After earning a B.A. in English from St. John’s University, McGuire said he “stumbled” upon Fordham’s Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education (GRE) during the 1980s. As the world grappled with issues of peace, war, and the proliferation of nuclear arms, he knew he wanted to “serve the people of God,” ultimately enrolling because GRE and its religious education program curriculum “just answered all my wants and desires.” McGuire added that John Shea, S.J., FCRH ’69, then a professor of psychology and his thesis mentor, “really opened up a whole new world” for him.

While many students hold full-time jobs while attending graduate school, just as he did when he was a doctoral candidate, McGuire said he considers himself “privileged” that he was able to attend Fordham full time. And when he graduated, he began what would become a decades-long career as an educator, often returning to the same institutions that stoked his own love of learning. He returned to his alma mater, Monsignor Scanlan High School, where he taught religion for five years before hopping over to another alma mater, St. John’s, where he simultaneously taught theology and served as a dean in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Years later, he once again resumed work at Monsignor Scanlan, becoming the first alumnus of the school to serve as principal. “I was a student, faculty [member], and then 20-something years later, I became the principal,” he said.

Always eager to learn more, McGuire earned an Ed.D. from Teachers College at Columbia University in 1994, and has studied higher education development at Harvard University. And though the lion’s share of his time is currently spent volunteering and caring for his elderly parents, he said he’s eager to return to a full-time position in education after the pandemic.

Embracing Jesuit Ideals to Pay it Forward

McGuire said he strives to honor the Jesuit ideal of magis—the call to be more and do more for the world—by volunteering and performing community service. “Fordham opened up so many worlds and relationships,” he said. “And it was that Jesuit [mindset]of magis that really helped me to understand what Fordham and Jesuit education are all about. … It really speaks to me; it grounds me in my community service and my educational leadership in my role as a dean, teacher, and principal.”

He just celebrated his fifth anniversary with God’s Love We Deliver, volunteers with New York Cares and Coalition for the Homeless, and has also spent five years volunteering at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where he works in the Payne Whitney Clinic with adults who have acute psychiatric illnesses—though he’s had to take a break from that due to COVID-19 protocols.

“I am the education and recreational consultant, and I work with a retired, now part-time, occupational therapist,” he said. “In a way, it’s a privilege because I take a lot of my counseling skills that I learned from John Shea and the different faculty at Fordham and bring that into my volunteering—my ministry with the patients.”

Though he’s a trained counselor, McGuire said his volunteer work at the hospital often has included anything from playing bingo and holding ice cream socials to reading scriptures or leading calming and relaxation exercises.

Learning from Within

The Forever Learning series is being held digitally—everything from the kickoff and livestream of Mass from the University Church on Easter to a culinary demonstration and panel discussions. And instead of the one-day agenda planned for last year, the programming will now happen all month long, with sessions recorded in case people aren’t able to attend live— although McGuire hopes that holding some events in the evening will mean that “people working can still log off, have some dinner, and then jump on the Zoom and learn, network.”

Plus, because last year’s Forever Learning initiative was canceled due to COVID-19, McGuire said he and his colleagues on the alumni association’s Forever Learning task force had a bit of a head start this year. The planning committee was able to incorporate last year’s speakers into the new agenda, scheduling them throughout the month. Looking ahead, McGuire said that he and other members of the committee are thinking of a hybrid experience in 2022, with some events held online and some held in person on campus.

Whether it’s community college, undergraduate or graduate school, or a handful of webinars during Forever Learning Month, McGuire stressed the importance of finding the subject and format that works for you—when it works for you.

“Some students work best with their hands,” he said. “Whatever their gift is, that’s what God has given them. I used to say, ‘If you’re not happy reading Shakespeare, look at a different area of study. Whatever makes you happy, that’s what you have to study.’ And then contribute to society.”

Fordham Five (Plus One)

What are you most passionate about?
Through service, I am most passionate about improving the quality of life of others, whether by listening (empathy), reading to children and adults, providing a meal, or serving as a mentor with Fordham’s Mentoring Program or StreetWise Partners. Currently, my service is in volunteering with some New Yorkers with mental health challenges. Magis.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
The best piece of advice I received was from my Fordham mentor:  The best dissertation is a DONE dissertation.

What’s your favorite place in New York City? In the world?
My favorite place in New York City is relaxing in Central Park with a good cup of NYC coffee.

Name a book that has had a lasting influence on you.
The published book that has had the most significant influence in my life—spiritually and professionally as a teacher of religion and theology—is Jesus Before Christianity, written by Albert Nolan, OP. Nolan’s writing has empowered me to continue serving others.

Who is the Fordham grad or professor you admire most?
Two former GRE faculty members who have helped shape my personal and professional life, rooted in the ethic of care and spirituality, are John Shea (the interface of religion and psychology) and Maria Harris, Ed.D., (children before God) to think critically about important issues and make sound moral-ethical decisions.

What are you optimistic about?
I am most optimistic about teaching and mentoring individuals of the next generations, who will have a strong foundation of ethical principles and a deep commitment to serving others.

A research analyst works to improve the criminal justice system

Whether she’s studying incarcerated people or people with disabilities—or both—Navena Chaitoo tries to shed light on the many dimensions and nuances of large systemic problems.

Chaitoo works as a research analyst in the Center on Sentencing and Corrections at the Vera Institute of Justice, a national nonprofit that seeks to drive change in the justice system. Specifically, she analyzes data and works with prison jurisdictions—at their request—to reduce the use of solitary confinement.

“If you really think about solitary confinement—you’re alone in a cell, you have no access to programming, to other individuals … what does that do to your mental health? When we talk with people who have been through solitary, one of the things that comes out of it is just how deeply traumatic it is,” she says, adding that it does not help rehabilitate prisoners. “What leads to rehabilitation is pro-social behavior.”

That experience led to her work on a research paper that she began at Fordham in which she examined disability and multidimensional poverty in America.

“Currently, poverty is measured by what you have in your pocket—how much income you have … it’s not about your capabilities,” she said. The paper, co-authored with Sophie Mitra, Ph.D., associate professor of economics at Fordham, among others, looked at how a person’s disability might impact their ability to earn a living wage and their access to food, education, and participation in the political process.

While at Fordham, Chaitoo won a highly competitive graduate fellowship award from the National Science Foundation, which fully funded her graduate studies at Carnegie Mellon University, where she earned a master’s degree in public policy and management.

After graduate school, she got a job as a researcher with the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services, where she assisted with the research and development of the Manhattan Supervised Release Program—an alternative to pre-trial detention for those who can’t make bail.

“I ended up loving it, and wanting to get more out of the research behind it. So I transferred to Vera,” Chaitoo says. That concept of more—or magis in Jesuit terms—is one she reflected on in college. “When you really think about living the Fordham mission,” she says, “it’s about how can I do this better, how can I serve people better?”

Read more “20 in Their 20s” profiles.

Six students and one chaperone will represent Fordham at this year’s World Youth Day (WYD) in Krakow, Poland, a gathering of some 2 million young Catholics from around the globe from July 25 to Aug. 1.

The students left on July 14 to participate in the Jesuit-sponsored MAGIS week of service and reflection leading up to the WYD event.

“MAGIS is a program that allows students to grow deeper in their faith through practicing the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises,” said John Gownley, chief sacristan and assistant director of liturgy for Campus Ministry.

Following that, students will take on individual “experiments” in which they will be grouped with other Jesuit students from around the world. Christopher Dollesin, a rising sophomore majoring in marketing at the Gabelli School of Business, will be heading to Lubin, Poland, where he will join 25 French and Lebanese students in a project meant to teach unity through multiculturalism.

Over a six-day period, his group will work to overcome language differences and create a pantomimed theater piece using as few words as possible.

“It’s going to be a challenge, but we’ve got a great local theater to help us. So I’m extremely excited, to say the least,” he said.

On July 25, the students reconvene in Krakow for WYD, where Pope Francis will deliver a welcome address, and celebrate a universal Mass in which the pope is expected to offer prayer in several languages.

Gownley said that prayer and reflection are an essential component of the students’ WYD experience.

“To practice their faith on an international level, which they haven’t done yet, and to see it in another country and share the universal Mass, is a very moving experience,” he said.

(Patrick Verel assisted with the reporting.)