Such was the advice of Anthony Carter, FCRH ’76, former chief diversity officer at Johnson & Johnson, who made an impassioned case on Oct. 19 that the Gabelli School of Business is the best place for business students looking for a diverse and open environment.
Cura Personalis is in our DNA
His lunchtime speech, to prospective and current MBA students at the Lincoln Center campus, was part of the college’s second annual Diversity and Inclusion Summit. Mixing in personal anecdotes about his 40 years in business, as well as his time as an undergraduate at Rose Hill, Carter made an explicit connection between Fordham’s commitment to cura personalis and the importance of fostering a space where people of all genders, races, and sexual orientation can thrive.
This is particularly true given the current political climate, where homophobia, racism, gender inequity, and disregard for veterans and people with disabilities are very much real, he said.
This makes it very easy to focus on all the things that are wrong today, he said, but what we’re not quick to embrace is “the reality of what’s right about us.”
Being able to bring your whole authentic self to institutions is liberating, he said, and indeed, it’s at the heart of all pedagogy.
It’s also important when striving to better understand others, he said. As an example, he asked audience members what their first impression might be of a black man in the subway wearing a suit. Answers included “going to work,” “businessman,” “job interview,” and “banker.”
Carter noted that other people might peg him with more nefarious plans, like “scammer.” And they’re able to make this sort of assumption, he said, because they haven’t learned that man’s story.
“Your story is the reflection of your diversity, and I’m not talking about what you look like. The diversity of background, religion, geography, sexual orientation; you name it, I don’t know that by looking at you,” he said.
“But I know we represent the gorgeous mosaic of untold stories, and in these untold stories, we have the opportunity to really penetrate our souls. Our stories are also relevant to how business grows, because if you’re real marketers, you’re studying your customer base, and your customer base is diverse.”
A Place Where All Feel Welcome
Bliss Griffin, a second year MBA student; the inaugural fellow for diversity, equity, and inclusion; and president of the black and Hispanic MBA association at Gabelli, also addressed the students. After 10 years of acting, she said, she was attracted to business school. She didn’t feel like she fit in with “a lot of blue suits” at other schools, but the Gabelli School’s subway ads that touted the slogan “Privilege with Purpose” spoke to her.
And indeed, she said that once she enrolled, professors such as Sertan Kabadayi, Ph.D., professor of marketing, and Ben Cole, Ph.D., holder of the William J. Loschert Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship, have encouraged her to speak up. Griffin said Gabelli School Dean Donna Rapaccioli was likewise receptive when she approached her with a concern related to diversity and inclusion.
“I thought ‘You’re not going to fit in, this is a nuisance, people don’t want to hear this.’ And what she said was, ‘Can you come into my office? We’re doing this. We have these outside consultants who are helping us. Can you help us out on this?’”
“All of the things that I identify as dimensions of diversity in which I am a minority in this space are the reasons people were looking for me, and seeking my advice and my input,” she said.
“Give this institution an opportunity to rise to the occasion for you in the way that it absolutely rose for me, because those things about you that make you nervous are your value, and we want it in the room with you. We want to learn and grow from the insight that you have from being a minority in this space.”
Alex Gorsky, chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson, held forth on everything from his biggest failure to how he maintains a work/life balance, in a conversation on Oct. 30 with Sander Flaum, CEO of Flaum Navigators.
The gathering, which was held at the Midtown headquarters of Steelcase, was part of the Fordham Graduate School of Business’ Flaum Leadership Lecture Series. Flaum is an adjunct professor in the Schools of Business.
Gorsky, who leads a corporation with 250 subsidiary companies with operations in over 57 countries in 2012, told a sold-out crowd of business students, alumni, and friends that maintaining a healthy work/life balance is key to being a great leader—for two reasons.
“The most interesting leaders I’ve ever worked for are interesting people,” he said, telling the audience that one “can’t fake it” in a high-powered job. “Who you are as a person is ultimately who you are as a leader.”
“A mistake that I made was trying to be a perfect leader, because there is no such thing, and in fact, people today want an authentic leader. They want someone they can identify with.”
Taking care of oneself physically is also critical, he said, lest one suffer from health problems after a 35-year career and be unable to enjoy retirement and family.
“There’s a lot of rubber chicken dinners, there’s a lot of long hours, and what I find is, if I don’t carve out a certain time of my day to re-energize, then I’m not as good at a time that I need to be.”
Allowing that one learns more from failure than from success, Gorsky singled out his biggest failure as his decision to leave Johnson & Johnson after 16 years in 2004.
He said he’d hit a point where he did not feel aligned with the person he was working for—a double disappointment because he’d moved his family to Europe for the job. What he eventually realized was that, like the U.S. Army where he served for six years, Johnson & Johnson is a values-based organization where one can feel they’re serving for a higher purpose.
“I also didn’t understand that . . . it’s not necessarily [a manager’s]responsibility to manage the relationship; it’s our responsibility to manage that, too.”
Gorsky rejoined Johnson & Johnson in 2008, but not first without learning a critical management lesson. During his hiatus he worked for someone who was very busy and whose English was not perfect. He was, however, a master of the “two-minute conversation.” Gorsky said he never went more than three days without getting a call from his boss, who would ask him about the most important thing he was working on and what his biggest concern was.
“What I found was, communication in a relationship is a little like a bank account. Frequent ongoing deposits over time build up a significant savings for you,” he said.
“Someday you’re going to have to go and make a big withdrawal. And if you try to go and make a big deposit before you make that withdrawal, there won’t be a lot of interest there—figuratively, and in reality.”
His advice for new MBAs? Don’t just visit abroad; live there.
“It’s waking up and being frustrated that the coffee’s not the same. It’s having to use the health care system. It’s having to try to learn the local language,” he said.
“I think it’s going to make you not only a more global executive, but a more global person. It’ll change the way you think. The way the world is interconnected today, if you don’t, you’re not going to realize your full potential.”
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Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, laid out the challenges that face Fordham, and the University’s plans to confront them, at the 16th Annual Faculty Convocation.
“The state of the University is pretty good, but the environment in which we operate is more and more challenging every year,” he told faculty and administrators on Sept. 15 at the McGinley Ballroom.
“We could not achieve greatness without your vision, creativity, and generosity of heart.”
For this year’s report, Father McShane concentrated his remarks on the University’s admissions, finances, and physical plant, with specific attention given to the dramatic transformation of the Lincoln Center campus.
On the former, the University’s Graduate School of Business has seen robust gains in enrollment, while enrollment at the Graduate School of Social Service has been steady. Other graduate schools, such as Fordham Law, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and the Graduate School of Education, have seen an erosion of enrollment, however.
Undergraduate admissions have been a bright spot at the Lincoln Center campus, where a brand-new residence hall and law school building opened this fall. Fueled by greater-than-expected interest in the Gabelli School of Business’ inaugural cohort at Lincoln Center, the University increased the size of its incoming class by 250 students, he said.
In addition to noting that the Class of 2018 features more students from the top 10 percent of their high school classes, Father McShane said it has a higher percentage of African Americans, Latinos, and Asians than in previous years. Continuing the University’s trend toward becoming a global institution, the Class of 2018 also saw a 21 percent increase in its international student enrollment.On finances, Father McShane reported on the success of Excelsior | Ever Upward | The Campaign for Fordham, which closed in March at $540 million. The successful campaign had a significant effect on the University’s ability to expand its physical plant, offer financial aid, and shore up its endowment, which currently stands at $702 million—up from $621 million last year and $548 million the year before that.The additions of the residence hall and the new law school building at the Lincoln Center campus and the renovation of Hughes Hall at the Rose Hill campus are the most obvious examples of the University’s drive to add sorely needed space. Prior to their construction, he said, it had been 40 years since new academic space had been built. When the University renovates the old law school building and takes space in the former College Board building across the street at 45 Columbus Ave. that it bought last year, it will have added 570,000 square feet to the campus.To pay for the new construction and operations at Lincoln Center, the University relied on $200 million from the sale of two properties on Amsterdam Avenue and funds raised in the capital campaign.The $250 million price tag of the building is worth it, he said, because such a structure can help attract students from far afield.“McKeon Hall has 430 beds. Those 430 beds will enable Fordham College at Lincoln Center and a small cohort at Gabelli to attract students from distant markets, and thereby lessen our dependence on the market in the Northeast, where the numbers are shrinking,” he said.“We saw this as a strategic move that will enable us to stabilize ourselves as we move into the future.”With the old law school building now open to other schools and departments, a reallocation of space can happen at the Lowenstein Center, where, Father McShane joked, “Life was lived on elevators.”Going forward, he announced the creation of a rolling University planning committee that eschews the traditional “once-and-for-all 10-year plan.” Ten years ago, he noted, few would have predicted the exponential rise of massive open online courses (MOOCs), the pressure on colleges from state and federal governments, or the various emergent fields in technology and medicine.“Strategic planning in an ongoing way will give us the agility that we need not only to stay even, but to move ahead in terms of quality and in terms of programming,” he said.Other University achievements include:
• Several schools rose or retained places in this year’s U.S. News and World Reportrankings. The Graduate School of Social Service is ranked No. 11 in the country, while Fordham Law rose two places, to No. 36, and received high marks for its intellectual property, clinical training, dispute resolution, and part-time programs. Bloomberg Businessweek named the Gabelli School of Business the 38th-best undergraduate school in the country, up from 40.
• Last year, students won 13 Fulbrights for a total of 101 in the last decade (making Fordham one of the top Fulbright producers in the nation), one Boren award, aGates-Cambridge scholarship, a Truman Fellowship, and a Beinecke Scholarship.
• Fordham faculty carry $53.1 million in multiyear grant funding, and this year, 78 faculty members received faculty fellowships and 45 received research grants, representing total University support of $4.85 million. Across the schools, faculty members published 261 books and 454 scholarly articles.
]]>At the University Club in Manhattan on Sept. 17, hedge fund owner-turned-philanthropist Michael Steinhardt forecasted a rather gloomy future for the industry he helped to cultivate. His talk, “Then vs. Now, and What Lies Ahead for Hedge Funds,” kicked off the Fordham Wall Street Council’s fifth year of hosting dynamic speakers for the Fordham business community.
Steinhardt, the chairman of WisdomTree Investments, Inc., entered the field of money management more than 40 years ago. His career took off in 1967 when he formed his own hedge fund company, Steinhardt Partners L.P., which he managed until he closed it in 1995 to establish the Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish life.
Steinhardt said that when he launched his company, hedge funds were “on the fringe.”
“Hedge funds were viewed skeptically and as un-American,” he said. “There were ‘legitimate’ accounts, and then there were hedge funds — inherently speculative, manipulative, shorting markets. Any bad thing that could be said about hedge funds, was.”
The mistrust didn’t faze Steinhardt, however. He instead resolved on becoming “the best money manager in America,” focusing exclusively on maximizing the company’s performance and his investors’ return on investment.
“We would try whatever we thought could succeed. [Employees] would wear t-shirts in our office saying, ‘What do you know that the world doesn’t know?’” he said. “I thought it was important to have one’s own view that was distinct from the rest of the world.”
Over the next few decades, hedge funds experienced exponential growth. At the end of 1970, a total of 11 hedge funds existed worldwide; today, there are more than 10,000 active hedge funds. Moreover, Steinhardt said, the industry has become the most highly paid business in the world, creating more billionaires than any other field.
Its wild success has not come without drawbacks, Steinhardt noted. As a result of its unparalleled growth, performance has suffered.
“There are too many people doing the same thing without being able to distinguish themselves,” he said. “The opportunities are narrow in the hedge fund world, and it is sinking under its own weight.”
Steinhardt said that the “extraordinary financial opportunity” has caused a glut of hedge funds, many of which prove unsuccessful. To further complicate matters, the investor population has shifted from individuals to primarily institutions. This will be problematic in the long term, Steinhardt said.
“The constraints of institutions tend to result in managers with less courage, less contrarianism, and less superiority of performance. The markets have been strong and forgiving [up to this point], but that won’t last forever,” he said. How hedge funds will fare going forward “remains to be seen.”
The event was co-sponsored by the Schools of Business, Ernst & Young, and by Gabelli Funds, the firm managed by Fordham benefactor Mario Gabelli, GBS ’65.
Formed in 2010, the Fordham Wall Street Council fosters collaboration among business students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends who are interested in capital markets. Council members interact with the Fordham business community in many ways, including meeting and mentoring top students, becoming involved with business faculty to enhance their academic research efforts, and helping to boost the visibility and mission of the Fordham Schools of Business.
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Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, laid out the challenges that face Fordham, and the University’s plans to confront them, at the 16th Annual Faculty Convocation.
“The state of the University is pretty good, but the environment in which we operate is more and more challenging every year,” he told faculty and administrators on Sept. 15 at the McGinley Ballroom.
“We could not achieve greatness with out your vision, creativity, and generosity of heart.”
For this year’s report, Father McShane concentrated his remarks on the University’s admissions, finances, and physical plant, with specific attention given to the dramatic transformation of the Lincoln Center campus.
On the former, the University’s Graduate School of Business has seen robust gains in enrollment, while enrollment at the Graduate School of Social Service has been steady. Other graduate schools, such as Law, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and the Graduate School of Education, have seen an erosion of enrollment, however.
Undergraduate admissions have been a bright spot at the Lincoln Center campus, where a brand new residence hall and law school building opened this fall. Fueled by greater-than-expected interest in the Gabelli School of Business’ inaugural cohort at Lincoln Center, the University increased the size of its incoming class by 250 students, he said.
In addition to noting the Class of 2018 features more students from the top 10 percent of their high school class, Father McShane said it has a higher percentage of African-Americans, Latinos, and Asians than in previous years. Continuing the University’s trend toward becoming a global institution, the Class of 2018 also saw a 21 percent increase in its international student enrollment.
On finances, Father McShane reported on the success of Excelsior | Ever Upward | The Campaign for Fordham, which closed in March at $540 million. The successful campaign had a significant effect on the University’s ability to expand its physical plant, offer financial aid, and shore up its endowment, which currently stands at $702 million—up from $621 million last year and $548 million the year before that.
The additions of McKeon Hall and the new law school building at the Lincoln Center campus, and the renovation of Hughes Hall at the Rose Hill campus are the most obvious examples of the University’s drive to add sorely needed academic space. Prior to their construction, he said, it had been 40 years since new academic space had been built. When the University renovates the old law school building and takes control of the former College Board building across the street at 45 Columbus Ave. that it bought last year, it will have added 570,000 square feet to the campus.
To pay for the new construction and operations at Lincoln Center, the University relied on $200 million from the sale of two properties on Amsterdam Avenue and funds raised in the capital campaign.
The $250 million price tag of the building is worth it, he said, because such a structure can help attract students from far afield.
“McKeon Hall has 430 beds. Those 430 beds will enable Fordham College at Lincoln Center and a small cohort at Gabelli to attract students from distant markets, and thereby lessen our dependence on the market in the Northeast, where the numbers are shrinking,” he said.
“We saw this as a strategic move that will enable us to stabilize ourselves as we move into the future.”
With the old law school building now open to other schools and departments, a reallocation of space can happen at the Lowenstein Center, where Father McShane joked, “Life was lived on elevators.”
Going forward, he announced the creation of a rolling University Planning Committee that eschews the traditional “once-and-for-all 10-year plan.” Ten years ago, he noted, few would have predicted the exponential rise of massive open online courses (MOOC’s), the pressure on colleges from state and federal governments, or the various emergent fields in technology and medicine.
“Strategic planning in an ongoing way will give us the agility that we need not only to stay even, but to move ahead in terms of quality and in terms of programming,” he said.
Other University achievements include:
-Several schools rose or retained places in this year’s U.S. News and World Report rankings. The Graduate School of Social Service is ranked No. 11 in the country, while Fordham Law rose two places, to No. 36., and received high marks for its intellectual property, clinical training, dispute resolution, and part-time programs. Bloomberg Businessweek named the Gabelli School of Business the 38th-best undergraduate school in the country, up from 40.
-Last year, students won 13 Fulbrights for a total of 101 in the last decade (making Fordham one of the top Fulbright producers in the nation), one Boren award, a Gates-Cambridge scholarship, a Truman Fellowship, and a Beinecke Scholarship.
-Fordham faculty carry $53.1 million in multiyear grant funding, and this year, 78 of the faculty received faculty fellowships and 45 received research grants, representing total University support of $4,848,000. Across the schools, faculty members published 261 books and 454 scholarly articles.
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“It’s not just about globalization. There are other trends that are as or more important,” said Bruce Greenwald, Ph.D., professor of finance and asset management at Columbia Business School and director of research and senior advisor at First Eagle Funds. Among the trends are “extraordinary improvements in manufacturing productivity” and more demand for services, he said.
Like Lipton, moderator Vince Cappucci, GSB ’81, LAW ’84, came prepared with a stack of questions on index cards for the Young Alumni Spring Executive Leadership Series event, held May 2 at Banco Santander in Manhattan.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to ask you what your favorite curse words are,” Cappucci told the panelists, referencing one of the Bravo show’s famous 10 questions. But he did prompt them to share their tips for success during an evening of easy laughs, anecdotes, and career advice.
Cable TV pioneer Herb Granath, FCRH ’54, GSAS ’55, chairman emeritus of ESPN, said successful people all seem to have a certain restlessness. “Most are peripatetic; they don’t sleep at night,” he said. “But God bless them for it, because they are the ones that ask the questions that make the next important thing happen.”
Granath was a physics major at Fordham who took a job working nights as an NBC page to help put himself through school. After four years of working in television, he said, when graduation came around, “physics seemed a little dull.”
Granath said almost everyone he knows can point to one or two things—like that page job—that changed their lives.
“You have to be prepared to recognize an opportunity and have the ability to take advantage of it,” he said.
Karen Parrish, FCRH ’82, a vice president at IBM, agreed that young people should be open to the unexpected in their careers.
“I don’t think you can have a long-range plan,” said Parrish, a leader in the multinational corporation’s public service industry solutions division. When she first started at the company, the career path to certain executive positions was literally typed up and handed out to employees. Now, with so many different avenues to pursue, she said, “Why would you want to plan it?
“The key is to have some sense of what you love and to be able to take some risks.”
Other panelists included Jeff Fitzgerald, FCRH ’95, executive director at ABC News Radio; and Alberto Sanchez, GSAS ’96, managing director and head of investment strategies for the Americas at Banco Santander.
In a direct nod to Inside the Actors Studio, Cappucci asked the panelists what their least favorite word was. The results were unsurprising.
“No,” said Granath.
“Complacency,” said Fitzgerald.
“Can’t,” said Parrish.
And Sanchez, as an executive at one of the world’s largest banks, drew the biggest laugh with his response: “Bankruptcy.”
A lively Q&A session followed the panel discussion. Young alumni and a few current students asked the panelists about topics ranging from mentors to doing business in China.
Guest Sara Kugel, FCRH ’11, an associate producer at CBS Sunday Morning, said Young Alumni events like this benefit everyone, “even if you have your dream job.” Networking is crucial, said the former WFUV student reporter, adding that Fitzgerald gave her her first job out of college. “You have to plant the seeds before you need the fruit.”
]]>In addition to providing strategic guidance, NYC Digital focuses on enhancing the way city government engages with New Yorkers online, and on supporting and partnering with the thriving tech industry. Today, New York City government has a digital audience of more than 5.4 million users, and more than 200 specialized social media feeds catering to city services and resources.
Prior to her current role, Haot was founder and CEO of GroundReport, a global, crowdsourced news startup. She founded GroundReport in 2006 with the mission to democratize media and help the world share its stories. She has also served as an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, specializing in social media and entrepreneurship. In 2012, she was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and serves on the digital advisory boards of Women@NBCU and the NY/NJ 2014 Super Bowl Hosting Committee.
The Fordham Digital Media Disruption Lecture Series is a public humanities program sponsored by Fordham University Graduate School of Business, with the express mission to examine the impact and influence of digital and social technologies through engaging conversations with today’s digital influencers. The DMD Lecture Series is open to everyone and is intended for those interested in understanding the convergence of technology, media, and entertainment.
Registration required.
For more information, contact Athan Stephanopoulos, Lecturer in Communications and Media Management, CEO/Founder, GorillaSpot at [email protected] or [email protected].
In his first presentation for the school that now bears his name, Mario Gabelli (GSB ’65) delivered sobering words and visions of hope to roughly 400 Fordham business students.
The Bronx-born entrepreneur, who gave $25 million to the University in September to help globalize the undergraduate business program, told students on Dec. 1 that the United States may be on an extended economic slide.
Today, he said, the U.S. owns about 25 percent of the world’s GDP of $65 trillion, a portion that is likely to shrink.
“We are terrific at making goods and we sell the world annually $1.2 trillion,” Gabelli said. “But we are buying $1.8 trillion.”
Between trade deficits and IOUs to other nations, he said, the U.S. will lose its competitive edge as its economic power diminishes.
Yet this is precisely the time, he said, for young American entrepreneurs to strike.
Financial markets, he said, operate in cycles. In a PowerPoint presentation, Gabelli showed yearbook photos of Google founders Sergey Brin, Larry Page and Eric Schmidt; Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg; and other successful young business leaders.
“Ten years ago, 120 months ago, they were one of you,” he told the students. “When things look bleak, there is great opportunity. One of you will be the next president of a university; one of you will own a football team or a piece of Madison Square Garden. You are the next generation of leaders.
“When everyone is looking for what can go wrong, think about what can go right and how you can change the world,” he continued. “If anybody says you can’t do it, think about Serge or Larry or the other creative individuals who once were sitting where you are today.”
As someone who bought his first stock when he was 13 years old, Gabelli recounted his lifelong passion for his work. What he does as chairman and CEO of GAMCO Investors Inc., his $30 billion investment company, he said, is “not very complicated.” His success as a value investor, he said, is based on meticulous research—reading annual reports, gathering and interpreting data—to find companies with high cash flow and lower market value.
He said he also looks for catalysts that inspire capital growth.
“Tiananmen Square in 1989—that changed the world,” he said. “It really signaled that Adam Smith and Karl Marx had a clash of cultures, and that Adam Smith had won.”
What will be the next catalyst, he asked? “Will it be in the digital world? Or starting a new exchange in Abu Dhabi? Or buying real estate in the Bronx?
“The good news for everyone here is that change, as part of the capitalist system, is going to work because it creates an opportunity for you to do something,” he said.
Gabelli’s gift is the largest ever made to Fordham, which renamed its undergraduate business college the Gabelli School of Business (GSB) in his honor. When asked why he decided to give so generously, he said it was partly to support what he loved best about America.
“What has made us a terrific society is the rule of law, the free market system and meritocracy,” Gabelli said. “The underpinning of meritocracy is education. Education requires facilities, faculty and a great student body—and that requires scholarships.”
He said that his wife, Regina Pitaro (FCRH ’76), and Donna Rapaccioli, Ph.D., dean of GSB, share his vision and passion for building a school that produces tomorrow’s global business experts.
“Together, we believe that this University is going to have one of the best business schools in the country, and that this is the time to do it,” he said.
The benefactor, alumnus and world-class businessman received a standing ovation.
A philanthropist, investor and self-made financier, Gabelli grew up on 174th and Bathgate Avenue in the Bronx, the son of Italian immigrants. He graduated summa cum laude from Fordham, and earned an MBA from Columbia University. In 1977, he founded his own firm, which has grown into a diversified financial services corporation. He also developed a methodology that is considered the analytical standard among value investors.
Proving that only a superstar can follow a legend, Gabelli arranged for a live ram mascot to be on campus earlier that day as a treat for the University community. The ram was stationed outside of the McGinley Center during the afternoon with a professional animal handler.
“We are truly delighted that our school bears his name,” Rapaccioli said. “and we like the ram, too.”
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Benefactors Robert Campbell (GSB ’55), Joan Campbell, Thomas Salice (GSB ’82) and Susan Conley Salice (FCRH ’82) joined with family members and friends to formally dedicate the residence halls, which opened this past August for 450 undergraduates.
Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, led participants in a procession from Mass at the University Church to the residence halls, where blessings of the cornerstones, entrances and lobbies were accompanied by ribbon-cutting ceremonies with the donors and their families.
Lunch was served afterward in Campbell Commons, an event space on the ground floor of Campbell Hall.
Father McShane noted that it was relevant to dedicate the buildings in November, the month when Catholics celebrate All Saints Day. The Conleys, Salices and Campbells deserve to be called patron saints to the students who reside in the new buildings—not only because of the generosity they have exhibited, but the exemplary lives they have lived, Father McShane said.
“Today, on this feast of dedication, we are invited to reflect on the lessons that our patron saints teach us about how to live,” he said.
Of Robert Campbell, Father McShane said that his long career with Johnson & Johnson was guided by a strict moral code. Two traits in particular—integrity and modesty—make him an exemplary role model. His wife, Joan, inspired him for his whole life, and so a debt of gratitude is due to her, too.
“Together, Joan and Bob are great saints—doctors of the church gathered at Fordham—and they offer examples to be followed,” Father McShane said.
Thomas Salice and Susan Conley Salice, he said, lent their names to the residence halls in tribute to their parents, who also were in attendance. As such, they exemplify not only devotion to Fordham, but also devotion to family.
“We hold this example of love up to our students and proclaim that if you are looking for an example on which you should model your lives, look no further than here,” he said. “Here, you will find the recipe for a good life.”
Campbell said that 55 years ago, when he was commuting across the George Washington Bridge to Rose Hill, he never dreamed there would be a Campbell Hall.
“I’ve been asked why we gave for a dormitory, as opposed to other opportunities,” he said. “For us, it really came down to family. Our feeling was when students leave their families, their homes, their friends, and come to a new place, it should be a place with a new spirit and new friends—where they can create a new family and call it home.”
For Thomas Salice, visiting Rose Hill brought back memories of how he and Susan Conley Salice met—how they spent time together at Duane Library, on Arthur Avenue, in the New York Botanical Garden and at Yankee Stadium. He expressed hope that their gift would spur others to give as well.
Education, he said, is crucial to social and economic development.
“Some folks had said to us, ‘You’re young. Why do this now? Wait until later in life.’ And we said to each other, ‘What are we supposed to be waiting for?’” Salice said.
“This should be a tangible endorsement of generosity and sharing—the generosity of Fordham to provide for us the resources and support to obtain an outstanding, values-based education in a very diverse, very challenging cultural community of New York City.”
The Campbells, Salices and Conleys also were thanked by Marisela Signola, a senior at Fordham College at Rose Hill and executive vice president of the Residence Halls Association.
“It is here that we will make final edits to resumes, apply to graduate programs, get ready for job interviews, and set the paths for the rest of our lives. Campbell, Salice and Conley Halls are for many of us, our last homes at Fordham,” she said.
“This is where we get dressed up for senior nights, will get ready for the senior ball and will spend our last night on campus as students. So we thank you, not only for a beautiful place to live, but for a place where many students’ warm memories will be made, for many, many years to come.”
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Scaglione, a leading authority in the nonprofit world, heads the area’s major newspaper that reports on information and developments critical to the city’s human and social services community. The free paper, which has been in publication since 2002, includes in-depth reporting on funding and legislation issues as well as features on agencies and people within the sector. It has received numerous media awards from the New York Council of Nonprofits and other state and nonprofit agencies.
“The nonprofit sector is being greatly challenged with a major drop in contributions,” said Alan Luks, director of the center. “Fred will call on nonprofits to now become far more involved in advocating social change, rather than drawing into themselves, and why this advocacy is in the best interests of the charities.”
Scaglione spent more than 16 years in New York City government, culminating with his service as Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Finance at the Child Welfare Administration. His talk will also focus on how raise money and find jobs within the charitable sector in today’s challenging economy.
The event is at 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 1, in the Lowenstein Center’s 12th Floor Lounge, on Fordham’s Lincoln Center Campus.
TheCenter for Nonprofit Leaders provides training and ongoing support to people who want to be, or are already, nonprofit leaders. A collaborative effort between the Graduate School of Social Service and the Graduate School of Business, the Center was launched last April.
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