The May 21 event, hosted by the Fordham University Alumni Association (FUAA), recognized alumni with a graduating senior in the Class of 2021, along with members of the Parents’ Leadership Council (PLC) and their graduating students.

Matthew Burns, associate director for young alumni and student engagement, and Kathryn Mandalakis, assistant director of the Fordham Fund, kicked off the virtual event. Mandalakis thanked the council members for making Fordham “a real family affair,” and fondly remembered her own graduation in 2019.

“It has been two years, almost to the day, since I was attending my own PLC and legacy family reception, as my dad is an alumnus himself,” she said. “It feels really special to be here with you all and celebrate your graduates and celebrate the long maroon line with your legacy.”

During the event, two families reflected on their time at the University and on what it means to share an alma mater, with the graduates interviewing their parents.

Anthony Quartell, FCRH ’64, whose daughter Olivia Quartell, FCRH ’21, served as president of United Student Government and a mentee in the Fordham Mentoring Program, said that after his family moved near the Bronx campus, his father suggested he enroll at Fordham to learn about religion.

“I had no idea who Ignatius Loyola was,” he said, noting that he had attended public schools, including Bronx High School of Science, but the Jesuits at Fordham taught him “a whole lot more [than religion]. They taught me how to think.”

Olivia said Fordham wasn’t initially one of her more “obvious” picks, but her experiences at the University were nothing short of a gift.

“I think it’s funny that a lot of people who found such a home here didn’t necessarily seek it, [but]it was definitely something that Fordham gave to them. … It just naturally kind of comes from being in this place.”

Katherine Beshar, FCLC ’21, who writes for The Observer, the student newspaper based on the University’s Lincoln Center campus, transferred to Fordham during her junior year due to a sports injury, but she echoed Olivia Quartell’s sentiment. She said “home” is a fitting word for what the University has given her.

She asked her mother, Maureen Beshar, FCLC ’86, about her own undergraduate experience. Like her mother, Katherine was a commuter student. Maureen commuted from Brooklyn and initially worked two part-time jobs before pivoting to night school so that she could work full time.

Maureen, who is now a member of the Fordham President’s Council, said she continued to experience Fordham’s sense of community, maybe even more so, after graduating. “The Fordham experience [is]really now just beginning,” she said. “There’s so many different ways you can stay involved as your life changes and … as you go forward in life. You can go back home [to Fordham], because I think you’ll always find some way to be involved.”

John Pettenati, FCRH ’81, chair of the FUAA, formally welcomed graduates into the alumni community and urged them to stay involved, to “give your time, your treasure, and your talent back to the school. It is so important for [others to be]inspired by all of you.”

A recorded toast from Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, brought the event home.

“My dear friends, we gather to toast you on your impending graduation that has special meaning for you and for your parents because by graduating you have not only followed in their footsteps, you have become men and women whose lives have a shared experience—an experience that makes you even closer than you were before,” he said. “You and your parents are both Rams.”

Fordham alumni and parents weighed in on these and other questions at the annual Parent Professional Panel on Feb. 5 at Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus. The event, facilitated by Parents’ Leadership Council Chair Donna Morris, PAR ’19, featured professionals in healthcare, entertainment, sports journalism, digital marketing and design, and finance who shared their insights on interviewing with an audience of more than 150 students and alumni.

Panelist John Murphy, GABELLI ’90, chief financial officer and executive vice president at Adobe, said that he appreciates job candidates who can articulate why a position makes sense for their career plan. “When someone has researched the company and the job and they can explain how that fits with what they want to do long term, you can have a better dialogue,” he said.

The panel also included Martin Cummins, FCRH ’93, a freelance location scout for HBO and Netflix; Ashley Fugazy, FCRH ’00, a talent production supervisor for the YES Network; Maxxie Goldstein, GABELLI ’13, CEO and founder of the digital ad company Meyvyn; Ian Parney, M.D., Ph.D., PAR ’22, a neurosurgeon and cancer researcher at the Mayo Clinic; and Morgan Vazquez, FCRH ’13, a vice president at BNY Mellon.

Leadership and Time Management

It’s one thing to show academic strength, but leadership, they all agreed, is a key characteristic that makes job candidates stand out to prospective employers. “In an interview, highlight what you are doing on campus and in your communities to show that you can be an influencer,” Vazquez said.

“We hire a lot of athletes because most of them are highly effective at time management,” said Morris, chief human resources officer at Adobe. “They also overcome loss quickly because they’re used to the fact that they’re not always winning. And business is a team sport.”

ROTC cadet James Parney, a first-year Fordham College at Rose Hill planning to major in international political economy, said this advice resonated. “I have very limited time, which would make an internship hard. However, I would like to gain that valuable experience. Finding a way to make this possible is very important.”

Openness to Change, Discovering Your Passion

The panelists advised soon-to-be graduates to approach their careers with an openness to continue learning, and to explore courses, clubs, and job experiences that are outside of their comfort zones.

Vazquez planned on a career in financial services but after she graduated, she realized that sitting at a desk crunching numbers wasn’t something she really enjoyed. Her current position as vice president of campus strategy and pipeline development at BNY Mellon is a perfect hybrid that combines her financial services expertise with her love of working with people.

Parney, a physician-researcher at the Mayo Clinic, added that it’s critical to do something you feel passionately about. “I’m grateful to have a job I love,” he said. “I enjoy the science and technical aspects of medicine, but the thing I find most rewarding is the ability to help people.”

Professionals who love what they do find ways to integrate their work and the other aspects of their lives, but the panelists admitted that managing a career and family can, at times, be challenging. Their suggestions? Budgeting time for yourself and learning to set boundaries.

During a Q&A following the discussion, Juliette Dixon, a Fordham College at Rose Hill senior, asked the panelists for advice on how she can learn about a company’s culture. Their suggestions included observing employee interactions in the lobby, checking reviews of the company on Glassdoor, and using interview time to ask why people enjoy working at the firm. They also emphasized the power of networking with Fordham alumni.

“The biggest takeaway,” Dixon said later, was knowing that she and her fellow students could “lean on our fellow Fordham alums, with whom we can ask such questions and expect honest answers.”

The panelists, all members of the Fordham’s Parents’ Leadership Council, spent the evening reflecting on both the state of their own industries, and their personal career trajectories. A group discussion in the Keating First auditorium attended by 140 students was followed by breakout sessions in classrooms that featured non only the parents, but also employees of their respective firms who could also answer questions.

The evening featured:

-Richard Cervini, PAR ’19, Senior Vice President of Production and Technical Operations, CBS Television Distribution;

-Jeffrey Cusack, PAR ’19, Senior Managing Director, National Sales Manager, Nuveen Investment LLC;

-Marc Landanyi, M.D., PAR ’18, Chief of Molecular Diagnostics Service, MSKCC;

-Donna Morris, PAR ’19, Executive Vice President, Customer and Employee Experience, Adobe;

-Philip Rielly, PAR ’20, Vice President, President of Diplomat Specialty Infusion Group; and

Jean Wynn, Marymount ’80, PAR ’20, Managing Director and Head of Corporate Banking & Public Finance, The Bank of New York Mellon Corp.

Listen to the discussion:

A common theme for the parents, most of whom offer formal summer internships to students, was hiring. Morris suggested that graduates focus less on their resumes and more on their networks, particularly those they build and maintain on LinkedIn. Maintaining a robust digital presence is key, she said, to creating their own brand, irrespective of whether they’re an introvert or an extrovert.

Cusack noted that he’d landed nearly every job he had through a contact. But even then, he cautioned, you should go into an interview prepared to do more than just answer questions.

“For me, the interview doesn’t start until you ask me questions about my company,” he said. “I don’t even care if you’ve got information wrong; I just want to see you’re taking the initiative.”

Dr. Landanyi’s advice for succeeding in STEM fields was to seek out colleagues who are smarter than you. “Be aware of what you don’t know, and always challenge yourself to discuss topics that others know more about than you,” he said. “If you’re the smartest one in the room, find another room.”

Wynn said the financial sector is undergoing exciting changes due to increased digitization and an embrace of what she called a Silicon Valley kind of mindset. The Bank of New York Mellon Corp dates back to Alexander Hamilton, but is working with emerging technologies such as Blockchain.

“It’s quite challenging for institutions that are old and established to change their culture, but that can lead to a tremendous amount of opportunity for young people to come in and be a part of that change,” she said.

Rielly extolled the virtues of a liberal arts education, and suggested that would-be entrepreneurs need not know exactly what they want to do upon graduation. Find a company that you’re interested in, and really get to know the industry it occupies, he said. That way, you figure out how to build a better mouse trap, so to speak.

“Be a big sponge. Soak up everything you can,” he said.

Dr. Landanyi concurred, noting, “It’s never too late for STEM.”

For Morris, the panel was both a recruiting tool and an opportunity to share knowledge. Since she started attending in 2015, six Fordham students have interned at Adobe, and this year, Vanessa Gutierrez, a Fordham College at Rose Hill senior, became the first student to accept a full-time position there as a software developer for the firm’s creative apps team.

Gutierrez, a computer science major from Los Angeles, attended the panel two years ago. Although she’d only declared her major a few weeks before, she said Morris’ presentation intrigued her, and she made a conscious effort to be the last one to talk to her so Morris would remember her.

“It’s funny, because in my computer science class that semester there was a guy who sat next to me, and I would often answer questions he had,” she said.

“I was waiting to talk to Donna, and the guy was there also, sitting in the back. I said ‘Oh, are you waiting to talk to her too?’ He said ‘No, that’s my mom.’”

Gutierrez was actually in San Jose interviewing for the position during this year’s panel presentation; she starts in July.

“Events like this are great for getting our name out, particularly for students who want to come back to the West coast,” said Morris, adding that, at recruiting events, tech firms aren’t as well represented as finance and consulting firms.

“If they go to East coast for school, there’s a concern about coming home, because a lot of West coast jobs and internships end up going to students attending West coast schools.”

“What I found, at least through my eyes and my kids’ experiences, was that Fordham lived its mission to a great degree, and that really impressed me,” said Rick, who, along with Marie, serves on the Parents’ Leadership Council (PLC). “When I saw how Fordham supports students in different ways, I was inspired to help.”

Now, parents are having a direct impact on student experiences through the Fordham Parents Fund, which helps to provide financial support for career and student health services.

Since the fund was recast at the beginning of FY 16, parents have given more than $325,000 to the Fordham Parents Fund to help enhance various student experiences on campus.

Supporting students

Lucy Annette McLaughlin, interim director of career services, said her department has received contributions from the fund to invest in new technologies that support career-building for students—including Handshake, a job portal technology, and CareerInsights, a research tool. This fall, the department will also use fund support to work on promotional events to engage students in the Fordham Futures’ four-year career development program.

Additionally, the funds will help to provide professional development, and leadership and training opportunities that are in alignment with high-demand skills in today’s workforce, she said.

“There is a constant need to support student and alumni career development, job search methods, and career transitions for life,” said McLaughlin.

“The future of work is constantly changing, and the Parents’ Leadership Council is a valuable partner for us. We are very thankful to have their support.”

The other half of the money raised from the Fordham Parents Fund will support programs and initiatives focused on student services. Recently, the fund helped upgrade technology in 140 West 62nd Street’s G76 multipurpose room on the Lincoln Center campus.

“The original technology in the room is based off a podium in the front of the room,” said Dorothy Wenzel, Ph.D., director of the Office for Student Involvement at Lincoln Center. “This works great for lectures.  However, most of the events we hold in the room for clubs are not lecture events.”

With the new renovations, students can connect multiple microphones to host open mics, dance events, game nights, and other student activities.

Among the health programs the funds will sustain are suicide prevention initiatives that were originally developed with a federal grant three years ago. These include “Kognito At-Risk Virtual Gatekeeper Trainings” for students, faculty, and staff; the Stressbusters Mobile App; and Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Suicide Prevention brochures.

Thanks also to the fund, the Office of Multicultural Affairs will be able to advance its Racial Solidarity Network program, which aims to strengthen race relations at Fordham. The program will officially kick off this year with a session in November, and a second session in February 2018.

“Our job is to create an environment where everyone can feel included,” said Juan Carlos Matos, assistant dean and director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs. “When parents of students who attend Fordham see this initiative as something they want to support, it sends a strong message that it’s not just Fordham that believes it’s important.”

For parents Alida and James Nally, University-parent partnerships are essential for student success.

“We continue to be a part of the PLC to help other parents and students understand the profound impact a Fordham education has in educating the whole person [as]“men and women for others,” said Alida.

A Queens native and the son of two Irish immigrants, McGonigle is now the father of three Fordham graduates.

Cara, who earned her B.S. from the Gabelli School of Business in 2013, is currently an associate banking advisor at Northern Trust and is pursuing her M.B.A. at Gabelli part time. Kathleen, a 2015 Fordham College at Rose Hill graduate, is now studying at the School of Law. And Claire just graduated from Gabelli in May.

A managing director at a private equity firm, McGonigle had always credited his Fordham education for jumpstarting his career. He had multiple job offers to choose from when he completed his undergraduate degree, and he was thrilled to return to Fordham part time to complete his M.B.A. But it wasn’t until he started going through the college admission process with his oldest daughter that he realized quite how special Fordham is.

“Fordham students are willing to see beyond themselves and their immediate needs. They realize there’s a larger world out there,” he says, “and they’re willing to help each other.”

McGonigle’s youngest daughter, Claire, says it was that same Fordham spirit that eventually drew her and her two sisters to their dad’s alma mater. “I remember one of us had a birthday party at a basketball game on campus,” she recalls, “but that love for Fordham didn’t really hit us until she was applying to college. It’s the best of all worlds.”

Now the whole family is involved in the Fordham community. All three sisters served as Rose Hill ambassadors, giving tours of the campus to prospective students. McGonigle is a member of both the President’s Council and the Parents’ Leadership Council. And everyone attends sporting events and Homecoming.

The whole family gathered on the Rose Hill campus again in May to celebrate Claire’s graduation. McGonigle served as the alumni banner bearer, so he and his wife, Ann Marie, also walked down Eddies Parade during the University commencement. As the group gathered for photos before the Gabelli diploma ceremony, Ann Marie laughed about how she was the only one in the family not to have a Fordham degree.

“When we go on vacation, we always take photos and make a ram sign with our hands,” says Claire, “and my mom jokes that she needs to go back and get a Fordham degree so she can join in.”

Though she’s the only one in the family without a Fordham degree, McGonigle says his wife also recognizes how special Fordham’s culture is. “Every time we’d visit [our daughters], we’d leave feeling terrific about where they were and what they were doing. It’s a great feeling.”

Claire says her dad never expected that she and her sisters would end up going to the same college, let alone his alma mater.

“He didn’t ever push us to go to Fordham,” she explains. “We all came to the decision on our own. So I think that is the most special part. We all chose to have that common experience individually.”

When it came to job interviews—a topic on every student’s mind—the parents had some sage suggestions: Ask the interviewer for advice. Don’t let the qualifications scare you off; if you have 50 percent of what employers are asking for, then apply—provided you have the passion. And passion is key. An interviewer can tell within a minute if you have it or not.

The parents had more advice for those who get the job: If you make a mistake, admit it, and have a plan to fix it. Don’t compete with your boss; always make them look better.

Listen to the discussion:

The event was moderated by Richard (Rick) L. Treanor, Ph.D., PAR ’17, Partner at Oblon, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, LLP. Panelists included:

Rich Cervini, PAR ’19, Senior Vice President of Production and Technical Operations, CBS Television Distribution

Donna Morris, PAR ’19, Executive Vice President of Customer and Employee Experience, Adobe

Ed Munshower, PAR ’18, Founder, Terrace Creek Capital

John Normile, FCRH ’84, LAW ‘, 88, PAR ’19, Partner, Jones Day

Jennifer Povlitz, PAR ’19, Managing Director & Market Head of Wealth Management, UBS

Maureen F. Zakowski, M.D., PAR ’18, Professor, Icahn School of Medicine, Mt. Sinai Hospital
[doptg id=”77″] ]]> 64194 https://now.fordham.edu/business-and-economics/in-new-partnership-parents-help-students-find-summer-internships/ Wed, 24 Aug 2016 15:48:17 +0000 http://news.fordham.sitecare.pro/?p=55721 Sophia Waldron and Nick Makarov outside their summer internship office on Times Square.In the midst of a blistering heat wave, Gabelli School of Business students Sophia Waldron, a rising junior, and Nick Makarov, a rising senior, sat outside of the site of their summer internship at Adobe in Times Square. Despite the heat, the constant crowds, and the occasional honky-tonk character, the two maintained a cool professionalism as they talked about tech, business, corporate culture, and what they learned over the summer.

“I just had to jump in and have faith that everything I learned in school would work out,” said Waldron.

The two expressed their appreciation, too, for Donna Morris, PAR ‘19, who took it upon herself to share with Fordham’s Career Services that her employer, Adobe, had a robust internship program. Morris is an executive vice president at Adobe, a member of Fordham’s Parents’ Leadership Council (PLC), and the mother of rising sophomore Kyle Morris.

“It shows that someone can value the school beyond their own child, and it really opened up the doors for other students,” said Waldron.

PLC is a group of parent volunteers who help with outreach, development, and who facilitate career networking and internship opportunities for Fordham students. While the PLC’s internship efforts are not yet part of an official program, the success of a handful of placements this past summer bodes well for future efforts, said Carroll Keating, associate director of Parent, Leadership and Loyalty Giving.

In addition to Makarov and Waldron, two other students were hired at Adobe’s headquarters in San Jose, California. And some other parents from the council worked with Fordham’s Career Services to help students secure internships in a variety of industries, including at the nonprofit New York Police and Fire Widows’ and Children’s Benefit Fund.

Krista Reynolds, a rising junior, heard about the fund from her roommate Mary Munshower, whose father Ed Munshower sits on the fund’s board.

“It’s always intimidating when you apply for a job, but when parents are involved it’s a little more comfortable—I was able to get a better feeling for what the job was before applying,” said Reynolds. “Just the word ‘parent’ makes it feel comfortable and accessible.”

Both Morris and Munshower worked with Fordham’s Career Services to get the positions posted on Career Links. Fordham students had to apply just like other candidates.

“The Fordham students rose to the challenge,” said Morris.

Kathleen Mullaney, associate director of employer relations at Career Services, said that, going forward, the department would track parental internship referrals to refine the process.

“We want to tap into any kind of resource out there, so if parents have any information, we’d love to hear from them,” she said.

“Parents have a role to play,” said Morris. “They can find out if their employer has an internship program that our career services should know about.”

Still, while posting to Career Links remains the protocol for being hired, the personal connection a parent may make with a student doesn’t hurt either. Morris said she met Makarov when he took her and her son Kyle on an informal tour of the Rose Hill campus.

“He left such an impression that I gave him my business card,” she said.

Now, the Adobe internship has left an indelible impression on him.

“The tech culture is free-form and fluid, and they’re open to suggestions no matter what,” he said.

“I think the culture of these organizations is imperative to their success,” added Waldron. “The departments are not divisional. They want you to take a holistic view of the company, to interact, and to meet new people.”

For Morris, helping other students helps her son, she says.

“A college education shouldn’t be just about your son or daughter,” she said. “We need to make sure it benefits all the students, and future students.”

The occasion was an Aug. 26 dean’s reception for parents of international students from the Class of 2019. Elsewhere on campus their children were acclimating to their new school through the Global Transitions Program, an extensive orientation geared toward international students.

Donna Rapaccioli, PhD, dean of the Gabelli School of Business, and Maura Mast, PhD, dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill, joined Father Grimes to welcome the parents of the largest international class to date. Rapaccioli, a mother of three, said she was well versed in the college move-in day.

“I remember it was a was a proud moment, but one that was filled with anxiety,” she said. “But Fordham has an ecosystem that will ensure that your child has the support they need.”

For her part, Mast said she could relate to the students, as this was her first public event as the new dean at Rose Hill. She is the first woman to fill the role since the college’s inception in 1841.

“I chose to come to Fordham for many of the same reasons that your children did,” she said, adding that she appreciated Fordham’s emphasis on the undergraduate experience. “Your sons and daughters will broaden their world socially, culturally, academically, and I hope spiritually.”

The event was a new initiative for the Parents’ Leadership Council that offered moms and dads their own orientation to Fordham. Parents went on a tour of Rose Hill, attended the reception, and a later were welcomed at an elegant dinner. The following day, Isabelle Frank, dean of the School of Professional and Continuing Studies, joined Midori Yamamura, PhD, lecturer in art, to lead parents on a tour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

“Move-in day is important because we leave our kids to the University,” said Andrea Mennillo, the international chair of the Parents’ Leadership Council. “Fordham is a great community, and families are a part of that.”

Eric and Anna Pichardo, of Tijuana, Mexico, arrived at the reception with bags from a Uniqlo, the Japanese clothing store. Earlier that day they were in Queens at Costco and Target, getting dorm room supplies for their daughter, Erica, a freshman at Fordham College at Lincoln Center.

“She was calling us all day, saying ‘I need this, I forgot this, and I need that,’” Eric said with a laugh.

He said he was calm about his daughter’s transition, being that the parents have been schooling their daughters in California since the girls were in first grade. Anna was a bit more apprehensive. She was worried that Erica might not like the food.

No such problem with incoming freshman Chenyang Fu from Shanghai, China, said her mother Amy Liu.

“She likes the city, she likes the University, and she loves the food,” she said.

Some of the international students toured the campus last winter. But many were encountering it for the first time, as was the case with freshman Jake Chen. His parents, Joanne and Peter Chen, said that he had just finished his national service in Singapore.

“We’ve raised our kids to be as international as possible,” said Peter. “Jake is very capable, so his adjusting is the least of my worries.”

With this year’s crop of new international students hailing from Saudi Arabia to Spain, from Monaco to Mexico, and from Italy to India, the parents exhibited the mix of pride and anxiety that Rapaccioli described.

But the Global Transitions program for parents, which offered them three days to get to know fellow international parents, did offer a measure of calm, said Trygve Kjolseth, who arrived with his son Thomas from Norway.

“When we walked around campus this morning I thought, ‘This is a really good group, we should get together again,’” he said. “Our families seem to have some common denominators, and that gives me a good feeling about the community for the kids.”

The PLC is a network of parents who are committed to working with Fordham administrators to promote the well-being and advancement of the University. Council members attend periodic meetings and provide support in development fundraising, communications, career services, and student enrichment.

The Stones decided to join the PLC when their youngest son, Jack, a senior in the Gabelli School of Business, enrolled. They had already developed a relationship with Fordham when their older son attended and said they quickly realized it was a special place.

“It’s a very humble, friendly, welcoming environment,” Bob Stone said.

Sue Stone said that Fordham feels like an extension of her own college alumni network. Fordham adopts parents into the fold, inviting them to many of the same cultural programs and University events available to the alumni community.

She said serving on the PLC has helped her have a deeper understanding of the profound support and supportive nature of the Fordham University community.

“You can so quickly see the sense of pride that people have for Fordham. You feel that people are sincerely happy to be doing their job and to be a part of the University,” she said.

While they have worked in many ways over the last two years to contribute to the University through their work on the PLC, Bob Stone said he and Sue feel they have received far more than they have given.

“The council to us has been nothing short of spectacular,” he said. “It’s a very interesting dynamic, as you think you are doing this for your son or daughter, and you soon realize, ‘I’m getting this a lot out of this myself.’”

PLC meetings give parents an opportunity meet with members of the faculty and administration at Fordham, giving them a greater sense of the academic experience of their sons and daughters.

The Stones say it’s helped them understand the value of a Fordham education better. One of their primary goals as co-chairs was to equip parents as ambassadors to share that good news.

Spreading the word about the value of a Fordham education is particularly important outside of the New York City region.

“We want to create a good news chain,” Sue Stone said. “Parents are a link in the chain, wherever they are geographically, and can be a reference point for students and parents who are considering attending Fordham.”

The Stones plan to continue to be involved with the PLC after Jack’s graduation this spring, helping to educate other parents about the opportunity to serve on the council and ensure a smooth transition to the new chairs.

Through their own involvement, the Stones have seen just how vital and rewarding parental involvement in the Fordham experience can be.

“The council is composed of parents from very diverse backgrounds, in terms of both cultural perspectives and business perspectives. And they have the heart and soul of a parent,” she said.

“That kind of involvement makes the community more multigenerational. If you keep parents involved, they will feel that commitment well beyond the time their student is at Fordham.”

To learn more about the Parents’ Leadership Council, please contact Carroll Keating at [email protected] or 212-636-6567.

The council, which was launched in 2008 with the help of Patti and John Heller, PAR ’03, ’07, ’11, has served as a resource for parents who want to help promote the well-being and advancement of the University.

“The whole collegiate experience is changing,” said Alex Morr, FCLC ’07, assistant director of the parent fund. “College is no longer just where you go for four years to get a degree and a job. It’s about community, involvement, what you do, and the adult you’re becoming while you’re there.

“We’re encouraging family involvement, and in doing so, we’re winning the hearts and minds of a lot of non-graduates who are sending their kids off to be educated through the Jesuit model, which they’ve come to love and trust.”

The council is arranged around four areas of service: fundraising, communications, career services, and student leadership. It currently counts 74 members, and is chaired by Joan and Michael Conley from Washington, D.C., whose son, Bud, an English and Visual Arts major, is a senior at Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH).

“When [Bud] heard Father McShane speak early in 2009 during a visit to Fordham’s campus in the Bronx, he said, ‘This is the school I want. This embodies not only the academic rigors I’m looking for, but the Jesuit philosophy,’” Joan Conley said.

As senior vice president and corporate secretary of the NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc., Joan was instrumental in helping the Graduate School of Business Administration (GBA) secure a grant from the NASDAQ OMX Educational Foundation.

Her personal advice to parents is to lead by example in their enthusiasm about everything Fordham and New York have to offer.

“[I tell them to] walk the campus and streets of the Bronx and Manhattan with [your child]and together experience how fabulous New York City truly is,” she said. “Go into their world, and see the richness and the offerings of Fordham, and the city that is indeed an extension of its campus. Don’t be afraid of it; embrace it. Your enthusiasm for Fordham and New York will be infectious and add to the richness of your child’s education.”

Bob and Ellen Kelly, whose son Nick graduated last year from Fordham College at Rose Hill, and whose son Ben is a Gabelli School of Business senior, have been on the council since its inception. Although they graduated from Notre Dame and Cornell Universities, respectively, Ellen Kelly said they’ve formed attachments to Fordham separate from their children’s. Their interest in WFUV-FM, for example, led to their attending the station’s annual gala in the spring of this year, where Kelly found herself dancing on stage with the evening’s honoree, Chris Isaak.

“Our kids have their own experience, and we have ours, and they kind of overlap. We feel lucky that we peripherally had our Fordham experience with them without being overbearing parents,” she said. “So it’s been a win, win for us.”

In addition to helping find internships for Fordham graduates at Bob Kelly’s law firm, the couple also hosts freshman sendoffs at their home in Shore Haven, N.J., every summer.

“The incoming freshmen love to ask questions—from the practical, to the social, to the logistics of living in the Bronx. And the parents really enjoy meeting other parents too,” Ellen said.

Justine Franklin, director of major gifts at Fordham, said the council also serves as a sounding board for the ways in which the University can improve.

“It’s not just, ‘We love you, don’t change a thing.’ There are parents who are very vocal,” she said. “We need to hear from them, because they may have looked at other schools, or they may have other children who are looking at Fordham, and they’ll say ‘These are the things you have to work on.’”

Roshanak Sheikh, who joined the council this past year, is one parent who brings a valuable perspective to the mix. Her son Kamron Sharif-Zadeh, a pre-med major, transferred last year to Rose Hill from a college in Pennsylvania.

“Kamron has found his niche. He is part of the environment, he eats at Arthur Avenue, he has an apartment with some of his friends, he goes to operas, he DJs. He did lacrosse. I just can’t tell you how much the school has lifted his spirit,” she said.

Describing herself as not particularly religious, Sheikh was skeptical at first of Fordham’s Jesuit roots. She now says she’s eager to help the University in any way she can.

“I am so glad that we made this decision, because the school has good morals, and that’s what I want for my children,” she said. “I want them to be in an environment where they’re encouraged to be a person who thinks of others. That’s the kind of school Fordham is.”

The council, which was launched in 2008 with the help of Patti and John Heller, PAR ’03, ’07, ’11, has served as a resource for parents who want to help promote the well-being and advancement of the University.

“The whole collegiate experience is changing,” said Alex Morr, FCLC ’07, assistant director of the parent fund. “College is no longer just where you go for four years to get a degree and a job. It’s about community, involvement, what you do, and the adult you’re becoming while you’re there.

“We’re encouraging family involvement, and in doing so, we’re winning the hearts and minds of a lot of non-graduates who are sending their kids off to be educated through the Jesuit model, which they’ve come to love and trust.”

The council is arranged around four areas of service: fundraising, communications, career services, and student leadership. It currently counts 74 members, and is chaired by Joan and Michael Conley from Washington, D.C., whose son, Bud, an English and Visual Arts major, is a senior at Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH).

“When [Bud] heard Father McShane speak early in 2009 during a visit to Fordham’s campus in the Bronx, he said, ‘This is the school I want. This embodies not only the academic rigors I’m looking for, but the Jesuit philosophy,’” Joan Conley said.

As senior vice president and corporate secretary of the NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc., Joan was instrumental in helping the Graduate School of Business Administration (GBA) secure a grant from the NASDAQ OMX Educational Foundation.

Her personal advice to parents is to lead by example in their enthusiasm about everything Fordham and New York have to offer.

“[I tell them to] walk the campus and streets of the Bronx and Manhattan with [your child]and together experience how fabulous New York City truly is,” she said. “Go into their world, and see the richness and the offerings of Fordham, and the city that is indeed an extension of its campus. Don’t be afraid of it; embrace it. Your enthusiasm for Fordham and New York will be infectious and add to the richness of your child’s education.”

Bob and Ellen Kelly, whose son Nick graduated last year from Fordham College at Rose Hill, and whose son Ben is a Gabelli School of Business senior, have been on the council since its inception. Although they graduated from Notre Dame and Cornell Universities, respectively, Ellen Kelly said they’ve formed attachments to Fordham separate from their children’s. Their interest in WFUV-FM, for example, led to their attending the station’s annual gala in the spring of this year, where Kelly found herself dancing on stage with the evening’s honoree, Chris Isaak.

“Our kids have their own experience, and we have ours, and they kind of overlap. We feel lucky that we peripherally had our Fordham experience with them without being overbearing parents,” she said. “So it’s been a win, win for us.”

In addition to helping find internships for Fordham graduates at Bob Kelly’s law firm, the couple also hosts freshman sendoffs at their home in Shore Haven, N.J., every summer.

“The incoming freshmen love to ask questions—from the practical, to the social, to the logistics of living in the Bronx. And the parents really enjoy meeting other parents too,” Ellen said.

Justine Franklin, director of major gifts at Fordham, said the council also serves as a sounding board for the ways in which the University can improve.

“It’s not just, ‘We love you, don’t change a thing.’ There are parents who are very vocal,” she said. “We need to hear from them, because they may have looked at other schools, or they may have other children who are looking at Fordham, and they’ll say ‘These are the things you have to work on.’”

Roshanak Sheikh, who joined the council this past year, is one parent who brings a valuable perspective to the mix. Her son Kamron Sharif-Zadeh, a pre-med major, transferred last year to Rose Hill from a college in Pennsylvania.

“Kamron has found his niche. He is part of the environment, he eats at Arthur Avenue, he has an apartment with some of his friends, he goes to operas, he DJs. He did lacrosse. I just can’t tell you how much the school has lifted his spirit,” she said.

Describing herself as not particularly religious, Sheikh was skeptical at first of Fordham’s Jesuit roots. She now says she’s eager to help the University in any way she can.

“I am so glad that we made this decision, because the school has good morals, and that’s what I want for my children,” she said. “I want them to be in an environment where they’re encouraged to be a person who thinks of others. That’s the kind of school Fordham is.”