Alumni spanning seven decades made it back to campus—some who are frequent visitors, some reunion first-timers, but all eager to reconnect with friends, see how the University has grown over the years, and do their part to give back.

This year’s reunion classes contributed more than $75 million to the University since their last Jubilee, in 2018. All of the money raised supports Cura Personalis | For Every Fordham Student, the University’s $350 million campaign to reinvest in all aspects of the student experience.

A Family Affair

For Anne Mickut Valentino and Christopher Valentino, who met as members of the Fordham College at Rose Hill Class of 1988, this year’s Jubilee was a special one—their first time attending alongside their son Peter Valentino, FCRH ’18. Christopher, an Army lawyer who retired from active duty in 2006, said, “Out of all the people I’ve met around the world, none have the quality and integrity of fellow Fordham graduates.”

Another Fordham couple, who were catching up with friends at the Go Rams! Pub Party under the Jack Coffey Field bleachers Saturday afternoon, said they never met as undergraduates. Instead, Billy and Melissa Barbour, both FCRH ’93, were introduced at their first Jubilee, in 1998, and were engaged the following year.

Now, when Billy finds out a student of his at Easthampton High School on Long Island is attending Fordham, he makes sure to tell them: “Don’t miss your Jubilee. You might meet someone.”

A Culture of Service

Elsewhere on campus, the Class of 1973 gathered in the library to reflect on the ways they’ve dedicated themselves to the greater good—from activism to community service to their careers—and to hear from Fordham’s Center for Community Engaged Learning on the ways in which the University continues to partner with the community and local organizations.

In Butler Commons, members of the Marymount College community recognized the lives and accomplishments of their fellow graduates, honoring four alumnae for their community service and professional success.

Debra DeVenezia, MC ’83, won the Gloria Gaines Memorial Award; Rena Micklewright, MC ’90, won the Golden Dome Award; Sharbari Zohra Ahmed, MC ’95, won the Alumna of Achievement Award; and Linda McMahon, Ph.D., MC ’63, was honored posthumously. 

Camaraderie and Corn Hole

At the all-class picnic held on Martyrs’ Lawn Saturday afternoon—complete with a barbecue, face painting, and games of corn hole—a group of 2013 graduates who were involved with both the Philippine American Club and the Asian Cultural Exchange on campus expressed how important those student clubs were to their college experience.

“It helped me connect with my roots,” said Danielle Flores, FCRH ’13, whose parents immigrated from the Philippines and who double-majored in economics and Spanish language and literature as a member of the Fordham College at Rose Hill Honors Program.

Thinking back to her arrival as a first-year student, Gillian Pantaleon, GABELLI ’13, ’14, echoed Flores’ sentiments on the strong balance of classwork and connection she found at Rose Hill.

“I never knew that … I would have really intellectual conversations in the classroom, learning a lot of lifelong lessons and building a fantastic network here,” she said. “If I could do it all over again, I would.”

Video by Rebecca Rosen

A Tribute to the Trailblazers

At their annual luncheon, a few dozen alumnae of Thomas More College, Fordham’s undergraduate school for women from 1964 to 1974, presented an award to Tania Tetlow, president of the University, and designated her an honorary alumna of the Class of 1968, the college’s first graduating class.

Introducing Fordham’s trailblazing president, who is the first woman and first layperson to lead the Jesuit University of New York, Meredith Waltman, TMC ‘68, noted that the women of TMC are “part of a list of firsts,” too, opening “the door for generations of women afterward to benefit from the rich tradition of a Jesuit” education at Fordham.

“Hereafter, when pictures are taken of the alumni of Thomas More College, she has to be in it,” Waltman said, referring to Tetlow.

Accepting the award, Tetlow admitted to sometimes grappling with a catch-22 of sorts when thinking about the trails blazed by the women of TMC and others like them.

Younger women enjoy a greater degree of freedom but may not fully “understand how hard the fight was to get it to them,” she said. “We are torn between wanting them to be grateful and also wanting to liberate them from any knowledge that it was ever true that people would underestimate them.”

“I don’t know if they will always think of you and remember you, but I will,” she said.

—Adam Kaufman contributed to this story.

McMaster, whose maternal ancestors are from Lebanon, said curiosity brought him to the country a few years after he graduated, and he stayed, teaching English at several universities. Living abroad was a huge part of his undergraduate experience at Fordham. With encouragement from George McMahon, S.J., then dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill, he spent his junior year studying in Paris.

“It was very unusual because I was the only one—there were no junior year abroad programs to speak of,” he said, laughing. “Basically it was a do-it-yourself program—you went to France, you registered in a French university, you passed the exams.”

McMaster said that one of the best parts was that he didn’t pay tuition because the French government at the time was covering the cost of higher education for all students enrolled in French universities, and Fordham accepted the credits he earned.

Staying Connected to Fordham

For others, the annual Golden Rams Dinner and Soiree— which honored alumni celebrating 50 or more years since their Fordham graduation and included a cocktail hour and dancing—was just another way to stay connected.

“I never left,” said Stan Pruszynski, FCRH ’73, with a laugh. He was there with his friend Richard Angelico, FCRH ’73, and the two performed a cappella at the dinner with other alumni of the Glee Club (now known as the Ramblers), one of the oldest student groups at Fordham. “The Glee Club has a very strong camaraderie—we have reunions. We have dinners with the Ramblers every year, we go to their concerts, so the connection’s never gone.”

Fordham also helped Rocco Staino, FCRH ’73, and Ann Petelka Picard, TMC ’73, develop a lifelong friendship.

“We’ve kept in contact for 54-odd years,” said Staino, a former editor of The Fordham Ram.

“We met on the open field there,” Picard said, smiling while referring to Edwards Parade. She said she was meeting her friend John, who worked with Staino on the newspaper, when the two were introduced.

Staino joked that he couldn’t believe it was his 50th reunion. “I hosted the 55th anniversary of The Ram [in 1973], and we invited all the alumni back, and I remember how old all those guys were,” he said laughing. “It’s nice to see how the Fordham tradition continues.”

‘Not a Time of Normalcy’

Many of Fordham’s newest Golden Rams noted that the years they spent at the University were some of the most turbulent in the nation’s history. They recalled the protests against the Vietnam War, which nearly resulted in the cancellation of finals in 1970, and described taking part in the first Earth Day celebrations that spring, at the dawn of the modern environmental movement.

“My freshman year, I was coming from a very small town in rural Maryland, so New York City was a big experience for an 18-year-old,” McMaster said. “The year that we came in, ’69–’70, was not a time of normalcy.”

It was also a changing time on campus, as more students of color joined the University, something Lauckland Nicholas, PCS ’73, reflected on while looking at photos he brought from his graduation.

“When I came to Fordham, there were very few Blacks and minorities on campus,” said Nicholas, who is now a lawyer in Washington D.C. But he said that Fordham had a very welcoming community. “I never felt out of place—I was here to receive an education and I did that.”

As she presented the 1973 grads with their Golden Ram medals, Fordham President Tania Tetlow reflected on the “tumultuous, momentous” years in which they studied at the University, a time that included not only the Vietnam War but also the shooting at Kent State and the Watergate hearings. Despite all of the pressures and challenges facing the class, she said, they went on to do remarkable things.

“What you’ve achieved in the last 50 years takes my breath away,” she said to applause. “You broke down doors that were still closed to people like us on Wall Street, in major law firms. Some of you founded nonprofits and reimagined American society, some of you taught fourth graders for 50 years.

“You’ve reminded us of how much Fordham has mattered to your lives … and you’ve expressed your love of this beautiful University and continue to invest in us.”

See more of our Jubilee weekend coverage.