A Garden Grows in the Bronx

WIn an unassuming lot on the edge of the Rose Hill campus, eight raised beds of soil provide the perfect growing environment for a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables.

St. Rose’s Garden was started in April 2012 by Fordham doctoral candidate Jason Aloisio, and today it serves as a living laboratory and social space for students who aren’t afraid to get a little dirt under their fingernails.

On Aug. 29th, the weekly work party harvested purple broccoli, red cabbage, lettuce, asparagus, dinosaur kale, watermelon, orange fantasia chard, crimson tomato, fennel, beets, spinach, pimento sweet peppers, midnight zucchini, and peas. The bounty is shared by volunteers and has been sold at “farmers’ markets” on the Rose Hill campus.

Photos by Bruce Gilbert

As Weather Heats Up, Fordham Follows Suit

Mother Nature bathed the Rose Hill campus in heat the weekend of May 31, but Jubilarians were undeterred, as an all-time high of close to 2,000 members of the Fordham family attended Jubilee festivities.

Not to be outdone, a smaller but equally boisterous crowd of former Rams made their voices heard two weeks later at their June 14 reunion at the Lincoln Center campus, unofficially bringing to close another academic year.

Photos by Bruce Gilbert and Chris Taggart

2013 Commencement Honors Courage and
Commitment to Excellence

From high above inside the Keating Hall clock tower (top left), Fordham’s 168th Commencement on May 18 appeared tightly choreographed. Down on the ground, the generous hugs, smiles, prayers, and cheers from 15,000 attendees were spontaneous and teeming with pride.

Photos by Bruce Gilbert, Chris Taggart, Kathryn Gamble, and Tom Stoelker

Documentary Photography: Japan, a visual arts class taught over the winter break by Fordham Artist-in-Residence Stephan Apicella-Hitchcock, introduced undergraduates to the booming metropolises of Tokyo and Kyoto.

Students were tasked with developing an emphasis on generating documentary projects focusing on the people, culture, and architecture of Japan. Their 10-day trip will be further documented in a professional-quality book that will include essays detailing the richness of their experience abroad.

Freshly scrubbed window lintels and bright white marble quoins catch the eye when one sees Hughes Hall from the outside.

But step inside through the sliding glass doors of the Gabelli School of Business and it’s hard not to notice that something new is going on. As stock data streams through screens in bright colors, terrazzo floors meet a stairwell of floating limestone steps with thin walnut banisters. In a nod to the business nature of the school, rich wood detailing finds its way throughout the building, among a contemporary vernacular of planes and patterns.

— Photos by Michael Falco

In an evening that was equal parts pep rally, comedy show and religious revival, “The Cardinal and Colbert: Humor, Joy and the Spiritual Life” brought together Timothy Cardinal Dolan, archbishop of New York, and comedian Stephen Colbert at the Rose Hill Gymnasium on Sept. 14.

The gathering, which was moderated by James Martin, S.J., had its fair share of zingers (Dolan: “Do you feel pressure to be funny all the time?” Colbert: “Do you feel pressure to be holy all the time?”), but the theme that emerged was quite serious: After all he went through for humanity, Jesus had the last laugh.

Students camped out on line the night before to get the coveted blue wristband that assured them one of the gym’s 3,000 seats.

Christine Firer-Hinze, Ph.D., theology professor and director of the Francis and Ann Curran Center for American Catholic Studies, introduced the participants.

“We really didn’t know what to expect from the conversation; it turned out to be very funny, but also serious,” she said.

“We knew that Stephen Colbert knows a lot about Catholicism, but tonight he revealed a side of him that was deep and very thoughtful.”

The initial idea for the program came from two assistant theology professors, Charles Camosy, Ph.D., and Michael Peppard, Ph.D., who envisioned the event as an example of the New Evangelization.

Describing herself as “religious,” Sara McDonough, a Fordham College at Lincoln Center sophomore who was one of the attendees, said that even though she had never seen Colbert’s show, she wondered whether his reputed humor would be dulled in a conversation about religion.

“But I was entertained throughout the whole event. It was really funny—I loved it.”
Her friend Natalie DeVaughn, a sophomore international studies major at Lincoln Center, agreed.

“I think it’s important that people know that religion isn’t all about reprimanding and guilt, that it’s supposed to give you happiness,” she said. “I think this was definitely about happiness.” (To see the animated introduction to the program by Fordham student Tim Luecke, click here

—Photos by Bruce Gilbert