The warm, sun-soaked day began early for attendees who took part in the 13th Annual 5K Ram Run, a three-lap race around campus. By 11 a.m., grads and families began to pack the tents on Edwards Parade for pregame food and drinks. Face painters and caricature artists worked the kid-friendly family tent, and as game time approached, the Fordham cheerleaders and pep band helped lead fans to Moglia Stadium. On the field, despite a strong effort, the football Rams lost to Stony Brook 27-21, breaking a two-year streak of dramatic, come-from-behind victories at Homecoming. 

This year featured a strong turnout from Lincoln Center students, including many who helped kick off the weekend at the President’s Ball on Friday evening.  The annual formal dance, held under the Homecoming tent, drew more than 1,500 students. Meanwhile, nearly 500 recent grads gathered for dinner, dancing, and cocktails on the annual young alumni yacht cruise around lower Manhattan.

Save the date: Homecoming 2025 will be held on Saturday, Oct. 18, when the Rams take on the Dartmouth College Big Green at Rose Hill.

In his senior year, the Rams won the 1987 Liberty Conference title—an experience that helped him see the value of “finding a niche for yourself” on the team and contributing “in a meaningful manner” even if you aren’t the “star” player, he said.

He also found a mentor in Rich Marrin Sr., FCRH ’67, LAW ’70, a former Fordham football player who helped Curcio navigate Fordham Law School and his early career.

Today, Curcio is an equity partner at Quirk and Bakalor, a law firm in Garden City, New York. And he’s following in Marrin’s footsteps as president of the Gridiron Club, a booster club for Fordham football alumni and others who wish to support the team—with fundraising, yes, but also through one-on-one mentoring.

“We have these career nights for the kids on the team, where we give them the opportunity to ask us questions about different industries and how we can help them make connections in those fields,” Curcio said. “I’m trying to help out in every way I can.”

A lifelong New Yorker, Curcio was born in Parkchester, not too far from Fordham’s Rose Hill campus in the Bronx. His family moved to the Whitestone neighborhood of Queens when he was just 2 years old, but they were back in the Bronx often—to visit his grandmother, for afternoon trips to the New York Botanical Garden and the Bronx Zoo with his aunt and cousins, and for family parties on Arthur Avenue.

When it was time for college, Curcio was drawn to Fordham—and to the opportunity to continue playing football. “I had a friend from high school that was on the team who took an interest in bringing me up there, having me visit with the coach, that kind of thing—and I just fell in love with the campus,” he said.

Today, Curcio is not the only Ram in the family: He and his wife, Christine, are members of the Parent Ambassador Committee. And their son, Matthew, graduated from Fordham College at Lincoln Center in 2022.

Fordham Five

 What are you most passionate about?
I try to make it a rule to be passionate about whatever it is I’m doing at the time. More specifically, I am passionate about traveling, food, Fordham football, and the New York Rangers.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?Whatever you’re doing, do it. I know it’s a necessary skill in this day and age, but I find that if you’re multitasking, you’re often doing two things wrong at the same time.

What’s your favorite place in New York City? In the world?
I love New York City—I have never had an address outside of New York City and have a chip on my shoulder about being from the greatest city in the world. There are so many places we love, but if I had to pick two, I’d say the 1964–’65 Panorama Map of New York City at the Queens Museum and Madison Square Garden. The former has fascinated me since I was a little kid, and the latter has been a mainstay in my life since my dad, who is no longer with us, started taking me to Ranger games when I was 6 or 7. I’ve shared season tickets with a buddy from high school for the past 30 years. When I look up at that iconic ceiling, I feel at home.

In the world, we’ve been fortunate to travel a good amount, and there are a ton of places that have left me with great memoires, especially along the Amalfi coast. But to pick one specifically, I’d probably have to say Notre Dame—the cathedral in Paris, not the school in South Bend. We were there when my son was 12, and we walked up to the top and took pictures with all the gargoyles. They’re absolutely some of my favorite photos of him. It really hit home to see it burning on television. We’ve made donations to the restoration effort.

Name a book that has had a lasting influence on you.
Who Moved My Cheese. I wish I had a more profound response, but this simple book about change in your life has left a lasting influence. I’ve gone back to it a couple of times at different transition times over the years.

Who is the Fordham grad or professor you admire most?
I’d have to start with my head football coach, Larry Glueck. The life lessons learned playing for him have served me well. Rich Marrin Sr., who was president of the Gridiron Club when I was a player, helped guide me when making the tough decision to go to law school. He also made me understand the importance of paying that mentoring role forward, and he gave me the advice listed above.

John Lumelleau, FCRH ’74; John Costantino, GABELLI ’67, LAW ’70; John Zizzo, FCRH ’69; Pete Signori, GABELLI ‘68—and all the other gentlemen who played football before me and remain involved with the program, including former teammate and law school classmate Judge Robert Holdman, FCRH ’86, LAW ’91, who reached out and brought me back to be a part of the Gridiron Club.

As always, football will be the centerpiece. Hot off a stellar 2022 season, the Rams have won three of their first four games and are ranked No. 15 in this week’s FCS Coaches Poll. They’ll take on the Lehigh Mountain Hawks. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m., but the festivities begin bright and early, with the 12th Annual 5K Ram Run at 9 a.m., campus tours, and much more.

Here are five things you won’t want to miss at Homecoming this year.

1. The New McShane Campus Center Arcade

The four-story McShane Campus Center opened in early 2022 and has been at the heart of an ongoing campaign to support students’ wellness and success. Last month, the University unveiled the latest addition—an airy, sun-filled arcade with a sparkling glass entrance that links the campus center to the Lombardi Center and the historic Rose Hill Gym.

See it on the 9:30 a.m. tour, led by a current Fordham student and starting in front of the McShane Center—or stroll through anytime throughout the day.

2. Coffee and Conversation with President Tetlow

At her recent State of the University address, President Tetlow talked about Fordham’s “three sources of power”—research, Jesuit teaching, and opportunity—and explained why the University isn’t chasing status and rankings. Hear more from her on all things Fordham at this event on the third floor of the McShane Center at 10:30 a.m. And grab a cup of joe to fuel up for the day!

3. Moglia Stadium

The University will officially name its football and soccer stadium in honor of Joe Moglia—a 1967 Fordham Prep and 1971 Fordham College at Rose Hill graduate, award-winning football coach, and transformational business executive.

Planned renovations to the stadium include a state-of-the-art video board, seating and press box upgrades, new lighting, and more to enhance the game day experience. Moglia Stadium is part of the Jack Coffey Field complex that also includes Houlihan Park, the University’s baseball venue.

Check out the new signage for Moglia Stadium above the stands, and join us in honoring Joe Moglia at a special ceremony during the game.

4. Jesuit Gems, ‘Hidden in Plain Sight’

Take a campus walking tour with Robert Reilly, FCRH ’72, LAW ’75, former assistant dean of Fordham Law School, as he brings Fordham’s Jesuit history and mission to life—and encourages even the most devoted alumni to see Rose Hill with new eyes.

The tour, “Hidden in Plain Sight: Discover the Jesuit Presence at Rose Hill,” kicks off outside the McShane Campus Center at 11:30 a.m. Reilly will highlight statues and lecture halls, stained-glass windows and architectural details—like those on the stunning wrought-iron doors of Dealy Hall. The 10 panels forming the sidelights of Dealy’s western entrance depict the arts and sciences—philosophy, chemistry, mathematics, rhetoric, and more—that the Jesuits included in their Ratio Studiorum (Latin for plan of studies), originally published in 1599.

“The curriculum that the Jesuits created has become the curriculum of all universities throughout the Earth,” Reilly says. “That is a great tribute to Jesuit education worldwide.”

5. Family Fun

Homecoming has something for everyone—including the kids! Check out the Family Tent, adjacent to the main tent. It features caricature and balloon artists, coloring pages, and a shorter line for food and drink for busy parents.

This year’s celebration under the tents is now a fully ticketed event, and the Office of Alumni Relations is encouraging people to buy their tickets at a discount by Oct. 3. Check out the full Homecoming schedule and ticket options at forever.fordham.edu/homecoming.

—Nicole LaRosa and Ryan Stellabotte

There’s no need to apply and no membership dues—just relevant, engaging programming for you to take part in. From timely lectures to career forums to social events, you’ll find many opportunities to connect with your fellow alumni. Your Fordham degree also grants you access to a host of special offers and benefits.

Make sure to visit forever.fordham.edu for an updated list of all things Fordham alumni!

Fordham Alumni by the Numbers

As new alumni, you’re part of a large, global network of Fordham Rams. There are more than 200,000 total alumni living in all 50 U.S. states and 160 countries. Around 57% of Fordham alumni live within 50 miles of New York, but there are 50+ regional chapters worldwide.

Upcoming Alumni Events

Jubilee at Rose Hill: June 2 – 4

Block Party at Lincoln Center: June 9

FUAA Night at Yankee Stadium: September 8

Young Alumni Yacht Cruise: October 6

Homecoming: October 7

This year’s events come as the Fordham football team is off to its hottest start in nearly a decade—and as the University prepares to celebrate the inauguration of its new president, Tania Tetlow, who will be on hand to welcome alumni and families back to the Bronx campus.

Led by quarterback Tim DeMorat, who was named the NCAA FCS National Player of the Week after Fordham’s 52-49 win over Monmouth University last Saturday, the Rams enter the game with a 2-0 record. It’s the team’s best start since 2013, when Fordham advanced to the second round of the FCS playoffs and finished the year ranked No. 10 in the country.

On Saturday, the Rams will take on the University at Albany Great Danes. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. on Jack Coffey Field.

For the Fordham faithful, however, Homecoming promises more than exciting action on the field. The weekend’s festivities kick off on Friday night, when undergraduate students will join Tetlow at her inaugural President’s Ball, a semiformal dance under the Homecoming tent on Edwards Parade. At the same time, recent graduates will reunite downtown and take in the views of lower Manhattan on the ever-popular Young Alumni Yacht Cruise.

Before kickoff on Saturday, students, alumni, and friends will take part in the 11th annual 5K Ram Run, which starts at 9 a.m. outside the new McShane Campus Center. For those not participating in the fun run, Patricia Peek, Ph.D., FCRH ’90, GSAS ’92, ’07, dean of undergraduate admission, will lead a campus tour to highlight the new facilities and offer advice for families with students preparing to apply to colleges.

At 10:15 a.m., all attendees are invited to a meet-and-greet breakfast with Tania Tetlow in the Great Hall of the campus center, where Sally Benner, FCRH ’84, chair of the Fordham University Alumni Association, will introduce the University’s 33rd president, who took office on July 1 and will be officially inaugurated on Oct. 14.

The Homecoming tents will open at 11 a.m. and feature food and drinks, as well as activities for kids, including face painting and balloon animals. Award-winning author Stacey D’Erasmo, associate professor of English at Fordham, will be on hand to sign copies of her latest novel, The Complicities (Algonquin, 2022), this year’s selection of the Fordham Alumni Book Club, which members of the community are invited to join.

Also at 11 a.m., Robert Reilly, FCRH ’72, LAW ’75, former assistant dean of Fordham Law School, will lead a tour called “Hidden in Plain Sight: Discover the Jesuit Presence at Rose Hill.” Those looking for an alternative to the game are invited to venture across the street at 1 p.m. to explore the grounds of the New York Botanical Garden using an exclusive Fordham group rate.

The day will conclude with the annual Homecoming Mass at 4:30 p.m. in the University Church.

For more information and to buy tickets in advance for one or more of the Homecoming events, visit fordham.edu/homecoming.

Nearly 1,000 Fordham alumni took part in the annual Young Alumni Yacht Cruise, a Homecoming weekend tradition that was canceled last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Members of the classes of 2020 and 2021—who abruptly shifted to remote learning in their last semester at Fordham and who weathered a year and a half’s worth of virtual and in-person college, respectively—made up most of the crowd at the sold-out event. As undergrads, they had to forgo the usual Senior Week programming, which typically includes a boat cruise for Lincoln Center-based seniors, so many of them were elated to be on board. They felt the alumni event made up for a tradition they missed before graduating.

“I don’t think any of us have been in that kind of crazy-busy celebratory environment since before 2020,” Finley Peay, FCLC ’20, said after the event.

Peay spent the night hopping about the boat’s four decks introducing alumni, taking pictures and videos to share on the alumni Instagram account, and, of course, celebrating with friends along the way: “I actually loved being able to run around and run into friends I hadn’t seen since some of my Rose Hill classes, as well as good friends like old roommates and folks I studied abroad with” in London, Peay said.

As a member of the Young Alumni Committee—the group that helps keep Fordham grads of the past 10 years connected to their alma mater through the cruise and other events and activities throughout the year—Peay was busier than most that night. But she was but one person in a crowd in constant motion, sparking mini reunions at every turn. (Delphine Mason, GABELLI ’20, quipped that the boat setting let her “run around and not worry about losing anyone.”)

Many reunions were brief—glimpses of old acquaintances and one-time classmates led to quick catch-ups on the way to the bathroom, buffet, or bar before each person rejoined the friend group they came with. Some fortunate friends had last seen each other the previous week; others had gone a year or even two since connecting in person. “It’s been forever!” was a common refrain heard in the crowd—as were shouts of glee as old friends recognized each other—amid chatter about Fordham memories and what everyone’s been up to since graduation. Work, grad school, and more have scattered the alumni far and wide, but many returned to New York just to attend the event.

“It was nice to be with the Fordham community since moving to Texas after graduation,” said Michael Finnan, GABELLI ’21, who moved to Dallas to work in finance in September.

A look at the crowd revealed a sea of suits and cocktail dresses in nearly every color—including a healthy amount of Fordham maroon. For some, that was an intentional choice: “What better place to wear maroon?” said Alexa Speciale, FCLC ’20, who had her nails painted to match her jumpsuit.

With a bustling, dressed-up crowd and pop music blaring, the cruise ultimately felt like a deluxe version of the President’s Ball, the annual dance for current undergraduates held that very night under the Homecoming tent on the Rose Hill campus. Instead of appetizers, the attendees enjoyed a full buffet dinner of Caesar salad, chicken francese, salmon, beef, yellow rice, and vegetables, plus an open bar. And instead of the familiar environment of Rose Hill, alumni enjoyed splendid views of the Manhattan and New Jersey skylines. Peay, Finnan, and their friends settled onto the roof just in time to see the Statue of Liberty go by.

Though a DJ played music during the entire cruise, it was halfway through the three-hour event when the dance floor on the lowest deck began to fill. It wasn’t long before it was packed. Disparate clusters of friends came together as one large group, one united Fordham family, pulsing to the music together.

One of the final songs played was “Mamma Mia.” Intentional or not, the lyrics couldn’t have been more fitting for the event: “Here I go again … does it show again … just how much I’ve missed ya?”

—Gillian Russo, FCLC ’21, is an assistant editor at TodayTix Group.

Related Story: “Homecoming Weekend Draws Alumni, Families, and Friends Back to Campus”

Several thousand Fordham alumni, family members, students, and friends took part in the festivities, which included special receptions for the classes of 1970 and 1971, a 5K Ram Run, the launch of the first-ever Alumni Book Club, a jaunt to the New York Botanical Garden, and the traditional Homecoming tents on Edwards Parade, where attendees of all ages mixed and mingled for the first time since November 2019. (Last year’s Homecoming was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)

“This is Fordham—active, students running around, Edwards Parade full of people,” said Mary Boland, a 1979 graduate of Fordham College at Rose Hill.

For Joe McAteer, a 1999 graduate of the Gabelli School of Business and a former Fordham football player, the day was a chance to resume a family tradition. He and his wife, Anne, took their daughters, Brigid and Melaney, to the family tent, where an artist drew caricatures of the girls and made balloon figures for them.

“I haven’t been on campus since the pandemic,” McAteer said. “And my daughters would come up here for years and loved, loved coming up here—it’s the family atmosphere. Being back on campus with my kids, it’s great. It’s just that ambience, that feel that you get walking back on campus.”

The celebrations commenced on Thursday evening, Oct. 7, when Fordham athletics inducted 13 alumni into its Hall of Fame during a ceremony under the Homecoming tent on Edwards Parade. Among this year’s honorees were record-breaking quarterback Mike Nebrich, FCRH ’15; former Red Bulls goalkeeper Ryan Meara, GABELLI ’13; former women’s basketball star Abigail Corning, GABELLI ’14; and Joe Moglia, FCRH ’71, a former CEO of TD Ameritrade and former head football coach at Coastal Carolina University.

Celebrating the Golden Rams

Moglia, who will be honored at the Fordham Founder’s Dinner on Nov. 8, was among the members of the classes of 1970 and 1971 who were invited to a special reception on Friday evening to commemorate the 50th anniversary of their graduation from Fordham. While the Golden Rams are traditionally honored during Jubilee weekend in June, the celebrations for both class years were delayed until Homecoming this year, when the alumni could be feted in person.

Prior to the reception, they visited Butler Commons in Duane Library, home to a quarter-scale replica of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling fresco—a gift from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to Fordham in 2018. Art history professor Maria Ruvoldt, Ph.D., gave alumni and their guests a sweeping history of the storied fresco, gesturing above their heads to indicate specific areas of Michelangelo’s masterwork.

For Timothy Buckley, FCRH ’71, LAW ’74, and Eileen McDonough Buckley, TMC ’71, the space was a far cry from the Duane Library they knew 50 years ago, when the two met on campus as undergraduates. After the lecture, as they headed to University Church for a Mass honoring the Golden Rams, they recalled their wedding at the church in 1975, the year after Buckley graduated from Fordham Law School, as well as the charm of the old library.

“Walsh Library was long overdue,” Buckley said, referring to the William D. Walsh Family Library, which opened in 1997, “but when you came from where I came from, [the Finger Lakes region of New York], Duane was a big deal.”

“I loved those spiral staircases” in the old library, McDonough added.

Likewise, Peter Dolan, GABELLI ’71, ’75, and his wife, Mary Marcia Dolan, arrived on campus Friday afternoon with 50-year-old memories of a place that has changed dramatically in the intervening decades. Dolan took only a few classes at Rose Hill, but he recalled a scrappy population of students who, like him, often worked to pay for tuition while pursuing their studies. Mary Marcia attended Manhattanville College, a Fordham football rival at the time, but the couple had little time for Homecoming games until this year. Dolan said that by the time he was in graduate business school at Fordham, they already had two children. For him, college rivalries played out in job interviews.

“I’m grateful to Fordham for my career. I went on so many interviews going up against Princeton and the like and they’d say, ‘Finally, somebody from Fordham is here,’” he said on the steps of Keating Hall, standing next to his wife and grandson Patrick, a first-year student at Rose Hill, before heading into the tent on Edwards Parade for the Golden Rams reception.

Dolan said he had tried to convince his children to go to Fordham, but they all went to other Jesuit colleges, making his grandson’s presence at Rose Hill all the more special.

“To have my grandson come here is a thrill of a lifetime,” he said.

Dancing the Night Away, Amid Views of Keating Hall and the Manhattan Skyline

On Friday evening, approximately 1,000 young alumni from the classes of 2011 to 2021 began their Homecoming weekend on a yacht cruise around lower Manhattan. For members of the classes of 2020 and 2021—who made up the majority of the sold-out crowd—it was one of their first opportunities to reconnect with classmates and friends since graduation. Many also saw it as an event that made up for a tradition they missed as undergrads: Senior Week programming.

“I don’t think any of us have been in that kind of crazy-busy celebratory environment since before 2020,” Finley Peay, FCLC ’20, said after the event.

Meanwhile, at Rose Hill, current undergraduates resumed another tradition: the annual President’s Ball. The dance had a new location this year—the Homecoming Tent on Edwards Parade, following the Golden Rams reception—and it drew more than 3,400 students, one of biggest turnouts in the history of the ball.

A Flying Start

On Saturday morning, about 50 students, alumni, staff, and other members of the extended Fordham family took part in the 5K Ram Run, which started and ended in front of the historic Rose Hill Gym. Their path, three loops around campus, took them past the new campus center, which is undergoing an extensive renovation and expansion that will enhance services, programming, and resources for Fordham students.

For Fordham College at Rose Hill senior Kyle McAuley, who placed first, the race was a chance to enjoy an early-morning run and be part of the larger Fordham community.

“I’m a distance runner—I recently finished the Bronx 10-mile and I just really enjoy running in the Bronx. I think we need more races here, so to have one on Fordham’s campus was pretty cool,” he said. “It’s a good time to be a part of the community—I’m graduating this year, so it felt nice to be able to do this, especially after not having really any type of Homecoming last year.”

Sophomore Michael Parrinello, who finished second, brought a family feel to the event, running with his sister, Lauren.

“It was exciting to welcome family onto campus after all this time,” he said. “There’s just a lot of energy, which has kind of been missing the last 18 months.”

Catching Up on Campus

Homecoming attendees also had the opportunity to learn about some of the work that’s been taking place on and off campus in the past couple of years.

The deans of Fordham College at Rose Hill and Fordham College at Lincoln Center shared how the Cultural Engagement Internships program, which they launched in 2020 with support from Fordham alumni, has grown from two partners to more than 20 for the current semester. The program provides students with paid internships at local nonprofits and cultural institutions such as the Bronx Book Festival, the New York Hall of Science, and the Brooklyn Museum.

“Many of these organizations were introduced to us by alumni or by faculty or by other members of the community,” said Laura Auricchio, Ph.D., dean of Fordham College at Lincoln Center.

One of Fordham’s partners is the Elmhurst/Corona Recovery Collaborative, which unites the efforts of 24 nonprofits in Queens. Fordham College at Lincoln Center sophomore Arika Ahamad supported the collaborative’s communications efforts this past year, working on a newsletter and other publications to help connect residents to community resources such as vaccination locations and help with government forms. “What they were all doing was working together to help the area recover from COVID-19,” she said.

Alumni also had the chance to welcome Sally Benner, FCRH ’84, who will become the chair of the Fordham University Alumni Association (FUAA) advisory board in January.

“I come here today, and I think of when I was a [student] trying to study on Homecoming Saturday,” she said, while speaking in the McGinley Center’s North Dining Hall. “I was wondering what was all that fuss? Who are these old people in that tent? And now, I am that person, and I want a bigger fuss—more noise!”

Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, led a champagne toast at the FUAA reception, after which he called for attendees to join him in singing “The Ram,” Fordham’s fight song.

“I want to thank you for everything you do for Fordham,” he said. “I want you to be proud of Fordham—be as proud of Fordham as Fordham is of you. Pray for Fordham that we might always be true to the vision and the mission that John Hughes had,” he said, referring to the University’s founder.

Benner will succeed John Pettenati, FCRH ’81, the FUAA’s founding advisory board chair, who congratulated her on her new role. He said although he didn’t know her when they were students, he knew she was a member of Mimes and Mummers, the theater group at Rose Hill, “and I know how passionate she was about that organization: She’s going to bring that passion to the FUAA.”

Benner’s fellow Mimes and Mummers alumni also reunited on Saturday morning, enjoying coffee and catching up outside Hughes Hall before visiting Collins Auditorium, where they reminisced about their old college shows and marveled at the building’s new elevator and display of show posters framed by light bulbs.

Under the Tent

The Homecoming tent, however, was the main attraction. Alumni, students, families, and friends gathered there for pre-boxed lunches and drinks, played Jenga and other games, enjoyed each other’s company, and shared their favorite Fordham memories with friends and loved ones. (After the day was over, the alumni relations office donated 500 meals to Bessie Green Community Inc., a nonprofit organization that has been serving the underprivileged in Newark, New Jersey, since 1978.)

For Ruddy Castillo, a 1998 Fordham College at Rose Hill graduate, and his wife, Gloria, Homecoming was the first time they had the chance to share the campus experience with their daughters, Emma and Victoria.

“I’ve never done it before—there’s so much change, and it’s great to actually see all the changes and to see people again,” Castillo said. “It’s even better [with my daughters], to share in the memories and show them around the campus that I came to school at, and get them exposed to this type of event.”

Several attendees took the opportunity to meet Mary Bly, Ph.D., chair of Fordham’s English Department, who signed copies of her novel Lizzie & Dante (Random House, 2021), which was recently selected as the inaugural selection of the Fordham Alumni Book Club.

It’s the first novel she’s published under her real name, but she’s well-known in the romance genre for the more than 7 million books she’s sold under her pseudonym, Eloisa James.

The book club will meet via Zoom for two, one-hour sessions on Wednesday, October 20, and Wednesday, November 10. The first session will be moderated by Fordham English Professor Stuart Sherman, Ph.D., and the second session will be moderated by Phillip Cicione, Ed.D., FCRH ’87, one of the alumni who stopped by the tent to pick up a copy of Lizzie & Dante.

Cicione, an English teacher in New York’s Commack school district, met Bly through a former student who recently graduated from Fordham. “[Mary and I] had lunch right before [the COVID-19] shutdown, and she was asking me for ideas of how to get English alumni more involved with Fordham and, specifically, the English department,” Cicione said.

They stayed in touch, and eventually he was asked to serve as a moderator for the Fordham Alumni Book Club. “It’s a perfect fit, as an educator, to be moderating,” he said. “Every day in my classroom is a book club.”

Game Time—or a Walk in the Botanical Garden

As the 1 p.m. kickoff approached, the Fordham cheerleaders and dance team helped get the crowd hyped up before the big game, while the Fordham band played the University’s fight song. But not everyone made their way to Coffey Field.

Several attendees decided to tour the New York Botanical Garden at a discounted Fordham rate, a new option offered at Homecoming this year. The Ciciones each chose their favorite, with Phillip heading to the game and Jackie opting for the garden.

She cited her love of the botanical garden and the ease of touring it solo as reasons why she trekked across the street instead of going into the stands.

Fran Phair, PCS ’05, said that while she’s attended the Homecoming game in the past, this year she felt the garden would be more fun than football. “There’s a great exhibit going on right now. That’s why we made this decision.”

But for Fordham football and their fans, the scene at Jack Coffey Field was fun too.

Senior quarterback Tim DeMorat put on a show for the Ram faithful, throwing for four touchdowns and 339 yards in the first half, as he led the Fordham to a 56–7 victory over Wagner in front of an excited home crowd.

At the end of the first quarter, the 1971 crew team was honored on the 50th anniversary of an exceptional season. Despite the challenges of losing varsity status and having to find a new coach that year, the team won first place in the Deering Cup, beat eight of nine competitors in the Grimaldi Cup, and won first place in the Hudson River Presidents Cup.

The team’s coach, Ed Witman, GSAS ’77, was pursuing a doctorate at Fordham when he found a torn piece of loose-leaf on the windshield of his Volkswagen prior to the 1971 season. “Interested in coaching crew?” it asked.

It was a difficult time for the team, whose members had embraced the “cultural revolution,” Witman said, with their long hair and beards. They didn’t have a lot of support.

“And then we lost the boat,” he said. “So we had to row in borrowed shells. If these guys had not persevered and hung in there, though, I think the crew at Fordham would have vanished.”

Team member John J. Fischer Jr., FCRH ’72, said the team has remained close. “We’ve been good friends and we get together every year, almost, to celebrate our team and go out on a row—we used to go out on rows. We’re now in our 70s.”

The Rams put on most of their show in the first half, going up 42–7, thanks to DeMorat; senior wide receiver Fotis Kokosioulis, who had 101 yards and two scores; and first-year linebacker James Conway, who held Wagner’s offense in check by completing a game-high 12 tackles and forcing a fumble.

The weekend concluded with a Homecoming Mass in the University Church.

Chris Walchuk, FCRH ’84, GSE ’87, who attended Homecoming in 2019, said that she loved getting to share the experience of the day with her daughter Katarina, a first-year student at Fordham College at Lincoln Center.

“It’s the people,” she said. “It’s so nice. I was thinking about that as we were sitting inside the tent. This is just like the previous one, [in 2019]. It’s so nice to be back.”

—Taylor Ha, Nicole LaRosa, Sierra McCleary-Harris, and Tom Stoelker contributed reporting to this story.

Programming includes campus-specific events for Lincoln Center and Rose Hill, a trivia night, the ninth annual (and first-ever virtual) 5K Ram Run, and a virtual tailgate celebration.

To help attendees get in the Fordham spirit, the alumni relations team is providing a Homecoming toolkit that includes printable pennants, cutouts, and games, as well as graphics for social media, Instagram story templates, Zoom and desktop backgrounds, Ram Run bibs, and coloring pages for kids of all ages.

The events kick off Thursday evening with a Fordham College at Lincoln Center forum led by Dean Laura Auricchio, Ph.D., and Friday night offers both a Road to Reunion Gathering, where alumni can learn more about plans for Jubilee 2021 and how to get involved as a reunion committee volunteer, and a virtual Fordham pub trivia competition hosted by Tim Tubridy, FCRH ’99, and his brother James Tubridy, co-owners of the entertainment company DJs @ Work.

On Saturday morning, alumni, friends, and family are encouraged to take part in a virtual 5K Ram Run by running, jogging, or walking wherever they are and sharing photos of themselves wearing their Fordham gear. Those who wish to be considered for prizes can track their times via running apps and share them, as well.

Later that day, alumni can attend an athletics sideline chat featuring Fordham football head coach Joe Conlin and Ed Kull, interim director of athletics; “Pop Romeo & Juliet,” a talk about Shakespeare’s famous lovers—in music, ads, and film—by Mary Bly, Ph.D., chair of the English department; and, from 4:30 to 6, a virtual tailgate and celebration emceed by DJs @ Work.

Homecoming weekend concludes on Sunday with a morning Ignatian yoga session led by Fordham campus minister and Ignatian yoga teacher Carol Gibney, followed by a Mass livestreamed from the Univeristy Church and concelebrated by Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, and Damian O’Connell, S.J., the University’s alumni chaplain.

To see a full weekend schedule, register for events, access toolkit materials, view photos from Homecoming 2019, or to make a donation, visit the Virtual Homecoming 2020 page on Forever Fordham.

The day began with 75 hardy souls taking part in the annual Ram Run, which sent runners on a 5K loop around the campus.

While they passed beneath the boughs of stately elm trees lining the campus, other revelers passed beneath the arches of Rose Hill’s Southern Boulevard entrance, heading to the parking lot where they set up for tailgate parties. The lot drew fans of both Fordham and the College of the Holy Cross, whose Crusaders ultimately won the Homecoming matchup 49 to 27.

Joe Jordan, GABELLI ’74, a Fordham Football Hall of Fame inductee who received the 2019 Mara Family Award, joined former teammate John Lumelleau, FCRH ’74 at the lot. Jordan was a freshman when football was reinstated as a Division I varsity program in 1970, after it was stopped in 1954 and revived as a club in the 1960s and then a Division III team in the NCAA.

“They brought back varsity on a shoestring, really,” said Lumelleau, who is also a member of the Fordham University Board of Trustees. Still, there was excitement on campus for the program, particularly a game their freshman year against Georgetown, soon after legendary coach Vince Lombardi, FCRH ’37, passed away.

“At halftime, they had the six surviving Seven Blocks of Granite,” Jordan recalled, citing the nickname given to Fordham’s fearsome linemen, including Lombardi. Wellington Mara “[current co-owner of the New York Giants]. was there, Marie Lombardi was there. There was no Lombardi Center—that’s when they dedicated it.”

The pair and many of their teammates still get together every year as a part of the “Rams of the ’70s” group that Lumelleau, a 2015 Walsh Family Award winner, helped start.

Reuniting Under the Big Tent

In the center of campus, beside the field where the Holy Cross Crusaders would face off with the Fordham Rams for the 57th time, several thousand alumni, students, families, and friends flocked to massive tents on Edwards Parade for burgers, pulled chicken, and libations. Several tables offered information about various alumni affinity groups, while the Fordham University Alumni Association (FUAA) collected four boxes of goods that attendees donated for POTS, a nonprofit that helps individuals facing poverty in the Bronx.

Outside the tent, Giant Jenga games lured guests on the west side of the parade, while face painting, a bouncy castle, wall climbing, and corn hole enticed families by the steps of Keating Hall.

Elsewhere on campus, members of the Mimes and Mummers Alumni Association celebrated their annual “Collins-coming” at Collins Auditorium, and former Fordham Law School Assistant Dean Robert J. Reilly, FCRH ’72, LAW ’75, guided a group of 30 on a walking tour of the campus titled Hidden in Plain Sight: Discover the Jesuit Presence at Rose Hill. Among the tidbits he shared was the fact that the statue of St. Ignatius of Loyola next to Hughes Hall was commissioned by Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, who requested that the founder of the Jesuits be depicted facing directly up at the heavens.

“If you Google St. Ignatius of Loyola, you will not find that except for one place. This is a very, very unusual statue,” he said.

A Welcoming Community

Seated at one of the blue tables in the tent reserved for Marymount College alumnae was Teresita Abay-Krueger, MC ’80, who studied biology and chemistry and went on to work at IBM. For several years, she served on the Marymount alumnae board.

“Fordham has been a very welcoming community to the Marymount alumnae … You’ve really been cheerleaders for [our]  legacy in many respects. And we not only appreciate it, but we respect that,” she said.

“It’s just been a natural melding of the two communities. And what better place to have it than Homecoming, where we get to celebrate a nice football game on a beautiful campus with plenty to eat and drink?”

A Bond Among Jesuit Schools

The event also drew families for whom loyalties between the Rams and the Crusaders were split. Bob and Rose Shea, natives of West Hartford, Connecticut, who graduated from the College of Holy Cross in 1985 and 1986, respectively, were sporting dark purple garb, while their daughter Fiona Shea, FCRH ’19, wore a hat that said simply, “Bronx.” Rose said they love the camaraderie between alumni of Jesuit schools. She’s also confessed to being obsessed with New York Botanical Garden, and noted that they became members during Fiona’s freshman year. Arthur Avenue is a must-stop for them every time they visit.

“Being from Connecticut, we’re more familiar with Boston, and of course we’re familiar with New York, but having Fiona here, it opened a whole new world to us,” she said.

A Time for Families

Multiple generations of Rams took part in the day’s festivities. Lynn and Ryan Flaherty, both FCRH ’00, watched their children Nolan, 9, Reagan, 7, and Ainsley, 5, take their turns on the bouncy castles; they said there was never a question that they’d make the drive from Amityville, New York, for the day.

“We love bringing the kids here, and showing them where mom and dad went to school,” said Lynn. “They really do try to do something for the kids. Ryan’s parents join us, so we make it a big family thing.”

Jerry Breslin, FCRH ’59, likewise said he treasured the memories of his time on campus. He started returning after his son, John, graduated from Fordham College at Rose Hill in 1991. When he was an undergraduate, he said, he befriended the priest who was then the dean of men, and the priest officiated at Breslin’s wedding. Most of his former classmates had good friends who were Jesuits, he said.

“In the springtime, after dinner we’d come out and play softball. There’d be a hundred Jesuits standing around, watching the game. You’d make an error or something, and they’d yell, ‘Breslin, you’re just as bad at softball as you are in the classroom,’” he said, laughing.

Chris Healy, on the other hand, never graduated from Fordham, but nonetheless feels at home at Rose Hill. He’s been coming here since he was seven, when his father, Richard Healy, FCRH ’50 and uncle, Stan Bloomer, FCRH, ’50, brought him to his first homecoming.

“My family has such a history here,” said Healy, wearing a Fordham jacket more than three decades old. “To me, it’s tradition and history that embellishes this University.”

His daughter, Brittany Healy, GABELLI ’17, was celebrating in the main tent, too. Growing up, she and her two older brothers frequently watched football games at the Rose Hill campus. Years later, she majored in business administration and marketing at Fordham—just like her grandfather.

“My friends and I always talk about how Fordham is really like no other place on the planet,” said Healy, who is now an account executive at a public relations agency. “The community feel and the love that we have at this college is just different than anywhere else.”

For self-proclaimed “Fordham fanatic” Maggie Wimmer, FCRH ’16, this year’s homecoming had extra resonance.

“I love coming to homecoming. Whenever I get the chance to come back, I really enjoy it. And now that he’s in the program, it’s even more of a reason,” she said, motioning to her boyfriend, Matthew Glaser, a Ph.D. student in philosophy at Fordham.

“I haven’t even been to my undergraduate homecoming before, so this is a new experience for me,” said Glaser, who lives near Arthur Avenue.

Wimmer said she loves running into people she knew at Fordham, even if they were just acquaintances at the time.

“When you see them, it’s so exciting to relive those memories. It’s like you all have something to come back to,” said Wimmer, who majored in psychology at Fordham and now works in public health outreach at Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan.

“When we were graduating and Father McShane said, ‘This is your home, stay long and visit often’—you just connect with that, because when you walk on campus, it feels like home, like a breath of fresh air.”

View more photos from Homecoming.

Taylor Ha, Kelly Kultys, and Nicole LaRosa contributed reporting.

Before the faceoff between the Rams and Central Connecticut State University’s Blue Devils got underway, the campus was abuzz with activity. Runners took in views of the campus in the seventh annual 5K Ram Run, while members of the oldest club in the University, the Mimes and Mummers, shared memories in Collins Auditorium. As some families laid out lavish tailgating spreads in the parking lot, others gathered in the big tent for burgers and all the fixings. There was even a walking tour of all things Jesuit-related by former Fordham Law School Assistant Dean Robert J. Reilly, FCRH ’72, LAW ’75.

In the parking lot, Fordham College at Rose Hill senior Hayley DeWeese sat surrounded by her extended family and trays of homemade food. The physics major said she loved being there with the large group, including her cousin Emma DeWeese, FCRH ’10. The pair was excited that Emma would be presenting Haylee with her diploma at commencement this May.

Emma’s mom, Joanne DeWeese, said they’ve been tailgating at Homecoming for years.

“It’s such great family time, especially when our niece decided to come here. Then we knew we could extend our tailgate family weekends,” she said.

This year the family also had some friendly rivalry to contend with. Haley’s dad, Cory DeWeese, brought his nephews, who are students at Central Connecticut State. Their father, Mo Harmon, was decked out in a Fordham hat and a Central t-shirt. “I’m supporting both teams,” he said, smiling.

Representing the 1968 Football Club

In the loyal donor appreciation tent, Jack McMahon, FCRH ’71, a cornerback for the 1968 national club football championship team, flew in from Okinawa, Japan, for the day. It was the second time he’d made that 24-hour journey. He and 31 other members of the team were welcomed back onto the field during the game for a ceremony honoring their accomplishment.

“We were club football, which meant you played, worked, and practiced because you loved it,” he said, noting that that team consistently outplayed their opponents in the fourth quarter because they put in that extra time and effort.

“Military people understand that when you’re in the service, you’re not fighting for your country and your flag, you’re fighting for the guy next to you. It’s a similar concept,” he said, adding that being back on campus reminded him of that spirit.

“You come back and see people who practiced as hard as you did, who worked as hard as you did, and were successful because of it. That just means a lot.”

Blue and Maroon Balloons

Nearby, Jean Wynn, MC ’80, sported a blue Marymount shirt while chatting with her daughter, Amanda Shea, a junior in the Gabelli School of Business.

Wynn said Fordham was “very welcoming” after it merged with Marymount and eventually sold the college.  She encouraged her fellow Marymount grads to come to Homecoming— “That’s what those big blue balloons are all about,” she said, pointing to the big tent and noting she’d seen about 10 Marymount alumnae so far. The event is even nicer for her now, she said, that her daughter attends Fordham.

Shea, a finance major, agreed.

“I get to get into all the tents!” she said, laughing.

‘Our Happy Place’

As children scaled an inflatable climbing wall and played cornhole at the foot of Keating Hall, Mike Brady, GABELLI ’06, ’12, and Katelyn Brady, FCRH ’06, took in the scene with their 1-year-old son Jack. The couple met when they were students, but only started dating after graduation. Four years ago, he convinced her to attend a presentation for a summer class he was taking at the time. Little did she know, he was also carrying an engagement ring.

“He had a fake presentation and everything that he was showing me on train. We were walking up the steps into Keating, and he stopped and turned to me, and I was like, ‘Oh my god.’ I was shocked,” she said.

“We love it here. This is our happy place.”

Lessons from the Past

In the main tent, Pascal Storino Jr., GABELLI ’84, was relaxing with his family before heading to section F of Coffey Field, where they hold season tickets. Their connection to the University encompasses three generations—his father Pascal Storino, PHA’59; his wife Thalia Julius-Storino, GABELLI 85, 91; and their daughters Angelica Storino, FCRH’19, and Christina Storino, FCRH’17, GSE’18.

Inspired by the flair of a fellow fan, Storino Jr.was sporting an early-1940s- era pin that was popular with the Fordham football team at the time. Since it was distributed shortly before the program was paused in 1943, the pin depicted a World War I-era tank, instead of a traditional football. An avid fan of history, he noted that his grandfather shoveled coal into furnaces upon his return from World War I.

“When my girls came here, I reminded them to be respectful, and that the people they need to be nicest to are the people who influence their lives on a daily basis, like the people who clean the dorms and the people who work here,” he said.

Andrew Bournos, GABELLI ’92, and Danielle Dexter, FCRH ’93, made the pilgrimage from New Fairfield with four of their five children: Cassandra, 14, Gordon, 12, Vivienne, 10 and Brock, 5. They met at homecoming Danielle’s first year, but didn’t reconnect for another three years. They wed at the University Church 20 years ago.

“My uncle told me before I went, ‘What separates the men from the boys is, the boys know how to party, the men know how to party and study. Go be a man.’ I wasn’t the first six months, but it finally hit me, so I got both done,” he said, laughing.

For teenaged Cassandra, the experience of attending has changed since the family first started coming regularly seven years ago; the bouncy castle no longer holds the same appeal. But she still enjoys the day.

“I’ve always loved the face painting and the sketches that they do and climbing the big inflatable wall,” she said. “It’s still a lot of fun.”

—Nicole LaRosa contributed reporting

Video by Taylor Ha and Miguel Gallardo

It was 50 years ago that Zizzo helped lead the Fordham club football team to a national championship as co-captain, helping revive a sport that was a Fordham hallmark in the days of Vince Lombardi and the Seven Blocks of Granite but that had been absent at Fordham from 1954 to 1964. The 1968 club team’s victory gave Fordham football a brighter future—contributing to the University’s decision to bring back the sport at a varsity level in 1970 and laying the groundwork for more recent successes, including a Patriot League title in 2014.

At the annual Football Dinner in the week leading up to Homecoming on September 22, Fordham will be honoring the 1968 team. At least 35 of the 40 surviving team members are planning to attend.

“Keeping the team together has been a big thing in my life,” says Zizzo, a member of Fordham’s Board of Trustees since 2013. “It sounds strange, but I feel an obligation to do it, but I also want to do it. The striving together and relying on one another as a team has kept us together for so many years, so this is a great thing for us.”

Zizzo attributes the team’s triumphs and enduring camaraderie to their ability to rely on each other and put the Rams’ success over any one player’s individual ego. “No matter how good you are,” he says, “your team cannot excel unless the other players are excelling at the same time.”

In some ways, Zizzo says, those team dynamics reflect the strengths of Fordham’s rigorous Jesuit education, which, he says, “is about expanding your horizons and realizing there’s a whole world you have to be responsive to, that when you act, you act not only for yourself but on the basis of all humanity, to help others. You can’t be isolated and looking only to yourself.”

These are lessons that Zizzo, a retired real estate attorney, says served him well in life and in his profession. “You have to be able to work together as a group,” he says. “Everybody always asks how we should divide the pie up. But the better question is how do we grow the pie? It’s the growing of the pie that leads to bigger success, and you can’t do that with one individual’s effort.”

Last year, Zizzo joined forces with John Costantino, GABELLI ’67, LAW ’70, and John Lumelleau, FCRH ’74, to launch the ongoing Football Office Challenge to help raise funds for the renovation of the Fordham football offices. “The new offices will help recruiting and the operation, experience, and success of the current team,” he explains. “And the team’s success could enhance the face of Fordham to the rest of the world.”

It’s that larger goal that has driven him to not only stay involved with Fordham football but to continue participating in other alumni activities, like his trip to the Dordogne region of France with the Alumni Travel Program a few years ago.

“I mean, I enjoy the game and want to see football excel,” Zizzo says. “But the larger importance of football is to support the identity of Fordham and help people realize that Fordham is an important place to be.”

Fordham Five

What are you most passionate about? 
Other than the health, well-being, and happiness of my family (which is by far the most important thing in my life), my most passionate goal is to see Fordham University climb to the prominence it deserves—that is, to be considered one of the best universities in the country. As a relatively poor person from a relatively poor family who received a scholarship from Fordham, I appreciate that Fordham has done more than any prominent university I know to pursue its mission to educate all levels of our society in the intellectual rigors of the Jesuit tradition with a focus on the highest human values.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? 
There are two pieces of advice that have helped me lead my life and helped me professionally. First, my immediate family impressed upon me the importance of working as hard as I could in everything I did. Second, two of my professional mentors showed me through both their words and actions that being honest and never lying would lead me to a successful and rewarding career.

What’s your favorite place in New York City? In the world?
By far the most incredible place in New York City is Greenwich Village. The vibe is tremendous: winding tree-lined streets, a diverse population, local theater productions, other cultural amenities, incredible restaurants and shops. To me, it’s the greatest area in the greatest city in the world. Maybe because it resembles New York City so much, Rome is my favorite city in the world. It has many of the great qualities of New York with two big pluses: First, Roman traditions and philosophy are prominent in Western history and are ingrained in many of us. Second, the people of Rome are as warm and welcoming as any I have encountered.

Name a book has had a lasting influence on you.
Atlas Shrugged has made a lasting impression on me. I have read it twice: once as a relatively young adult and again about 15 years ago. The basic principle of the book is that people must be given the incentive of possible profit and success in order to reap the rewards of the world and to help protect and support the family; I have many examples of this being true. I believe the book also makes it clear that the drive to success and security does not necessarily interfere with a person’s desire to help others, especially those that are willing to contribute to society or those who are not able to work.

Who is the Fordham grad or professor you admire most?
I have nothing but admiration for Joseph Cammarosano [professor emeritus of economics]. He has the unique ability to be helpful and warm, and he is a professional educator who is both an intellectual and a leader. I remember him as a great teacher and a great source of knowledge. He also greatly contributed to the University in two ways: His even personality and desire to help Fordham made him excellent at being a practical and successful liaison between the administration and the faculty in the 1960s, and in helping Fordham overcome financial struggles in the late ’60s and early ’70s.