Music legend Stevie Wonder performed two songs from the Fordham Commencement stage, but not before offering the Class of 2023 some inspiration—and a challenge.  

“The youth are going to make the difference. I believe in you. That’s why I sing, and that’s why I’m motivated,” he said at the May 20 ceremony, just after receiving an honorary doctorate from the University.

‘Stand Up and Be Counted’

“Fordham has given you the tools to achieve, to excel, and to do great things in this world. But that’s not gonna happen by sitting on your hands,” he said.

“You’ve got to be activists. You have to vote. You have to serve your communities and you must enlighten the unenlightened.”

Wonder—a winner of 25 Grammys with 32 No. 1 singles— was honored for both his artistry and his leadership on social and humanitarian issues, such as making Martin Luther King Jr. Day a national holiday and expanding the availability of published works in accessible formats such as Braille, large print, and audiobooks.

He challenged the graduates assembled on Edwards Parade to use their education to respond to the realities of the world’s suffering. 

“You really do have to be woke. Now, maybe some leaders in this nation don’t understand what being woke is. Let me tell you what it is. It’s being awake. And being awake means being aware,” he said, citing issues such as health care, education, and the recent chokehold death of homeless man Jordan Neely on the subway.

“So stand up and be counted as one against oppression, hatred, and let’s keep the truth alive,” he said.

To the crowd’s delight, a keyboard was brought on stage, drawing loud cheers from graduates and families who were gathered under a light rain. 

Wonder sang a song from his new project, Through the Eyes of Wonder, before segueing into “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” drawing more cheers and applause.

‘What Makes You Special Is How You Will Use Your Gifts’

In her first Fordham Commencement address, Fordham President Tania Tetlow offered personal reflections about learning from her youngest sister, who graduated from high school despite having severe learning disabilities. She also talked about her parents and grandparents, who overcame the hardships of the Great Depression and World War II.

Like them, she said, the Class of 2023 has shown determination in the face of obstacles these past few years.

“There is so much about the pandemic we are eager to forget,” she said. “But when we look at those generations forged in the fires of suffering and crisis, we see the generations who’ve mattered most to history.”

And while she lauded graduates for their “blazing talent” and being “blessed by abundant gifts from God,” she cautioned that those gifts “do not make you better than anyone else.” 

“What makes you special is not that good luck. It’s what you have done with your gifts. The endless hard work, in the library and the labs, the dance studios, and moot courtrooms. What makes you special is how you will use your gifts to matter to the world—as teachers, lawyers, social workers and health care workers, as business people who will build new forms of opportunity.”

Facing a fast-changing world with enormous courage, as graduates are, is quintessentially Jesuit, she said.  

“Graduates, look around you—this is the family you have chosen. And Fordham is your forever home.”

The University conferred degrees upon 3,453 graduates today. Including those who graduated in August 2022 and February 2023, the University conferred about 5,453 academic degrees to the Class of 2023.

In addition to Wonder, Fordham conferred honorary doctorates on seven other notable figures: Norman Francis, a widely respected civil rights leader and former Xavier University president; Sharon Greenberger, president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater New York; Regina Pitaro, a Fordham trustee fellow, graduate of Fordham College at Rose Hill and a managing director of GAMCO Investors; Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., prefect of the Holy See’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development; Jeh Johnson, an attorney and widely quoted expert on national security issues who served as secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from 2013 to 2017; and Jennifer Jones Austin, chief executive officer of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies in New York City.

— Photos by Bruce Gilbert, Chris Taggart, Chris Gosier, Marisol Diaz, and Matthew Septimus

“I think my own experiences with counseling were really transformative,” Syper said, adding that she enjoys being able to “be part of people’s lives and help them through really difficult experiences.”

Now, studying at Fordham, Syper found that the support from peers and professors combined with the well-rounded curriculum and hands-on practicums have set her up to do just that. 

“When I interviewed at Fordham, I felt connected to the people. I felt like I could build a community with professors and with the other students,” Syper said. 

Using Dance Therapy in Body Image Work

Syper plans to combine her counseling work with another form of therapy that’s been meaningful in her own life—dance. Discovering dance as a teenager taught Syper to connect with and appreciate her body. And in college at the University of North Texas, she studied modern dance and double-majored in psychology and dance. 

In addition to her studies at Fordham, Syper’s working to become a dance/movement therapist through a program at the 92nd Street Y, where she’s learning how to help people connect with their bodies in meaningful ways that assist their healing processes. Syper works with teens and young adults with body image issues and eating disorders and finds it’s often beneficial to incorporate elements of dance therapy into her talk therapy sessions.

With clients, Syper helps them assess: “How do I know if I’m anxious? How do I know if I’m upset? What are the cues my body’s giving me? And how can I connect with my body? … How do I use that information to identify what’s going to make me feel better moving forward?”

‘A Gifted Therapist’

Currently, Syper’s wrapping up a year-long internship at University of Colorado Boulder’s  Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS) as part of her Fordham Ph.D. program. Similar to a med student’s residency, the position gives her hands-on clinical experience wherein Syper conducts individual therapy sessions, co-leads graduate student process groups, and serves as an eating concerns case manager.

“She’s a very talented, gifted therapist who, at an early stage of her career already has very defined interests and expertise,” said Elizabeth Parsons, Syper’s clinical supervisor in Boulder. In particular, Syper is highly organized and adept at building a strong rapport with clients quickly, Parsons said.

“[Syper is] very effective in helping clients understand their own patterns in a way that they can shift them … she really meets people where they’re at,” Parsons said. “She’s very aware as well of social justice issues and able to connect with people across a lot of identity variables.”

A Holistic Approach, Mirrored at Fordham

At Fordham, Syper found the same support and holistic approach to her as a student that she fosters in her professional work. 

“Fordham really provided the opportunity for us to acknowledge what comes up for us as therapists when we’re holding the weight of all the things our clients are sharing, and we’re going through these really difficult experiences alongside them—like when a global pandemic happens, we’re also experiencing that,” Syper said. “[Or if] they’re experiencing body image concerns, and I have had body image concerns, how do I work through that so I can take care of myself and I can be the best support for my clients.”

Recently, Syper successfully defended her dissertation, “Mind-Body Connection, Self-Esteem, and Social Support as Predictors of Recovery from Anorexia Nervosa,” and also published a study about the mind-body connection in the American Journal of Dance Therapy, titled “Dance/Movement Therapy for Individuals with Eating Disorders: A Phenomenological Approach.”

After graduation, Syper will complete her 92nd Street Y program and plans to work in a clinic or treatment center that serves young adults with eating disorders and body image concerns as she continues to find ways to incorporate dance therapy into her work.

—Meredith Lawrence