The plan is timed around the closure of the McShane Campus Center’s Marketplace cafeteria, which will shut its doors Columbus Day weekend to prepare for a top-to-bottom gut renovation.

Billed as a bridge to a radically different approach to dining that will culminate with the new Marketplace facility in fall 2024, Destination Dining will expand current dining facilities and add eight new ones, bringing the total number of options to 14.

The biggest addition, which opened on Sept. 19, is an “All You Care to Enjoy” facility at Faber Hall’s Bepler Commons, with seating for 96 indoors and 192 in an adjacent tent. It features hot and cold stations with options like omelets, pasta, grilled items, and a salad bar. A second similar facility with seating for 486 will open Oct. 10 on the second floor of the McShane Center.

The University has also added two electric food carts, a new “Grab N Go” spot, and a bagel shop.

Mobile Dining Options

This fall, a 30-foot “CHOMP Truck” offering everything from grilled cheese and poke to gyros, egg sandwiches, and donuts will arrive and shuttle between three spots on campus. A three-wheeled “Bronxie Bike” stocked with snacks will also be dispatched around campus later in the fall.

The university is also expanding two existing facilities: Two heated tents capable of accommodating nearly 300 diners have been installed next to the Starbucks at Dealy Hall and Cosi at Campbell Hall.

Maintaining a Sense of Community

Michele Burris, interim vice president for student affairs, said creative new concepts like the CHOMP truck and coffee carts will likely stay even after the newly renovated Marketplace opens.

Burris also noted that the University will tweak operations as necessary to make the facilities appealing as places of community as well as sustenance.

“It’s like at your home when you gather with your family. That’s what the dining facilities become here at Fordham. It is where people spend time getting to know each other,” she said.

“We didn’t just set up dining venues where you run in, grab your food, and go, so we’re going to be as flexible as possible. If we notice, for instance, that we have more demand in one place than another, we’ll adjust whatever we can as we get used to new traffic patterns.”

A Focus on Trends and Preferences

Deming Yaun, University dining contract liaison, said the new facilities are meant to be a step forward.

“These had to be set up to serve the students with the needs that they are bringing to campus today, the trends they’re interested in, their own personal preferences for dining—and ultimately provide them with more access to food than they’ve ever had before,” he said.

A Step ‘Even Further’ Forward in 2024

The changes will continue with a completely reimagined dining experience in the fall. The new Marketplace will feature stations where food is prepared on the spot. The salad bar area will feature its own kitchen, prep, and service area, as will a halal kitchen and a delicatessen.

“We’re going from what the Marketplace was, which served us well for 50-some-odd years, to this destination dining, which is a step forward,” said Yaun.

“The renovated Marketplace is going to be a step even further forward.”

Destination Dining at a Glance

Ram Central Station Electric Food Cart: Next to Loschert Hall
Mon–Thu 7:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. and 8 – 10 p.m.
Fri 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
(Weather permitting)

Ram Roadega Electric Food Cart: Next to Walsh Hall
Mon–Thu 7:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. and 8 – 10 p.m.
Fri 7:30 a.m. –  2 p.m.
(Weather permitting)

New Grab N Go BKG Roasters & Sambazon
First Floor, McShane Center
Mon–Fri 7:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sat–Sun Closed

Self-Checkout
Mon–Fri 7:30 a.m. – 12 a.m.
Sat–Sun 10 a.m. – 12 a.m.

Bronx Bagel Company: Dagger Johns, McShane Center
Mon–Fri 7:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.

All You Care to Enjoy Dining Hall Hub: Faber Hall in Bepler Commons
Mon–Thu 7:30 a.m. – 8 p.m.

CHOMP Truck
(Coming Soon)
Behind Martyr’s Court: Mon–Fri 7:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Next to Finley Hall: Thu–Sat 10 p.m. – 1 a.m.
Dealy Hall: (Next to Starbucks): Sat–Sun, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

All You Care to Enjoy Dining Hall Hub: Second Floor, McShane Center
(Starting Oct. 10)
Mon–Thu 7:30 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Fri 7:30 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Sat–Sun 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.

The two-day summit, which took place at the McGinley Center on the Rose Hill campus, drew over 250 attendees as well as participants who joined through an online broadcast.

On Day 1 of the conference, Michele Burris, associate vice president in the Office of Student Affairs at Fordham, highlighted the need to address sexual violence on college campuses all across the country. She touched on the tenets of Jesuit education as a call to action, in particular St. Ignatius of Loyola’s desire for “something greater”—magis. 

“We will not accept mediocrity when it comes to how people are treated, when it comes to the respect of each and every person’s body, and when it comes to ending sexual violence,” Burris said.

Burris worked closely with Katie Koestner, the executive director of the Take Back the Night Foundation, to sponsor the conference and bring like-minded activists together from around the globe. The summit featured a keynote by Margaret Huang, interim Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, who has advocated for human rights and racial justice for more than two decades.

Huang stressed that women’s rights are at the heart of Amnesty International’s work in protecting human rights, and that one of the biggest barriers to women’s freedom is sexual violence.

“One of the greatest barometers of a society’s freedom is whether women are fully free and empowered,” Huang said.

In the United States, Amnesty International has worked with Native American and Alaskan native women, who are two and a half times more likely to be raped than non-indigenous women, said Huang. She also said that 86 percent of those who rape native women are non-native men.

Particularly appalling is the fact that, in the past, American laws have prohibited tribal courts from prosecuting non-native men, Huang noted.

In 2007, Amnesty published a groundbreaking report, “Maze of Injustice,” which included contributions from indigenous women’s rights leaders from across the country. With the help of this report and advocacy from Amnesty International, Congress passed the Tribal Law and Order Act in 2010, which grants tribes the jurisdiction to prosecute non-native accused rapists in tribal courts.

While this is a major step forward, Huang stressed that there is still much to be done in countries around the world, including in India, Burkina Faso, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), among others.

According to Huang, Burkina Faso ranks among the top 10 countries with the highest rates of child marriage, where one in every two girls will be married before the age of 18. In fact, on the African continent forced marriage affects 15 million girls each year, with one in nine girls marrying before the age of 15.

“Child brides are at a much higher risk of suffering from dangerous complications in pregnancy, HIV, and domestic and sexual violence,” Huang said.

In India, rape is the fastest growing crime, with a startling increase of 873 percent in cases reported between 1971 and 2011, according to the National Crime Records Bureau, said Huang. Women from low-income communities there “face shame and stigma when reporting rape, which makes it even more difficult for them to seek justice.”

In response, Amnesty International India has launched a campaign to ensure that women who choose to report sexual violence can do so safely, with dignity, and without prejudice through the website www.readytoreport.in.

The two-day event featured more than 100 presenters and performers taking a collective stand against sexual violence of all kinds, including dating violence, campus sexual assault, child sexual abuse, domestic violence, and trafficking.

—Angie Chen, FCLC ’11

The two-day event will feature more than 100 presenters and performers taking a collective stand against sexual violence of all kinds, including dating violence, campus sexual assault, child sexual abuse, domestic violence, and trafficking.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for us to sponsor another effort toward prevention of and education about sexual violence,” said Michele Burris, associate vice president of student affairs.

“Hosting the summit is also recognition from Take Back The Night of the strong work we’re doing in the area of sexual assault and misconduct.”

The aim of the summit—which will convene organizations and leaders in fields including education, business, counseling, healthcare, military, politics, and entertainment—is to unite diverse perspectives and backgrounds to address the problem, starting with developing a common vocabulary and understanding of sexual violence.

Keynote speakers include Margaret Huang, executive director of Amnesty International; Katie Koestner, founder of Take Back The Night, who appeared on the cover of TIME Magazine 25 years ago as the first college student to speak out as a the victim of date rape; and Scott Berkowitz, president and founder of the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN).

Participants will learn the laws and policies related to sexual violence, social media techniques for campaigns and fundraising, how to mobilize communities, and how to host vigils, speak-outs, and other events to support survivors. A “Going NOISY Celebrity SoundOff” in Fordham Prep’s Leonard Theatre will feature performances by musicians, actors, and other artists.

In addition, more than a dozen trauma-informed yoga instructors will kick off the second day of the summit with “Yoga for Strength and Healing” on Edwards Parade.

Fordham’s Stand Against Sexual Violence

The collaboration between Fordham and Take Back The Night Foundation has grown out of the University’s ongoing work to combat sexual misconduct, Burris said. Last year, Fordham was selected as one of 10 Points of Light around the country during the national observance of Take Back The Night—an event featuring survivor stories, candlelight vigils, and other effort to raise awareness about sexual assault.

The previous year, Fordham hosted a conference on campus sexual misconduct policies to train both Fordham and non-Fordham educators on how to deal with sexual misconduct.

“We are constantly working to educate students as well as faculty and staff when it comes to preventing sexual assault, reporting violence, and what to do when you see something or you yourself experience something like this,” Burris said.

A key aspect of this work, said Burris, is to regularly update the University’s policies and procedures to comply with evolving state and federal laws. As part of this structure, Campus Ministry and Counseling and Psychological Services serve as confidential reporting centers for anyone who experiences violence of any kind. The Health Center has several trained sexual assault nurse examiners (SANE) on staff to offer medical support and resources to victims of assault.

Most importantly, Burris said, an administrative support person is assigned to every reported case of sexual misconduct. The point persons—one for the victim and one for the accuser—help guide each party involved through the process.

“The day the person says something, there is an administrator assigned to them to help them understand how the process works and how to report it, to go with them to every meeting, to connect them with counseling and health services, and to work with the academic deans in case they need to miss classes,” Burris said.

“There is a team of people in place to help the student get through this. That’s the number one thing—the student needs to feel supported throughout.”

For more information and to register for the International Summit to End Sexual Violence, visit the official website.

Administrative offices across the University—from the deans’ offices to Campus Ministry and the Dorothy Day Center for Service and Justice—determined how to best help students, staff and faculty affected by Sandy.

“We’re trying to respond compassionately to the needs of those members of the Fordham family who have been so deeply impacted by this storm,” said Msgr. Joseph G. Quinn, vice president for University Mission and Ministry, whose office is leading a multifaceted response to post- hurricane recovery efforts.

Regarding its students, Fordham was immediately proactive, said Michele Burris, associate vice president for student affairs.

“We did a search to see who lived in the areas that were really affected, and we reached out to those students to just ask, ‘Hey, are you doing alright? Let us know what you need,’” she said. Students were offered health services, counseling services, or whatever they needed to cope with their situations.

According to the deans’ offices, 71 students attending the Lincoln Center and Rose Hill campuses lost power, water, or heat following the storm. The Office of Residential Life housed any student that needed shelter in campus dormitories. For many students, power—and with it, normal life—was restored within two weeks of the hurricane’s landfall.

Students who lost their homes during the storm have been given housing on campus for the rest of the semester, paid for by an emergency fund.

Matthew White, GSB ’09, has been staying in McMahon Hall ever since the hurricane flooded his home in Rockaway Park.

“They got in touch with me the week of the storm, which was pretty impressive, because I was shoveling sand and making sure my family was okay,” said White, a student in the Graduate School of Business Administration. “I’m more than proud to say that Fordham helped me out in a time of huge need.”

In the five weeks following Sandy, more than $16,000 has been collected at Sunday Masses, interfaith prayer services, and various student activities toward a relief fund set up by the Office of the President. Non-monetary donations have also poured in.

Campus Ministry and the Dorothy Day Center have begun volunteer trips to hard-hit areas. On Nov. 17, a group of 22 students and five staff traveled to Breezy Point to aid Habitat for Humanity in the ongoing relief efforts.

“We did everything from demolition to moving debris to cleaning a public space so that the people could host a fundraiser,” said Conor O’Kane, associate director of Campus Ministry at Rose Hill.

Campus Ministry continues to fill bins with items that are still needed by those affected, said Msgr. Quinn. Students transport the items to local distribution sites, such as the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx.

The day after Sandy hit the metropolitan area, FCLC sophomore Chris Hennessey and FCLC junior Jaime Rodriguez spearheaded a spontaneous effort at the McMahon dorms on the Lincoln Center campus, which they dubbed Occupy 109. The students organized a canned food drive in the dorm’s community room and launched the Facebook page, FCLC Hurricane Sandy Response. With the support of Maureen O’Connell, Ph.D, associate professor of theology, the effort grew in size with each passing day.

“We had a moral obligation to be there,” said Hennessey.

On Friday morning, Nov. 2, an additional 20 volunteers joined the effort to carry armfuls of supplies onto MTA busses heading into the powerless sections of lower Manhattan. By Saturday morning the number of volunteers had swelled to 60, said Rodriguez.

By that time McMahon Room 109 had become something of a command center after the local public school could no longer accept donations. Hennessey put a sign up at the school directing donations to the dorm, making McMahon the de facto distribution center for the Upper West Side. Neighbors signed on to help, with one family from the Time Warner building lending their car. Volunteers arrived from Maryland to Massachusetts, said Hennessey.

After the lights went back on downtown, the focus shifted to the outer boroughs. Using the Occupy Sandy website, the crew developed an online reputation for their specificity. In one case, a Brooklyn family requested a stroller and the group managed to get it to them later that day. A request for Pediasure, the children’s nutrition drink, was met after students secured a large donation of several cases from Duane Reade.

Social media drove many of the responses among the Fordham community. Mark Naison, Ph.D, professor of African and African American studies, put out a call for help on his Facebook page to assist Kendra Newkirk, FCRH ‘00, one of his former students. Newkirk had just moved into a new home in the Rockaways with her two small children. On Nov. 18, A group of Fordham alumni and Facebook friends joined Naison to help remove everything from Newkirk’s house so that FEMA could inventory what was lost.

“Kendra had her housewarming party on Sunday and the place was destroyed on Monday,” said Naison, who said seeing Sandy’s mass destruction was quite a depressing experience. “There were six of us and it took us four hours to carry every single possession that Kendra had out into the front yard. Clearly, the home was decorated with great love.”

Newkirk, who is now staying with her mother in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, is an assistant director of a daycare in the Rockaways that also sustained damage.

With the community displaced, there is little chance the daycare will reopen anytime soon, she said.

“My heart is so burdened,” said Newkirk. “I have a family that I can stay with, but there are lots of people out there who don’t have that.”

Newkirk said that the cleanup would not have been possible without the help.

“It was just phenomenal. These are people I’ve never met,” she said. “I definitely didn’t anticipate the mental and spiritual support that I got. I didn’t expect that at all.”

O’Kane said that students, faculty, and staff who would like to volunteer are encouraged to visit Campus Ministry’s website, which will be updated daily with volunteer opportunities.

“This will be a very long process and I think the heart of Fordham’s responsibility to our neighbors and our brothers and sisters is to cultivate a critical awareness of that, especially when it begins to fade from the news cycle,” he said.

Joanna Klimaski and Tom Stoelker contributed to this report. To donate to the Disaster Relief Fund, visitwww.fordham.edu/mission/mission_and_ministry/campus_ministry.

The buildings will encompass 166,000 square feet (Campbell Hall will be the slightly larger of the two at 90,000 square feet), and accommodate 460 students when they open in June 2010.  Marc Valera, associate vice president for facilities, said the buildings, which were designed by Sasaki Associates, Inc., will be constructed using energy efficient lighting and construction materials, and will be certified by the LEED green building rating system. Discussions are under way to possibly include rainwater reclamation centers on the rooftops for use in irrigation and for mechanical systems. The living spaces will be split into four- and six-person suites, half equipped with single bedrooms and half with double bedrooms.

Valera said the aim is to combine the best aspects of dormitory style living with those of apartment life. That means building lounges on every floor that receive natural light from both the east and west and the landscaping that will accentuate the green space currently surrounding Martyr’s Court and the Walsh Family Library.

Michele Burris, associate vice president for student affairs, said the buildings, which will be the Rose Hill campus’s first new residence halls since O’Hare Hall opened in 2000, will be configured specifically with juniors and seniors in mind, with individual kitchens within every unit.

“We administered a survey last spring with our housing community, and the most common request from our students was apartments with single bedrooms,” Burris said. “Juniors and seniors enjoy living with their friends, but they also like to have their own space. We have singles on the Rose Hill campus but none of the singles are located within apartments.”

Burris also noted that the buildings will have an integrated learning community seminar room that professors will be able to use to teach classes.

“We’re still two years out, but we’ll be working very closely with academic affairs and campus ministry, to come up with an integrated learning community concept that meets the needs of our upperclassman,” Burris said.

To accommodate the construction, the guard booth at the Third Ave./Webster Ave. gate will be temporarily located further east on Fordham Road, closer to the Walsh Family Library, and the current entrance will be used as a construction entrance.