Then came the welcome news that ended the uncertainty: her costs would be covered by gifts from members of the Fordham University President’s Council, a group of accomplished alumni who mentor students and work to advance the University. 

“I literally started tearing up,” said Mosquea, a senior at Fordham College at Rose Hill. “I told my mom, and she was ecstatic. I couldn’t believe it. It was just so helpful, and I was so grateful for it.”

Mosquea is one of dozens of students to benefit in recent years from President’s Council members’ gifts to make Global Outreach accessible to students in Fordham’s Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP), who have high financial need. 

A Social Justice Focus

Council member Anne Williams-Isom, FCLC ’86,  made the first such gift in 2018 after learning that the HEOP leadership wanted to make Global Outreach an integral part of the HEOP experience. Since then, member gifts have helped dozens of students in the program, including 48 students who took part in Global Outreach this year and last year alone. 

Mosquea participated twice in Global Outreach, which runs week-long projects in the U.S. and abroad—in partnership with other organizations—that are centered on social justice and community engagement. 

‘My People’: A Personal Connection

For the first project, in spring 2023, she traveled to the Dominican Republic, where her family is from; learned about environmental conservation efforts firsthand; and met up for the first time in 14 years with her father, who lives there. “It was just an incredible experience to not only learn about the land, but also my people as well,” she said. 

Last spring she served as a student leader for a project in Puerto Rico, where she and the other students helped efforts to convert an old U.S. military base into a community center that promotes environmental education and ecotourism. 

Both projects fueled her desire to work in environmental education and sustainability consulting. “Global outreach is so unique, it’s so beautiful,” she said. “It’s really enriched my life in so many different ways.”

Deepening Spirituality

Another student in HEOP, Fordham College at Rose Hill junior Miguel Picazo, also received support for traveling to Mexico with Global Outreach in 2023, where he learned about sustainable farming, and then for traveling to London this year. Through a partnership with the Jesuit Refugee Service, students visited migrant-heavy areas of East London and South London, attended Mass at Jesuit churches, and volunteered in their food pantries, among other service work. 

The London Masses, with their diversity of celebrants, reinforced some of the impressions gleaned on his Mexico excursion, when he encountered migrants from diverse countries who were sustained by their spirituality.

“This spirituality sense makes you feel more human—we’re not all different, we all want the same thing,” Picazo said, “a better life, better education, a better future for our families and kids. And experiences like that stick with you for a while.” 

The gifts from alumni, faculty, staff, and others—made between March 4 and 5—surpassed the amount raised on Giving Day last year and propelled the University closer to completing its $350 million fundraising campaign, Cura Personalis | For Every Fordham Student, in the campaign’s final stretch.

For this year’s Giving Day campaign, 2,433 donors gave in support of scholarships, academic centers, diversity and inclusion initiatives, athletics, and other University priorities, often responding to other donors’ giving challenges and matching funds. Gifts ranged from $1 to $12,500, with $100 as the median gift.

Piecing Together the Future

The campaign was titled Piecing Together the Future, with a message that “you are a vital piece in shaping Fordham.”

This year, for the first time, Giving Day was paired with blood drives—held at the Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses—that reinforced the themes of service and making a positive impact. More than 75 people took part.

Tania Tetlow, president of Fordham, thanked supporters in an online video message. “When you come together to each give even a little bit, you are part of building on Fordham’s academic excellence, incredible community, and the ways that you help us make a difference to the world when it needs us most.”

Committed Alumni

The Giving Day fund that received the most support—in both number of donors and dollars raised—was the fund for Fordham’s Greatest Needs. It received nearly $295,000 from 660 donors.

Beyond that, the funds that got the most support included the water polo program; the Fordham Law School Fund; the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) at the Lincoln Center campus; and the Parents and Families Fund.

This was the first year that HEOP at Lincoln Center held a Giving Day campaign. HEOP alumni often give back to the program by mentoring and meeting with students, and this year they were asking how they could make monetary gifts too, said Jennifer Sanchez-Trujillo, associate director of the Lincoln Center HEOP program.

She expected perhaps 50 donors to respond. Instead, she got 118.

“I was very touched,” Sanchez-Trujillo said. “It just shows how invested our alumni are in Fordham and in the program.”

It was also a good Giving Day for the Marymount Legacy Scholarship, awarded to a Fordham student—of any gender—who has an affiliation with Marymount College, which merged with Fordham before closing in 2007.

Giving Day support for the scholarship has been trending upward over time, with 114 donors giving more than $36,000 this year, said Karen Easton, MC ’86, vice president of the Marymount Alumnae Association, which “has been very active in keeping graduates informed and connected,” she said.

This year, donors spanned 25 states and class years from 1959 to 2007, she said. “We really have a high-spirited group of graduates” who want to sustain the college’s legacy, she said.

Cura Personalis Campaign

The strong Giving Day total brings Fordham to 94% of the Cura Personalis campaign’s fundraising goal. The campaign is designed to enhance the entire University experience through investments in access and affordability; academic excellence; student wellness and success; athletics; and greater diversity, equity, and inclusion on campus.

The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program supports undergraduates with a strong academic record and community impact who have been historically underrepresented in study abroad programs. Nearly half of all Gilman Scholars are first-generation college students; about 70% identify as racial or ethnic minority students. The Gilman Scholarship is a key program of the U.S. Department of State, intended to increase the diversity, equity, and inclusion of U.S. foreign policy.

Thirty-two Fordham students have been awarded the scholarship over the past decade, with this year being the highest number yet.

Combating ‘Japanglish’

Among this year’s Gilman Scholars is Karen Watanabe, a rising senior at Fordham College at Lincoln Center, who earned a scholarship this January and is studying at Sophia University in Tokyo from March to August. 

“I wanted to rekindle my relationship with my culture,” said Watanabe, a Japanese American who grew up in Sunnyside, Queens. “Over the years, my Japanese has become more like Japanglish. I took more Japanese classes at Fordham and realized that my Japanese has improved, but it can become even better.”

Watanabe, a political science major and peace and justice studies minor, has taken courses in Japan that are difficult to find back home, including Japanese government and politics and modern Japanese history. “As a political science major, I think it’s important to learn about different systems of government,” said Watanabe, who aspires to be a diplomat or translator. 

While living in a dorm in Tokyo, she has visited the biggest shrine in the city, participated in popular festivals like Kanda Matsuri, and spent time with her family members who live in Japan.  

Watanabe—a first-generation college student and member of the Higher Education Opportunity Program at Fordham—said she is thankful to Fordham for helping her achieve a dream she’s had since high school: to study abroad. 

An ‘Amazing Opportunity’

Devin Moreno, an incoming junior at the Gabelli School of Business, will study at Fordham London next spring. Moreno, an applied accounting and finance double major, said Fordham’s London campus had all the classes he wanted to take—and a bonus backdrop. 

“It’s an amazing opportunity, especially for lower-income students. …  [T]he Gilman Scholarship makes it a little less expensive and attainable for me and my mom,” said Moreno, the son of a single mother in the Bronx who wants to someday start his own accounting firm, primarily to help low-income families with their finances. “I’m so thankful that I’m at a school where I can study while traveling around the world.” 

In addition to the Gilman scholarship, there are new changes in study abroad financing at Fordham, expanding access to study abroad. 

Watanabe and Moreno are joined by five other Fordham students in receiving a Gilman Scholarship during the 2022-2023 academic school year:

• Rumsha Aqil, FCRH ’25, an economics major from New Jersey, will study at Oxford University in the United Kingdom in Spring 2024.
• Jillian Klostermann, FCRH ’25, an international studies major from Massachusetts, will study at Freie Universitat in Berlin, Germany, in Fall 2023 and Spring 2024.
• Emily Lai, FCLC ’23, a political science major from New York, is studying at Fordham London in Spring 2023.
• Sabrin Sultana, FCLC ’24, an economics major from New York, will study at the American University in Dubai in Fall 2023. 
• Hannah Yang, GABELLI ’25, an applied accounting and finance major from New York, will study at Fordham London in Spring 2024. 

 

“I am in awe of you—of what it means to carry the hopes, dreams, expectations, and life savings of generations of your family on your shoulders. To come here bravely, to flourish, to find the ways to—through hard work, discipline, and courage—make such a difference in the world,” Tania Tetlow, president of Fordham, said to the students in a video message. “And I also want to share with you incredible gratitude to your families, for the kind of hard work, courage, and generations of striving it takes to get you to this place.” 

In the Company of Mario Gabelli and Denzel Washington

Students from both campuses were honored at the third annual celebration, where they received “I’m First” pins to wear on their robes at Commencement. In just one week, they will join the ranks of alumni like finance mogul Mario Gabelli and award-winning actor Denzel Washington, who were first-generation college students themselves, said President Tetlow.  

First-Gen Senior Reflects on Fordham

Among this year’s graduating seniors is Juan Rodriguez, who was born and raised in the Bronx. His father, a former construction worker, attended school until sixth grade in his native Ecuador. His mother, who served food at shelters and homes for the elderly, attended school until third grade in the Dominican Republic. 

“They don’t entirely understand the concept of college, but they understand the value of a degree. They’re happy for me, and they know it’s something impactful and meaningful that I can leverage in my life,” said Rodriguez, a finance student at the Gabelli School of Business who will be the first among his three siblings to graduate from college.  

Paving the Way with Mentorship and Industry Knowledge

Rodriguez said that Fordham has given him opportunities, including a finance internship, thanks to the Gabelli Personal and Professional Development Center; a community in the student wrestling club; and mentorship from many advisors, including Marisa Villani, senior assistant dean for undergraduate studies at Gabelli; Elizabeth Parr, assistant dean for first-year students at Gabelli, and Maria Totino, senior executive secretary in the modern languages and literatures department. 

After graduation, he will work as an operations associate at Zeta Charter Schools in New York City, where he will work on budgeting, funding, and building maintenance. 

“A lot of people helped pave the way for me,” said Rodriguez, a student in the Higher Education Opportunity Program who commuted to campus for three years. “As a first-generation college student, I didn’t have a lot of knowledge about certain industries. It helped to have the backbone of the Fordham community.”

The first-generation college student graduation celebration was sponsored by First Gen Network; the dean’s offices of the Gabelli School of Business, Fordham College at Rose Hill, and Fordham College at Lincoln Center; the Office of the Chief Diversity Officer; and Development and Alumni Relations. 

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.

The state was North Carolina, and many of the people he met there were immigrants who had suffered greatly before coming to work at the cooperatives that he was visiting with other Fordham students. Listening to their stories “just put a lot of things into perspective for me,” he said.

Grullon is one of many students who spent their spring break with Global Outreach, Fordham’s service and cultural immersion program that runs projects—in the United States and abroad—that are centered on social justice and community engagement.

For Grullon and eight other students, the experience was a gift—quite literally. As students who came to Fordham via its Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP), they have high financial need. Except for the small portion for which they raise funds themselves, the students’ costs for the weeklong projects in North Carolina, Puerto Rico, and St. Thomas were covered by members of the Fordham University President’s Council, a group of accomplished alumni who mentor students and help advance the University.

By giving in support of the students, they were advancing a key priority of the University’s $350 million fundraising campaign, Cura Personalis | For Every Fordham Student—ensuring that the full Fordham experience is accessible and affordable for all students.

A Southern Excursion

The experience in North Carolina was eye-opening for Grullon and other students. “The culture is so different,” he said, noting how open and friendly everyone was. They were visiting worker-owned cooperatives making a variety of clothing and, at the same time, learning firsthand about sustainable sourcing and ethical business practices.

Giovanni Alva, FCRH ’22, a Bronx native who is now a first-generation college graduate, said the work at the clothing cooperatives made him appreciate the exhausting textile work that his own parents performed in New York City after immigrating from Mexico.

“Being able to see it in person made me realize, so much, the sacrifices that they went through … to give me the opportunity to even attend Fordham and reach my potential,” he said. The workers in the co-op seemed grateful to have health care and other benefits, and to be able to become co-owners of the company, he said.

Grullon, a first-generation college graduate himself whose parents come from the Dominican Republic, said he met immigrants including a young Hmong woman who played a managerial role in one of the cooperatives. She had spent a lot of time healing from scars, both physical and mental, that she had suffered in an internment camp before coming to America. “There were so many people just telling us similarly tragic stories,” he said. “It just taught me that … everybody just has their own struggle in life, even though you don’t see it.”

He was happy to be able to bond with other students in a way that he hadn’t before, since he was a commuting student for most of his time at Fordham. “I got a lot of good friends because of this trip, and I don’t feel as alone as I did before,” he said. “And that’s a huge thing.”

 A Gift of Experience

For the past few years, when he has visited New York City high schools to tell students about HEOP, Biswa Bhowmick, associate director of the program, has been telling students about Global Outreach as a way to show what Jesuit education is about and illustrate cura personalis—or care of the whole person—in action.

In fact, he said, “this is basically our dream, to make [Global Outreach] an integral part of the HEOP experience” for all who seek it. In 2018, Anne Williams-Isom, FCLC ’86, became the first President’s Council member to give in support of this goal, and others have since contributed, including Christina Luconi, PAR, and Christine Valentic, FCRH ’04.

After meeting with Bhowmick and learning more about HEOP, Valentic said, “I just really fell in love with the program and the idea of being able to give these students the experience that they might not have been able to have.” She knew what it was like to benefit from others’ giving, since her parish’s “adopt a student” giving program had funded her Catholic school tuition. At Fordham, she had wanted to take part in Global Outreach but hadn’t had the means.

The Global Outreach program has been growing its funding sources for students; today, it offers scholarships to about a third of participants, and students also organize fundraisers to cover a portion of the trips’ cost, said Vanessa Rotondo, assistant director of immersions and senior adviser on Ignatian leadership with the Center for Community Engaged Learning, which oversees Global Outreach.

Costs for the spring break trip ranged from $600 to $1,600 per student, which they can find daunting, Bhowmick said. When they learn that their share of the cost is much smaller, he said, “that really changes the whole perspective for them.”

One HEOP student, Najelly Almonte, who is going into her senior year at Fordham College at Rose Hill, first learned about Global Outreach during the summer before her first year at Fordham, and found that financial worries never took hold.

“HEOP has always been open to the idea, ‘If you want to do anything on campus, we will help you with the funding,’” she said. “It feels nice to have that support and feel like you’re not alone and, like, ‘Oh, I can’t afford this, I can’t do the same thing as everybody else in college.’”

Discovering Education in Puerto Rico

Almonte was one of the students who went to San Juan, Puerto Rico, to help paint a mural on a middle school building that was being restored after hurricane damage. They worked with the Puerto Rican artist Pablo Marcano García on the mural, an illustration that celebrates the importance of teachers and the past, present, and future of education.

Meanwhile, the teachers at the school were on strike, which the students learned was “a regular thing,” said Cira Merlin, a participant who is going into her junior year at Fordham College at Rose Hill. “As we were painting to show teacher empowerment, how important these teachers are … they’re fighting for their pay,” she said.

The students were hosted by APRODEC, a nonprofit corporation that promotes local, sustainable economic development. They had the chance to tour historic sites, talk with students at the school, and learn about local culture and Puerto Ricans’ pride in their heritage.

“When I talk about this trip, I wouldn’t dare say ‘community service,’ because this was so much more than that,” Merlin said. “We were learning from the school, from the students, from the community. It was so much more than a service trip.”

Because of the project, she said, “I would say my love for education really grew.”

To inquire about giving in support of the Higher Education Opportunity Program, Global Outreach, or another 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, our campaign to reinvest in every aspect of the Fordham student experience.

“I know what it’s like to be an inner-city kid, and it’s not always easy. I feel like I can help kids who may not like school, who may see me as part of the establishment. I want to let them know that I’m someone just like them, who ended up accomplishing their goals and actually getting into their career, regardless of what my background was or what people thought I could do,” said Chevalier, a 2020 graduate of Fordham College at Rose Hill who will be graduating this May with her master’s degree in adolescence education for social studies from the Graduate School of Education. 

Chevalier grew up in a single-mother household on Bailey Avenue in the Bronx. She attended public schools with many students who looked like her, but she said only two of her teachers were women of color: a Latina second-grade teacher who taught English and a Puerto Rican high school social studies teacher. 

“Those two inspired me to become a teacher because I never had anyone who looked like me in the classroom,” Chevalier said. 

Culturally Relevant Teaching

This past year, Chevalier was a student teacher at IN-Tech Academy MS/HS 368—the same high school she graduated from. She said her goal in all her classes is to create a culturally relevant curriculum where her students feel represented. One recent example is an American history lesson plan where she taught students about not only the 1776 Declaration of Independence, but also another relevant event from that same year—a petition for freedom by slaves. 

“Instead of just teaching my kids about the Declaration of Independence alone, I taught them about how the language of freedom not only inspired the enslaved in the United States, but all over the world, including Haiti,” Chevalier said. “I bring in primary sources that reflect another population that is usually ignored. I want to create a 360-world view of one issue instead of a 180-world view, which is what we’re accustomed to in our history education.”

Her longtime mentor Diane Rodriguez, Ph.D., professor of curriculum and teaching at GSE, said Chevalier is a natural educator who helps her students understand social studies differently.  

“Teaching is not only helping students understand new concepts, but also helping them reexamine how they think,” Rodriguez said. “As a teacher, this is very powerful. In Chantal, it’s innate.” 

As a Fordham undergrad, Chevalier was able to volunteer at a high school in the Bronx, where she taught in a classroom for the first time and realized she was passionate about teaching. This inspired her to pursue her master’s degree in education through the five-year track at GSE, she said. 

“That opportunity provided by Fordham was the catalyst for me becoming a teacher,” said Chevalier, who was accepted to the University through the Higher Education Opportunity Program. 

Anti-Racism Commitment at Fordham Was ‘Life-Changing’

Chevalier said the Graduate School of Education also showed her how to put anti-racism at the forefront of her teaching pedagogy.

“It’s been life-changing to see all of my classes talk about race, especially since many of my classes are Caucasian-driven. They make sure that people who are Caucasian are recognizing the racist ideologies in our society and advocating against them by being anti-racist,” Chevalier said.

A decade from now, Chevalier said she wants to start a nonprofit that provides early internship and college access for inner-city high school students, who often lack opportunities to network and explore potential career paths. For now, her goal is to stay in the Bronx and serve the community she came from. 

“My ultimate goal in life is to make sure that I touch as many students as I can in a positive way, and that students remember me for my rigor, passion, empathy, and ability to connect with them as human beings,” Chevalier said. “I hope I can inspire young Black and brown girls and boys to reach their dreams and to work hard for them, no matter how difficult they are.”

Beginning with the fall 2020 application cycle, Fordham will meet up to the full cost of tuition for Cristo Rey Network students admitted to the University through either the traditional full-time admission process or the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP-NY State).

“We’ve been working as partners with Cristo Rey for many, many years. This is an opportunity for us to take that commitment to a new level and help make a private education more affordable and possible for some of those students,” said Patricia Peek, Ph.D., dean of undergraduate admission at Fordham. 

The Cristo Rey Network is a group of 37 Catholic high schools across the U.S. that primarily serves students from low-income families. What makes the network unusual is its four-year corporate work-study program, featured on 60 Minutes in 2004. Students balance their classes with entry-level jobs at local businesses. They gain work experience and earn money that goes directly to the school to cover part of their tuition. 

Extending A Decade-Long Relationship 

For more than a decade, Fordham has shared strong ties with the network’s schools, many of which are Jesuit-affiliated. Cristo Rey students have read their poetry at Fordham’s Poets Out Loud series. Fordham Founders Stephen E. Bepler, FCRH ’64, and John Ryan Heller served as trustees at Cristo Rey schools in East Harlem and Chicago, respectively. And the founding president of Cristo Rey New York High School, Joseph P. Parkes, S.J., JES ’68, served as a Fordham trustee and received an honorary degree from the University in 2019. 

The University is especially close to Cristo Rey New York High School. Located in East Harlem, the school has sent more students to Fordham than any other school in the Cristo Rey network. Since the school graduated its first class in 2008, at least one student has come to Fordham each year, for a total of 69 enrollees in the last 11 years, said Peek.

“Every year, we always get a ton of students saying, ‘We’re applying to Fordham. We want to really get in, and what can we do to get there?’” said Martha V. Fermín, director of college guidance at Cristo Rey New York High School and a 2011 graduate of the school. “I really hope that this [partnership]  continues to flourish in many ways, and we can continue to collaborate in any way possible.”

The East Harlem school was profiled by The New York Times in 2007. A year later, the second Cristo Rey school in New York—Cristo Rey Brooklyn High School, formerly known as Lourdes Academy High School—opened. Fordham has had nine enrolled students from the Brooklyn school.

The University’s new financial pledge can also make a difference for Cristo Rey students outside of New York who aren’t candidates for the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP-NY State), which provides eligible students with educational support services and additional financial assistance. 

“By expanding our funding opportunity, we’re hoping this will help make a Fordham education possible for Cristo Rey students at a distance,” Peek said. 

‘It Touches Me Deeply’

News of the agreement caught the attention of Jordi Giler: a Cristo Rey alumnus, junior at Fordham College at Rose Hill, and HEOP student. His younger sister is currently a senior at Cristo Rey New York High School who recently applied to Fordham, he said. 

“[The new pledge] eliminates one of the greatest burdens that a kid has, going into the college process, which is money,” said Giler, a political science major from the Bronx who wants to work in immigration policy reform. “A lot of kids from Cristo Rey—me and my sister included—we don’t come from rich homes. We come from traditionally lower-class or middle-class homes, where one of the main concerns about going to college is, are they giving me enough money? Do we have to take out loans?” 

For Emely Mojica—a Cristo Rey alumna, sophomore at Fordham College at Rose Hill, and HEOP student—the new pledge is a powerful one. 

“It touches me deeply. I’m the eldest of five children, and I’m the first in my family to go to college. I’m able to be at Fordham because I’m here on three scholarships,” said Mojica, an English major from the Dominican Republic who wants to work in corporate communications. “It’s going to be so much more helpful and accessible to receive higher education, especially for Cristo Rey students who I know deserve it and work so hard.” 

To apply to this new program, Cristo Rey students should apply to Fordham with the Common Application and complete the University’s standard financial aid process.