In August, Rosemary quietly retired from her role as assistant to the president. Tom will step down from his role as general counsel, though he will keep an office at Cunniffe House and will serve in the capacity as “of counsel” to the University.

Tom was appointed as the University’s first general counsel in 1988, after having served as Fordham’s first budget director starting in 1979. Earlier, he served in the Office of Research Services while taking evening classes at the law school until he graduated in 1977. He is a double Ram, having attended Fordham College at Rose Hill during one of the most tumultuous periods on campus—the late 1960s and early 1970s—and graduating summa cum laude in cursu honorum in 1973.

Rosemary received her undergraduate degree from City University in 1972 in foreign language and literature. She met Tom a few months later and they married in the University Church in 1975.

In 1980, she began working at Fordham’s Rose Hill campus in the Medieval Studies department while also taking care of her ailing parents. After their passing, she returned to the classroom and received a master’s degree in early modern European history.

She soon left “the hill” to work for 16 years as a director and assistant dean at Fordham College at Lincoln Center. She enrolled in the Graduate School of Education’s Catholic leadership program and earned her doctorate in 2000.

In 2005, she was promoted to associate dean for Marymount College, where she remained for two years before spending nine years as an assistant to Joseph M. McShane, SJ, president of Fordham.

The DeJulios have been married for 40 years. They finish each other’s sentences. As they discussed their careers and legacy, Tom reminded Rosemary to describe her time mentoring students in Alpha Sigma Nu.

“I’m so proud of those young men and women,” she said. “To see Fordham win the 2015 national chapter award before I retired was particularly rewarding.”

She then reminded Tom not to forget to mention Fordham Circle K, the college branch of the international service organization Kiwanis that he introduced to the University decades ago.

Tom started his Kiwanis membership in the Key Club at Mount Vernon high school, and introduced Circle K to Fordham in 1970 to replicate his high school service experience. At that time, administration officials were more than happy to provide space to a new community service club that wasn’t demonstrating against the University.

The couple formed Fordham Kiwanis in 1989.

But while they have advised and mentored dozens of students in clubs and organizations, both agreed that it was the spiritual interactions at Fordham that changed their own lives, and which, they hope, will continue change the lives of others—both on campus and off.

“Even in the legal work that I do, the atmosphere is so different because of Fordham’s distinctive mission,” said Tom. “There have been many happy occasions. But there have also been tragic situations that I’ve had to deal with as General Counsel. There’s no separating the spiritual from our professional work here.”

After a secular experience at City University, Rosemary was introduced to an entirely new environment at Fordham. She delved into women’s roles in Ignatian spirituality and did her doctoral dissertation about the Jesuit influence on women’s orders and pedagogy in the 16th century.

“I knew little about St. Ignatius Loyola and so it started out as a way to learn more about him,” she said. “But as I went through the Spiritual Exercises, it really changed who I was and the way I proceeded as a female administrator.”

Tom concurred, adding that the spiritual and Jesuit perspective made him take stock of his career as a lawyer in a way that might differ from his peers.

“Particularly as I move toward retirement, I ask myself, ‘Did I matter? Did I make a difference in the lives of others? Did I do what God wanted me to do?’”

On Jan. 14, Fordham Kiwanis celebrated their 25th anniversary on campus in tandem with the 100th anniversary of their parent organization, Kiwanis International. The luncheon and silent auction, held on the Rose Hill campus, raised $2000 for The Eliminate Project–a joint effort by Kiwanis International and UNICEF to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus.

Fordham Kiwanis is working towards their pledge goal of $100,000 and has now raised $85,000.

At its core, Kiwanis aims to serve the community, said Rosemary DeJulio, Ph.D., who serves on the organization’s board of directors. Fordham Kiwanis has partnered with local schools MS 205 and PS 45 to do service projects with children and help raise funds for The Eliminate Project.

“What is unique about Kiwanis is that it builds leadership skills for young people on different levels,” said DeJulio. “Service starts on the elementary level with K-Kids, continues in middle school with Builder’s Club, high school with Key Club, and college level with Circle K. We work with children and for the safety, health, and education of children.”

Thomas E. DeJulio (FCRH ’73, LAW ’77), general counsel at Fordham University, was elected to the position of vice president of Kiwanis International, a global service organization with over 500,000 volunteers in over 70 nations. His wife, Rosemary DeJulio, Ph.D., (GSAS’90, GSE ’00) assistant to the president of Fordham, and 1990-1991 president of University’s Kiwanis chapter, presently serves on the Kiwanis International education committee and will become first lady of Kiwanis International in 2012. The couple will work with Kiwanis chapters around the world in partnership with UNICEF to roll out an education and fundraising campaign to eliminate maternal/neonatal tetanus (MNT) in 40 countries around the world.

“We’re excited and looking forward to experiencing this new journey of service and the opportunity to expand our service beyond our work here at Fordham,” Thomas DeJulio said. “We hope to inspire others to become global and local leaders, particularly students, so that they will become more involved, not only to save the lives of mothers and their newborns in 40 nations, but also to address the significant needs found in their local communities.”

MNT is a disease that kills an estimated 60,000 newborns and 30,000 mothers each year. The disease is easily prevented by a series of three vaccinations, costing roughly $1.80, to women of childbearing age.

“The Eliminate Project: Kiwanis eliminating maternal/neonatal tetanus” will raise $110 million over the next five years to fill the funding gap required to provide an estimated 387 million doses of the vaccine to the most vulnerable women and children in the world: those in remote and difficult to reach areas; conflict zones; and with little access to healthcare.

Over the next several years, DeJulio will be working with Caryl Stern, president and CEO of the US Fund for UNICEF, on the endeavor to eliminate MNT. Kiwanis International and UNICEF partnered successfully in the past to virtually eliminate iodine deficiency disorders afflicting children in third world nations by introducing iodized salt into the diets of their population. In that fundraising campaign which began in 1995, Kiwanis clubs around the world raised $100 million over ten years to prevent the leading cause of mental retardation and goiter.

“We’re taking on the new challenge to remedy something that is also preventable. It’s a great way to phase into a new career and use what we have learned at Fordham, a place that transforms lives and has a culture of service,” DeJulio said.

The DeJulios plan to continue their work schedules at Fordham through December 2011 and invite Fordham students to become global ambassadors to educate the general public about maternal and neonatal tetanus through the service leadership programs sponsored by Kiwanis International.

Thomas DeJulio will assume the position of president of Kiwanis International in 2012.

“In 2012, Rosemary and I will begin our transition from a combined 70 years of service to Fordham to a new and challenging leadership position in Kiwanis International. Following Ignatian principles and all that we have learned at Fordham, the ‘magis’ and ‘the greater glory of God’ will guide us wherever we travel and speak throughout the world,” he said.

DeJulio learned of Kiwanis while at Mount Vernon high school, where he joined the “Key Club,” a service chapter of Kiwanis for high school students. He then co-founded the chapter of Circle K, the Kiwanis club for college students, at Fordham in 1970.

When asked for a memorable “Kiwanis moment,” DeJulio recalled the time members brought Christmas toys to the children of employees who perished while working at Windows of the World, a restaurant located atop floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

“It was very touching,” he said.

DeJulio was elected to the post of vice president at the 95th Annual Kiwanis International convention in Las Vegas, edging out Randy DeLay of Houston, Texas, the brother of Tom DeLay, former Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives.

-Gina Vergel