“Monsignor Shelley was a beloved and important member of the Fordham community.  I was personally so grateful for his history of the University, which will forever help me continue the work of my predecessors,” said Tania Tetlow, president of Fordham. “My heart goes out to Father McShane and all of Monsignor Shelley’s family and friends.”

Monsignor Shelley’s role at Fordham went beyond his official title, thanks to the monumental task he took on in telling the University’s story. His book Fordham, A History of the Jesuit University of New York: 1841–2003 (Fordham University Press, 2016), is seen by many as the go-to source on matters of Fordham’s founding and first 175 years.

He was also a first cousin of Joseph M. McShane., S.J., president emeritus of Fordham, who called him a “master of tale and story” and a compassionate priest whose serious scholarship was balanced by an avuncular personality that endeared him to students, and a concern for the poor.

“You see in the history of the University, the history of the archdiocese, and in the parish histories he wrote, the people that he was most drawn to were people who were most authentic, who were true to mission, who watched out for the poor, were not flatterers, nor were they flattered,” he said.

“He was drawn to the hardworking people in the parishes, hardworking priests who didn’t spend a lot of time in the rectory but were out walking through the parish, seeing what was going on and so on.”

Although Monsignor Shelley was 12 years older than Father McShane and lived four miles away in the neighborhood of Melrose, he loomed large in the life of the McShane family. He was the first on the Shelley side of the family to attend college and was among the first to join “the family business,” said Father McShane, who stepped down as Fordham’s president in June.

When then-Deacon Shelley was assigned to Midnight Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel on a snowy Christmas Eve, Father McShane recalled, it was a big deal when he stayed the night across the street with his grandmother rather than return to the seminary.

“I can remember his ordination, I can remember his first Mass, and I can remember the dinner following his first Mass, which was at the Concourse Plaza Hotel,” he said.

“I also remember the menu at that dinner. So that will tell you something about the place he had in our family.”

Thomas Joseph Shelley was born in 1937 to Thomas Shelley and Helen Walsh Shelley. He was the oldest of three children; his twin sisters Helen and Mary were born seven years later. He attended Cathedral College high school in Manhattan received a B.A. in philosophy in 1958 and an M.A. in theology in 1962 from St. Joseph’s Seminary and College, and was ordained a priest in 1962. He served as a parish priest for the Saint Thomas More Church, and after retiring, he served at Sunday Masses at Church of the Ascension, both in Manhattan. In 1966, he earned an M.A. in history from Fordham’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. He earned a doctorate in church history at Catholic University in 1987.

After 30 years of teaching history and religion at both the high school and seminary levels—including Stepinac High School, Cardinal Spellman High School, and Cathedral College—he joined Fordham’s theology department in 1996. He taught courses such as 19th-Century Catholicism, The Church in Controversy, and Faith and Critical Reason for 16 years, and in 2012, he retired, and was awarded the title of Professor Emeritus at Fordham.

He specialized in 19th- and 20th-century American Catholicism, particularly in New York City. In 1993, he published Dunwoodie: The history of St. Joseph’s Seminary, Yonkers, New York (Christian Classics), and in 2007, as a part of the Archdiocese of New York’s commemoration of its 200th anniversary, he was commissioned to write The Bicentennial History of the Archdiocese of New York: 1808-2008. (Editions Du Signe, 2007).

He was also a prolific contributor to America, which honored him with a tribute on Nov. 15.

In 2008, Father McShane asked him to write a history of the University from its founding to 2003, the year that Father McShane succeeded Joseph A. O’Hare, S.J. as president.

Father McShane said he knew from Monsignor Shelley’s prior work that he could trust him to do a “warts and all” exploration of the University.

“Tom took his work very seriously, he took his students very seriously, he took his colleagues very seriously. He took being a priest very seriously. The only thing he didn’t take seriously was himself,” he said.

Eight years later, Monsignor Shelley completed the 536-page history, complete with black and white and color photos, just in time for the University’s 175th-anniversary celebration. Among the conclusions he came to was that Fordham Founder Archbishop John Hughes “anticipated the work of the Second Vatican Council by a whole century.”

In 2016, he spoke to Fordham Magazine about taking on such a huge task.

“The Jesuits made my work easy because they carefully preserved so much of Fordham’s history in their archives, both here in New York City and also in Rome. Prior to 1907, Fordham (which was still called St. John’s College at the time) is the story of a small liberal arts college in the rural Bronx. After 1907, with the establishment of the first graduate schools (and the transition from college to university), the plot thickens. Each of the graduate schools has its own distinct identity and history, so the story becomes more complicated,” he said.

Monsignor Shelley was an active part of the 175th-anniversary celebration, delivering the homily at a Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and participating in a panel discussion about the University’s history. Although he himself was not a Jesuit, he attributed the University’s success, even through its roughest years, to the Society of Jesus.

“The popularity of Jesuit education for the last four centuries has been due in large measure to one factor: the fact that it’s rooted in the Christian humanism of the Renaissance and the positive aspects of the Catholic reformation,” he said.

Shelley continued to work on behalf of the University and the Church. In 2019, he published Upper West Side Catholics: Liberal Catholicism in a Conservative Archdiocese (Fordham University Press), and last April he delivered the homily at a Mass celebrating the opening of the Joseph M. McShane S.J. Campus Center. In June, at Father McShane’s request, he completed a final chapter of Fordham’s history that tackles Father McShane’s own time in office. Next spring, his book John Tracy Ellis: An American Catholic Reformer will be published by Catholic University Press.

Elizabeth Johnson, C.S.J., distinguished professor of theology, said Monsignor Shelley’s focus on “smart institutional history” was invaluable.

In his history of the Archdiocese of New York, for example, Johnson noted that Monsignor Shelley dispelled the notion that the church was always associated with immigrants. In fact, in the years before the American Revolution, it was a church of the elite, dominated by figures such as Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron of Baltimore, an English nobleman who was the first proprietor of the Province of Maryland.

“He kept bringing up these sorts of discoveries and insights that would otherwise go untold. It wasn’t hagiography. It was very clear-eyed,” she said.

That volume also brought to mind one of Johnson’s favorite memories of Monsignor Shelley. While working in Fordham’s archives, he discovered correspondence between Archbishop Hughes and nuns working in Greenwich Village. They had been caring for non-Catholics, and Archbishop Hughes demanded they cease and desist. They informed him that after reading the Gospels, they concluded that Jesus would side with them, not him.

“He said, ‘What do you think?’ I said ‘Tom, this has to go into the book. And it did!’ Johnson said.

“He had the eye for what was really going on, and his deep allegiance was always to Christ and the gospels. I could see someone else writing a history of the Archdiocese who would just want to bury that.”

Christine Firer Hinze, Ph.D. chair of the theology department, said that it was beneficial to the theology department to have a diocesan priest on staff who taught seminarians, as he did at St. Joseph’s Seminary, where he was also named professor emeritus.

“He had his foot in both worlds, and that was incredibly helpful and enriching for us,” she said.

“The Archdiocese of New York is our home, but it can feel a little distant because of the stand-alone nature of a university.”

When the pandemic hit, Shelley moved back to the house in Long Island that his parents moved to in 1956, to be with his surviving sister, Mary Shelley. She said he was worried about her because of the Covid tally on Long Island and wanted to ensure she was not alone. 

It was a blessing to have him back during that time, said Mary just after Monsignor Shelley died. She noted that as a night owl, he took full advantage of an open schedule, staying up until 3 a.m. to write his last book. He knew when he was an altar boy that he wanted to be a priest, she said. In June, he celebrated his 60th anniversary as a priest.

“His heart and soul, body and mind, were focused on the priesthood,” she said.

In addition to his being a lifelong Montreal Canadians fan and a lover of animals, Mary said she would always remember her brother for his compassion. When Helen died in 2013, he helped her with her grief, as he had many times before.

“We lost our parents very young, and I asked him why it hurts so much. He said ‘That’s the price you pay for love,’ and it’s true,” she said.

“He would help anyone, and he was honest. If things were bad, he would tell you. He was a composite of everything you’d want to have in a person.”

Father McShane said that several recent moments will stand out to him, including the many family funerals they were both called to serve at. At one point, Monsignor Shelley offered to take on the job of preaching, while letting Father McShane be the celebrant. It’s a more difficult job, but he offered to do it, because he had more time to write. On Friday, Father McShane will be the one at the pulpit, at his cousins’ funeral, and he said he’ll always be grateful for the way Monsignor Shelley helped him with the grief he felt at his mother’s funeral.

“When we were lining up for the procession, he walked by, patted me on the shoulder, and said, ‘You’ll be okay. You’ll be okay.’ And I looked at him and said, ‘Are you sure?’ He said, ‘I’m sure you’ll be just fine.’”

Shelley is survived by his sister Mary Shelley. He is preceded in death by his parents and his sister Helen.

A wake will be held Thursday, Nov 18, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Main Chapel of the John Cardinal O’Connor Pavilion, 5655 Arlington Avenue, Riverdale, N.Y.

A funeral will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 18, at Church of the Ascension, 221 W 107th St. A wake will also be held in the church from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. before the funeral.

Notes of condolences can be sent to Mary Shelley at 2408 Eighth Street, East Meadow, NY 11554.

On Oct. 14, Tania Tetlow was formally inaugurated as Fordham’s 33rd president, making history as the first layperson and first woman to lead the University.

Now, she said, it is time for us all to make history.

“Today I am asking you to hope. To have the courage to hope. Not because these are hopeful times; they are not. But because these are urgent times,” she said.

“At a moment of darkening clouds in the world, we gather on this bright, shining day to remember that Fordham has such power to make the world a better place.”

Taking Inspiration from a Providential Past

The day began with a Mass at the University Church, in which Joseph M. O’Keefe, S.J., GSAS’ 81, provincial of the USA East Province of the Society of Jesus, confirmed Tetlow in her mission as director of the apostolic work of Fordham. The Mass brought together Jesuits from around the province, including Fordham President Emeritus Joseph M. McShane, S.J., who received several rounds of applause throughout the day.

The festivities drew some 2,000 guests to the Rose Hill campus. In addition to Tetlow’s family and friends, Fordham alumni, faculty, students, administrators, and delegates from nearly 60 universities around the world were present. The formal ceremony on Keating Terrace was followed by a “Prez Fest” celebration on Edwards Parade and a concert featuring the Preservation Hall Jazz Band from New Orleans. The event concluded a weeklong celebration that kicked off with a lecture on Tuesday about Fordham’s place in the world.

In a spirited call to harness the resources of the University to change the world, Tetlow tied her vision of the University’s future directly to the past, citing Archbishop John Hughes’ founding of Fordham 181 years ago.

“In 1841, Archbishop John Hughes struggled to serve the hundreds of thousands of immigrants streaming into New York, so desperate and so determined. He organized food and shelter for them, but he also recognized their deeper hunger for education and opportunity,” she said.

“Hughes founded a college on this spot and called it St. John’s. He did so as an act of hope, because he could see the talent and potential in those desperate people coming off the ships.”

That she should end up leading that college—now a global university—is almost kismet, she said, noting how her father and mother met at the Rose Hill campus as graduate students. Her father, who had been a Jesuit priest for 17 years, made the “agonizing decision” to leave the Society of Jesus to marry her mother and raise Tetlow and her two sisters. Her Uncle Joe, who is 92 years old and watched the ceremony via livestream, is a Jesuit priest and prolific author. Tetlow said she grew up thinking of all Jesuits as uncles.

“I like to think [my father]  made the right choice, but regardless, I hope I’ve made it up to the Jesuits,” she said to laughter.

Today, she said, there is a greater need than ever to take a stand for both faith and reason, as Jesuits always have. Education doesn’t dilute faith, she said, it fuels it.

“Within Catholic tradition, there are many models of service, including goodness rooted in purity, in monastic seclusion from the wicked world. The Jesuits chose the riskier path—to engage, to push to make the world better,” she said.

“It often got them in a great deal of trouble. Sometimes it was because of missteps, but more often it was because the world preferred not to be reminded of the clear lessons of the gospels. As my father used to say, ‘They’d rather think Jesus was just kidding.’”

“My dream for Fordham is that we use our resources—especially the brilliance and creativity of our people—to make even more of an impact, starting always in our own community here in the Bronx and expanding outward.”

From NOLA to NYC, Testimonies Abound

The program featured speeches from a wide array of dignitaries. Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York, delivered the invocation, and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer extended his thanks to Father McShane and well-wishes to Tetlow.

Marc Morial, the president and CEO of the National Urban League and former mayor of New Orleans, shared recollections of his relationship with Tetlow, which she began when she walked into his campaign headquarters as an 18-year-old college student. He called her a “true steel magnolia.”

“She has this incredible humility, this charm, but this underbelly of strength and determination,” he said.

“She will smile, she will listen to you, she will nod her head. But make no mistake about it; she is processing every single word.”

Thomas B. Curran, S.J., president emeritus of Rockhurst University, related his experience of working with her as a board member of Loyola University, where she was president before coming to Fordham.

“Very soon, if it’s not already the case, you will discover what I have come to know of Tania Tetlow. It’s a privilege to know her, it’s a gift to work with her, and it’s a rich blessing to learn from her,” he said.

“With Tania, we are called to be collaborators. This will move us towards the end for which we have been created and help bring forth the greater glory of God.”

Robert Daleo, GABELLI ’72, chair of the Fordham University Board of Trustees, praised Tetlow as “eminently qualified—by temperament, experience, and ability—to lead Fordham at this inflection point in higher education, and in the political and cultural life of our nation.”

John Drummond, Ph.D., Fordham’s Southwell Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and the Humanities, offered his greetings on behalf of the University faculty, while Linda LoSchiavo, TMC ’72, director of the University Libraries, welcomed Tetlow on behalf of administrators and staff.

Students were represented by Djellza Pulatani, president of the United Student Government at Lincoln Center, and Santiago Vidal, executive president of the United Student Government at Rose Hill.

Pulatani said she’s excited to see how Tetlow will “lead us through a new era of robust unity wherein the voice of every Fordham student is heard, listened to, and appreciated.”

“We are inspired by the trailblazer that President Tetlow is, showing the world that women always belong in the place of decision-making,” she said.

“Her presidency will undeniably become a turning point for the women of Fordham University and the successful futures they will have.”

Well-Wishes from Near and Far

David Wilkins knew there was something special about Tetlow from almost the moment he met her when she was a student at Harvard Law School.

“I had Tania as a student in her very first day of law school, and it did not take very long before it was very clear that she was really an extraordinary person,” said Wilkins, who is the Lester Kissel Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. “She was a brilliant student—at Harvard, we have lots of brilliant students—but she was clearly an extraordinary person.”

Wilkins said that what makes Tetlow so special is how she incorporates her values and principles into everything she does.

“She had a wonderful kind of mind that loves to think about problems and puzzle through them but always with a generosity of spirit,” he said. “When she approached the law and legal issues, it was never just, ‘How do I make my side win?’ or ‘How do I make the most complicated argument that makes me look really smart?’ It was always about, ‘How can we use the law as a tool to solve problems?’”

Wilkins said that Tetlow is someone who was “born to help bridge these divides” that the country is facing at this moment in history.

“I think those are the greatest qualities you can have as a university president—to be an empathetic listener and to be a creative problem solver,” he said.

Fordham students Alessandra Carino and Sean Power said that they were excited to be a part of the inauguration festivities since it was such a historic day for the university.

“I’m very excited about President Tetlow,” said Carino, a senior at Fordham College at Rose Hill and the president of the Commuting Students Association. “I think just her perspective as a woman, as a layperson, is really important. I think her lived experience is going to bring a different [way of]  problem solving or just a different perspective than the University has seen.”

Power said that he was hopeful she would help maintain Jesuit values at Fordham as she ushers in a new phase.

“President Tetlow, she’s got as much Jesuit background as you can without being a Jesuit, so I’m really excited Fordham’s going to maintain that even with a layperson as president,” he said.

Adrienne de la Fuente, FCLC ’10, said she returned to campus with her husband, David de la Fuente, FCLC ’10, who is a doctoral candidate in systematic theology at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, to see the historic inauguration.

“It’s really great to see the transition from Father McShane’s legacy to President Tetlow,” she said.

De la Fuente said she saw firsthand the impact Father McShane had in making Fordham more of a national name, but she said she’s excited to see where the University can go next, particularly internationally. She works with students applying to schools in the United States, and “this is kind of the first wave of Fordham being something that I hear students ask us about, so I want to see that momentum continue.”

For Jennifer Avegno and her family, the purpose of the trip to Fordham was twofold—her daughters decided to take a tour of the University as prospective students, and she had the chance to see her friend be inaugurated as Fordham’s new president.

“She’s such a wonderful, well-rounded leader—compassionate, smart, thoughtful, spiritual. She’s really the whole package,” Avegno said. “Loyola was so lucky to have her. Fordham is really lucky.”

Avegno said she saw firsthand what Tetlow brought to Loyola New Orleans and she is excited to see what she will do at Fordham, in the heart of New York.

“Is New York ready for her, I think, is the question,” Avegno said with a smile.

—Additional reporting by Kelly Prinz

—Photos by Bruce Gilbert and Chris Taggart

—Video by Taylor Ha and Tom Stoelker

The honor was conferred “in recognition and appreciation of his outstanding 19 years as Fordham’s president,” according to the board’s resolution, adopted during its April meeting.

“I have said before that Father McShane is Fordham’s pastor in chief and its greatest ambassador; he is also the person most responsible for the University’s rise from a well-respected regional school to a national and international institution,” said Robert D. Daleo, GABELLI ’72, Fordham’s board chair. “The Board of Trustees is honored to confer upon Father McShane the title of president emeritus for his nearly two decades of leadership at the University and his devoted service to the Fordham family.”

Father McShane stepped down as president of Fordham on June 30, completing a quarter century of service to the University. From 1992 to 1998, he was an influential dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill. He left in 1998 to become president of the University of Scranton and served there until 2003, when he returned to become the 32nd president of Fordham.

He was recognized by the board as a “​​transformative president” who “touched the lives of the members of the Fordham community in a special way with his pastoral care for all in many different and sometimes unconventional ways”—from hosting 19 COVID-safe graduation ceremonies in 2021 to passing out water bottles to families on Opening Day each year.

“I have witnessed Father McShane’s inspired leadership first hand since I joined the board in 2011; whether it’s fundraising, diversity, enrollment, or managing crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, he has been masterful in bringing out the best in our students, faculty, alumni, and staff,” said Armando Nuñez, Jr., GABELLI ’82, chair-elect of the Fordham Board of Trustees. “His amazing legacy leaves us a leading Jesuit University of national and international stature—an institution poised to thrive and prosper for decades to come.”

Father McShane’s tenure marks “one of the most remarkable periods of sustained growth in Fordham’s history,” the board said. Under his leadership, the University raised more than $1 billion in donations, invested $1 billion in new construction and infrastructure improvements, and grew its endowment to more than $1 billion.

In addition to those accomplishments, the board noted that Father McShane helped Fordham rise in the U.S. News & World Report rankings, establish Fordham London and the Westchester campus, recruit the largest and most diverse undergraduate class in its history in 2021, increase financial aid for students, and develop the University’s action plan for Confronting Racism and Educating for Justice. The board also highlighted student achievements since Father McShane became president: More than 2,100 prestigious fellowships and scholarships were awarded to Fordham students, including 165 Fulbrights.

“Father McShane has thoroughly earned the designation as president emeritus, given the scope and enormous number of contributions he made to moving Fordham forward over the last 19 years,” said Mary Anne Sullivan, TMC ’73, vice chair of the University Board of Trustees. “In the last two decades he has defined what it means to be a modern, Jesuit university.”

Outside of Fordham, Father McShane served on the boards of many colleges, universities, and higher education organizations–including the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities and the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities, which he chaired for two terms. He also served on New York City mayoral task forces and the New York State Forward Advisory Board, the resolution stated.

Beyond his many accomplishments, the board said Father McShane will be missed for his unmatched commitment to the Jesuit University of New York.

“The entire Fordham community will miss his unbridled energy, his bold and ambitious vision for the future of the University, his tireless advocacy for Jesuit education, his intelligence and knowledge of so many things—and of course, his quick wit,” the resolution reads.

Thomas J. Regan, S.J., GSAS ’82, the superior of the Jesuit community at Fordham and a member of the Board of Trustees, said that “Father McShane’s remarkable two-decade tenure as Fordham’s president transformed the University.”

“It is fitting that he be named president emeritus,” he said, “as his positive impact on Fordham will be felt for many generations to come.”

Peace of Christ.

At 5 o’clock this afternoon, I will leave the keys on the desk, turn off the lights and walk out the door of my office in Cunniffe House. As the door closes behind me, my service as the President of our beloved Fordham will come to an end.

As you might imagine, this past year has been a time of deep reflection for me—reflection on all that we have been through together in the course of the past nineteen years: triumphs, challenges, improvements, setbacks, joys, crises, dreams realized, shared sorrows, and friendships forged. Above all, however, I have found myself reflecting with awestruck wonder on the strength of our community, a strength built on a deep commitment to our shared values and mission, the Jesuit mission of forming graduates who are eager to rise to “set the world on fire,” and whose lives are marked by character, competence, conscience, compassion and a commitment to the cause of the human family (which is the cause closest to the heart of God Himself).

As a result of these reflections, I find that, on this, the last day of my service to you, my heart is filled to overflowing with gratitude. After all, the more I have reflected on all that has happened in the course of my time in your service, the clearer it has become in my mind and in my heart that (as the protagonist of The Diary of a Country Priest said) “All is grace. Grace is everywhere.” That has certainly been my experience in the course of my time in your midst. Grace has surrounded me every day since I arrived back on campus in 2003, and especially in and through you, a community composed of wise board members committed to enhancing and advancing our mission, a gifted and wonderfully diverse community of students hungry for the wisdom and learning that our motto speaks of, devoted, talented and visionary faculty members who delight in sharing their discoveries with their students, dedicated and tireless staff members who spend themselves in service to the students in their care, and proud and generous alumni who change the world every day with their integrity and their worldly-wise New York-style savvy.

And so, my friends, I tell you from the heart that it has been a grace, an honor beyond imagining and a joy to have been given the opportunity to serve Fordham, the University that my brothers and I refer to simply and affectionately as “the family University,” the University that enabled my father, the son of two Irish immigrants, to receive a college degree (and a Fordham degree at that) and so bring hope to his whole family.

As for me, what can I say? Only what I have always said (and will always say): that all that has been accomplished at and for Fordham in the course of the past nineteen years was and is the result of great teamwork. And you, my dear companions-in-mission, are most assuredly integral members of that team.  I am more grateful than I could ever say that (with your invaluable help) I was able to play a small part in Fordham’s long and storied history. I know that you will give President Tetlow the same support and devotion that I have enjoyed for the past nineteen in your service.

Let us continue to pray for this place of grace where (thanks to your love, devotion and efforts) miracles are commonplace, and where character has been formed, talent has been tested and hope has been born for 181 years!

Prayers and blessings,

Joseph M. McShane, S.J.

Laus Deo Semper.

The Abyssinian Baptist Church service will be livestreamed beginning at 10 a.m. here: https://abyssinian.org/worship/ and on YouTube.

Video of the service will also be archived for later viewing on the church’s livestream page.

“Fordham made me enjoy and pursue continuing education,” he said. “That’s probably why I have done so many different things, and I have changed every five years—not because I didn’t enjoy what I was doing [but because I wondered,]  ‘Now, what else can we learn? What new thing can we do?’ The lasting experience is that passion for learning—to continue learning.”

Drawing Some Inspiration from ‘Ol’ Blue Eyes’

Born in the Bronx not far from Fordham, Lamoso moved with his family to their native Puerto Rico when he was a toddler. Though the 1986 Fordham College at Rose Hill graduate doesn’t “remember anything about New York as a kid,” the city lured him back for college.

“It was clear to me and my parents that Frank Sinatra was right: If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere,” he said, referencing the singer’s 1979 hit about New York City, “Theme from New York, New York.”

Continuing the Catholic education he received in Puerto Rico, Lamoso enrolled at Fordham to study political science and economics. He had a grand plan to take what’s now known as a gap year, trekking through Spain with his friends, before ultimately returning to New York to attend law school.

That didn’t quite work out, and he went “from having it all figured out” to facing a year “with nowhere to go, no school applied to or anything.” As he’s done many times since, Lamoso made a new plan: He landed an internship at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, a white-shoe law firm based in the city, thanks to his educational background, Spanish proficiency, and Fordham connections—the hiring partner was a fellow Fordham graduate.

Creating Opportunity, New Business Ventures on the Island

After the internship, Lamoso returned to Puerto Rico to study law at the University of Puerto Rico, earning a J.D. in 1990. He’s displayed an entrepreneurial spirit throughout his career since: he’s practiced law, managed a venture capital fund, and launched various communications ventures.

In 2017, as he was contemplating his next career step, his mother was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. It got him thinking not just about his own health and path but also about the health prospects of Puerto Rico as a whole.

“My friend at Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center was head of the colorectal division, and he asked me to send him pictures of my mother’s fridge and her food cabinet,” Lamoso said. “He sent it back to me with circles and said, ‘This is the reason. This is why.’”

His friend had circled all of the packaged, processed, microwaveable food his mother had been eating, having ceased cooking fresh, homemade meals after Lamoso’s father died 15 years earlier.

Lamoso became a pescatarian and started to examine the island’s food landscape: More than 80% of Puerto Rico’s food is imported, he said, including more than 95% of its greens. Thinking of his grandfather and great-grandfather, who were coffee farmers, he decided to return to his family’s roots. He launched Explora Greens, a 60,000-square-foot hydroponic farming operation in Isabela, about two hours away from San Juan.

Just as it was getting off the ground and Lamoso was preparing to open a new greenhouse, Hurricane Maria hit, delaying his expansion plans for a few months but underscoring the need for greater self-sufficiency and a stronger local food system on the island.

Improving Fresh Food Access

Fast forward five years, and Lamoso’s farm is up and running. Explore Greens produces a leafy, Dutch lettuce in the butterhead lettuce family, and romaine, which they distribute to more than 80 supermarkets on the island.

“I saw that we have a food safety issue, and it became amazingly obvious after Hurricane Maria,” he said. “When it comes to greens, we import over 1,200 containers—just in one food stuff, one of the line items in the supermarket.” He shared his hope that his company can help bring down that number. “If I can import-substitute at least 20 containers a year, I’ll be happy.”

Today, Lamoso has his hands in every facet of farm operation. Unlike the romantic notion his lawyer friends and many others have of running a farm, Lamoso said he does everything—from accounting and marketing to waking up at 4 a.m. to help harvest and package the greens—because “the farm doesn’t take care of itself.”

Fostering Fordham Ties

Amid all his entrepreneurial ventures, one thing has stayed constant: Lamoso is deeply tied to Fordham and committed to helping more students from Puerto Rico find a home at the Jesuit University of New York.

As a longtime member of the Alumni Chapter of Puerto Rico, Lamoso said he’s worked closely with Joseph M. McShane, S.J., Fordham’s outgoing president, to expose students on the island to the University.

Lamoso has done his part, too. He “started making calls” to prospective students and even met with them and encouraged them to apply to Fordham. As word spread that his was “the Fordham family,” he said he took it upon himself to interview and recommend even more students, with some help from his own children, who would spread the word among their friends, their friends’ siblings and relatives, classmates, and others.

As Fordham welcomes its new president, Tania Tetlow, J.D., next month, Lamoso said he’s hopeful the University can keep the momentum going in Puerto Rico.

“I actually feel very optimistic: I think that our new president can do it, can transmit that” excitement, he said.

Fordham Five (Plus One)

What are you most passionate about?
Learning experiences. I despise stagnation.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
At Fordham, I learned that the best advice actually comes from the dead—I mean books. Seneca, a Roman Stoic philosopher, keeps “instructing me” not to suffer in my imagination. Over the years, I have become better at this, but I still have work to do.

What’s your favorite place in New York City? In the world?
McSorley’s in the East Village. There is something about a beer house that has survived so much, especially the fads and taste of young generations in these fast-fashion times.

In the world, I have to say Laos because of the innocence kept by its people despite what the rest of the world has made them endure.

Name a book that has had a lasting influence on you.
Well, I am an avid reader, so you are going to have to allow me to mention more than one book.

The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm: A copy of it was given to me during Senior Week at Fordham by a retired Jesuit that had taught in Colegio San Ignacio in San Juan and was fond of Puerto Rico.

Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. My three colleagues in the [internship at the law firm] were so smart they made my head hurt. They got me into Dostoyevsky. I must be one of the few persons that misses having to ride the subway for an hour in the morning so I could read Russian literature.

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl has … actually helped me take business risk and have the courage to embrace the changes that have allowed me to learn and grow.

Who is the Fordham grad or professor you admire most?
Father McShane, who I met after his first year as president. Both of my children are big fans of him, too, since they have known him since they were in kindergarten. Father McShane navigated Fordham through such difficult times and through so many challenges in the first part of the 21st century, such as lower government funding and aid, higher operating costs, increased competition for students, recruiting and retaining professors, a transformation to digital learning, and of course a pandemic. And he did it with an ace fighter pilot finesse that made it look so easy.

What are you optimistic about?
Now, I believe my children will live their mature lives in a democracy. I was afraid of the contrary until not long ago. I am also optimistic about Fordham, and in the long run I am even optimistic about climate change.

“When you’re out in the busy world, please be proud of Fordham, tell the Fordham story,” Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the University, told attendees. “What is the Fordham story? It’s your story, a story of the friendships you’ve made, the transformational nature of the education you received, and the great sense of community that was nurtured among you.”

That sense of community was on display across all of the Block Party events. From the separate cocktail receptions for five Lincoln Center-based schools to the open-air dance party uniting everyone on the plaza, alumni enjoyed the chance to recognize influential grads, faculty, and staff, and reconnect in person after last year’s virtual celebration.

For William Greene, a three-time Fordham graduate, this year’s Block Party was a chance to celebrate his many ties to the University. After graduating from Fordham College at Rose Hill in 1961, he earned a Fordham Law degree in 1965. Two decades later, he enrolled at the Gabelli School of Business, earning an M.B.A. in 1987.

“I always got more than my money’s worth at Fordham,” he said with a laugh. “I seemed compatible with the people—or at least they found me acceptable over a long period of time.”

Greene said that he practiced law for a number of years and served as executive director of the New York County Lawyers Association before deciding to make a career change. Earning a Fordham business degree, he said, helped him launch a career as a consultant.

Two Fordham undergraduates—saxophonist Will Harvey and pianist Miguel Sutedjo, who has written classical, jazz, and musical theater pieces for both Fordham and as part of the Juilliard Evening Division program—kicked off the festivities with a musical performance in Pope Auditorium.

Each of the five schools—Fordham College at Lincoln Center, the Graduate School of Social Service, the Graduate School of Education, the School of Professional and Continuing Studies, and the Gabelli School of Business—held receptions where alumni, faculty, and administrators mingled. (Fordham Law School, also based at Lincoln Center, held its annual alumni reunion in April, and the Fordham Law Alumni Association hosted its annual luncheon on June 2.)

Other groups, such as The Observer—the award-winning student newspaper at Lincoln Center—and Psi Chi, the Lincoln Center psychology association, held their own alumni gatherings. Psi Chi honored John C. Hollwitz, Ph.D., professor of psychology and rhetoric at Fordham, and Leonard Davidman, Ph.D., GSE ’82, with its 2022 Psi Chi Outstanding Achievement medals. Earlier this year, Davidman, a licensed psychologist and longtime president of the labor union that represents New York City’s public sector psychologists and mental health counselors, was honored by Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine for his contributions to the city.

Honoring Lincoln Center’s First ‘Golden Rams’

When Pat Friel started at Fordham College at Lincoln Center in fall 1968, the Lowenstein Center was still under construction. She and her classmates took their first classes in the old Fordham Law building at 140 West 62nd Street, which was completely renovated after the new Fordham Law building opened in 2014.

“It’s amazing to come back and see all the new renovations and even just floor by floor [in the Lowenstein Center], it’s just amazing. It really is beautiful,” said Friel, who graduated in 1972.

Friel and other members of the Fordham College at Lincoln Center Class of 1972 celebrated the 50th anniversary of their graduation, making them the school’s first-ever Golden Rams.

Friel said coming back and seeing the school in its current form, with two residence halls, additional classroom space, and a growing undergraduate population, makes her feel like the school has lived up to its initial goals.

“When we started, [there were] only 300 of us, and the idea behind the school was that it was supposed to represent the city,” she said. “It was supposed to be very diverse. … It was trying to be very reflective of the city. I am truly very glad that it became what it tried to be, and it continues to get better and progress.”

One of the people responsible for that progress was honored in a special ceremony at the reunion. Robert R. Grimes, S.J., FCRH ’75, dean of Fordham College at Lincoln Center from 1997 to 2018, was recognized for his two decades of “leadership of and commitment to” the FCLC community. A conference room in the dean’s office suite will be named in his honor.

Block Party was a fitting place to honor Father Grimes, who helped inaugurate the alumni tradition in June 2001, when he worked with the alumni relations office to host a cocktail reception on the plaza.

“Graduates of every year of the college’s existence attended the event,” Father Grimes wrote in A History of Fordham College at Lincoln Center, a booklet he published in 2018 to mark the college’s 50th anniversary, “but unlike so many college reunions, large numbers of faculty also attended, renewing relationships forged in the classrooms of Lowenstein.”

In presenting Father Grimes with a framed version of the plaque that will be installed outside the conference room, Father McShane noted that the official date of the dedication is July 31—the feast day of St. Ignatius, founder of the Society of Jesus—calling it “a day on which Jesuits tend to celebrate real greatness.”

Elizabeth “Betty” Burns, FCLC ’83, a retired senior vice president of Capital Guardian and a Fordham University trustee fellow, credited her professors for helping her stay on track to graduate. At the time, she was working full days in the GM Building and attending school at night.

“One year I said I needed a semester off, and Clive Daniel, God rest his soul, said ‘Oh, no no no, you want to take one class; you can’t quit. If you take a semester off, we’ll never see you again,’” she recalled. She took her economics professor’s advice and earned her Fordham degree in 1983. “It’s just all the people at Fordham—they were just a part of this group that provided such camaraderie and such support.”

While some graduates were celebrating big milestone anniversaries, Laura Auricchio, Ph.D., was marking her first in-person Block Party as dean of the college. She took the time to thank and recognize Mark Botton, Ph.D., a professor of biology and co-director of the environmental science program, who retired this year.

“We’re inaugurating yet another new tradition—honoring retiring faculty at Block Party,” she said.

Auricchio said that Botton, internationally regarded as an expert on horseshoe crabs, has published numerous scientific papers and helped policymakers and scientists protect the vulnerable arthropods and their habitats. In 2019, he even had a horseshoe crab fossil named after him.

“Most impressively to me, at least, is that many of his articles were published in collaboration with FCLC student co-authors,” Auricchio said to a room full of cheers.

At Gabelli School Reception, Honoring a ‘True Ph.D.’

Block Party also gave alumni an opportunity to thank two cornerstones of Fordham: Father McShane, who is stepping down as president at the end of the month, and Donna Rapaccioli, Ph.D., GABELLI ’83, who served as dean of the Gabelli School of Business for the past 15 years.

“Donna is a true Ph.D.—and not because she [earned a doctorate in] accounting at NYU,” said Mario Gabelli, a 1965 graduate of the Fordham business school that now bears his name. “The reason is that she is what I call passionate, hungry, and driven—Ph.D.”

Gabelli said that Rapaccioli has been a true changemaker for students at the University, and now, as she steps back into teaching and research, students are going to “have to be summa cum laude to get into her class.”

“Donna, without you, we wouldn’t be here today,” he said.

In 2007, Rapaccioli was named dean of what was then the undergraduate College of Business Administration. During her tenure, Gabelli and his wife, Regina Pitaro, FCRH ’76, made two historic donations to the school—$25 million in 2010 and $35 million in 2020—giving the Gabelli School of Business its name and providing long-term support for academic programs, faculty research, scholarships, teaching excellence, and more.

In 2015, Rapaccioli led the unification of the University’s undergraduate and graduate business schools, one year after launching the school’s first B.S. program at the Lincoln Center campus. She later launched Gabelli’s first doctoral programs, and oversaw significant growth in enrollments and rises in rankings at the school.

“From that day, both the undergraduate and graduate divisions of what is now called the Gabelli School of Business—they took off,” Father McShane said. “There was a greater sense of purposeful education, of a purpose-driven career in business. She was adamant that a Fordham education was not going to be like any other business education. … She wanted men and women whose lives were marked by character. They had to be men and women of integrity.”

Gabelli thanked both Rapaccioli and Father McShane for their leadership at Fordham.

“Thank you for all you’ve done, and congratulations to both of you for your leadership, your wisdom,” he said. “Thank you [for helping] us motivate the next generation that’s here tonight.”

Recognizing Educators

This Block Party marked the first for José Luis Alvarado, Ph.D., who joined the Graduate School of Education as dean in July 2021. He presented GSE’s Lifetime Achievement Award to Aramina Vega Ferrer, Ph.D., GSE ’09, a member of the 12th Judicial District of the New York State Board of Regents.

“I can’t tell you how excited and honored I am to receive this award,” said Ferrer, who came to New York from Puerto Rico as a child. “Fordham has played a pivotal role in fulfilling the vision my parents held for me, my brother, and my sisters when we took that plane in 1952. They knew they had to seek to educate us in institutions that shared their values and religious beliefs.”

Ferrer, who spent more than three decades as an educator and educational leader before being elected to the Board of Regents in April, not only reflected on her family’s history but also looked to its future—and what education continues to mean to them.

“My three amazing grandsons are living proof that the richness of literacy and culture is transmitted across generations,” she told the attendees.

After Ferrer accepted her award, Father McShane spoke to the group of graduates, telling them, “You teach not only the skills that are necessary for students to succeed in life; you also teach values. … You spend your lives serving others. We cannot praise you enough. For me, you’re saints. You answer affirmatively to God’s invitation to help him build the human family up.”

GSS Introduces Alumni Awards

At the Graduate School of Social Service reception, Cassandra Agredo, GSS ’06, received the GSS Alumni Award, which “honors an individual who embodies professional social work values and meaningfully impacts the individuals and communities they serve.” Agredo is the executive director of Xavier Mission, which provides basic services as well as opportunities for empowerment and self-sufficiency to New Yorkers in need.

Mary Brennan, GSS ’83, received the GSS Alumni Service Award, which honors “an individual who is dedicated in their support of the Graduate School of Social Service and its mission.” Brennan is a social worker at 1st Cerebral Palsy of NJ, whose mission is to assist all students with special needs to lead more active and productive lives, and she has been a generous supporter of GSS.

Alumni from the classes of 1972 and 1997, who were celebrating their 50th and 25th anniversaries, respectively, also received special recognition at the event.

The Observer Launches New Prize

At a reception in Platt Atrium, Elizabeth Stone, Ph.D., professor of English and former adviser to The Observer, announced the creation of the Many Voices Prize, which will provide financial assistance to students from underrepresented backgrounds who contribute to the award-winning student paper.

“A couple of years ago, I noticed the editorial board [of The Observer] posted a notice saying that they were aware that as an organization, they didn’t have the diversity on staff they wished they could have,” she said. “That spoke to me, and it germinated in me the idea of wanting to do something to get historically underrepresented groups to the table.”

Stone said she hopes the prize will help more students find their calling as journalists.

“Right now, democracy is in big trouble, a trouble due to too many lies and too much silence, because not everyone who should be at the table is at the table,” she said. “And I believe journalism can help. To survive, we need robust conversation with many voices, at Lincoln Center and the world.”

Celebrating After Being Apart

The return of Block Party, which concluded with a night of dancing and celebrating out on the plaza, also gave more recent graduates a chance to reconnect with each other and their school. Some alumni said the pandemic helped them put their education and lessons learned at Fordham into practice.

Dan Nasta, FCLC ’19, said that he appreciated the liberal arts background that Fordham gave him as he navigated pandemic life.

“I just think a lot of what we encountered in the past two years with the pandemic was just empathy for other people and a willingness to put others before yourself,” he said. “I feel like I’m happy with how I’ve lived the past two years. I don’t have any regrets from a moral perspective, because Fordham gave me the ability to understand my actions and my responsibility for them and my connectedness to them as a part of the community.”

Chloe Djomessi Saikam, FCLC ’21, a former anthropology and music major, works as a UX designer, a role that helps create websites and products after considering how they will function and feel to those using them. She said that she tries to bring to her work the values and teachings of her liberal arts education.

“A lot of the concepts I learned about anthropology and music theory directly translate into design thinking—testing our own biases, really trying to understand people. and really just capturing the nuance, which is big in anthropology, and also big in UX,” Saikam said.

 Additional reporting from Adam Kaufman and Connor White. 

On 19 June 1865, news of the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached Galveston, Texas, more than two years after President Lincoln issued the order. In her book, On Juneteenth, professor and Pulitzer prizewinner Annette Gordon-Reed writes, “Slavery was just a blink of an eye away from the years my grandparents and their friends were born. Although I was angered by the stories I heard about their lives under Jim Crow, and I had my own issues about the treatment of Blacks in my lifetime, they surely compared life as it was, knowing what it could have been but for the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation, and General Order No. 3. there was a very long way to go before we had full and equal citizenship, we were able to gather together as a family to celebrate.”

This Juneteenth we still have a long way to go, as evidenced by racist murders in a Buffalo supermarket; the rise of an odious “replacement theory” and the appalling embrace and advancement of white supremacist ideologies among some Americans. These movements are not merely continuations of racism, but a backlash against the progress we are making as a nation in redressing the historic mistreatment of Black people.

That backlash, I am convinced, is ultimately doomed to fail. (As a priest, I have to believe that our better angels will prevail. Must prevail—with God’s help.) And I honestly believe that those angels are loose in our country. Why do I believe this? Not since the Civil Rights Movement have so many Americans committed themselves not just to honest conversations about race, but to concrete action. Individuals and institutions are mainstreaming anti-racist attitudes and policies that would have seemed out of reach even five years ago.

Fordham is committed to that work in ways large and small (you can find information on our progress here).

Since 2020 the University has made Juneteenth a paid holiday to celebrate the end of slavery in the United States (this year observed on Monday, 20 June, since it falls on a Sunday), and to reflect upon our individual and collective responsibility to continue the necessary work of confronting racism and educating for justice. This year Fordham will host a talk by Westenley (Wes) Alcenat, Ph.D., assistant professor of history, and of urban, American, and African American studies at Fordham, entitled “Juneteenth, the Haitian Revolution & the Struggle for Black Liberation.” The talk will broadcast via Zoom at this link, on Thursday, June 16, from Noon to 1:15⋅p.m.

In her book, Professor Gordon-Reed writes:

If we can achieve freedom for millions of Black Americans, we can achieve equality. This Juneteenth I invite you both to work and to pray with all your heart and all your soul that “the more perfect union” spoken of in the Preamble to the Constitution might be built in our lifetimes.

Sincerely,
Joseph M. McShane, S.J.

From the Golden Rams Soiree to the family-friendly picnic on Martyrs’ Lawn to the Saturday night gala under the big tent on Edwards Parade, alumni relished the opportunity to be together and see how Rose Hill has both stayed the same and changed for the better.

The attendees spanned eight decades—from a 1944 graduate and World War II veteran who had just celebrated his 100th birthday to those marking their five-year Fordham reunion. Some brought their spouses and young children to campus for the first time. More than a few came to pay tribute to Joseph M. McShane, S.J., who is stepping down this month after 19 years as president of the University. And all were rewarded with idyllic early June weather in the Bronx.

‘A Place of Great Value’

On Saturday morning, alumni filled the Great Hall of the Joseph M. McShane, S.J. Campus Center to hear from the new building’s namesake.

Sheryl Dellapina, FCRH ’87, who traveled from the U.K. to attend her 35-year reunion, introduced Father McShane, calling him “Fordham’s most effective ambassador.” She said she first met him at an alumni gathering in London about four years ago, and “it just felt like family.”

“I came away from that thinking, ‘Wow, [Fordham] has so evolved since I had been here that I wanted to be part of this again.’” Her son is now a member of the Class of 2024, and Dellapina is one of the leaders of Cura Personalis | For Every Fordham Student, the University’s $350 million fundraising campaign to reinvest in all aspects of the student experience.

“I had a choice between [attending] this Jubilee” and staying in London for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations honoring Queen Elizabeth II. “I came to this one,” she said to laughter and applause from the audience.

In his address, Father McShane described the new four-story campus center as a place where “the rich diversity of our student body is very evident—commuters, resident students, students from all over the country, all over the world, all ethnicities are [here], and everyone is interacting. It is spectacular.”

He detailed some of the strategic decisions that primed Fordham’s decades-long evolution from highly regarded regional institution to national and international university. And he emphasized how Fordham has met the fiscal, enrollment, and public safety challenges of the pandemic and emerged, in the opinion of a former editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education, as one of the elite universities “that are really secure, really prestigious, and therefore desirable.”

“We are now, in a certain sense, a place of great value,” Father McShane said. “I’ve known this all my life. You’ve known it all your life. Now the world more broadly knows it.”

In closing, he urged alumni to “be proud of Fordham,” to “continue to be contributors to the life of the University,” and to “take the place by storm” this weekend.

Fun, Food, and Face Painting on the Lawn

Jubilarians did just that at the all-classes picnic on Martyrs’ Lawn. The family-friendly event featured food, drinks, a DJ, games, face painting, and a caricature artist—along with plenty of grads reminiscing and making new connections.

One of the liveliest sections belonged to the Golden Rams, those celebrating 50 or more years since their Fordham graduation. At one table, Richard Calabrese and Tom McDonald, who got paired as Fordham roommates in fall 1968 and have been friends ever since, reflected on what made them so compatible. “We were both not high-maintenance people,” McDonald said with a smile.

At a neighboring table, Maurice Harris—who was careful to clarify that he graduated in January 1973—talked about the way Fordham helped him turn his life around. After growing up in public housing in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood, he enrolled at Fordham College at Rose Hill in 1968 and, shortly afterward, started working as a nurse’s aide at the nearby Fordham Hospital.

Although he had trouble balancing classwork and the job at first, a doctor at the hospital convinced him that he should apply to medical school. Despite thinking that he didn’t stand a chance of getting in, he was accepted to SUNY Downstate Medical School in Brooklyn and, three years later, to the Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta, where he eventually became an assistant professor of medicine and practiced cardiology for more than four decades.

“I come up [to Jubilee] every five years. Fordham changed me,” Harris said, adding that for those like him who grew up in tough circumstances, “when you came and ran into the Jesuits, they set you straight.”

One 25th-reunion table featured a group of friends from the Class of 1997—several of whom drove down together from Boston.

“Being on this campus this time of year is second to none,” said Lisa Bell, FCRH ’97, who majored in communication and media studies and works as a public relations professional in the Boston area. “It’s gorgeous, and it’s so great to see all the new developments.”

Looking around at the group of friends sitting around her, she added, “Fordham has been so beneficial—not only the education but our network, the friendships.”

For Michelle and Regis Zamudio, Harlem residents who met during their senior year in 2010, got married in the University Church, and recently welcomed their third child together, getting the chance to bring their kids to campus and to see friends felt particularly special after missing out on the chance to celebrate their 10th reunion in 2020.

“We went to our five-year Jubilee in 2015, and we keep in touch with a lot of our classmates from freshman year,” said Regis, a Gabelli School of Business graduate who majored in finance and works as a vice president of operations for Elara Caring. “When our reunion was canceled two years ago, we were really bummed out that we wouldn’t have the experience to bring the kids to.”

Michelle, who majored in communication and media studies and is a writer and producer for A&E Networks, echoed her husband’s sentiments.

“We were really looking forward to seeing all our friends from Fordham,” she said. “So now, being able to come back, it just feels good to bring our kids and show them where we met, where we fell in love, where we got married. It’s really special to be here.”

Cherishing Lifelong Connections at the Golden Rams Soiree

Like the Zamudio family, Jack Walton, FCRH ’72, was eager to catch up with old friends. He did just that at Friday evening’s Golden Rams Dinner and Soiree. This year’s event officially welcomed the Classes of 1970, 1971, and 1972.

Although Walton has stayed in touch with many of his classmates by coming to past Jubilees and participating in a Facebook group dedicated to the Class of 1972, seeing folks in person as Golden Rams was different, he said.

“It’s fulfilling to have gotten this far and to see so many of the guys and gals that I grew up with in the late ‘60s and very early ‘70s,” he said.

For Gabe Vitalone, FCRH ’44, this year marked 28 years since he became a Golden Ram. On May 31, just three days before the dinner, he celebrated his 100th birthday. A World War II veteran and a longtime fixture at Jubilee, Vitalone has continued to accomplish extraordinary things well into his 90s, even singing the national anthem for the New York Yankees in 2020.

It was slightly bittersweet for him and his wife, Evelyn, to return to Jubilee after a two-year absence, he said, because for the past three decades, they were joined by his best friend, Matteo “Matty” Roselli, FCRH ’44, who died in 2020. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to be here. But I almost said, ‘Look, that’s enough, now’s the time [to stop coming], now that Matty passed away. And then I thought of Father McShane,” he said. “I wanted to say goodbye.”

Toni DiMarie Potenza, TMC ’72, GSE ’73, and Alice Dostal-Higgins, TMC ’72, GSAS ’84, became fast friends early on in their time at Thomas More College, Fordham’s undergraduate school for women from 1964 to 1974. They met by virtue of alphabetical seating that placed them next to each other and went on to become roommates and fellow psychology majors. They also each earned a master’s degree from Fordham and, upon graduation, entered the teaching field.

Potenza, who had flown in from Chicago, said she found herself surprised to be in the ranks of the Golden Rams.

“I think as you get older, the person that you are, even when you were in your 20s, is still there and you don’t really see that you have changed,” she said. “So, it’s very surprising to realize that 50 years have gone by.”

Higgins said it was tough to pin down a few memorable moments of their time as undergrads.

“You know, it was every moment together,” she said. “It was having coffee in the morning before going to classes and then having to run out the door to get to classes on time. It was talking about the classes that we took together and experiences that we laugh about that we won’t talk about now,” she added laughing.

The Brave Women of TMC 

More of Thomas More College’s trailblazing women reunited for a luncheon in the McShane Center on Saturday afternoon. Linda LoSchiavo, TMC ’72, director of the Fordham University Libraries, called TMC the University’s “great experiment” and described its earliest students as “the bravest of us all.”

“TMC was born on the cusp of societal changes and upheavals—the fight for women’s equality, civil rights, gay rights: They were all raging while we were studying for finals,” she said.

Introducing Maura Mast, Ph.D., dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill, LoSchiavo noted just how far Fordham women have come. Today, “four of the nine deans of schools are women and, in less than one month, Fordham will have its first layperson and first woman as president,” she said, referring to Tania Tetlow, J.D., whose tenure begins on July 1.

Mast, the first woman to serve as dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill, thanked the TMC alumnae for paving the way, whether they meant to or not. “You may have come to Fordham saying, ‘I’m going to be a trailblazer.’ You may not have. But either way, you were.”

For Marie-Suzanne Niedzielska, Ph.D., TMC ’69, GSAS ’79, the prospect of reconnecting with women from other class years is what drew her to Jubilee this year.

A retired IT professional who splits her time between Central Florida and Glastonbury, Connecticut, Niedzielska remembers having a wonderful academic experience amid the tumult of the Vietnam War and social unrest. “It really colored the whole thing,” she said, before noting that each generation has its challenges, and perhaps attending college during tumultuous times is “not as unusual as it seems.”

Unusual or not, she said she is impressed by what Fordham students are accomplishing these days.

“I just went to the Student Managed Investment Fund presentation,” she said, referring to the Gabelli School of Business program that gives junior and senior finance students an opportunity to invest $2 million of the University’s endowment. “I’m just really impressed with the way that’s set up, with the lab, with what the students did, and what a leg up they get.

“In our time, an internship was just sort of a part-time job. It wasn’t a launchpad, and that’s a big difference.”

—Video shot by Taylor Ha and Tom Stoelker and edited by Lisa-Anna Maust.

Growing Up Fordham

Elsewhere in the McShane Center, about 50 graduates from the Class of 1972 met for an interactive chat titled “Growing Up Fordham: Risks and Challenges That Paid Off.” Psychologists John Clabby Jr., FCRH ’72, and Mary Byrne, TMC ’72, helped facilitate the discussion, and Bob Daleo, GABELLI ’72, chair of Fordham’s Board of Trustees, was also in attendance.

Daleo talked about the many changes that have taken place at Fordham over the years, from the additional buildings on campus and the much more diverse student body to the fact that all students are now “natives of a digital world.” He added that, while the University has seen much change in the past 50 years, “Fordham is still a place in which cura personalis is practiced every day by every member of the faculty and staff.”

Urging his classmates to remain engaged in both small and large ways, Daleo drew their attention to campus greenery of all things.

“The beautiful elms on this campus are hundreds of years old,” he said. “They were planted by people who knew they would never see the trees in their full grandeur. Fellow classmates, I believe that is our calling: to nurture an institution [that] will continue to flower long after we’re gone.”

Celebrating Alumni Achievement

One of the ways in which the University flourishes is through the lives and accomplishments of alumni. And on Saturday afternoon, three Marymount College graduates were recognized by their peers.

Maryann Barry, MC ’82, the CEO at Girls Scouts of Citrus in Florida, received the Alumna of Achievement Award, which recognizes a woman who has excelled in her profession and is a recognized leader in her field.

The Golden Dome Award went to Maryjo Lanzillotta, MC ’85, a biosafety officer at Yale University, in recognition of her commitment to advancing Marymount College, which was part of Fordham from 2002 to 2007, when it closed.

Lanzillotta spoke to her former classmates about the satisfaction of giving to the Marymount Legacy Fund (an endowed scholarship fund that supports Fordham students who carry on the Marymount tradition), and of witnessing the joy on a recipient’s face when they receive the award.

Lastly, Mary Anne Clark, MC ’77, accepted the Gloria Gaines Memorial Award, Marymount’s highest alumnae honor, which is given to a graduate for service to one’s church, community, and the college. Knowles said she was genuinely surprised to receive the award.

“It just shows that sometimes it’s enough to be kind to others and always give back whatever way you can,” she said. “You don’t have to build big libraries; you can go feed someone at the homeless shelter.”

At Hall of Honor Induction Ceremony, a Tribute to Seven Fordham Luminaries

Celebrating alumni achievement is par for the Jubilee course, but this year, for the first time since 2011, the festivities included a Hall of Honor induction ceremony.

Three Fordham graduates were inducted posthumously: Reginald T. Brewster, LAW ’50, a Tuskegee Airman who fought against racism and inequality; Jim Dwyer, FCRH ’79, a journalist and author who earned two Pulitzer Prizes; and Herb Granath, FCRH ’54, GSAS ’55, an Emmy Award-winning TV executive who was chairman emeritus of ESPN.

Also among the honorees were two beloved Fordham educators—Elizabeth A. Johnson, C.S.J., distinguished professor emerita of theology; and Peter B. Vaughan, former dean of the Graduate School of Social Service.

They were honored at the ceremony alongside Jack Keane, GABELLI ’66, a retired four-star general and former vice chief of staff of the U.S. Army; and Joe Moglia, FCRH ’71, former CEO and chairman of TD Ameritrade, and former head football coach and current executive director for football at Coastal Carolina University.

“Here you have on display the greatness of Fordham,” Father McShane said at the Saturday evening ceremony, held outside Cunniffe House, the Rose Hill home of the Hall of Honor. “The thread, I think, that joins all of our recipients today is character—men and women of character—and this is something that Fordham rejoices in.” Turning to the inductees, he added: “We will point to you when we want to tell students who we want them to imitate, what we want them to become.”

Ringing in the Gala

After a full day of mini-reunions, luncheons, and fun on the lawn, Jubilarians of all ages united Saturday evening under a big tent on Eddies Parade for the Jubilee Gala.

Phil Cicione, FCRH ’87, PAR ’18, president of the Fordham Alumni Chapter of Long Island, had the honor of kicking off the evening’s celebration with something new: the ringing the Victory Bell. Typically rung by students to celebrate athletic victories and signal the start of the annual commencement ceremony, on Saturday night, it doubled as a dinner bell.

The gala also served as an opportunity to celebrate the generosity of the Fordham alumni community: This year’s reunion classes raised more than $11.2 million in the past year; an additional $1.8 million and $1.1 million were raised in 2021 and 2020, respectively, by the reunion classes who missed their in-person gatherings due to the pandemic. All of the money raised supports the University’s Cura Personalis campaign.

A Fitting Jubilee Mass

Shortly before the gala, Father McShane, who was presiding over his final Jubilee Mass as Fordham’s president, told the alumni gathered in the University Church that it was “fitting” for Jubilee to coincide with Pentecost.

“All weekend, we’ve been celebrating in quiet and also boisterous ways the many gifts that God has given to us, as a result of him sending his spirit to be among us and filling our hearts with deep love and great gratitude,” he said.

Alumni participated in the Mass in a variety of ways, including carrying banners representing their class year and serving as lectors, Eucharistic ministers, and gift bearers. For one alumnus, Dennis Baker, S.J., FCRH ’02, GSAS ’09, participating in Mass meant giving the homily.

Father Baker, who was celebrating his 20-year reunion, said that after Father McShane asked him to deliver the homily, he told his group of Fordham friends, and they provided a “flood of advice” on what he should say. “At least they considered it advice, I think,” he said with a laugh.

After gathering suggestions that included taking part of a homily from a friend’s wedding, sharing stories of trips up Fordham Road, or using an old sign from a local hangout as a prop, Father Baker said he began thinking about the celebration of Pentecost and how it relates to his time at Fordham with his friends.

“This weekend, the worldwide church celebrates Pentecost, the celebration of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles,” he said. “And I think it’s not too much of a stretch to suggest that the same dynamic happened to my friends and to me during our time at Fordham. I think the same is true of you and your classmates as well.”

Father Baker said that Fordham “helped him better understand the gifts of the Holy Spirit in my life. Maybe that’s true for you too.” Those gifts include wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and awe, he said.

“The love of God is so powerful, and so real. I think we got to see a glimpse of it when we were young men and women here.”

Held at the Joseph M. McShane, S.J. Campus Center in the week after Commencement, the ceremony was the first of its kind at Fordham. It honored those promoted in the academic years 2021 and 2022.

Dennis Jacobs, Ph.D., provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, told assembled faculty members, friends, and family that a university can be no greater than its faculty.

“The faculty develop the curriculum, they write the books, they teach the courses, they investigate at the frontier,” he said.

“At the time each faculty member was hired, we recognized in them and each of you the potential to do great things, and it’s only over time that that potential manifests itself in the kinds of achievements that we’re celebrating this evening.”

As part of the ceremony, Jacobs presented faculty members in attendance with a ribbon, while University deans read citations detailing their accomplishments—from papers published in prestigious journals to studies presented at conferences and memberships in academic societies.

Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, praised the faculty members, who hailed from the arts and sciences, business, law and social service, for their service during the past two difficult years.

He noted that while Fordham honors longtime faculty for their service at the annual convocation, their contributions also deserve recognition at this stage in their career as well. He thanked them on behalf of students, for expanding their horizons, challenging them, cherishing them, and lifting them to a level of intellectual greatness and acuity that they never thought they’d achieve.

“When I meet with our students, no matter what school they’re in, they talk to me about the faculty members who made all the difference in their lives. When I speak to the alumni, they don’t talk about buildings. They talk about how faculty members changed their lives,” he said.

“They talk to me about the way faculty mentors brought into their field of vision enterprises, initiatives, and fields of study that they didn’t think were open to them, or they didn’t think they were worthy of entering.”

“You are the heart and soul of the university.”

“My friends, you will never have a job,” said Joseph McShane, S.J., in his final address to graduates as Fordham’s president.

“You will have something much more important. You will have a vocation—a demanding vocation, a loving vocation, a vocation that will change people’s lives. A vocation that will heal hearts, and vocation that will bring hope.”

The ceremony featured the conferral of bachelor’s,  master’s, and doctoral degrees in social work, as well as an honorary doctorate of humane letters conferred upon Bill Baccaglini, former president and CEO of t he New York Foundling. 

‘Because It Needs to Be Done’

Baccaglini told graduates that they deserve every bit of respect as is afforded to the great entrepreneurs and CEOs in this country.

“They built great companies and they’ve done big things, but ask yourself, have they ever sat with a distraught 4-year-old and told him or her that they couldn’t live with their mom any longer because it was unsafe? Have they ever counseled the family of a terminally ill person and talked with them about what the right time was to let their loved one go?” he said.

“You don’t do this because it’s easy. You’ve chosen to do this because it needs to be done.”

He cautioned that graduates should work for long-lasting change, and most importantly, he implored them to “have a life.” 

“You will work 80-hour weeks when your teams are short-staffed, and you’ll always wonder, ‘What else can I do?’” he said.

“It’s the nature of the work and likely what brought you to it. You can try to be perfect and lose sleep when you’re not, but here’s the truth: You’re not doing your clients any favor, and you’ll be burnt out in just a few short years.”

Although the problems we face are numerous, Baccaglini said the COVID-19 pandemic had revealed to many what heroism looks like.

“We’ve seen enough suffering to know that the true heroes are those individuals who believe that the highest calling and greatest gift is to have the opportunity and ability to improve the lives of those around them,” he said.

Dean Urges Adaptation to New Challenges, But Not Acceptance

Debra M. McPhee, Ph.D., dean of the Graduate School of Social Service, called the graduates’ commitment an antidote to a surreal time when oppression is legitimized by leaders. The social work field is not the same now as it was when they started, but they’re equipped for the new reality.

“You already have learned a most critical lesson of adapting to the life that unfolds in front of you, as opposed to the one that you expected. I urge you, however, not to confuse adaptation with acceptance,” she said.

“Step into the uncertainty of the present but commit to building the future that you want to live in—a future not designed to protect the status quo, but a future that helps reset our collective moral compass, making unacceptable the conditions that perpetuate racism, violence, poverty, and the intentional disenfranchisement of whole communities.”

A Drum Call to Action

Vanessa Tricoche Pacheco, a member of the graduating class, serenaded those in attendance with a drum and song, and pronounced her classmates “the ones that our ancestors prayed for.”

“We use the drum as a way to call to action,” she said after acknowledging the Munsee and Lenape indigenous peoples who called the land where Fordham sits home.

“Those who are living and those who have passed, we use our drum and voice to acknowledge, to cry, to celebrate, and to come to the present moment.”

The Class of 2022, she said, are a unique group of social workers who understand that they are on the front lines of building a new world.

“We understand what it feels like to sacrifice, pivot, shift, work, advocate, organize, occupy, decolonize, and co-create during very, very challenging times,” she said. 

First Time on Campus

Several graduates echoed the importance of being present. Jessica Champagnie, a native of the Bronx who was paralyzed from the waist down by an errant bullet when she was 19, enrolled in the GSS online program because it felt safer than in person learning, she said. She decided to become a social worker because when she was shot, it was social workers who, along with her family and friends, helped her rebuild her life. 

“I lost my father five years ago, and with these big achievements, it feels a little sad. But I worked hard, and he is here in spirit. I carry him in my heart, and I am proud of myself, and so is my family. So, I decided I deserve to come to this graduation,” she said.

It was the first time she’d been to the Rose Hill campus and the first time she’d seen her classmates in person. She loved her online classes, but there was nothing quite like seeing people in the flesh.

“It was such a friendly and warm atmosphere, and to meet some of the people that I was going to class with on Zoom, it’s just, it’s like, ‘Yay, we did it, we came through!’” she said.

“There’s been a lot of screams and hugs and kisses and high fives.”

After Working 40 Jobs, a Desire to Be Part of the Solution

Vivek Sreekumar had graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science in economics and had worked, “something like 40 jobs” before the pandemic hit. Inspired by his mother, Mridula Nair, he gave GSS a look.

“Just seeing the devastation that was happening around us, I felt like I wanted to be part of the solution. I realized that social work was bigger than just clinical work, so now I’m focused on macro social work policy and advocacy,” he said.

His mother and father, Cumar Sreekumar, drove in from Rochester, New York, for the occasion. Nair, a scientist at Kodak Eastman for the last 42 years, said that her son was living her dream of devoting oneself full time to helping others.

“I always believe in serving people and giving things back. We all have so much. We forget those around us, and with just a quirk of fate, we could be one of the those who are marginalized by society,” she said.

“The more science and research I do, the more I wonder about all of the people around me, these amazing minds who have never been tapped into because they haven’t had the resources—and what can we do to make change?”