“Faith & Hope has created opportunities for students of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds to come to Fordham, earn a world-class education, and seek employment,” said Susan Conley Salice, FCRH ’82, one of three campaign co-chairs and a first-generation college graduate herself. “These scholarships open doors to students who may not otherwise be able to attend, and give them the opportunity to transform their lives.”

The campaign raised $175,311,288 from April 2014 to June 2019, surpassing its original goal of $175 million. Donations funded existing scholarship funds and 197 new scholarship funds for students—including Fulbright scholars, community leaders, and first-generation college students.

“Scholarships are at the heart of Fordham’s mission, and are central to the Jesuit notion of service to the human family,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham. “Scholarships transform individual lives, of course, but in democratizing education and knowledge, they also help create a more just world and a more equitable society. I am deeply heartened that so many of our generous alumni and friends agree, and I am forever grateful for their openhearted and openhanded support.”

Breaking Records Across the University

The Faith & Hope campaign achieved historic results for Fordham. The 2017 fiscal year was the most successful single year of fundraising in the University’s history, at $75.8 million. This year, the University’s Development and University Relations (DAUR) division was recognized with a 2019 Educational Fundraising Award for sustained excellence in fundraising programs over the past three years, putting Fordham’s advancement effort among the top 90 colleges and universities in the nation.

At the 2019 Fordham Founder’s Dinner, nearly $2.6 million was raised for Faith & Hope—specifically the Founder’s Undergraduate Scholarship Fund. It was the second-highest amount in the event’s 18-year history, with 100% participation from the Board of Trustees and the President’s Council. During the years of the campaign, the annual event raised nearly $12 million to support Founder’s scholars.

Nearly a million dollars was raised on Fordham’s third annual Giving Day last March—the most successful Giving Day to date. More than 3,000 participants—alumni, parents, students, faculty, staff, and friends of Fordham—raised $933,689 in 1,841 minutes. Most of the donations, which ranged from $1 to $100,000, came from the U.S., but some came from as far as Australia and the Philippines.

One of the campaign’s biggest accomplishments was the creation of the Maurice and Carolyn Cunniffe Presidential Scholars Program—one of the most selective merit scholarships available to Fordham students. Three years ago, the scholarship program was established through a $20 million gift from Maurice J. (Mo) Cunniffe, FCRH ’54, and Carolyn Dursi Cunniffe, Ph.D., UGE ’62, GSAS ’65, ’71. Over the next decade, it will fund a Fordham education—tuition, living expenses, internship, research, and study abroad opportunities—for dozens of talented students.

“Each year, Mo and I spend time with these students who are young stars with bright futures,” said Carolyn Cunniffe, a Faith & Hope co-chair. “We hope that they will contribute back to society far more than Mo and I can.”

Campaign co-chair Darlene Luccio Jordan, FCRH ’89, said Faith & Hope supported Fordham’s core values and identity.

“This campaign really went to the central mission of Fordham, which is our commitment to higher education and educating first-generation students, and keeping Fordham accessible, regardless of a student’s ability to pay,” she said.

Student Impact 

At the heart of the campaign were Fordham students and the donors who helped fuel their future.

In interviews and speeches spanning the past several years, students have described how a Fordham scholarship has changed their lives.

They talked about how a Fordham education helped shape their career paths. For some students, the University’s Jesuit values strengthened their Catholic faith, while others from different faiths said they felt welcome in the University community. Students also praised Fordham’s core curriculum, which encouraged them to connect with their neighbors in the Bronx. And they spoke about how Fordham helped them understand who they are and what legacy they want to leave behind.

Caroline Koenig, the daughter of seventh-generation French bakers, knew that attending Fordham would be a challenge. In high school, she experienced an injury that dashed her hopes of winning a college track scholarship. Fordham initially gave her a generous financial aid package, but it wasn’t enough. She was taking extra classes to graduate early and considering a commute from Connecticut to save money—that is, until she was awarded the Peter and Carol Howe Endowed Scholarship. It helped her land a summer internship at KPMG and identify her passion for forensic accounting.

“My parents taught me the value of hard work and holding onto your dreams. Because of them and because of Fordham, now I can follow my own,” Koenig said.

The campaign also made a college education possible for Fordham students who, in the face of overwhelming student debt, found it difficult to continue their education.

One of them is Muhammad El Shatanofy, the son of immigrant parents who dreamed of becoming a doctor. Throughout his time in Fordham’s neuroscience program, he wondered how he could pay for his undergraduate education without incurring debt. After all, he’d soon be paying for four years’ worth of medical school.

When he found out he was awarded the Founder’s Scholarship, which would pay for almost all his outstanding tuition costs, he was thrilled.

“It really has given me that extra motivation, so that now I just want to accomplish so much,” said El Shatanofy, who went on to mentor 12 high school students from disadvantaged high schools and volunteer at Mt. Sinai Hospital. “I have this drive to make other people happy that they invested in my education and my future.”

For many students, scholarships have left an emotional impact on their lives.

“There’s just no words I can give to express how thankful my family and I are. It takes a big load off our shoulders, and … I’m just so thankful because I wouldn’t be able to go to Fordham without you and apply to grad school,” Jeannie-Fay Veloso, GABELLI ’17, tells her scholarship donor, Robert D. Daleo, GABELLI ’72, in a campaign video. Seconds later, the two alumni embrace in tears.

What It Means to Give 

Faith & Hope’s scholarships were made possible through donations both big and small.

Among the campaign’s biggest donors, in addition to the co-chairs and their spouses, were Brian W. and Kathleen H. MacLean, both FCRH ’75; Susheel Kirpalani, LAW ’94; William J. Loschert, GABELLI ’61; Alice Lehman Murphy, the McKeon Family Foundation; Grace A. Dorney-Koppel, UGE ’60, and Ted Koppel; and Alex and Jean Trebek.

Many of them said they give back because they want to support the next generation of leaders and help families break out of the cycle of poverty through education. Some donors once stood in the same shoes as the students they now support.

“I came from a family where my father was a factory worker and my mother worked as a seamstress. I had two other brothers. So if I was going to do it, I was going to do it on my own—and my brother, too,” said Daleo, honorary campaign chair and chair of the Fordham Board of Trustees, who established a scholarship in his brother’s name. “We both went to Fordham. We both had scholarships, worked and paid our way. That scholarship helped me [and]  made the difference.”

Rosemary Santana Cooney, Ph.D., established a scholarship with her husband Patrick in recognition of her 42 years as a professor and associate dean at Fordham, her belief in generating a diverse student body, and her Puerto Rican heritage. Her scholarship will support minority students across Fordham.

“I was always aware that I was different—an outsider—because I tend to be dark, like my father. And I always worked extra hard because I figured as a woman and a minority, you had to work extra hard … I know, sympathetically, how hard these kids who try to make the transition are having to work. And I wanted to make sure that some of them were getting some help,” said Cooney.

For many donors, their Fordham experience gave them not only academic, social, and life skills—it showed them what they’re capable of.

“It’s taught me things about myself that I didn’t even know before,” said Sophie Scott, FCLC ’18, who studied journalism and now works as a production assistant at CNN. “Fordham literally showed me the world in a way I didn’t know possible, and a way I could fit into the world.”

Scott, echoing a sentiment shared by many donors, said she hopes to give that same experience to someone else.

“It literally brings me no greater joy than to think that someone else could be having that same experience—someone who, from a financial perspective, may not be able to,” said Scott, who serves as chair of the Young Alumni Philanthropy Committee at Fordham.

Faith & Hope marks the third of Fordham’s biggest campaigns since the early 1990s—a growing list of campaigns that are already transforming the world.

“It really is a win-win for both the donors and the students,” said Salice. “And ultimately, the world at large.”

Now that the University has successfully closed Faith & Hope, administrators and volunteers are planning for the launch of a new fundraising campaign that will be focused on enhancing the student experience and will include the construction of a new campus center at Rose Hill.

To read more success stories, visit the Faith & Hope campaign site.

It was the beginning, however, of a legendary career in broadcast journalism—one that includes award-winning coverage of the most pressing events and issues of our time, from civil rights to the Vietnam War to the fall of the Soviet Union to cybersecurity. When he left ABC News after 42 years—including 26 as anchor and managing editor of Nightline—Koppel was the most honored reporter ever to serve the network. He’s garnered 42 Emmys, including one for lifetime achievement.

Koppel’s personal academic association with Fordham may have been brief, but his wife completed her undergraduate degree at Fordham. Grace Anne Dorney Koppel earned a bachelor’s degree from the University’s Undergraduate School of Education in 1960. She later went on to Stanford University and Georgetown Law. “Her memories of Fordham are radiant and sunny,” said Koppel. “She loved it dearly.”

The couple delivered a joint keynote address at the University’s 2003 commencement ceremony, where they were each presented with an honorary doctorate. And earlier this year, they made a gift to establish the Grace Anne Dorney Endowed Scholarship Fund at Fordham. “I’m glad that it is named after my dear wife,” said Koppel, “and I’m glad young people will benefit from it.”

On Nov. 7, WFUV, Fordham’s public media station, will honor Koppel with the Charles Osgood Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism, named for one of his first colleagues during his ABC Radio days.

Koppel recently spoke with Fordham News about the upcoming award, college radio stations, and the ever-present need for objective journalism.

You have won so many journalism awards. What does it mean to you to receive an award named for Charles Osgood?

It’s sort of a lovely squaring of the circle. Charlie and I began at ABC Radio I believe on the same day in 1963. I sat behind him.

He and I tried very hard to create a morning show for ABC Television. We thought if we could succeed in starting one, maybe he and I could do the news cut-ins. We went and talked to a fellow by the name of Dave Garroway [founding host of NBC’s Today from 1952 to 1961]. He was incredibly famous in his day. We approached him and asked him if he would like to be the host of our program, and to our great joy and amazement, he said yes.

We got a hearing with the ABC vice president in charge of programming, and he claimed to be quite impressed by the program idea. And then we said, and we’ve got Dave Garroway to host.

He said, “So what, so you got Garroway. If I want John Wayne, I’ll get John Wayne.” The message was clear, that talent was something that you bought.

The long and short of it is that Charlie and I failed in our effort. But somehow here we are, 55 years later, back again.

WFUV does such a wonderful job training young journalists—how important is that hands-on training for reporters? Did you have any hands-on training yourself?

I probably spent more hours working at WAER, which was the Syracuse University FM student-run station, than I did in any of my classes. I’m a huge fan of student radio stations. I’m really thrilled that Charlie is the sponsor of this award and that both he and I got our starts with student radio stations and are both huge fans.

Was there a story you did at your college station that stuck with you?

My biggest deal was I managed to get a student visa to go to the Soviet Union. This was in 1959, at a time when it was very tough for Americans to even get into the Soviet Union. And I came back and put together a radio documentary that ran on WAER that makes me cringe when I hear it today, but I thought it was hot stuff at the time.

Must have been quite an experience traveling there as a young college student.

It really was. There was a very famous event that took place at a U.S. trade fair in Moscow in 1959. The Americans had put up a model U.S. house with a very modern American kitchen. And there was what came to be known as the Kitchen Debate between the then-vice president of the U.S., Richard Nixon, and [the Soviet leader,]Nikita Khrushchev. It took place just a couple of weeks before I got there.

I remember coming out of that house and I was wearing a tweed jacket with leather patches on the elbows. I started interviewing people, and I was immediately surrounded by a huge crowd of Russians, and one of them turned the tables on me and started interviewing me.

He said, “So, could your father afford this house?” I said, “Well, yeah.” As I recall, the house was about $39,000. He said, “So your father is so rich that he could afford this house?” I said, “Well, yeah, you don’t need to be that rich, but yes.” And he knew he had me. He said, “Well, if your father is so rich, why do you have leather patches on your jacket?”

So much has changed, but in many ways so much of what’s important about being a good journalist has remained the same. What are the traits that good journalists need that go beyond technical training?

It’s hard to talk about that without sounding critical of what’s happened to a lot of journalism today. I think it’s become much too personal. There’s far more opinion being expressed than I was accustomed to 30, 40, 50 years ago. And that ends up creating the kinds of rivalries and nastiness that we have in America today.

Much of that is due to the fact that we live in the age of the internet. These days anyone with a laptop computer has the capacity to reach out to thousands of people or even millions of people, depending on how attractive that work is perceived to be. And the level of attractiveness is not necessarily a function of accuracy but rather a function of what stimulates interest. Unfortunately, the more outrageous a story is, the more interest it tends to stimulate.

Good journalism requires an ability to be dispassionate, and an ability to search after facts, and not necessarily an ability or inclination to express emotions or opinions.

There is, I fear, less and less of that today, because of the internet and the economics of journalism. Sending reporters all around the world to cover international news is very expensive. Having reporters do deep investigative journalism is very expensive. Putting a bunch of people around a desk and having them yell at each other is very cheap, and it can be amusing and entertaining. The cable networks in particular, who have 24 hours a day to fill, do a lot more of that than they do of the reporting.

Lastly, a more personal question. In a recent interview for CBS Sunday Morning, you talked with Ms. Dorney Koppel about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. She was diagnosed with COPD 17 years ago, and the two of you have been advocates for the 30 million Americans whom it affects. What was it like to interview your wife? 

It was tough on a number of grounds. Number one, I know her so well that I knew what the answers were. Number two, she knows me so well that she knew what all the questions were. And number three, it’s something that both of us care about profoundly. When you’re talking about an incurable disease in someone whom you love very deeply, it’s hard to maintain objectivity there. I didn’t even pretend to maintain objectivity on that story.

Interview conducted, edited, and condensed by Nicole LaRosa.

Koppel will be honored at the WFUV On the Record event on Nov. 7, along with Yankees announcer Michael Kay, FCRH ’82, who will receive the Vin Scully Award for Excellence in Sports Broadcasting, and two student journalists.