The annual Fordham Founder’s Dinner, held at the Glasshouse, raised $2.5 million for the Fordham Founder’s Undergraduate Scholarship Fund, which supports scholarships for 48 Fordham Founder’s Scholars.

The University also paid tribute to this year’s Fordham Founder’s Award recipients: John L. Lumelleau, FCRH ’74, and Loretta Franklin Lumelleau, and Robert “Bob” J. O’Shea, GABELLI ’87, PAR, and Michele K. O’Shea, FCRH ’88, PAR.

With a theme of “Transforming Our World,” the dinner was a cause for multiple celebrations, said Fordham President Tania Tetlow.

“We celebrate the gift of Fordham and all that she has meant to us. We celebrate our beloved community, friendships new and old, the family we have chosen and built together,” she said to the event’s 900 guests.

“And we celebrate the deep joy of giving back. We look at the shining faces of the student scholars here tonight, all dressed up in their finest, full of talent and possibility, full of hope. We celebrate the enormous pleasure we receive from helping them.”

(Watch Tetlow’s speech here.)

A Life Transformed by Generosity

Benjamin Coco, a Fordham College at Rose Hill senior majoring in English and physics, spoke on behalf of all the Founder’s Scholars. He told attendees that their support had allowed him to pursue his love for both the sciences and creative writing. That includes writing his debut novel, Johnny Outlaw: The Man With No Past.

“I’m searching for an agent to be published—in case there are any in the audience,” he said to laughs.

Coco said his Founder’s scholarship enabled him to conduct summer research at Notre Dame University. This May, he’ll finish a senior thesis, “Emission Spectroscopy of Red Giant Stars.”

“My mom moved to the U.S. from Grenada when she was 15 and has worked hard ever since, always emphasizing the importance of education,” he said, noting that Fordham’s Jesuit ideals called to him.

“All Founder’s Scholars have had our lives changed by your generosity and have been given the opportunity to thrive to the best of our abilities. From the bottom of my heart, and on behalf of this year’s Founder’s Scholars, thank you!”

(Watch Coco’s speech here.)

Lessons from a Daily Commute

The evening also featured a new emcee: Lauren Scala, FCRH ’04.

A four-time Emmy Award-winning television host, reporter, and producer at NBC 4 in New York, Scala joked that her time riding the Ram Van actually helped her career as a traffic anchor for 10 years.

“So whoever saw me in the morning, it was Fordham I have to thank for being able to authentically report on the Cross Bronx Expressway,” she said. “And I still smile when I see a Ram Van in the wild.”

Always Making a Difference

Fordham also changed the life of Founder’s honoree John Lumelleau, a retired president and CEO of the insurance brokerage Lockton Companies who has served on the University’s Board of Trustees since 2018. His wife, Loretta Lumelleau, a graduate of Lehman College, worked in publishing and taught in New York City schools before retiring to raise the couple’s three children.

Over the past decades, they have contributed generously to Fordham as well as a range of other causes that help young people thrive. Their giving has benefited Fordham’s football program and other athletics programs, as well as the Student Emergency Fund.

Lumelleau noted that the family’s ties to Fordham run deep, as his brother Richard, FCRH ’64, sisters Cathleen Marasco, FCRH ’82, and Jeanette Kavanagh, FCRH ’79, and his niece, Elizabeth Casey, FCRH ’98, GSE ’05, attended Fordham.

The excellence and tradition that are the “essence” of Fordham have, in fact, lived in his mind since childhood. His earliest memories of music, he said, were the “The Star Spangled Banner,” “God Bless America,” and Fordham’s fight song “The Ram,” which Richard would lead while his uncle “banged it out on the piano.”

“It feels as if Fordham has always been present, always been making a difference. This evening is a critical part of making sure that it is.”

(Watch Lumelleau’s speech here.)

In a video that was shown during the dinner, Founder’s Scholars shared what scholarships meant to them.

The Value of Giving Back

Bob and Michele O’Shea are co-founding benefactors of the O’Shea Center for Credit Analysis and Investment, which launched at the Gabelli School of Business in 2022.

Bob, who was a member of Fordham’s Board of Trustees from 2006 to 2012, is a former partner at Goldman Sachs and the current chairman of the global investment firm Silver Point Capital. Michele is the founder of O’Shea Yoga, as well as a professional life coach who leads workshops on personal empowerment for women. Three of the couple’s four children have graduated from Fordham.

The O’Sheas have given to philanthropic organizations in the U.S. and abroad that support education, health, veterans, public safety, and the alleviation of poverty. At Fordham, they have contributed to scholarships, career services, track and field, and other athletics programs.

Bob tied the importance of giving back to his own Fordham story. He attended thanks to a scholarship offered to him by former track and field coach Tom Dewey, who was in attendance, and four seniors on the team made room for “a twerpy freshman” to move onto campus with them.

“Almost all seniors would never even entertain the idea of accepting an incoming freshman as their roommate—talk about being ‘men in the service of these others,’” he said.

“Michele and I have had a blessed life, and to be standing in front of all of you—we are filled with gratitude and love.”

(Watch O’Shea’s speech here.)

Learn more about the Fordham Founder’s Undergraduate Scholarship Fund.

Guests were treated to a performance by the Fordham University Choir.

He is the founder of two scholarships at the Gabelli School, including one that honors the memory of his brother, Jonathan Gach, GABELLI ’82, who died from cancer in 2018. He also created a research award named for his parents, Harold and Sydelle Gach, and has given to various academic centers and other initiatives at the Gabelli School. He’s a member of the Fordham University President’s Council and a supporter of the Founder’s Undergraduate Scholarship Fund.

Gach’s teaching and philanthropy are informed by his own student experiences but also by values honed during his varied career with Accenture, the global technology and consulting firm he served for 37 years.

Tell me why you created the scholarship in your brother’s memory.
Ours was a working-class family, and our parents didn’t have money for the University, so my brother and I both worked to pay for school. We were not really beneficiaries of campus life because of our working schedules. As much as I loved the Gabelli School, and it set me up for life, I know I missed out on some opportunities, so I want to afford students a chance to have that broader experience.

Why do you support so many different areas?
One of the things I’ve come to appreciate is the school’s integrated objectives. I’m involved in the Responsible Business Center, which is geared toward research on many of the world’s challenges. I started off with the endowed scholarships, but as I started to understand better the importance of research, I’ve started to give in that area as well.

You teach a course called The Ground Floor that’s popular beyond the Gabelli School. What does it cover?
We give the students a business foundation. They get a little bit of accounting, marketing, finance, operations, etc., but also mission and ethics. We have guest speakers who help them with career discernment. We also ask them to develop an idea for a startup that addresses at least one of the U.N.’s sustainable development goals, and almost every year, at least one or two teams try to launch their business. A few have even gone to the Fordham Foundry for help.

What’s your approach to teaching students about ethics in business?
The point I make to students is that very seldom do companies’ ethical issues arise from malevolence. It’s a slippery slope, and I teach them about the warning signs. Management is not infallible. They make mistakes. You can’t just assume, “I’m in the corporate world, I need to toe the line”; you need to have your own point of view. To me, this is deeply ingrained in Fordham and the Jesuit culture, and I think this is a broader lesson for the role of a citizen in a democracy or an employee in a company. Almost every company has whistleblower channels.

What other lessons do you emphasize in your courses?
The importance of maintaining relevancy in the business world. That’s terribly important, because business is changing very fast. Companies used to do five-year strategic plans; now they do one-year strategic sprints. You have to stay relevant in your domain and continue to invest in your ongoing education.

Scholarship gifts support access and affordability, one of the pillars of Fordham’s $350 million fundraising campaign, Cura Personalis | For Every Fordham Student. Learn more about our campaign and make a gift.

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

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

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

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

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

Breaking Ground—and Glass Ceilings

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

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

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

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

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

‘A Very Fordham Thing’

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

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

Fordham Five (Plus One)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tetlow said that Khalil’s goal in life is “to be a person of integrity, to matter to the world, and most of all, of course, to make his parents proud.”

She called Khalil’s family the “quintessential” immigrant story. They came to the U.S. from Egypt, and his father, Mostafa, started his own business, a limo company in New York City. Mostafa drove guests to Fordham and dreamed of sending his own children to the University. “That dream came true because of all of you,” Tetlow said.

Khalil is one of 48 Fordham Founder’s scholars whose scholarships are supported by the annual Fordham Founder’s dinner. This year’s dinner, held on March 20 at the Glasshouse in Manhattan, raised about $2.3 million for the Fordham Founder’s Undergraduate Scholarship Fund. The University also paid tribute to this year’s Fordham Founder’s Award recipients: Robert D. Daleo, GABELLI ’72, and Linda Daleo; Thomas M. Lamberti, Esq., FCRH ’52, and Eileen Lamberti; and Vincent E. “Vin” Scully, FCRH ’49, who was honored posthumously.

Tetlow, who was speaking at her first Founder’s Dinner, told the audience that their support is why students like Khalil can achieve their dreams.

“For almost two centuries, we have dared our students to dream, to lift their hopes and their ambitions, all in New York, the city quite literally fueled by the power of dreams,” she said. “We bring together the best and brightest from every corner of the world, and we make them believe that they belong here. We create opportunities and transform lives, and we spin their dreams and talents into reality.”

‘Where Dreams Take Us’

This year’s Fordham Founder’s Award honorees were recognized for their many generous gifts to the University, from their financial support over the years to their leadership, guidance, and mentorship of Fordham’s students.

“Tonight, we celebrate everyone in this room, for your selfless and generous support that provides the promise of a Fordham education, a transformational Jesuit education, for our diverse and deserving students,” said David Ushery, the evening’s emcee. Ushery, an evening news anchor for NBC 4 New York, received an honorary doctorate from Fordham in 2019, and his wife, Isabel Rivera-Ushery, graduated from Fordham College at Rose Hill in 1990.

Ushery referred to the Fordham basketball teams’ recent successes, highlighting the excitement that captured the University community of late. He called on those in attendance to “echo that cheer and passion we heard this season, something I first heard at Rose Thrill.”

Tetlow said that she and the whole University community are grateful for the support of the honorees and all who support the dinner.

“For more than two decades, our Founder’s honorees and donors have worked to bring our students’ dreams to life,” she said. “Our students will follow in your footsteps, and they will make a difference to the world.”

Bob Daleo, former executive vice president and chief financial officer of Thomson Reuters, has served as the chair of the Fordham Board of Trustees for more than 10 years; his tenure will conclude on June 30. As chair, Daleo has played a critical role in the University’s growth and strategic advancement. He and his wife, Linda, support multiple educational institutions in New York City.

Armando Nuñez, the chair-elect of the Board of Trustees, thanked Daleo for “sharing his wisdom, insights, and experience.”

Daleo said that he was used to celebrating and recognizing other Founder’s Award honorees, “women and men, recognized for success in living the Fordham mission, each in their own way, giving of themselves, being men and women for others.”

“When we honor them, we celebrate Fordham,” he said. “We recognize the importance of its mission and its continued relevance in today’s world.”

Daleo called on those in attendance to continue to support Fordham’s work and its students as the University works toward its “third century” of educating students.

“This kind of support has never been more necessary for us to sustain the currency of our educational programs, build new infrastructure, and to support as many students as possible,” he said.
(Watch the Daleos’ Founder’s Award speech here.)

Providing Educational Opportunities

Thomas Lamberti, a Fordham President’s Council member, is a retired labor and employment lawyer who practiced law for more than 60 years. He and his wife, Eileen, have supported numerous initiatives at Fordham, including the Elizabeth A. Johnson Endowed Scholarship for women in theology as well as the vocal group Highbridge Voices, which performed at the dinner and has an ongoing partnership with Fordham’s Center for Community Engaged Learning.

Lamberti, a son of Italian immigrants, said that he believed his legacy was “to give the same educational opportunities that I had” to sons and daughters of immigrants. He also spoke of his growing awareness of the civil rights movement—and the effects of segregation in the South—while serving in the U.S. Air Force in the 1950s at what was then Turner Air Force Base in Albany, Georgia.

He said that he and his wife, Eileen—whom he compared to St. Therese of Lisieux, since she “scatters flowers of love wherever life takes her”—returned to the South last year to visit Montgomery, Selma, and Birmingham, Alabama. In Birmingham, he was struck by a mural dedicated to the memory of John Lewis, the late congressman and civil rights leader. It featured a quote of his: “If you come together with a mission, and it’s grounded with love and a sense of community, you can make the impossible possible.”

“I am asking you wonderful people that are here tonight who are dedicated to Fordham, let’s join that mission,” Lamberti said. “Let’s educate children, particularly Black and brown children from poor sections of New York, and let’s make their dreams come true.”
(Watch the Lambertis’ Founder’s Award speech here.)

Supporting the Next Generation

Vin Scully, who died in August 2022, was the beloved voice of the Dodgers for 67 years and announcer for Major League Baseball on CBS and NBC. He got his start at WFUV, Fordham’s public media station, and was known as the “patron saint of WFUV Sports.” Scully left $1 million each to Fordham and Fordham Prep after he died.

“This award celebrates his life, his legacy, and the traditions and values he held so dear, and shaped how he led his life,” his daughter Erin Scully said upon accepting the award in his honor. “He learned these traditions and values while at Fordham University.”

Scully said that her father provided financial support and mentorship to students because he “knew the responsibility he had to nurture the next generation in those same values and traditions he had been taught.”
(Watch Erin Scully accept the award on behalf of her father.)

‘One of the Best Experiences of My Life’

Sharissa Fernandes, GABELLI ’23, told the more than 850 attendees that their support has helped her find her interests, passion, and a career. Fernandes said that when she started at Fordham, she wasn’t sure exactly what she wanted to do, but through the support of mentors like Father Vin DeCola, S.J., Fernandes found success as a global business student at the Lincoln Center campus. She graduated in December and is about to join Deloitte, where she interned, as a cybersecurity analyst.

“Since freshman year itself, the Gabelli School has constantly placed a huge emphasis on conducting business with a purpose,” she said. “The University’s Jesuit values, morals, and ethics in carrying out business along with building strong relationships has been one of my biggest takeaways from the University that I am immensely grateful for.”

Fernandes said the University also supported her and her friends when they traveled to Washington, D.C., to “meet and interview Uyghur detention camp survivors.” She said that many of these opportunities were possible thanks to the support of the donors in the room.

“Being at Fordham, and a part of this cura personalis-driven education program, has been one of the best experiences of my life,” she said. “All of us here tonight owe a huge part of it to all of you, so thank you.”
(Watch Fernandes’ speech here.)

The night also featured a video recap showing where past Founder’s scholars have gone after leaving Fordham.

Madeline Felix-Tyler, a 2008 Fordham College at Lincoln Center graduate, said she was among the second-ever group of Founder’s scholars.

“Through this program you have supported 140 scholars. These are students who would not have benefited from our fine Jesuit, Catholic education without your overwhelming support and yes, generosity,” she said. “I can tell you personally, you have impacted our career paths and our lives.”

Captivating Performances

The night also featured multiple performances. Highbridge Voices, a performing arts group made up of elementary to high school students from the Bronx, kicked off the evening with moving renditions of the songs “No Time” and “I’ll Be on My Way.” And Fordham College at Rose Hill first-year student Alexa Carmona performed the national anthem.

Joshua Screen, a Founder’s scholar and Fordham College at Lincoln Center junior, said that the theme of the evening, “Where Dreams Take Us,” inspired him “to share something very special with all of you—so naturally I wrote a song called ‘Our Story.’” Screen conducted a debut performance of the song with Valeria Fernandez, a first-year Fordham College at Lincoln Center student, and Cade Parker, a first-year Fordham College at Lincoln Center student who is also a Founder’s scholar.

“We can be our own writers for the stories we make,” the students sang. “The future’s looking much brighter, and with our light we can lead the way.”

At the end of the evening, the surprise closing act brought the audience to its feet: President Tania Tetlow joined members of the University Choir in performing “How Can I Keep from Singing?”

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

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

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

The Value of a Fordham Education

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

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

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

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

Beginning a Lifelong Commitment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fordham Five (Plus One)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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