“I didn’t expect that many Fordham people along the parade route wearing their maroon on St. Patrick’s Day, but they were out there,” said Robert Sutherland, FCRH ’14, vice chair of the Fordham University Alumni Association (FUAA) Advisory Board, who carried the University banner. “I think that’s a credit to where the University’s come: President Tetlow, the basketball teams … it’s a great time to be a Ram.”

Mixed in among the usual shouts of “Go Rams!” were more than a few cheers for Fordham basketball—a nod to the women’s team’s seventh straight postseason appearance and the men’s team’s most successful season in 30 years.

“We energized New York with the basketball team in February and March,” said FUAA board member Steve Centrillo, FCRH ’79, GABELLI ’81, who marched with his wife, Deidre, GABELLI ’81. “I’ve been going to games at [the Rose Hill Gym] for 40-plus years, and I’ve never seen six games in a row where the students were just going crazy, and every seat was filled.”

Extending the Tradition

Some marchers paid tribute to late members of the Fordham community who touched their lives in some way. Paul Stavish, FCRH ’73, for example, adorned his black coat with a shimmering green shamrock pin he received seven years ago, at the funeral of Joseph “Jay” McGowan, dean of student affairs during the 1970s and ’80s.

Other alumni brought members of their family into the Fordham fold. Jeana Somers, LAW ’22, came from New Jersey with her husband, Patrick, and her daughter, brother, and nephew. “It’s a good way to honor my husband,” she said. “It’s his birthday, so it’s a fun day to do a family event. [We’ve also been] to Ireland for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, and we sat in the grandstand seats. [This is] very different.”

Celebrating 175 Years of Military Heritage

Cadets and instructors from the Fordham ROTC program also marched in the parade. Lt. Col. Paul Tanghe, Ph.D., professor of military science at Fordham, noted that the program has historical connections with the New York National Guard’s 69th Infantry Regiment, which has strong Irish heritage. He said many Fordham alumni have served with distinction in the regiment, which was also represented in the parade.

“I think it’s wonderful to celebrate our affiliation with the Fighting 69th,” said cadet Diana Kim, the program’s battalion commander and a member of Fordham’s Class of 2024. She noted that cadets are presented with a ceremonial shillelagh, or traditional Irish fighting stick, when they graduate and are commissioned as officers within the ROTC program.

Given that the University is celebrating the 175th anniversary of military instruction at Fordham this year, “it feels really special to be a cadet here at Fordham,” said another cadet, Brian Inguanti, a member of the Fordham Class of 2025.

A Commitment to Raising Families’ Prospects

Earlier in the day, more than 200 members of the Fordham community brought a dose of Ram pride to the Yale Club, where they gathered for brunch before the march up Fifth Avenue.

Karen Sbaschnig, PCS ’15, took a day off work for the occasion. “I wanted to come this year because I haven’t been for a few years because of the pandemic,” she said, and “I haven’t met the new president yet. That’s another reason why I wanted to come: to hear her speak and to see what her vision is.”

Tetlow told attendees how excited she was about the parade and joked about her “suspiciously English last name.”

“Let’s get down to the important thing: I’m the first president [of Fordham] in generations not to have an Irish last name, and I know that’s a concern,” she said. “But rest assured, the grandmother I was closest to was a Mullen—that family came from Cork generations ago.”

She said the Catholic Church and Jesuit institutions of higher education helped raise her family’s prospects: “That is what we stand for as a church: To take a family from coal mining to university president in two generations.”

She paid tribute to Fordham’s founder, Archbishop John Hughes—and mentioned Hughes again during the parade, when she was interviewed by NBC 4. (Tune in to the 7:36 minute mark to see the interview, and the 25:40 mark to see the Fordham contingent march past.) At the brunch, Tetlow described the University as one that helps solve the world’s problems by pushing “on the boundaries of human knowledge”—and by understanding that talent is too often squandered when opportunity is narrowly disbursed. “We know we have assembled the best and the brightest of the world because they look like the world,” she said. “And still, 20% of our students are the first in their family to go to college, as many of you were.”

“For me, it is humbling beyond measure to take up this work—to lead Fordham into a future where education has never mattered more.”

Chris Gosier contributed reporting to this story.

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

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

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

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

The Immeasurable Value of Mentorship

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

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

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

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

Forever Fordham, Forever Learning

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fordham Five (Plus One)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mo Osman, FCRH ’14, received the Trailblazer Award, which recognizes a graduate from the past 10 years whose leadership is an inspiration to their fellow alumni, and Jack Walton, FCRH ’72, and Jeanette Walton, TMC ’71, GSAS ’73, shared in the Ram of the Year Award as alumni who enhance the reputation of the University through their professional achievements, personal accomplishments, and loyal service to Fordham. They’re the first duo to be so honored.

The event marked the third biennial awards ceremony hosted by the Fordham University Alumni Association (FUAA), a dues-free group established in 2017 to unite alumni from all of Fordham’s schools. As alumni and guests mingled in the Penn Club’s second-floor ballroom, they were treated to the mellow sounds of the Fordham Lincoln Center Jazz Ensemble, playing from a small overhead balcony.

The Wednesday evening event featured a few firsts, too: It was the first time the reception was held in the landmark Beaux-Arts building that houses the Penn Club, which Fordham alumni and employees are now eligible to join. And it was the first FUAA reception for Fordham’s new president, Tania Tetlow, who has been busy on the road since last August, meeting with alumni across the U.S. and abroad. Alumni have been getting to know her on home turf, too: At homecoming last year, Sally Benner, chair of the FUAA Advisory Board, moderated a fireside-style chat with the president.

At the reception, Tetlow said that it’s a blessing to be able to look at the alumni community and see what Fordham “students will someday become.” She thanked attendees for the “lives of integrity that you have led, the impact you have had on the world, and the ways that you have mattered. It’s such a joy to know what these seeds we plant will become.”

Similarly, Michael Griffin, associate vice president for alumni relations and executive director of the FUAA, told attendees that his goal is to “engage as many of you as possible in a relationship that’s lifelong and meaningful.”

Education as a Gateway into Society

Upon receiving the Ram of the Year Award, Jeannette Walton said she and her husband, Jack, were “humbled to have been selected” by their peers, and they accepted the honor “in the name of all the alumni who worked so hard for Fordham and to support the students there.” She added that they have been devoted to Fordham for so long because they believe that education is important “not just for ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren, but for every student who wants to learn and become a productive member of society.”

The Waltons met in the Fordham yearbook office during the late 1960s, when she was enrolled at Thomas More College (then Fordham’s liberal arts school for women), he at Fordham College at Rose Hill. She grew up in the Bronx, he in Ohio; she had a career in medical research, he in finance. In the ‘70s, they were married, and they’ve stayed close to Fordham through the years: Two of their three sons—Robert, GABELLI ’01, and Andrew, FCRH ’05—went on to graduate from the University.

“I can’t tell you how flattered we are,” Jack said. “I thank you immensely. We were a little bit reluctant because we didn’t know what we had done to deserve the award.”

Humility has been a common trait among FUAA award winners over the years, but there should be no confusion over why their fellow graduates nominated the Waltons: For decades, they have been sharing their time and resources to help make Catholic education more accessible to underserved populations.

They established the Walton Scholarship Fund to provide financial aid to high-achieving undergraduates. They were the principal benefactors of the statue of St. Ignatius Loyola at the Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses and the Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam organ in the University Church. They also helped restore Rose Hill’s science labs and founded the John C. and Jeanette D. Walton Lecture in Science, Philosophy, and Religion at Fordham.

Before presenting them with the award, Benner thanked the Waltons “for your daily examples of expressing love for Fordham, which has added up to decades of loyalty that all of us could emulate.”

‘Grandmasters of Benevolence’

Osman was so surprised he’d been chosen by his peers that he didn’t quite grasp what he was being told.

“When I called Mo to let him know he was selected as the Trailblazer awardee, at first he thought I was inviting him tonight so we could all vote the slate of candidates live, like it was American Idol,” Benner joked.

Osman, the director of alternatives at Wellington Management, immigrated to the Bronx with his family when he was a child, after fleeing Sudan amid military unrest when he was just 3 years old. Today, he’s grateful to Fordham for the impact it’s had on his life. He earned a degree in economics, completed several internships, and landed a position in a two-year rotational program at JPMorgan right after graduating in 2014. He was able to afford Fordham with financial aid and support from the Higher Education Opportunity Program. And that’s why, he’s said, it’s important to him to pay it forward to other students like him.

Since graduating nine years ago, he’s helped strengthen the University’s alumni network by contributing to scholarship funds; sponsoring receptions for his fellow alumni; participating in events run by MOSAIC, Fordham’s Multicultural Organization Supporting Alumni Initiatives and Community affinity chapter; and helping to launch the Alumni Career Fair as an inaugural member of the FUAA Advisory Board.

As he accepted his award, Osman encouraged his fellow alumni to remember what he feels is one of Fordham’s greatest lessons: to make a positive impact on the world. He asked them to “continue to be the great grandmasters of benevolence, respect, and also remain charitable.”

“Without your philanthropy, I would not be here today,” he said. “There are many more kids who would love a Fordham education, who have the potential to attend this great institution of ours, but just need that little push.”

Nominated by their fellow alumni, the award winners were selected by the FUAA Advisory Board. The Ram of the Year Award honors alumni who enhance the reputation of the University through their professional achievements, personal accomplishments, and loyal service to Fordham, and the Trailblazer Award is given to a graduate from the past 10 years who has demonstrated outstanding dedication to Fordham and whose leadership has inspired fellow alumni.

Ensuring College Isn’t a Luxury

Osman, the director of alternatives at Wellington Management, previously served as associate and global alternatives product specialist at JPMorgan Asset Management. He was able to afford Fordham with financial aid and support from the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP). And that’s why it’s important to him to pay it forward to other students like him.

“I owe a lot to Fordham, and that’s why I give back however I can,” he told Fordham Magazine in 2020. “There’s a kid in my shoes out there, a kid from the Bronx who isn’t afforded the luxury of being able to pay for college, and that sucks. We should be able to help them out.”

Osman and his family settled in the Bronx when he was a child, having fled Sudan amid military unrest when he was just 3 years old. Today, he’s grateful to Fordham for the “profound impact” it’s had on his life.

“The University has helped mold me into who I am today,” he said. “I can trace my professional success back to that Jesuit curriculum and to my first work-study job at Walsh Library.”

Since graduating, Osman has remained close to the University, by sponsoring receptions for Fordham alumni who work at JPMorgan, for example, serving as a member of the FUAA Advisory Board, and helping launch the Alumni Career Fair.

Osman said he is “deeply grateful for this recognition” and is indebted to Fordham’s faculty and staff for being so dedicated to his “education and personal growth.

“Without their encouragement and belief in me, I would not have been able to accomplish all that I have,” he said.

Cementing Future Opportunity

For decades, the Waltons have been proponents of Catholic education, generously donating their time and resources to make it more accessible to underserved populations.

Jeanette, a native Bronxite, said the Catholic Church shaped her early years, in particular. “[We] didn’t have a lot of money, we didn’t have a lot of the extras, so your life really centered around the church because the church had … all kinds of things,” like an afterschool program, free lunch, and more, she told Fordham’s Bronx Italian American History Initiative in 2019.

After graduating from Cardinal Spellman High School in 1967, she enrolled in Thomas More College, then Fordham’s undergraduate school for women. She earned a B.S. in biology in 1971, and two years later, added an M.S. in the subject from Fordham’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. As an undergraduate, she worked on the yearbook staff, eventually becoming editor-in-chief. That’s where she met Jack. She was a sophomore, and he was a first-year student from Ohio, where he had attended St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland.

They were married in the 1970s, and they have stayed close to Fordham through the decades. Two of their three sons—Robert, GABELLI ’01, and Andrew, FCRH ’05—followed in their Fordham footsteps, each earning a degree from the University. And Jack has served as president of the Fordham College Alumni Association.

In 2012, he and Jeanette founded the John C. and Jeanette D. Walton Lecture in Science, Philosophy, and Religion at Fordham “to address the complex issues at the intersection” of the three subjects “in conversations that reach beyond the confines of academia.”

Members of the Archbishop Hughes Society, a group of Fordham’s most magnanimous donors, their support has enriched the University community in numerous ways. They are the principal benefactors of the statue of St. Ignatius Loyola at the Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses, as well as of the Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam organ in the University Church. They have contributed to the restoration of science labs at Rose Hill, and in 2017 they established the Walton Scholarship Fund, which provides financial aid to high-achieving undergraduates who might otherwise be unable to continue attending Fordham.

A few years ago, the Waltons hosted a presidential reception in Ohio, and they have long been involved in planning Jubilee reunion activities, including outreach to fellow alumni. Jack has served as co-chair of all the reunions of his class since graduating, including his 50th last June.

At the Golden Rams Dinner and Soiree on Friday evening, June 3, he told Fordham News that his fondest Fordham memory was commencement, when he earned a B.S. in chemistry that would enable him to pursue a successful career.

“I felt so lucky to be getting my degree because it was not a given,” he said. “Well, in my mind it was a given, but I still felt very, very lucky.”

This year’s FUAA Recognition Reception will be held on Wednesday, January 18, at the Penn Club of New York from 6 to 8 p.m. Register for the reception on Forever Fordham.

In their first home game of the season, the undefeated Rams did not disappoint, rallying for 21 fourth-quarter points to secure a thrilling 48-45 victory before an enthusiastic crowd on Jack Coffey Field.

“Each and every visit is better than the one before,” said Julie (D’Attilio) Gautam, who has been coming back to campus since she earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from Fordham in 1989. “I think it looks beautiful, and I’m really excited for the next phase—the new president and bringing all of this incredible investment to building together without losing the spirit and history.”

Gautam’s son, Brij, is now a junior in the Gabelli School of Business, and on Saturday, she arrived early with her husband, Manish, and their daughter, Jaya, to take part in a campus tour led by Patricia Peek, Ph.D., FCRH ’90, GSAS ’92, ’07, dean of undergraduate admission.

“I’m a senior in high school right now, but I’ve been coming to Homecoming my whole life, so I feel like I know the school, and I love the school, so I’m very excited to apply,” Jaya said after the tour, which was co-led by Ben Reilly, a Fordham College at Rose Hill senior.

Near the residence halls, Peek and Reilly joked that students might be sleeping in a bit after the semiformal President’s Ball, which kicked off at 9 p.m. on Friday and didn’t end until 1 in the morning. About 4,000 undergraduates from the Lincoln Center and Rose Hill campuses—the most to date—enjoyed dancing and refreshments under the tents on Edwards Parade, many getting their first chance to meet Fordham’s new president.

Meanwhile, recent graduates kicked off Homecoming weekend downtown with the Young Alumni Yacht Cruise on Friday night. The annual event, open this year to graduates from the classes of 2012 through 2022, drew about 800 alumni and friends. Together, they cruised around lower Manhattan while enjoying cocktails, dancing, and a buffet dinner.

And They’re Off

By 9 a.m. on Saturday, a few dozen members of the Fordham community had taken their marks near the McShane Campus Center for the 11th annual 5K Ram Run. Runners completed three loops around campus before finishing by the Victory Bell in front of the historic Rose Hill Gymnasium.

Michael Parrinello, a junior studying finance, ran with his sister, Lauren, for the second year in a row, as their parents, Michael and Theresa, cheered them on from sidelines. “It’s a fun time,” Michael Sr. said. “They look forward to the race, and we’re looking forward to the football game.”

Shannon Baurkot, a senior studying applied mathematics, was fired up to join alumni in the race. After her first lap, she leaped into the air to high-five Ramses, the Fordham mascot, before continuing down Constitution Row toward the University Church.

“It was a lot of fun,” she said. “Honestly, it’s just such a great way to start Homecoming; I couldn’t have asked for a better way.”

Welcoming a New President

After the Ram Run and campus tour, alumni and guests gathered in the Great Hall of the McShane Campus Center, where President Tania Tetlow shared some words of welcome in a fireside-style chat with Sally Benner, FCRH ’84, chair of the Fordham University Alumni Association (FUAA) Advisory Board.

The discussion came a few days after Tetlow’s first State of the University address, where she emphasized the power of the University as a “force multiplier” and an “agent of change.”

“When you look at the trajectory of schools, the ones where alumni really invest—and by that I mean in all of the ways that you do—those are the ones that lean forward,” Tetlow told the Homecoming audience. “So, the fact that Fordham alumni are so engaged, that they want to pay forward the opportunity they received here, that they care so much about this place, that’s a big part of why we are where we are today.”

Field Full of Memories

After the session, Tetlow headed to Edwards Parade to greet alumni, students, families, and friends as they entered the Homecoming tents. More than 2,000 people enjoyed boxed lunches, drinks, games, music, and even some shopping for Fordham-themed jewelry and swag while catching up with each other and learning about upcoming alumni events and one of the University’s newest alumni affinity groups.

As he hung out in the loyal donor tent, Richard Calabrese, FCRH ’72, recalled his days playing quarterback on an intramural football team. “On this very field,” he said, “there are good memories. It was fun. Our fall afternoons were great.”

Homecoming fell on roughly the same date that Calabrese and his wife, Angela, a 1972 College of New Rochelle graduate, met at an on-campus party more than five decades ago. They come to Homecoming every few years from their Florida home. “Today is probably going to be the best experience we’ve ever had here—based on the people we’re with, and the weather,” he said.

He and Angela were visiting with their friends Jacqueline and Fred Schwanwede, both members of the Class of 1972 who were on the sailing team as students.

Asked about his best Fordham memory, Fred pointed to Jacqueline and said just two words: “meeting her.”

Across the grass, in the family tent, Michelle Acosta, FCRH ’98, and her husband, Mark, sat with their 6-year-old daughter, Valentina, who’d availed herself of the face painting station. The couple got married at the University Church in 2010, and Michelle, a philosophy major who has since gone on to practice law on Long Island, had made it a point to come to just about every Homecoming. After a three-year hiatus, she said it was great to be back.

“It truly feels like coming home. There’s the familiar sights, the familiar energy, and there are also new things I haven’t had a chance to check out since the last timeI was here,” she said.

“Valentina has seen all the pictures of our wedding and we like to take her back there, too, to see the church where we got married. I think she definitely can participate more and she’ll have more of a memory. The last time we went to the football game, she was so little, and she was afraid of the Ram. I don’t think that’ll happen this year,” she said laughing.

Harnessing the Spirit of Homecoming to Spread Awareness

Elsewhere, in the main tent, J. Iris Kim, GABELLI ’07, and Mark Son, LAW ’10, helmed a table where they spoke with alumni and students about the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) alumni chapter, established in 2020 by Christopher P. Lee, FCRH ’71, LAW ’79, amid rising incidents of anti-Asian aggression across New York City and the country.

It’s been a little challenging for them to connect with alumni in person during the pandemic, which is why Kim and Son, two of the group’s co-leaders, decided to set up a table at this year’s Homecoming.

“We want to promote AAPI issues and just awareness of our presence on campus,” Kim said. “We’re relatively new, so we’re just really trying to get our name out there. We’re also hoping to connect with some of the student groups on campus, so we can have that connection with the students who will become alums.”

Son said that they’ve been advocating and supporting work taking place at the University toward creating an Asian American studies program. With support from two University grants—an Arts & Sciences Deans’ Challenge Grant and a Teaching Race Across the Curriculum Grant from the chief diversity officer—a group of Fordham professors is currently developing a curriculum for a minor in the subject.

“May is AAPI Heritage Month, so we’ve been celebrating every year,” said Son, who noted that the group is also working to add programming and partnerships, including with the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and Fordham Law School’s Center on Asian Americans and the Law. The goal of all this work, he said, is to build Fordham pride and “get more people to come out and support these issues.”

Alumni Bookworms Are Back for Round Two

Other attendees stopped by a table piled high with copies of The Complicities, the new novel from Stacey D’Erasmo, associate professor of English at Fordham University. Chosen for the latest Forever Fordham Alumni Book Club, The Complicities tells the story of Suzanne Flaherty, a woman attempting to rebuild her life after her now ex-husband is found guilty of financial crimes and sentenced to prison.

Maureen Corrigan-Connell, GRE ’94, ’95, a Yonkers-based Montessori teacher, said she’s looking forward to reading D’Erasmo’s other books after she finishes The Complicities. She decided to read the novel, and join the alumni book club, in memory of her husband, John, a 1974 graduate of Fordham College at Rose Hill who was an avid reader.

She’s also enjoying the break from education books.

“When the school year is in, it’s education books and all things Montessori, so I must say that when I do pick up a book I like a certain amount of romance, fiction, and history that dates to a place that I haven’t been.”

Tales from the Tailgate

In the parking lot, Blaine and Missy Lavergne were enjoying their first time tailgating on the Rose Hill campus. The couple, natives of Lafayette, Louisiana, were there to support their daughter Maggie, a first-year Fordham College at Lincoln Center student and a member of the cheerleading squad.

The Lavergnes are big Louisiana State University fans, but for the occasion, they were dressed to the hilt in maroon. Both sported custom-made sneakers with the Fordham logo that one of their other daughters had made for the occasion, and Blaine had fashioned a Fordham flag into a cape. Their spread was merely a test run for Family Weekend on October 1, when they plan to return with the whole family to cheer on Fordham football against Georgetown.

“Maggie interviewed at all of these out-of-state schools, and she just fell in love with Fordham,” Blaine said. “As a Catholic dad, it just fired me up that she would choose a Catholic university. She’s in the best of both worlds: She’s here at a traditional campus, and she gets the beauty of New York and Broadway in Manhattan. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

A few spots away, Lea O’Rourke, a senior at the Gabelli School of Business, was playing cornhole and enjoying coffee and bagels with friends and her parents, Barbara and Kevin. Barbara’s father, Marc Angelillo Jr., FCLC ‘50, played football when he was an undergraduate, and she has fond memories of visiting Rose Hill as a child.

“We grew up coming to the alumni weekends, where he would reconnect with all of his friends,” she said. “My father would drag all six children here and we would enjoy the day.”

For Leah, this year’s Homecoming felt like a long time coming. She attended her first in 2019, but she didn’t know many people at the time, and for the past two years, the pandemic made it challenging to really enjoy the day.

“I am ready for the first of the last tailgates. They are so well put together by my mom, and I’m just so excited. It’s crazy that that was my freshman year,” she said remembering 2019, “and now we’re here.”

Rams Remain Undefeated

At 1 p.m., fans made their way to Jack Coffey Field to watch the then 2-0 Rams take on the University at Albany Great Danes. The Rams jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, but they soon fell behind in what became a back-and-forth contest.

Staring at an 11-point deficit with 15 minutes to go, senior quarterback Tim DeMorat was unfazed. He led his team to a 21-point fourth quarter and a thrilling 48-45 victory. The win brought the Rams to 3-0 on the season—the team’s best start since 2013, when Fordham advanced to the second round of the FCS playoffs and finished the year ranked No. 10 in the country.

John J. Pettenati, FCRH ’81, took in the action on the field from the roof of one of the trailers reserved for members of the Maroon Club. A history major who would go on to work in the banking industry, he’s been a season ticket holder since his days as an undergraduate.

“We are a football school,” he said. “And it’s great, bringing alumni and students together in the fall. To me, this is the easiest thing to do. I mean, it’s not terribly expensive, it’s entertaining, I’m supporting my college, and I’m outside. Those are all wonderful things.”

More than 1,300 people joined the Fordham University Alumni Association at Yankee Stadium to watch the Twins squeak out a 4-3 victory over the Bronx Bombers on a night that began with a pregame reception for alumni at Yankee Tavern on 161st Street, continued with the distribution of special-edition, Fordham-branded Yankees jerseys inside the gate, and featured no shortage of Rams apparel and block Fs mixed in with the pinstripes and famous interlocking “NY” logo of the Yankees.

Some in the Fordham contingent were seated in right field, just below the Yankee Stadium “Judge’s Chambers” section and a baseball’s toss away from the super-slugging Aaron Judge himself. Among them was the University’s new president, Tania Tetlow, who attended with her husband and daughter and paid a pre-game visit to the press level, where she met with broadcasters Michael Kay FCRH ’82, and Justin Shackil, FCRH ’09, as well as Greg Colello, FCRH ’07, senior director of scoreboard and video production at Yankee Stadium.

“It’s clear that Fordham loyalty runs deep,” said Tetlow on the strong turnout from Fordham grads. “It’s so exciting to know how much Fordham alumni want to come together and to be at the other heart of the Bronx, Yankee Stadium.”

‘So Much Fordham Spirit Up in the Bronx’

It wasn’t Tetlow’s first game in the Bronx: She said her family had taken one in earlier in the summer, when they first arrived in New York. “We got our requisite gear and hats and started training our daughter, Lucy, on the joy of baseball,” she said. The family’s allegiances had been up for grabs because their former home, New Orleans, doesn’t have a big-league team. But Tetlow said their rooting interests are settled now: “We are fully committed to the Yankees.”

Fordham trustee Kim Bepler said she was excited that large groups could once again gather for “fantastic” events like this. “People want to be with people, and what’s better than going to Yankee Stadium?” she said. “And part of the joy of this is also accompanying our new president. So I get to see her cheer on the Yankees with her family.”

Samara Finn Holland, FCLC ’03, a member of the Fordham University Alumni Association Advisory Board, also praised the outing’s large turnout.

“I think it’s amazing,” she said. “It’s so great to see so much maroon and so much Fordham spirit up in the Bronx. And I think it’s really important as Fordham continues to unify all of its schools to have an event like this, where you have alumni from all the undergraduate colleges, as well as the graduate schools, all be able to come together and then celebrate.”

A Ram on the Mound, Camaraderie in the Stands

The Fordham grads in attendance got to see one of their own on the field: Greg Weissert, GABELLI ’18, who made his big-league debut on August 25, becoming the first Fordham grad to play for the Yankees since Johnny Murphy in 1946.

Weissert’s appearance in the Fordham Night game marked the seventh outing of his rookie season, in which he’s shown off deceptive sinkers and sliders, as well as a wicked two-seam fastball. A day after picking up a win with an efficient three-pitch outing to improve his record in relief to 3-0, Weissert entered in the eighth, giving up a home run that would prove to be the difference in the game.

But while the outcome of the game wasn’t what the Yankees fans in the Fordham group were hoping for, the night was about more than the result on the scoreboard.

Steve O’Dowd FCRH ’78, said he and his wife had been planning to come up to the New York area from the Jersey Shore for a wedding the weekend after the game. But when they heard about the alumni outing, they extended their trip (and added a pre-game detour to Arthur Avenue).

“I actually became a Yankees fan starting around the time I went to Fordham,” said O’Dowd. “Prior to that, I was a Mets fan, believe it or not. We’d cut classes and come to a lot of games. Thurman Munson was my hero; that’s why I have this number [15] on my jersey.”

Debbie Myllek, FCRH ’90, another former Mets fan who switched sides upon arriving at Fordham, said her family jumped at the opportunity to bring two generations of alumni to the event.

“We’re Yankee fans and massive Fordham fans,” she said. “My husband and I met at Fordham; I was a sportswriter on The Ram and he was my editor. Now both of our kids go to Fordham. For our friend group, we try to make sure we all sit in the same section, and now my son and his friend started doing the same. It’s really nice.”

—Joe DeLessio, FCLC ’06

The annual event recognizes alumni volunteers and helps further the FUAA’s mission to foster lifelong connections among alumni and promote a sense of general goodwill and support for Fordham worldwide.

Sally Benner, FCRH ’84, chair of the FUAA Advisory Board, introduced new and returning board members, 24 volunteers who represent the University’s 200,000-plus global alumni worldwide. They include graduates from 10 Fordham schools, including Marymount and Thomas More College, and their class years span six decades. Quoting another graduate, Benner said the group aims “to serve as connective tissue—to connect us to each other, to connect you to the University, and to connect the University to you.”

As she spoke about the Fordham community and its commitment to cura personalis, or care for the whole person, Benner noted that the alumni were gathering during a week in which “the world commemorates the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.”—and less than two weeks after a fire killed 17 people and injured dozens of others in the Tremont neighborhood of the Bronx, a mere 15-minute walk from the Rose Hill campus.

She shared how she is motivated by a quote from King’s 1963 “Letter from Birmingham Jail”: “’We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects us all indirectly,’” she said, quoting King. “Tonight, I ask our alumni community to consider care for the whole person to include care for our communities.”

Benner encouraged alumni to seek out Julie Gafney, Ph.D., executive director of the University’s Center for Community Engaged Learning, who was in attendance with a list, now posted on the center’s Instagram account, of how victims of the fire felt the Fordham community could offer support.

“If you have the means to share your abundance, by contributing your skills or good fortune to help, you will learn how the largely Gambian community would value it most,” Benner said.

A Legacy of Transformation

This year’s FUAA reception also marked the last one for Joseph M. McShane, S.J., before he steps down as president of Fordham in June. Throughout the evening, on a big screen behind the ballroom stage, the FUAA featured a slideshow highlighting the University’s transformation under his leadership since 2003. Prior to the event, attendees had an opportunity to submit their own personal tributes and memorable McShane moments, which were included in the slideshow.

During his own speech, Father McShane thanked Benner, who stepped into her role as chair just this year, for “organizing us this evening and doing it with her characteristic class.”

He also remarked on the University’s strength as it continues to navigate the pandemic, noting that the Class of 2025 is “the largest, most diverse, and brightest class in Fordham’s 180-year history,” and that 2021 was the “best fundraising year” in the University’s history, thanks to the “extraordinary generosity” of alumni and others who invested more than $84 million in the University and its mission.

“We didn’t just get through,” he said. “Fordham came through with great strength because it was true to its sense of mission, and its mission and its heart is a mission that is based on love and directed toward the cultivation of all the gifts that students have—cura personalis, in other words.”

The FUAA is always looking to connect with new voices from the University’s alumni community. For info on its upcoming events or to learn more, visit Forever Fordham.

“I said, ‘Of course you are. You’re part of the University.’ We were laughing, but it emphasized for me that perhaps there isn’t a [strong]  sense of belonging [among graduate school alumni], and we want to work on that.”

Hence her mission as the new chair of the Fordham University Alumni Association’s (FUAA) Advisory Board. Benner, who graduated from Fordham College at Rose Hill in 1984 and previously served as the board’s vice chair, will be taking over for John Pettenati, FCRH ’81, the FUAA’s founding chair, in January. And when she does, she wants to unite all University alumni, all around the world, during her four-year term.

During this year’s Homecoming celebration, members of the FUAA ­gathered for a toast to recognize the advisory board’s ongoing work and commitment to the University. During the event, Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, recognized all that Benner has contributed to Fordham thus far. “You brought in grit, courage, determination, and you never lost it,” he said. “You brought it to Fordham. You endowed Fordham with your enthusiasm.”

Referencing Benner’s undergraduate involvement with Mimes and Mummers, the theater group at Rose Hill, Pettenati added, “I know how passionate she was about that organization: She’s going to bring that passion to the FUAA.”

Benner said she has been thinking about how to stay engaged with Fordham almost since she graduated, and her leadership role on the advisory board enables her to get involved on a deeper level.

A Buffalo, New York, native, Benner said that in the ’80s, she was one of relatively few students from outside the New York metropolitan area. In recent decades, Fordham has transformed itself from a strong regional institution to a prestigious national university.

As board president, Benner plans to offer FUAA programming and events designed to unite all University alumni, particularly those who tend to think only of their affiliation with a particular campus, or with an undergraduate or graduate school, or who live beyond the New York metro area. “The thing we have in common is Fordham University; that’s what’s printed on each of our degrees,” she said. “Once you’ve graduated, you are in the world, and you wear lots of hats. You’re not your major.”

Benner added that although many of us have Zoom fatigue after being in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic for nearly two years, online programming has afforded alumni who live outside the New York metropolitan area far more opportunities to get more involved with their alma mater. She’s optimistic that it will continue to be “a portal through which alumni can stay involved and feel that they have a role—that they can volunteer in some capacity from where they are.”

Benner’s first six months in office will put her mission to the test, with both virtual and in-person events planned for all alumni. The fifth annual FUAA Alumni Recognition Reception will be held on January 20 in the ballroom at the historic 583 Park Avenue. Created by the advisory board’s networking and engagement task force, the reception hasn’t been held in person since 2020. (Last year, it was held virtually.)

And Forever Learning Week, planned by the Forever Learning task force to offer alumni “master classes taught at Fordham,” will kick off on March 28. Last year, the programming was offered virtually throughout April. “Hundreds of alumni from around the world dialed in,” Benner said. “It was fascinating because it was the mosaic of all the parts that make up Fordham.”

In addition to uniting alumni across schools, Benner hopes that she’ll be able to unite alumni across experiences, too, recognizing that Fordham is a different university than the one she attended—but in the best possible ways.

“We’ll all have different experiences, increasingly diverse experiences, more cosmopolitan experiences,” she said. “But we are all from Fordham University, the Jesuit University of New York. We have New York in common. So, whatever our generation, whatever our school or campus, we’ve got that to open the door. That’s our calling card to have something in common.”

What are you most passionate about?
Doing all that I can to open doors to opportunity for others.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Some decisions make themselves.

What’s your favorite place in New York City? In the world?
In New York, anyplace where the Chrysler Building is within view. In the world, in Paris, sitting on the Seine River’s stone embankment watching boats and people of the world glide by while imagining scenes from history play out in that setting.

Name a book that has had a lasting influence on you.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (HarperTorch, 1974) by Robert M. Pirsig

Who is the Fordham grad or professor you remember most?
English professor Richard Giannone because his syllabus introduced me to the writing of the masterful author Joan Didion.

What are you optimistic about?
That whatever our troubles are in whatever our era, solutions can be forged by the handiwork of people coming together sincerely to find a common cause.

“I want to give back to places that helped shape who I am,” says Dawson, who majored in economics at Fordham, was an All-Patriot League linebacker for the Rams, and earned a spot on the league’s academic honor roll. “I’ve been giving my time and input to drive things toward what’ll be beneficial for more people. I think that’s something that’s really valuable.”

Returning to His High School, in Several Roles

After graduating from Fordham College at Rose Hill, Dawson returned to Hayes (as the school is known) to serve as the football team’s linebackers coach. He later took on an expanded role as defensive coordinator.

In January 2020, he joined the school’s administrative team as assistant director of alumni engagement, and by November he was promoted to director. In this role, Dawson organizes events for alumni, solicits donations for student scholarships and financial aid, and communicates with young alumni to keep them engaged and up to date on what’s happening at the school.

Dawson’s days are long, he says, but he relishes the opportunity to help students get in the door and thrive at Hayes, noting that his recruitment work for the football program provides a clear example of the benefits derived from alumni donations.

“We have to find a way to fund people and come up with financial assistance for kids who can’t afford to pay full tuition,” Dawson says. “So that ties right back into my job in the alumni office of soliciting donations to go toward tuition assistance.”

Showing Up and Being a Presence

Dawson’s affinity for both Fordham and Hayes is made even stronger by the links between the two Bronx schools.

In 2015, Fordham developed a partnership with Hayes—home to many African American and Hispanic students who would potentially be the first in their families to attend college. That partnership began with a mentoring program that pairs Fordham undergraduates with Hayes students, and it has grown to include ongoing collaborations with WFUV, Fordham’s public media station; the Gabelli School of Business; and the Graduate School of Education, among other areas of the University.

Recently, Dawson worked on a project in which leaders at Hayes tapped Gabelli marketing students to compete to create a new slogan and banner for the school’s capital campaign, with the winning designs to be unveiled in the coming weeks.

At Fordham, Dawson and several other former Fordham football players have started what he calls “a mentorship group for Black and brown student-athletes.” While they have only worked with football players so far, they hope to expand their mentorship roles across other sports, as well.

One of the things that drew Dawson to join the FUAA Advisory Board, he says, was the opportunity to let fellow graduates know that, while alumni giving can make a big difference in students’ lives, there are other ways to give back to Fordham.

“I know a lot of times, alumni feel like being part of the school is only an option if you can donate,” Dawson says. “And I’m trying to tell them, ‘Listen, you can show up to events and be a presence. And that’s giving back to the school in a big way.’”

Fordham Five

What are you most passionate about?
I think I’m most passionate about helping people. Being able to give back, whether it’s advice or shared experiences, I think that’s what I’m most passionate about.

What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve ever received?
I got a quote from one of my teachers in high school. They said, “You’ve got to do what you have to do, so that you can do what you want to do.” And that kind of sat with me. It resonated with me, just because that’s how life is. You’ve got to put in the work in order to have fun. And if you try to have fun before you put the work in, that’s when things don’t usually work out for you.

What’s your favorite place in New York City? What’s your favorite place in the world?
Favorite place in New York City has to be my hometown, Soundview, in the Bronx. I love that place more than anything. And then in the world? I haven’t really traveled much. But I took a trip to Toronto two years ago and that was amazing. I loved it. It was awesome. We went in the winter, so it was pretty cold out there. But if I could do it again, I’d definitely go back to Toronto at least three or four more times.

Name a book that has had a lasting influence on you.
Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America by John Lewis. I read it the year right after I graduated. It was very powerful. It’s pretty much an autobiography, with him just talking about his experiences and the civil rights movement through his eyes. [There are] a lot of gems that last with you for a while, in terms of inspirational stuff and motivational stuff, and stuff to make you want to effect change. It was really powerful.

Who’s the Fordham grad or professor that you admire the most?
I would say Judge Robert Holdman [FCRH ’86, LAW ’91] . He’s part of the Gridiron Club [support group for Fordham football], and he’s always been there for me. He’s been a mentor and a resource for me since I started at Fordham. And then I’ll throw in a bonus one: my boy, my [former Fordham]teammate Chase Edmonds. I was with him the day of the [2018 NFL] draft, and we’ve been really close since he got to Fordham. I’m a year older than he is. So seeing him get to the NFL and then continue to do the things that he did in college is pretty cool.

Typically held in person in Manhattan, this year’s event celebrated Ram of the Year Mark Di Giorgio, GABELLI ’87, ’93, and Trailblazer award recipient Muhammad Hassan Sarwar, GABELLI ’14. The reception, held to honor not just these two award winners but all alumni volunteers, was organized by the Fordham University Alumni Association (FUAA).

Michael Griffin, associate vice president for alumni relations, said the event engaged alumni “as one Fordham with the knowledge and conviction that this will make us a better and stronger institution.”

The reception kicked off with a song from the Satin Dolls, a student a cappella group, and a blessing from the alumni chaplain, Damian O’Connell, S.J., FCRH ’70. And throughout the event, alumni chimed in to read Fordham-themed trivia questions and select random numbers for prizes to be raffled off to attendees.

When Di Giorgio accepted his award—which he said arrived at his California home just minutes before he joined the event—he expressed his surprise and gratitude at receiving the honor. “It’s humbling to receive this award, and it’s not mine alone,” he said. “I share this with all the other nominees. They’re ambassadors of Fordham, so to be selected out of that group is something that I cherish.”

He thanked the other members of the Northern California alumni chapter, of which he is president, as well as his wife and daughter for graciously sharing him and his time as he runs the chapter and its events.

Sarwar thanked his family, friends, and alumna Morgan Vazquez, FCRH ’13, the very first Trailblazer award winner, as he accepted his award. He said it was a long, nonlinear journey from his native Pakistan to Fordham Road, but “I believe that it was divine intervention—it was fate—that led me to Fordham University.”

He credits the University with enabling him and his family to advance socially and economically, “and it is because of that that I have dedicated myself to help spread access to education, both back in Pakistan as well as here,” he said. More than helping to expand access to education, Sarwar said he specifically champions a Fordham education for its Ignatian values and dedication to cura personalis, or care of the whole person.

Donna Rapaccioli, Ph.D., GABELLI ’83, dean of the Gabelli School of Business, said she was “proud of both Mark and Muhammed,” both of whom are Gabelli School graduates.

“Mark, you highlighted love and your love of the University,” she said. “I hope you feel the love coming back at you because … I have many, many stories of alumni who are out in California and you welcome them, and make them feel a part of something.”

Congratulating Sarwar, she said it felt like just yesterday that he was a first-year student. “I was proud of you from the day I met you, but I was sitting here and I was glowing as I listened to … how you’ve grown and all that you do.”

Rapaccioli also offered attendees an update on the Gabelli School, which marked its centennial in 2020, a celebration that continues this year with ongoing virtual events regionally throughout the U.S., as well as worldwide.

Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, also lent his congratulations, highlighting Di Giorgio’s spirit and Muhammed’s soul being “all in” to the Fordham community, even beyond graduation.

“Fordham is a moveable feast,” he said. “You bring Fordham with you. You make its values present. You embody our greatest aspirations, and you do so with grace and effortless ease. I can’t tell you how proud I am of you, how grateful I am to you, for embodying everything we stand for and everything we’ve committed ourselves to.”

Each alumnus will be honored during the annual Fordham University Alumni Association Recognition (FUAA) Reception, to be held virtually on Thursday, January 21. The two award winners were nominated by their peers and selected by FUAA Advisory Board members.

Di Giorgio, so surprised he would be receiving the Ram of the Year Award—given to a graduate who has enhanced the reputation of the University through their professional achievements, personal accomplishments, and loyal service to Fordham—was convinced he’d been notified accidentally. He said he read the email three times, initially assuming he was cc’d as an alumni chapter leader and that another Mark was the winner. It wasn’t until he checked the list of email recipients that it started to sink in.

“I don’t know if I’ve been in the running before or been considered. So, it was a complete shock,” he said. Di Giorgio added that for him it was one of few “shining stars of 2020.”

Sarwar said he felt that same shock and was “extremely humbled” when he learned he’d won the Trailblazer Award, which is presented to a graduate from the past 10 years who has demonstrated outstanding dedication to Fordham and whose leadership has inspired fellow alumni.

“There are a lot of young alumni who are doing a lot of great stuff, so I definitely feel very thankful to the University for this recognition,” he said.

Building New Ties, Finding Camaraderie

Di Giorgio and Sarwar both have years of supporting Fordham under their belts, albeit in different ways.

Now a financial analyst at Bank of America, Di Giorgio initially found it hard to maintain a connection to the Fordham community after he moved from New Jersey to California in 1996, a professional move he thought would be relatively short-term—and then he found the Alumni Chapter of Northern California.

He joined the chapter’s leadership board and in just a year was nominated to serve as president, a role he’s held for almost 15 years. During that time, he has helped revamp events to engage a wider group of people, especially younger alumni. In the spirit of engaging alumni who are physically distant from Fordham but still identify as New Yorkers, he’s even created a bocce team, the Bronx Ballers, that competes in San Francisco’s Ferry Bocce league. “It turns out we get enough people to participate in the league three times a year. … People ask, ‘Are we playing again? Are we doing this again?’”

“A lot of people, they don’t get back to New York, and this was one way that they still connect with Fordham,” he said. “So, it’s the satisfaction of the alumni engaging, not necessarily [with]Fordham but [with each other]for the camaraderie.”

In a normal year, the chapter would hold a number of in-person events, from an end-of-the-year Christmas dinner to attending sports games and more. But “COVID-19 has thrown a wrench into everything,” Di Giorgio said.

“I’m optimistic that one day soon—within three months, six months—that I’ll be able to shake the hands, hug the people that I haven’t been able to in a year,” he said.

Education as ‘Silver Bullet’ for Socioeconomic Mobility

Sarwar, whose family immigrated to the U.S. from Pakistan when he was in eighth grade, believes in the power of education and the opportunities it affords people. He attended Fordham thanks to the Thomas G. Labrecque Smart Start Program, which included a full four-year scholarship to the University and an internship with JPMorgan Chase while he was a student.

“My father spent most of his adult life getting the rest of his family to this country because he believed in the educational opportunities that America had to offer,” Sarwar said, adding that his own goal is to try to help provide educational opportunities to others. He sees higher education as “the silver bullet to help people transcend socioeconomic backgrounds and ensure mobility in our very fast-changing world.”

Now six years into his tenure at JPMorgan Chase as a risk associate in asset management, Sarwar is passionate about paying it forward. He’s been a member of Fordham’s Young Alumni Committee since graduating, and he’s also chaired its philanthropy subcommittee twice. He said the committee is a great way to stay in touch with recent alumni and identify ways they can give back to Fordham.

“Their time, their thoughts, their ideas, their feedback to the University [are]extremely critical, especially because it’s the most fresh batch of feedback we can get,” he said. “Relaying [that feedback]to the appropriate administrators and making sure that it’s part of what the Fordham administration considers to make changes has been very rewarding.”

Through Fordham’s Social Innovation Collaboratory, Sarwar uses his specific career experience as a risk associate to mentor current Fordham students interested in entrepreneurship. “Trying to implement that kind of thinking to entrepreneurship, I feel, is a good way I can give back.”

Mission-Motivated

Fordham’s spirit, values, and mission sit at the center of both Di Giorgio’s and Sarwar’s efforts. “Being a mission-oriented university, I think, really helps us continue to make those bonds stronger,” Sarwar said. “I got to go to the University with a scholarship. I got to meet some of the best people ever, and if I can help other people do that, that’s what [I’m] inclined to do.”

For Di Giorgio, who lives across the country from many of his family and friends, maintaining a sense of connection to his alma mater and the “Go Rams” Fordham spirit is crucial.

“What I can think of and touch and feel, it’s the friendships I have,” Di Giorgio said. “They’re lifelong friendships, and I think it’s because Fordham draws the same types of person at its core. So I’ve had friends for 50 years, but the ones I call and stay in touch with—send Christmas cards to—are my Fordham roommates.”

Typically held in person, this year’s FUAA Recognition Reception will be held virtually due to COVID-19. Sarwar and Di Giorgio will receive engraved awards ahead of the virtual reception, which will also feature a sweepstakes open to all attendees.

Visit Forever Fordham to learn more and register to attend the January 21 event.