through and still remain positive,” said Houlihan, GABELLI ’74, a Fordham trustee who helped bring Keenan to campus to share his story. “He did not choose to go to the dark side. He did not give up.”

‘A Message of Hope’

By 2015, Keenan was teaching again at North Rockland High. Almost two years later, however, he was hospitalized for two weeks and almost died from an infection that ended his teaching career.

Keenan said he faced that recurring question: “Do I sit in a room feeling sorry for myself, getting lost in self-pity? That didn’t happen. I realized I wasn’t strong enough to teach five days a week, but I was strong enough to speak one or two times a week, to share a message of hope to people who feel beaten down.”

Keenan’s mind remains sharp, his voice strong, his will unwavering.

“I want you to remember the man in the wheelchair,” he said at the Fordham event.  “You are able-bodied and able-minded. There is absolutely nothing you cannot do. Imagine what you can achieve, the adversity you can fight through and withstand. In the end, the decision is yours.”

After the speech, several attendees gathered around Keenan to thank him for his inspiring words. One woman was so touched that tears streamed down her face from the realization that she’d be happier if she appreciated what was good in her own life.

“Don’t be sad,” Keenan instructed her. “I’m not.”

—David McKay Wilson

The $20,000 grant will enhance Fordham’s academic library collections and encourage and promote resource sharing among reference and research libraries in New York State.

Located at the Rose Hill, Lincoln Center, and Westchester campuses, Fordham University Libraries owns more than 2 million volumes and subscribes to over 15,500 periodicals and 50,000 electronic journals.

Although Fordham Libraries has received the CCDA grant in the past, this year’s award is larger than any previous CCDA grants.

According to Linda LoSchiavo, director of the libraries, materials purchased through the CCDA grant will be made available to patrons through interlibrary loans and document delivery systems, as well as electronically on the Fordham Libraries’ website.

“Given the escalating cost of library materials, it is neither feasible nor desirable to attempt to purchase and preserve everything published,” said LoSchiavo. “A library cannot stand alone in terms of its collection development. Academic libraries have always been great collaborators, and pooling resources is important to us.”

Fordham is among the top interlibrary loan lenders in New York State and is an active participant in resource sharing.

“By helping the Fordham Libraries, the CCDA grant helps all libraries and their users,” said LoSchiavo.

As always, members of the University community should take local conditions into account when traveling to or from campus. Faculty, students and staff should call any of the following numbers for the latest campus weather-related information:

In an emergency, please call Fordham Public Safety at (718) 817-2222.

This message will be updated as necessary during the storm.

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding,

John Carroll, Associate Vice President
Fordham University Public Safety

Known for integrating prayer with art, Father Gilroy believed that spirituality could be manifested through creative practices like painting. He launched the website, Prayer Windows, more than a decade ago to offer guidance on how to encounter God through the arts.

“Through art, we co-create with God,” he wrote in an article published in the National Christian Life Community of United States’ Harvest magazine in 2000.

Most recently, Father Gilroy, who lived at an infirmary at Murray-Weigel Hall, worked with Campus Ministry to offer spiritual direction. He led retreats and talks focused on art and spirituality at the Westchester campus, where he also had a part-time art studio.

“These [retreats]  were well-received by participants,” said José Luis Salazar, S.J., executive director of Campus Ministry.

Before his death, Father Gilroy was slated to do a number of lunchtime talks on Ignatian spirituality and art at the University, as well as an art and yoga retreat in December at the Goshen Center.

Carol Gibney, associate director of Campus Ministry and for spiritual and pastoral ministry at Rose Hill, worked with Father Gilroy on a Lenten art and yoga retreat this past March.

“He was really gifted at sharing his love and passion for art, and using art as a portal into the sacred to allow us to pause and reflect,” she said.

Though Father Gilroy, who struggled with diabetes, was new to Fordham, Gibney said his energy was magnetic—as was his cheerful laugh.

“He laughed with his whole body,” she said. “It was really joyful. He had what I desired for others and myself—an interior freedom. He allowed God’s light to shine through him.”

In a Facebook post, James Martin, S.J., acclaimed author and editor at large at America magazine, described Father Gilroy as “an amazing friend and Jesuit brother” who was “supportive, interested, generous, thoughtful, caring, funny, wise, and challenging when he needed to be.”

“I’ll miss that irrepressible laugh; I’ll miss his wisdom; I’ll miss his art; I’ll miss his counsel; I’ll miss his gentle presence in the world,” he wrote.

The event was the first in a series of professional development programs for the Westchester audience, and was co-sponsored by St. Christopher’s, Inc., residential center, and Fordham’s Graduate School of Education (GSE).

“For an event to be this successful on its first attempt brings to our attention the need for more panel discussions focused on the child welfare industry,” said GSE alumnus Robert Maher, Ph.D., St. Christopher’s CEO.

Crises in the industry

Among the concerns that attendees focused on included: A “crisis” in obtaining a quality staff, given that wages for line workers are extremely low while, at the same time, children’s issues are becoming more challenging; the need for general funding and financing to cover more children with greater needs, in the face of fiscal austerity and tight budgets; racial imbalances among the children in care; and a lack of understanding of the complexity of competing local and national needs.

GSE Professor of Educational Leadership, Administration, and Policy Toby Tetenbaum, Ph.D., said the concerns that were addressed were of key importance to the educators and professionals in attendance.

“If you don’t have funding, you can’t get quality teachers and social workers, which makes the kids’ problems much more complicated. We need resources for solutions.”

Helping fund welfare challenges

The symposium was intended to be a kick-off to bring people in and make them aware of childrens’ needs with the hope, said Tetenbaum, that “more will be willing to donate” to help fund child welfare challenges.

Other speakers included Sheila Poole, acting New York State Commissioner of the Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS); Jim Purcell, executive director of the Council of Families and Child Care Agencies (COFCCA), who spoke about child welfare reform; Dr. Edward Placke, executive director of Green Chimneys; and Frank Spain, retired chief operations officer/CFO at Graham Wyndham Children Services,

Guest speaker Sam Ross, Jr., founder and managing director of Green Chimneys who is still active at age 88, will work with Fordham as an adviser on the professional development programs to be offered going forward.

“I believe in what we are doing,” He said.

—Veronika Kero

“There’s a lot of suffering out there; addiction, eating disorders, a sense of boredom and that something is missing,” said Amelio A. D’Onofrio, Ph.D. “And with that comes a profound sense of loneliness, a disconnection, anger, and rage.”

D’Onofrio, clinical professor and director of the Psychological Services Institute in the Graduate School of Education, presented hard numbers from a recent study from the Center for Disease Control of high-school-age students representing a cross section of race and class: 30 percent said that they feel sad or hopeless, 18 percent seriously considered suicide, 14 percent made a plan to kill themselves, and 10 percent attempted suicide.

D’Onofrio shared his remarks with a group of school superintendents from the tri-state region, who gathered at Fordham’s Westchester campus. The March 2 talk, “How the Pressures of Contemporary Life Can Lead to Disconnection, Despair, and Violence,” was chance for GSE faculty members to share research and gather front-line feedback from area educators.

A Rise in Hateful Discourse

The audience of superintendents described seeing “a huge increase in school depression and anxiety,” “more female aggression,” “an inability to regulate responses,” “students [who]are more debilitated,” and an increase in social media and cyber bullying, which is creating a “hateful discourse.”

D’Onofrio said that in the past, once students left school grounds the peer pressures from classmates was left behind, too. But today, with the omnipresence of cell phones and social media, there is no leaving the pressures behind.

‘Now students are physiologically activated all the time,” he said. “The layers of engagement have increased exponentially.”

And along with increased engagement comes stress, said D’Onofrio, though he prefers the term “trauma” to describe what kids are going through today. In addition to peer-to-peer tensions, factors outside of the classroom play a significant role. For some students, chronic poverty and gang violence compound the problem. For others the demands of academic/athletic performance and too many extracurricular activities take a toll.

D’Onofrio took comments from the audience. One supervisor noted that teachers are not trained to deal with trauma, he said, they’re trained to teach; therefore, teachers may not understand the state of mind students are in when they arrive in to class. Another complained of an increase need for counseling that was met with a decrease in funding for such services—all of it playing out against the “thump, thump, thump of social media.”

Steve Jambor, Ph.D., FCRH ’72, GSE ’74, ’76, GSAS ’78, president of Westchester-Putnam School Boards Association, said the nation is in the midst of a “social health crisis,” but that, unfortunately, policymaking is still based upon a definition of “emotional ” that was written before the information age.

A Desire to Connect

“Emotional disturbance [today] isn’t what it was years ago he said. “And policymakers don’t want to know about that and deal with the madness that is arriving today.”

But while students may exhibit outward signs of not wanting help, D’Onofrio said the deeper desire is always to connect, and that’s where teachers can make a difference.

“Stress really sets in motion the ability to self-regulate and the ability to develop a basic sense of trust; when that doesn’t happen, kids withdraw,” he said. “We need to be nurturing and caring, but that doesn’t mean we don’t hold them accountable.

“Be there, challenge, and confront, that’s when a kid feels cared for,” he said. 

The event was sponsored by the GSE.

Light snowfall is predicted for the New York City region, and as always, members of the University community should take local conditions into account when traveling to or from campus. Faculty, students and staff should call any of the following numbers for the latest campus weather-related information:

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They have Janae Sepulveda, a student in Fordham’s Graduate School of Social Service (GSS), to thank for it.

Sepulveda came up with the phrase last fall while creating a class campaign for her Social Policy II: Policy Practice and Human Rights Advocacy course. She and three classmates—Jonathan Wilson, Melinda Lehman, and Krista Amato—focused on gun safety. They set their sights on supporting Nicholas’s Law, proposed state legislation dedicated to Nicholas Naumkin, who was killed in December 2010 by a 12-year-old friend playing with a handgun he found in his father’s dresser. The law would require gun owners to either secure their weapons in a safe or render them unable to be fired whenever the gun is out of their possession.

The safe-storage bill passed the Democrat-led State Assembly this year, but the Republican-led Senate has refused to pass it. This defied explanation for Sepulveda, who noted that an average of two children a week in the state are killed in unintentional shootings.

“I have a 3-year-old and a 5-month-old, and it never dawned on me to ask before play dates, ‘Do you have guns in the house, and are they locked up?’ You just have to be so vigilant, in the times we’re living in, about guns,” she said.

When the GSS students first met in September, Sepulveda said she already knew she wanted to devise a brand approach to advocacy against gun violence—something symbolic, like the pink ribbon that has become synonymous with breast cancer research.

“First we had ‘Safe Storage Saves Lives’ on the back of the T-shirts,” she said. “Then I thought of how guns usually are described by the military as ‘locked and loaded.’ And I thought, ‘How about ‘Locked and Unloaded?’” They adopted the phrase as their slogan.

Leah Gunn Barrett, executive director of NYAGV, found out about the students’ T-shirt slogan, which debuted at a poster presentation at Fordham’s Westchester campus last semester. She said it perfectly captures the intent of Nicholas’s Law, and asked if NYAGV could use it in their campaigns.

Barrett doesn’t expect the Senate to pass the law this year, but NYAGV is using the slogan to push similar legislation locally. A gun safety bill went into effect in Albany on Jan. 1, and NYAGV is lobbying in Schenectady, Troy, and Newburgh.

“‘Locked and Unloaded’ is really what we want gun owners to do with their guns when they’re not in their immediate possession or control—not just to keep them away from children who might shoot each other or bring a loaded gun to school, but also to prevent suicides, domestic violence, and gun thefts,” she said.

“We lock up other valuables in our home … [so]we need to make sure our firearms—weapons designed to kill—are too.”

GSS student Melinda Lehman said that the political climate around guns has become so toxic that opponents of regulation have adopted a “Give an inch, they’ll take a mile” attitude. So when the classmates chose the topic, they agreed their message should emphasize safety.

“We’re not trying to amend the U.S. Constitution or get rid of the right to bear arms. That wasn’t our goal,” said Lehman, who said she is acting on behalf of her children’s safety after having grown up in a household where there were loaded guns.

“Guns aren’t evil, but there’s a responsible way to own them. We’ve gotten to a point in this country where too many innocent people are getting hurt.” (Featured photo: Erich Ferdinand)