From there, he commuted for two hours. Each way.

“That is very difficult to do, if you do that every day,” especially in light of the “pretty intense” workload that comes with being an English major and biology minor on the pre-health track, said Feliz Varona, a senior.

Then he found out about the Fordham Housing Fund, devoted to helping students overcome the financial barriers to living on campus. With support from the fund, Feliz Varona moved onto campus in junior year and today lives in O’Hare Hall. The move enabled him to take leadership roles in clubs including the Black Student Alliance, for which he is now vice president, and the Minority Association of Pre-Health Students, of which he is president.

“[When] you have those extra four hours, your life changes completely,” he said. “The difference was way bigger than what I anticipated. And honestly, it’s just a blessing that I am thankful for every day.”

This year, the Fordham Housing Fund is supporting Feliz Varona and eight other students who came to Fordham via its Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program, or CSTEP, a New York state program that helps students from underrepresented groups enter science-related fields and the licensed professions.

The fund has been focused on CSTEP students since it was established in 2011 by Brian and Kathy MacLean, both FCRH ’75, who sought to help students who would most benefit from living on campus. Recipients had often struggled with long commutes or other challenges such as crowded and distracting living situations that made it hard to focus on their studies, hurting their grades.

The MacLeans, two of the University’s generous donors, made further major gifts to build the fund’s endowment after meeting recipients and hearing how they had benefited from it. “The stories from the CSTEP students that get the [funding awards]are so amazing,” said Brian MacLean, a former Fordham University trustee and current trustee fellow. Kathy MacLean, a current member of the Board of Trustees, noted one benefit in particular: “When we talked to the students, we were surprised that for many of them, the number one benefit they most appreciated was being able to sleep more. This positively impacted their grades and general well-being.”

The MacLeans have been the primary donors to the Fordham Housing Fund but left their names out of its title in order to encourage others to support it as well. In adding to the fund, they also sought to enhance diversity among on-campus residents—a goal that dovetails with those of the University’s $350 million fundraising campaign, Cura Personalis | For Every Fordham Student, which the MacLeans helped to advance with a new gift to the housing fund this year.

A Transformative Experience

Thirty to 40 students apply every year for funding awards, which cover housing and a basic meal plan, said Michael Molina, Fordham’s CSTEP and STEP director. Students are selected based on grade point average, an essay, and an interview focusing on how they would get more involved and contribute to the on-campus community if they could live in a residence hall.

For those selected, the experience of living on campus can be transformative, Molina said—especially if they would otherwise be living with multiple family members and wanting for privacy.

As a student, “there are those times you need to be around people, to be around your peers and your friends and your classmates, then there are those times that you need to have some time to yourself,” he said.

The number of CSTEP students helped by the fund has grown from two in the first year to nine today, Molina said. For this year’s recipients, the fund has made all the difference, helping them realize their ambitions for their time at Fordham.

A 180-Degree Change

Yu Jin In, a junior majoring in integrative neuroscience, had been waking up as early as 5:30 a.m. to commute to Rose Hill from her family’s home in Queens—taking two buses, occasionally having to run from one to catch the other, to arrive in time for 8 a.m. classes.

Now, thanks to her housing fund award, she lives in the Martyrs’ Court residence halls and her Fordham experience has “changed 180 degrees”—she’s better able to make friends, take night classes, and use her evenings for unbroken studying or other engagements. “I could finally say ‘yes’ to dinner [with]people,” she said.

Things also changed for Fawziah Fariha, a senior on the pre-health track who is double-majoring in psychology and theology, when she no longer had a long commute to and from her Bronx home.

With the extra time and flexibility, she was better able to get more involved with student clubs and push beyond her comfort zone. “I’m able to really lead,” said Fariha, who is a secretary in the Muslim Student Association; director in Fordham University South Asian Entity, or FUSE; president of the Laennec Society, a pre-health students’ club; and co-founder of the new Bengali Student Association. Through leadership, she said, “you learn so much about yourself.”

Some students faced long commutes even if they were relatively close to Rose Hill. For Giovanni Barreiro, a senior engineering physics major, it could take an hour and a half from the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx. For Chealsy Garcia, a junior general science major also in the pre-health program, it could take an hour to get to and from Washington Heights. Living on campus, Garcia is able to spend more time with various activities, like being a mentor with Mentoring Latinas, and is in the process of joining Fordham’s EMS service, known as FUEMS.

Daphne Buitron, a pre-health senior majoring in sociology and minoring in biology, enjoys being able to meet up with other students for studying, as well as having time for other things like joining the dance club, which has late meetings.

“This gave me the chance to do something for myself, but also continue with my academics,” she said. “I could do what I want instead of what I need and then leave.”

‘Somebody Looking Out for You’

Maria Del Sol Estrada, a senior double-majoring in political science and Spanish language and literature and applying to law school, originally applied for the on-campus housing out of concern about bringing home COVID-19 to her family members—including her grandmother—with whom she was living in Manhattan.

“It affects you subconsciously,” she said. “You think about things more. I literally think I washed my hands every single time I would touch something. I didn’t take my mask off for a really long time.”

Isaac Mullings, a junior psychology major on the pre-health track, said it’s been interesting to be able to pick up food on campus without opening his wallet; he can simply use his meal plan card.

He said the housing award has encouraged him to do well. “I think it’s served [as]a point of motivation—‘Okay, there’s somebody looking out for you, so just try your best in class today,’” he said.

Make a gift to the Fordham Housing Fund here. 

To inquire about giving to any area of the University, please contact Michael Boyd, senior associate vice president for development and university relations, at 212-636-6525 or [email protected]. Learn more about Cura Personalis | For Every Fordham Student, a campaign to reinvest in every aspect of the Fordham student experience.

Bal initially majored in biology at Fordham, but he switched to computer science in his junior year. Working closely with Damian Lyons, Ph.D., director of the University’s Robotics and Computer Vision Lab, he used technology originally associated with gaming to help herpetologists at the zoo track and study the movements of Kihansi spray toads. The toads had been classified as extinct in the wild in 2009, but in the past decade, scientists at the Bronx Zoo, headquarters of the Wildlife Conservation Society, have been breeding the toads on site and helping to reintroduce them to their native habitat in Tanzania.

According to Lyons, Bal expanded the code to effectively track the toads solely using depth imagery. He also added a color-tracking feature so that made it possible to zero in on the toads when they moved, such as jumping onto a leaf. Bal also created new software to generate behavior analytics.

As an undergrad, Bal also was a volunteer EMT with Fordham University EMS, and he worked as a software engineer intern at Amazon, an experience he said he helped him not only get job offers but also learn “how to work professionally, scalably, and consistently in the real world.”

Today, he’s a software engineer at SpaceX, working on ground network software systems for Starlink, the aerospace manufacturer’s satellite internet service. But one day down the line, Bal said he hopes to launch his own company.

What Fordham course has had the greatest influence on you and your career path so far? How and why was it so influential?
Professor Damian Lyons’ Brains and Behaviors in Beasts and Bots. It was basically a class where we looked at different animal behaviors and then emulated them with robotics (e.g., a bug might walk around until it hits a wall, then it’ll turn and keep moving until it hits a wall, rotate, and so on. At one point we made a robot that did the same). It was a lot of fun, but I would say research outside of class was way more impactful. Classes are good for developing baseline skills, but the best way to solidify your knowledge, grow it, and put it to work is to utilize the resources available to students on campus outside of required coursework, like labs and research opportunities.

Who is the Fordham professor or person you admire the most, and why?
Definitely Lyons. Without the opportunities and encouragement he provided, I’m certain I wouldn’t have made professional progress at the same rate that I have. He introduced me to complex, real-world problems and helped me understand how to break them down into manageable chunks to create something useful. That overall thought process and all of the small nuances I learned along the way have been invaluable in my professional career.

What are you optimistic about?
I’m optimistic about our future. I think that the next few generations will have an extremely large impact on humanity’s trajectory due to their intersection with powerful and exciting technologies that they’ve grown up with, as opposed to previous generations that still remember what it was like to not have smartphones or the entire internet at their fingertips.

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t be around to help out ourselves,” said Usemma Khan, FCRH ’21, director-elect of FUEMS. “But we are so grateful that we have these [supplies]and instead of keeping these in here, we’re able to give them out to people who can actually use them.” 

When Fordham closed its residential halls in late March, many FUEMS members moved back home. But there was one way they could still help out their local community, said Khan. 

On the night of March 29, members of FUEMS met on Zoom and agreed to give their supplies to those in dire need. Their chief-elect, Li Yang Wei, FCRH ’21, coordinated with their medical director Mark Estrallado, FCRH ’09, an emergency medicine physician at St. Barnabas, to create an inventory of needed supplies at the hospital. The next day, two FUEMS members who live near the Rose Hill campus — Wei and Adam Rosen, FCRH ’20 — visited the FUEMS supply room and gathered equipment, with permission from Fordham Public Safety. On March 31, St. Barnabas Hospital picked up the supplies, said Khan. 

In total, FUEMS donated 158 non-rebreather masks, 28 N95 respirator masks, 87 nasal cannulas, 58 nebulizers, 37 bag valve masks, 31 vent masks, 18 pairs of gloves, 15 goggles, 10 continuous positive airway pressure devices, seven oxygen supply tubings, six infection control kits, six packs of albuterol, five surgical face masks, and four personal isolation kits, said Khan. This adds to the list of approximately 35,000 medical supplies recently donated from Fordham to health care workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“A lot of hospitals are running short on all of these supplies because of the overload of patients coming in,” Khan said. “We can help at least a little bit.”

Collegiate EMS organizations with an EMS Ready Campus designation have shown excellence in emergency management and disaster preparedness. The honors are classified as either bronze, silver, or gold.

At last year’s conference, FUEMS reached the bronze tier for the first time and, in another “first,” won 2018 Collegiate EMS Organization of the Year. This year, after completing a series of additional tasks—expanding cardiopulmonary resuscitation training on campus, strengthening relationships with off-campus organizations like St. Barnabas Hospital, and completing more training courses—FUEMS was upgraded to silver.

“After winning the bronze tier last year, we wanted to go a step further and achieve silver,” said Logan Clair, FCRH ’19, the chief of medical staff at FUEMS. “It felt very rewarding and exciting when we got called up on stage.”

The student-led organization at Rose Hill has treated students, faculty members, and staff since 1977. For more than 40 years, Fordham’s EMS team has responded to situations that run the gamut: seizures, heart attacks, allergic reactions, asthma attacks, bone fractures, and more. FUEMS was even among the emergency crews that showed up at the World Trade Center on 9/11.

Today, the organization has approximately 170 members, of which nearly 30 are actively involved, said Clair. It’s been home to many student volunteers over the years—and many stories.

Alexis Verwoert, FCRH ’19, director of FUEMS, said sometimes it’s difficult to not wear her heart on her sleeve. She recalled responding to a patient who was experiencing a psychiatric emergency.

“People match emotions. I wanted, in that moment, to be as upset and as sad as that person was,” Verwoert said. “But the second I lose my cool, that person will also lose their cool. I had to remain calm and remember that I’m here to provide care and make sure that this person is going to be OK, eventually.”

At the end of the day, Clair said, FUEMS is all about care and community at Fordham.

“Helping our community and providing the best quality of care that we can for students [and staff]that may be going through a medical crisis, being there for them, and providing comfort for them is really rewarding,” Clair said.

It is the first time in 40 years that FUEMS has received the award.

“It really marks the flourishing of our organization and the epitome of our growth,” said FUEMS Director Marykate Decker, a senior at Fordham College at Rose Hill.

In addition, FUEMS renewed its HeartSafe Campus status, and renewed a Striving for Excellence award. It received a bronze award for “EMS Ready Campus,” which recognizes excellence in emergency management and disaster preparedness.

Decker described the volunteer staff as a balance between pre-med students and others with diverse backgrounds, including business, theology, and the arts.

“A lot of people assume everyone involved wants to be a doctor, but most of our volunteers just want to help out,” she said.

While FUEMS is an official University club, it’s really much more than that, said FUEMS adviser Kathleen Malara, the executive director of University Health Services.

“These students go above and beyond what a regular club would be,” said Malara, citing their rigorous training to be certified by New York City and State.

Malara noted that student volunteers are entrusted with the health, welfare, and personal information of patients in their care. She said the organization has come a long way from the days when it operated out of the back of van some 40 years ago. This year marks her 18th year of being involved with the group and her 16th year as an adviser. She said that each year the group has set the bar higher.

She said that the current FUEMS cohort has made educating their fellow classmates part of the equation. Over the past year alone, FUEMS has reached out to the student body to make it aware of the dangers in high-risk behavior; it has also raised awareness of learning CPR.

Among the group, the FUEMS volunteers have expanded their knowledge of issues related to diabetes and on how to administer Narcan. And over winter break, they took a tactical emergency casualty care course with the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY).

Besides working with the FDNY, Decker said that FUEMS, which is based at Rose Hill, has focused on building bridges with St. Barnabas Hospital, the nearby Bronx community, and Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus. As the Lincoln Center campus doesn’t have a FUEMS emergency response team, the Rose Hill campus crew has started to recruit for one by providing free transportation to Lincoln Center campus students who want to train at Rose Hill.

Besides gaining technical knowledge, real-world experience, and city and state certification, Decker said volunteers also live out the Jesuit values of being men and women for others.

“What I’ve really learned is that there is always something bigger than yourself,” she said.

Grasso says he was so impressed by his fellow students’ quick and professional response to his health crisis that he applied to join the Fordham EMS team—known as FUEMS—as soon as he recovered. And the life experience he gained as an EMT was an education that was just as meaningful as his studies in business and law.

“I saw everything from cuts and bruises to seizures and heart attacks,” he recalls. “And as an officer, I was able to get perspective on the overall operation.”

Rising up the ranks, he was elected director of the club, a position that prepared him for his future career: Today, Grasso owns an ambulance company and emergency vehicle repair service in the Bronx, just steps from the campus where it all began.

Reminiscing about stories like this made for lively conversations at the FUEMS’ April 1 gathering at the Villa Barone Manor in the Bronx to commemorate the club’s 40th anniversary. More than 120 students and alumni attended to celebrate the club’s evolution over four decades.

From humble beginnings to city resource

What began with a handful of students who saw the need for an on-campus emergency response service in the 1970s and ’80s has flourished into a student corps of more than 200 members, 12 officers, and two state-certified ambulances, with collaborative partnerships with emergency service groups throughout New York City.

One of the club’s original pioneers, Bruce Nedelka, GABELLI ’79, is now a certified emergency medical services officer, a title held by just over 100 nationwide, and a nationally registered paramedic and division chief and public information officer of the City of Virginia Beach.

“We started out on foot with fanny packs and basic equipment,” he says. “I never imagined back then that FUEMS would someday serve as backup to the city and the Bronx 911. That gives me a great feeling.”

Those early efforts were followed by a few like-minded students, including Bill White and Dave Winters, both FCRH ’89, who were instrumental in formalizing the student club and purchasing its first ambulance.

“We’re very proud of it, but it’s not about us,” White says. “It’s about the young men and women who are waking up at 3 a.m. to help people in crises and who are continuing the Fordham tradition of service for others.”

Over the years, FUEMS has been an integral part of the city’s emergency response efforts—from the daily calls to big disasters. FUEMS was among the emergency crews that responded to the World Trade Center during 9/11. “They went down and waited for survivors, but there weren’t any,” recalls Kathleen Malara, MSN, FNP, of Fordham’s Student Health Center, who serves as a FUEMS adviser. “It was very traumatic for the students.”

Honoring a fallen colleague

More recently, the student EMTs participated in the funeral procession for a Yadira Arroyo, a veteran FDNY EMT in the Bronx who was killed on the job in March.

“This hit our organization hard, as a few of our members talked to Yadira at St. Barnabas during late-night shifts,” says Natalie Sturgeon, the club’s outgoing director, who plans to attend medical school to become a trauma surgeon.

In the spirit of fellowship for their fallen colleague, FUEMS and Emergency Aid Training—the group that provides FUEMS EMT instruction—announced their donation to a fund for Arroyo’s five children at the anniversary celebration, a gesture that was met with a standing ovation when the gift was accepted by an FDNY union official.

Father Gregory Rannazzisi, FCRH ’05, a former FUEMS volunteer, gave a blessing at the dinner and asked for a moment of silence for the late Father Joseph Currie, S.J., former FUEMS chaplain.

Valuable career training

Many student EMTs join the club to gain state certification and hands-on experience for future careers in the health professions. Training is intense and includes a semester-long course, with classes held at night and on the weekends, and exams that lead to New York state certification. With an influx of volunteers over the past two years, students commit to two shifts each month, but can request more.

The reward of doing work that saves lives attracted Matthew Niehaus, FCRH ’09, to become a FUEMS volunteer while he was a pre-med student at Fordham. Today, the Cleveland native is completing a medical residency in Philadelphia, and he will continue on to a critical care fellowship in Pittsburg.

“The experiences I had definitely led me to emergency medicine,” Niehaus says. “I remember one case in particular when a visitor fell off of a roof on campus. There was a very collaborative effort between the students who responded, and we got the patient to the hospital. Calls like that got me interested in working in trauma.”

Mickaela O’Neill, FCRH ’15, felt she was destined for a career in the medical field when she arrived at Fordham, but after four years with FUEMS she shifted gears from becoming a doctor to becoming a physician assistant so she could spend more time with patients.

Now in graduate school at Midwestern University in Arizona, O’Neill adds that even compared to other EMS teams she’s served with, the friends she made at FUEMS were more like family.

“Helping other students along with students your own age was extremely unique. It wasn’t easy juggling FUEMS with being a pre-med student. You have to be committed and make sacrifices in your social life, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

Unlike O’Neill, current FUEMS chief Heather Cahill wasn’t necessarily planning on a career in medicine when she arrived at Fordham. She was a dancer in high school and considering a career in the performing arts. But the Fordham College at Rose Hill junior—just elected for her second year as chief—has decided on a career in forensic science. Responding to campus calls ranging from diabetic emergencies to anaphylactic shock to sports injuries, seizures, and fevers helped confirmed her career path.

“Some situations can be very scary and life threatening,” Cahill says. “But making a difference in someone’s life, even sometimes saving a life, that makes it all worthwhile.”

–Claire Curry

Check out photos from the dinner below. (Photos by Erinn Halasinki)

But they weren’t spectators. They were part of the action, catching runners as they dove for the finish line and assisting for the medical tents.

“It was so exciting! Not only were we ensuring that the medical needs of the runners are met, but we got to be a friendly congratulatory face while doing it,” said Sarah Loftus, FCRH ’18, FUEMS secretary.

FUEMS is a student-run 24/7 volunteer ambulance organization that responds to all Rose Hill campus calls for help, as well as student emergencies in off-campus housing. As an important part of Fordham Health Services for 40 years, FUEMS has become an asset to campus emergency support; students involved in the organization are either certified New York State Emergency Medical Technicians— the same certification required by the FDNY— or First Responders.

At the marathon, the FUEMS students were put at the post-finish line to aid runners once they completed the race. They were trained to perform initial patient assessment, checking for common medical emergencies such as dehydration, fatigue, muscle cramps, hypo and hyperthermia, and hyponatremia.

“We screen the runner by asking what their current emergency is, obtaining their vital signs, assessing their stability as a patient, and possibly getting them any food or water,” said Loftus.

FUEMS students then alerted further medical personnel of the runners’ conditions, where further treatment was needed. After receiving care, runners usually stay in the medical tent for about 15 minutes, said Loftus, before they join their families waiting outside in Central Park.

Some students were also on hand to at the finish line to help runners who collapse after completing the race. They helped the runners get back on their feet or assisted them into golf carts so they could receive proper care.

This is FUEMS second year volunteering at the marathon. Last year, FUEMS chief Nishant Sahoo, FCRH ’16, coordinated with New York Road Runners (NYRR) to allow nine FUEMS volunteers at the 2015 marathon.

“I wasn’t as nervous as I was last year,” said Loftus. “Volunteering for the first time was pretty intense. The energy of the finish line medical tent keeps you on your toes, and you definitely become a pro at multitasking by the end of the day.”

This year, FUEMS was asked by NYRR to send volunteers again. The team this year consisted of 19 volunteers, a number, Loftus said, that is close to offering them a unique opportunity.

“NYRR has a program where if a group has at least 20 volunteers sign up, that group is credited with one guaranteed runner’s spot in next year’s marathon,” said Loftus. “Next year we hope to earn someone a run the marathon representing FUEMS!”

–Mary Awad

Malara and Jason helped publicize Fordham’s model of holistic student care in an article, “Partnership between Health Services and Residential Life: A Confluence of Efforts, which they published in the spring 2011 issue of College Health in Action, the member newsletter of the American College Health Association.

Malara and Jason outlined the key partnerships that enable Health Services and Residential Life to best meet the diverse needs of students.

These partnerships include:

Fordham University EMS Reporting (FUEMS), an on-campus health care source staffed by volunteer students who are first responders and/or emergency medical technicians. FUEMS provides round-the-clock emergency care and hospital transports, and Health Services follows up to provide status reports on the students to Residential Life.

Counseling Concerns Case Conference (CCCC), a monthly check-in of Health Services and Residential Life staff, as well as other administrators from Counseling and Psychological Services, Substance Abuse Prevention and Student Support, Disability Services, Campus Ministry, and Academic Affairs, among others. The meeting informs University staff about students struggling with a variety of issues, from physical and mental health concerns to academic difficulties.

Housing Accommodation Process, a partnership between Health Services and Residential Life to serve students who request housing accommodations for medical reasons.

University Emergency Management Team (EMT) and Pandemic Response, a coordinated response to an individual or communal health crisis on campus. In 2009-2010, Health Services and Residential Life coordinated with EMT members from across the campus in minimizing the impact of the H1N1 influenza outbreak.

“Regular contact between Health Services and Residential Life often results in the discovery of a community health concern that may need attention, a population in need of education, or an opportunity to improve our work,” Malara and Jason stated.

“Without an open line of communication, effectively addressing community concerns is not possible.”