Establishing a multifaith ministry at a Jesuit university is an important move, said Father Judge. It reflects the changing makeup of the University community.

“I think last spring’s protests on campus showed us the need for dialogue and the need to know one another better, and that’s not simply in a religious sense,” he said. “That’s also in a cultural sense and in looking at different worldviews and different issues that are important to us.” 

Father Judge comes to Fordham with years of on-campus experience: He first arrived at the Rose Hill campus in the mid-1980s as a Jesuit scholastic to study English and philosophy, and has since worked in leadership roles at a number of Jesuit secondary schools including Fordham Prep. We spoke to him about the work of Campus Ministry and why you don’t need to be religious to seek out the department’s services.

What does the director of Campus Ministry do?

The Office of Campus Ministry at Fordham exists to serve the religious and spiritual needs of our students and our faculty and staff. We have about 12 people on staff, and they range from the music director in the University Church; to the directors of religious life for Catholics, Jews, and Muslims; to people who do spiritual direction; to people who run service programs. And then we have a bunch of student interns who help them do all that. Our goal is to make a lot of things available to people so that they continue their religious observance while they’re away from home, but also we give them outlets for developing and deepening their spirituality and finding opportunities to learn through service work.

You have said you believe that Jesuit spirituality can animate everything we do at Fordham. Could you explain what you mean?

A keystone of Ignatian spirituality is…that God is to be found in all things. So I think that’s why Jesuits historically have been missionaries and historically why Ignatius was drawn to the big cities where there’s lots going on and lots of people coming together. There are opportunities for us to find God in new arrangements and new places and new ways. I think that’s at the heart of what we do as a university.

For a student at Fordham who is not religious, what does Campus Ministry offer?

For anybody, we offer a willing ear. There are always pastoral crises, whether or not you think you need a pastoral response to them. People have family members who’ll get ill…They have relationships that go sour, they have goals they’re trying to figure out. So we try always to be a willing ear, whether that’s from a religious perspective or just a listening perspective.

What programming are you most excited about this year?

I think what I’m really excited about is looking at how Jewish life and Muslim life start functioning on campus. It’s been fun finding non-Christian spaces for them to worship in and learning about those things ourselves. We just built our first sukkah on the Rose Hill campus for [the Jewish]Feast of Sukkot, so that’s been a lot of fun. The department itself is engaged in a strategic planning process to look at how this multifaith ministry changes us and how it changes … the programs we offer. I’m very grateful that Fordham has the resources and the will to make this kind of investment in our students. 

Campus Ministry Events and Service Opportunities:

For upcoming Campus Ministry events at Rose Hill and Lincoln Center, and to volunteer with community partners, visit the department website here. You can also follow Campus Ministry on Instagram and on LinkedIn for events and news.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. 

And then, of course, there’s the honor of being first. This new role is part of a multi-faith expansion in Campus Ministry, which is also welcoming its first campus imam and director of Muslim life, Imam Ammar Abdul Rahman, this year. “I feel privileged that I can be part of this,” Vehlow said.

A native of Germany, Vehlow earned master’s degrees in divinity and Jewish civilization before immigrating to the United States, where she earned her doctorate in medieval Jewish history from New York University in 2006. She spent nine years as an associate professor of religious studies at the University of South Carolina before returning to New York to join the man who is now her husband.

Vehlow knows something about crossing faith boundaries. She grew up Protestant but converted to Judaism in 2001—“I felt very at home in Judaism when I encountered it,” she said—and was ordained in 2022. At Fordham, she looks forward to fostering interfaith dialogue, among many other things.

Why is this role at Fordham well matched with your experience?

On the one hand, because of my love for Judaism, and different ways of being Jewish, and different ways of integrating religious identities. And then there’s the chaplaincy aspect. I anticipate I’ll be with students in their joys but also in things that are difficult as they’re figuring out who they are, who they want to be. And the third reason is my love for being on a university campus and working with young people.

What kinds of activities are you planning?

I plan to observe and support what’s happening already—the regular Shabbat dinners on both campuses and the programming around the fall High Holidays. We’ll have cultural events, some excursions, and art workshops in the spring. For the new academic year, we’re starting out with a series of weekly conversations in Judaism at both campuses. All events for our Jewish community are also open to everybody; when we build a sukkah—or ceremonial hut—at Rose Hill in October to mark the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, that’s going to be a multi-faith event.

In the future, I hope to have, together with Imam Ammar and a Christian colleague, a seminar for emerging faith leaders involving Jewish, Muslim, and Christian students who would meet regularly and build relationships.

Why is it important for young people—or anyone—to encounter people of different faiths?

Because in doing so, we learn more about ourselves and appreciate our own traditions more. After hanging out for the first time with Muslims, some of my friends deeply admire the discipline of praying five times a day. And it gets them to think about their own prayer life and what, maybe, they could take from that. But also, knowing more about other people who are not like us can be a great antidote against conflict and violence.

How can we maintain a peaceful, respectful atmosphere on campus even as passions are stirred by things like the war in Gaza or the upcoming presidential election?

The most important thing is building, strengthening, and maintaining relationships, which I think have been fraying since COVID and maybe before. I know this is going on among students, faculty, and staff. I see it in little things, like faculty talking to me about their need to talk to each other in person and have thicker relationships. There’s also the new FitzSimons Fellow in the Office of the President, Anthony Barry, and the civics initiative he’s leading.

I think when people feel that they belong and that we all have a place here, then it is perhaps more possible to talk very openly about the difficult things, the things that pain us. It means for everybody on campus to know that they’re heard.

Jewish Life Events:

Shabbat Dinners, 6 – 8 p.m.
Sept. 6, Lincoln Center campus, Sept. 13, Rose Hill campus. Sign up.

Lunch and Learn—Tshuva: Getting Ready for the New Year Enjoy a light lunch and explore your life and your relationships through a Jewish lens as the Jewish new year approaches. No prior knowledge is necessary. All are welcome. Tuesdays at 1 p.m., Lincoln Center campus; Wednesdays at noon, Rose Hill campus.

Rosh Hashanah Dinner, Oct. 2, 6 p.m., Lincoln Center campus.

Please contact Rabbi Vehlow at [email protected] with any questions. Follow her on Instagram: rabbiAtFordham. Sign up to receive the Fordham Jewish Life Newsletter.