Aggressive Pigeon Behavior: Bridget Crosby, Taylor Goche, Cream Sananikone, and Van Tran

Going to school in New York City made these four biological science majors “fascinated by pigeons.” “I’ve noticed particularly how close pigeons get to us, how they’re foraging for food, how they’re really never alone,” Crosby said. “I’m just fascinated by pigeons, especially in Manhattan, in comparison to more suburban areas. We wanted to see whether there was a correlation between the aggressive behavior and the location that they live in.” Working with the Ecology Lab at Fordham, the team spent hours in four parks analyzing pigeon behaviors. They found pigeons were more aggressive in the urban parks—Bryant Park and Washington Square Park, compared to the more suburban parks—Van Cortlandt Park and Crotona Park, concluding that pigeons in more urban areas are more accustomed to traffic and people, prompting them to act more boldly.

Mental Health in Literature: Marianna Apazidis

A senior from Massachusetts who is double-majoring in psychology and English, Apazidis united her academic interests through research that examined the portrayal of mental health in literature, particularly in Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. The novel centers on a protagonist often considered to be schizophrenic in literary interpretations. Apazidis received a summer research grant that allowed her to visit the Jean Rhys archives in Tulsa, Oklahoma. There, she conducted empirical research, first-hand interviews, and archival research to investigate why the novel’s protagonist is often diagnosed this way and whether this is an accurate portrayal of psychosis. “I started with psychology because I’ve always been interested in how people work and what makes them who they are,” she said. “I quickly found that English is a very similar parallel discipline. I think literature is one of the most important ways to study human nature.”

Detecting the Presence of Metals in Water: Eva Riveros

Riveros was drawn to chemistry as a tangible way to find environmental solutions. Her research project involved the development of a Thiazole probe—a solution that uses proton transfer and fluorescence to detect the presence of metals in water samples. Riveros hopes to eventually create strips using the solution that can be used more easily and efficiently. “One of the main applications we’re thinking of is drinking water, so safety,” said the junior from New Jersey. Riveros developed her love of research after completing the ASPIRES program, which gives incoming students practical exposure to labs and hands-on experimentation.

Religion as Rebellion: Christopher Supplee

Supplee’s interest in how shared narratives shape cultural experiences led him to research the role of Haitian Vodou in confronting the shared traumatic experience of slavery. Supplee applied the three-part trauma recovery theory from Dr. Judith Herman, a leading expert on trauma, as a basis to examine the migration of Vodou from Haiti to the United States. “I look at how the enslaved population used [the practice of]voodoo as a means of maintaining their humanity under the dehumanizing conditions of slavery and rebuilding the community bonds that were separated through the TransAtlantic slave process,” said Supplee, an English and theology major from Philadelphia, “but also making new ones as a result of the diverse peoples that were coming from or transported from the African continent,” he said.

Additional reporting by Kelly Prinz.

Fordham psychology professor Tiffany Yip, Ph.D., the mother of two teenage students herself, said she wanted to know how much research on school start times had actually been published. So, for a paper she published in Pediatrics in May, she decided to gather as many studies as she could find and analyze the data as a whole, in addition to exploring something that many researchers hadn’t studied—the impact of delayed school start times on students from different communities, particularly children from low socioeconomic backgrounds. 

“Some research suggests that people from higher socioeconomic communities already have better sleep, due to factors like safer neighborhoods, less noise and light pollution, and more regular work hours. In addition, parents from these communities may be more likely to advocate for delays in school start times,” said Yip. “In this analysis, I wondered whether delaying school start times would continue to exacerbate these disparities between students from different socioeconomic backgrounds.”

The Importance of Sleep for Young People

The average start time for U.S. public high schools is 8 a.m. This is too early for teenagers, says the American Academy of Pediatrics. When adolescents don’t get enough sleep, they can experience several health risks, including being overweight and using drugs, as well as poor grades in school. 

“Sleep is important at all points in the developmental lifespan, but there’s a lot of focus on adolescents because sleep coincides with their biological changes. Their circadian rhythms are shifted, which means they go to bed later and naturally want to wake up later,” said Yip. “But this change in their body clocks doesn’t coincide with our current school start times.” 

Impact of Delayed Start Times  

Yip’s recently published paper offered several conclusions. Her team of researchers analyzed data from 28 studies and nearly two million study participants—mostly middle and high school students, with some elementary school children. They found that data showed that delaying school start times to between 8:30 and 9 a.m. has better developmental outcomes for young students. 

“Specifically, we found that kids sleep longer, and we also found that their negative mood was lower. Indicators of anxiety, depressive symptoms, and other negative psychological mood outcomes were lower when they had later start times,” she said.

Unfortunately, her team found that there wasn’t enough data collected on student demographics to make a well-informed conclusion on how students classified by sex, race, school size, and percent free/reduced lunch are impacted by delayed school start times. But Yip said research suggests that private school students tend to benefit more from later start times than public school students. 

“There is some sort of suggestion that kids from higher socioeconomic backgrounds will benefit more from a delay in school start times. This means that potentially, a delay can exacerbate some of the sleep disparities that we’ve seen in other research. We need more data to figure that out,” said Yip. “But we know that as parents and educators, we need to be careful about how implementing delays in school start times in higher socioeconomic communities might contribute to existing disparities in sleep health.” 

A Controversial Topic Among Students and Their Families

As students return to classrooms this fall, this topic will reenter many conversations, said Yip. Many of those discussions are intense, she said.

“This subject gets people riled up like crazy because it has huge ripple effects,” said Yip. “Parents need to get to work on time, particularly those who commute into New York City … But for kids who have a 7 a.m. start time, we have to factor in how long it takes for them to get to school. In Manhattan, some kids commute really far—sometimes an hour and a half to certain magnet schools. What time are they waking up?”

Yip has a personal opinion, too. She has two children—a middle schooler and a high schooler—whose schools started to delay their start times in the 2021-2022 academic year. The middle school changed its start time from 8 to 8:30 a.m., and the high school switched from 7:30 to 8 a.m., she said. 

“My kids are probably not representative because I already study sleep, and I’m really strict about bedtime and all this other stuff. But I do think the delayed school start times help with the chaos of the morning,” said Yip. “It’s hard to wake up super early, especially when it’s winter and it’s dark outside. I think my kids like the new policy quite a bit. I like it, too.”

It’ll take more effort for other schools to delay their start times, said Yip. After all, there are many stakeholders involved, including parents, educators, and bus drivers. But when it comes down to it, the biggest motivator will likely be the students themselves, she said. 

“Having data like this is one piece. But what’s going to really drive this is what kids are telling us,” said Yip. “If they’re saying, ‘I want to sleep in’ or ‘I feel better when I get a little bit more sleep,’ I think those sorts of things are going to really help us move the needle on school start times.”

Yip has explored the human relationship with ethnic identity in more than 50 peer-reviewed papers. Her research specifically focuses on ethnic identity development among underrepresented populations, the association between ethnic identity and psychological adjustment, and the impact of ethnic-specific and general stressors on people’s well-being. Her work on racial and ethnic identity was featured in a 2019 Fordham News Q&A.

Elsa Au-Yeung

School: Fordham College at Rose Hill

Major: Biological Sciences

Minor: Bioethics

Current Job: Research Associate, Inflammation and Immunology, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

“One of the things I am the most grateful for from my experience at Fordham was actually learning about things not related to my major. Since we are required to take the core curriculum, I was exposed to so many different classes I never would have taken otherwise. These courses refined the way I think about virtually everything. Buddhism in America helped me discover my interest in Buddhism, and Intro to Bioethics challenged many preconceived beliefs I had about the health care industry and controversial ethicists.”

Read more of Elsa Au-Yeung’s story.

Reed Bihary

School: Gabelli School of Business

Major: Business Administration

Concentrations: Finance, Global Business

Minor: Economics

Current Job: Corporate and Institutional Banking Development Program Associate, PNC Financial Services

“Through the Gabelli School of Business, I was immediately taught the importance of networking, which helped me land multiple internships and gain a better understanding of which profession I wanted to pursue after graduation. The Fordham Mentoring Program helped to prepare me for interviews and expand my professional network. Connections I made with alumni through this program were pivotal in aligning me with the job I have today.”

Read more of Reed Bihary’s story.

Natalie Migliore

School: Fordham College at Rose Hill

Major: Journalism

Minor: Communication and Media Studies

Current Job: News Anchor/Writer, iHeartMedia

“Working at WFUV was hands down the best decision I ever made. It changed the trajectory of my life. I was going to be a business major, and walking into WFUV, I just fell in love with journalism. I wouldn’t have known about the position at iHeartMedia if it weren’t for having a connection from Fordham and WFUV. That reinforced [the importance of the]alumni network. Another thing I wouldn’t have gotten almost anywhere else was the small class sizes at Fordham. I built great relationships with my professors, and they’ve become great mentors to me.”

Read more of Natalie Migliore’s story.

John Morin

School: Fordham College at Rose Hill

Major: Political Science

Minors: American Studies, Mathematics

Current Job and Studies: Communications Associate, Regis High School; M.A. Candidate, Elections and Campaign Management, Fordham

“I was always surrounded by diverse experiences and perspectives, and the ability to have constructive conversations on complicated issues with my peers was amazing. The intro course for my American studies minor was one of the most important experiences I had. The professor, Diane Detournay, wanted us to challenge conventional thinking and advocate for needed change. The ideas she presented in class, I will always carry with me.”

Read more of John Morin’s story.

Finley Peay

School: Fordham College at Lincoln Center

Majors: Political Science, American Studies

Concentration: American Catholic Studies

Minor: Theology

Current Studies and Job: M.A. Candidate, Higher Education and Student Affairs, NYU; Graduate Assistant, Columbia University’s Office of University Life

“The biggest thing that I got out of Fordham was the breadth of the mentorship network. I got the best of both worlds participating in academics and student involvement at both Lincoln Center and Rose Hill. I’m still in touch with a lot of the administrators I worked with in the Office for Student Involvement. That’s one of the things I cherish the most: the number of people I met who genuinely care about students.”

Read more of Finley Peay’s story.

Julie Tin

School: Fordham College at Lincoln Center

Major: Psychology

Minor: Mandarin Chinese

Current Job: Human Resources Administrative Assistant, University Settlement, The Door, Broome Street Academy Charter High School

“Right now I work for a family of New York City organizations that give back to immigrant and low-income communities and provide services to disconnected youth. I had interned there during college, but I had little to no experience in the office setting before I was placed in Fordham’s Office of Alumni Relations for work-study. Through the staff’s guidance and instruction, I was able to develop data management, communication, and organizational skills that serve as the core of my professional abilities.”

Read more of Julie Tin’s story.

—Reporting by Chris Gosier, Adam Kaufman, Kelly Kultys, and Sierra McCleary-Harris

Mentorship During a Move

During the course of her doctoral studies, she met and married her husband, who was an active-duty member of the U.S. Navy, and they had a child. Soon after, he got stationed in Italy, and the family moved there. With help from McKay, she was able to complete her dissertation while thousands of miles away from campus.

“This was the nineties, so the internet was not what it is now,” Rafanello says, noting that McKay and the GSAS administration were incredibly supportive as she dealt with the difficulties of transcontinental scholarship. “Trying to get articles wasn’t easy like it is today, but I persevered.”

Helping Police Departments Hire More Equitably

Today, Rafanello works with adolescents and adults at her private practice in Morristown, New Jersey. She also works for several New Jersey police departments, evaluating job applicants for psychological fitness, while helping departments create interview and evaluation practices that are equitable for all applicants, regardless of their background.

“I think right now, we have a great opportunity to look at how we select police, and when they are police, how we take care of them,” she says.

She also says that a lack of adequate funding for social programs and agencies that support mental health, like New Jersey’s Division of Youth and Family Services, puts more pressure on police officers. “When people [who need mental health support]fall through the cracks, the police have to come in, and they’re not trained to do that.”

Providing Treatment, and Finding Hope

On the treatment side, Rafanello provides individual and group DBT (dialectical behavior therapy) treatment and works with many young people who are experiencing additional stress, anxiety, and depression because of COVID-19. Like many psychologists, she has had to move her sessions from in-person to Zoom.

“DBT’s about mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotional regulation, distress tolerance, all the things that everybody needs,” she says. “By keeping those roots going and teaching those skillsets and offering the phone coaching, we’re able to get them to use those skills, even during a pandemic and even in-between sessions.”

Rafanello says that millennials and members of Generation Z are more willing to confront mental health issues than those who came before them. She is very clear, however, that they are not overly sensitive.

“Everybody calls them ‘snowflakes,’” she says of the young people she sees. “These are the Black Lives Matter people, these are the Parkland shooting [activists]. They’re the ones that are dealing with the pandemic and going to school and making it all work. They are not snowflakes at all. I’m hopeful about the next generation of leaders, and I’m confident that Fordham is going to educate them.”

‘A Richness of Opportunity’

Rafanello says that her own education at GSAS was instrumental in her success as a psychologist.

“I was exposed to some of the brightest minds in psychology at the time,” she says of her GSAS professors. She also specifically highlights valuable experiences like landing a part-time job at Montefiore Medical Center and taking a developmental psychology class in which staff from Sesame Street visited to talk about the ways the show developed content to keep children emotionally and mentally engaged.

“[There are] so many great training opportunities and research opportunities. There’s just a richness of opportunity that extends beyond the campus because New York [itself]really is an important campus.”

Margot Nadien, Ph.D., a psychologist, author, and professor at Fordham for more than four decades, died of cancer on July 3 in Manhattan. She was 90.

Nadien taught psychology classes at the Lincoln Center campus for more than 45 years, including a new course she developed called Aging and Society, which is still being taught today. On December 9, 1983, she and psychology professor Harold Takooshian, Ph.D., co-founded the Fordham Lincoln Center chapter of the Psi Chi Honor Society with George J. McMahon, S.J., vice president for the Lincoln Center campus. The chapter won the Cousins Award in 1993 as the No. 1 Psi Chi chapter out of 1,100 U.S. campuses.

“Among her psychology colleagues of the past half-century, both inside and outside of Fordham, Margot was widely known for her extraordinary grace, helpful attitude, and ready smile,” said Takooshian.

Margot Ballon Nadien was born on May 25, 1930, the second daughter of Lillian G. and David H. Ballon, a professor of surgery at McGill University’s Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal. She was a pianist, performing at the national level in Canada. She moved to the U.S. as a teenager to study music in New York.

On June 11, 1950, she married violinist David W. Nadien, who was concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic for several years under Leonard Bernstein. He died in 2014. The couple lived for nearly 50 years at 55 Central Park West, a historic building near Lincoln Center.

After teaching music for many years, Margot earned a B.A. in psychology at Hunter College in 1967, graduating summa cum laude, first in her class, and Phi Beta Kappa, according to the family obituary. She earned a Ph.D. in 1974 at the City University of New York Graduate School, where she studied under Florence L. Denmark, Ph.D., a pioneering psychologist and feminist scholar.

In the early 1970s, Nadien began as an adjunct professor in the Excel Division of Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus, then taught full-time in 1974 in the college’s interdisciplinary social sciences division. In 1981, she became the first psychologist in the division to achieve tenure. In 2013, Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, saluted Nadien with the Bene Merenti Award for 40 years of service to the University.

Nadien was an officer in the NYS Psychological Association and the United Nations NGO Committee on Aging. Her work received many accolades during her long career, including the NYSPA Kurt Lewin Award (1995), and Wilhelm Wundt Award (2003). In the American Psychological Association, Margot was elected to APA Fellow status, based on her contributions to psychology as the author/editor of several books on diverse topics in the field, including gender, development, autonomy, and aging. She was featured in Who’s Who in America and was a lifetime member of Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Sigma Lambda, and Psi Chi, according to former colleagues.

At Fordham, Nadien’s many colleagues and students remember her as an extraordinarily gracious, kind, and supportive person, also known for her highly structured approach to classroom teaching. Even after her retirement, Nadien continued at Fordham as an active student in its College at 60.

“Margot was an incredible woman and her foremost concern was always people—students, colleagues, and staff,” said Cira Vernazza, associate dean and director of College at 60. “Even after retirement, she continued to learn and grow, ever mindful of keeping young.”

Nadien is survived by her brother Basil Ballon (Ruth) and sister Judy Levy (Norman), her brother-in-law Perry Meyer, and her sister-in-law Heather Ballon. She was predeceased by her husband, her sister Joy Meyer, and brothers Jonathan and Edward Ballon. She was cherished by her many nieces and nephews and their children.

Obit by Margot Nadien’s colleagues and Fordham News

“Navigating the independence and autonomy that comes with being away at school can be difficult,” says Jeffrey Ng, Psy.D., director of counseling and psychological services (CPS) at Fordham. “There’s a whole set of stressors students might experience, such as homesickness, academic pressure, financial demands, and anxiety related to developing new relationships and fitting in.”

Simply put, being a college student today isn’t easy—and there are statistics to back it up: A 2018 American College Health Association study revealed that more than 87% of college students surveyed felt overwhelmed by all they have to do. And more than 40% reported that they were so stressed, it was difficult to function.

“Increasingly, more students arriving on campus have a tendency toward perfectionism,” Ng says. “We have to deconstruct that. It is part of the human experience to err and be fallible. The idea of letting go of perfectionism is really important.”

In addition, Ng adds, overly involved parenting and the pervasiveness of social media and technology are contributing to the rise in anxiety and depression on college campuses nationwide.

So what can parents do to help their children make a smooth, healthy transition and thrive in college?

Talk about what to expect.

Fordham’s orientation programs are designed to help students (and parents) as they make the adjustment to college and a more independent life. But you can also help your student imagine ways they might cope with some of the typical stresses of their first year by talking to them even before they get on campus, Father Marcotte says. These might be practical chats about doing their own laundry or keeping their room or suite clean, or deeper conversations about emotional vulnerabilities like feeling lonely or being disappointed about a test grade.

“We want them to feel that they are the agent of this process and that they are ready to face what’s going to come down the road,” he says. Discuss the fact that it’s normal to feel vulnerable at different times in life and that it’s healthy to seek out support, Ng adds. “Parents can help students identify what resources are available and how to access them if they should ever need help working through an issue.”

Encourage your student to get involved.

One of the most common challenges first-year students face is finding new peer groups and making friends. They also might get so wrapped up in academics that they forget the importance of human connection, play, and downtime.

“Studies show that students who become engaged on campus are usually more successful than those who don’t,” Ng says. So whether your child is into sports, music, journalism, or something else, encourage them to seek out clubs and activities where they can do what they enjoy while building a new social network. An easy way to do this is at the club fairs at the beginning of each semester, so remind them to attend.

Advise them to put social media in its place.

The overuse of technology and social media has been linked to mental health issues, Ng says. It interferes with essential human relationships and can foster low self-esteem by exposing young people to curated versions of other people’s lives.

“They are constantly comparing themselves,” Ng says. “We encourage our students to be more intentional, thoughtful, and discerning about how they perceive and relate to social media,” he adds, something parents should cultivate, too.

Remind them to be kind to themselves.

When students encounter the pitfalls and unexpected obstacles everyone experiences in adulthood, help them adopt a “growth mindset,” Father Marcotte says.

“The best way to build resilience is to see everything from a growth perspective. Even failures, disappointments, and losses hold within them important lessons that teach us how to go forward in a better way,” he adds. Encourage your student to focus on what they can learn from difficult experiences. Practicing generosity and meditation, Father Marcotte says, are other ways to build inner strength and “enlarge the soul.”

Finally, Ng emphasizes the importance of self-compassion and self-care, advising students to remember the basics: exercise, nutrition, and sleep. Fordham’s on-campus fitness centers and registered dietitians can help them get what they need.

Let go and trust them.

By the time your student arrives at college, they already have a moral compass that you have helped build over the years. “We have to trust that,” Ng says. “I know it’s hard to do, but it’s part of letting go.”

Father Marcotte agrees. “Parents need to see that their work is to help their children into ‘interdependence,’ where they remain connected, but the child has the ability to act on his or her own and become a full adult. This is the season for that to begin.”

—Claire Curry

Fordham’s deans of students are always available to talk to parents. If you need advice or would like to schedule a private meeting about any concerns, please reach out to them.

For more information about on-campus resources for students, check out the Quick Links for Parents section of the Fordham website.

Today contributor Donna Farizan spoke to college students about how they boost their well-being and find happiness. One student noted that serving others made them the happiest. “I think that when you take time to give back to our community, to give back to our loved ones, that’s the most rewarding experience.”

Father Marcotte then joined Today’s Hoda Kotb and Willie Geist to talk about how we can all be our best selves.”We need to cultivate skills to live a happy life,” he said. “How do we do that? Keep a calm mind, a positive outlook, build resilience, and be generous.”

Watch the full clip here. 

“The goal is to see if adolescents represent this second window of opportunity to promote health and well-being,” said Chaku, a doctoral candidate in developmental psychology at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. “I’m interested in promoting cognitive development and channeling youth desires and interests in positive ways.”

A few months ago, she was awarded a $20,000 American fellowship from the American Association of University Women, one of the world’s oldest leading supporters of graduate women’s education. The award funds her final year of graduate school, allowing her focus on writing her dissertation. 

“Natasha’s research fills an important gap in the current literature,” said her longtime Fordham mentor, Lindsay Till Hoyt, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology. “She understands the most pressing issues facing youth today.”

For the past five years, Chaku has studied adolescent transition in Hoyt’s Youth Development, Diversity, and Disparities (3D) Lab. Her dissertation focuses on how adolescents’ cognitive skills are affected by physical activity. She’s especially interested in executive functioning skills—the skills that help us make decisions and achieve our goals. One example is the ability to regulate our emotions; another is the ability to make a good choice in a risky situation. 

Chaku, who works with other students in the lab, said her team thinks that exergames might improve cognitive skills, particularly in adolescents. At this stage of life, they are especially sensitive to environmental influences, she said. And for many teenagers, it’s also a time of “dramatically declining” physical activity. 

“Little kids like to run around. Once your body starts changing, you stop running around as much, particularly if you’re a girl. Your body is literally changing shape. Your clothes might not fit. You might feel uncomfortable wearing shorts in gym class or having to change or wear a bra,” Chaku said. “That may make you feel uncomfortable in your own body, and that can lead to decreases in physical activity.” 

To understand how exergames affect our cognitive skills—and our physical bodies—Chaku and her team studied a group of adolescents from the Bronx. 

First, they measured the teens’ cognitive skills through two mind games. One was an abstract, logic-based game; the other focused on emotional skills. 

Next, they collected the teens’ saliva. Using the samples, they measured the amount of testosterone, a sex hormone that increases after exercise, and the number of brain-derived neurotrophic factors (BDNF), or hormones released while the brain is building new neurons. 

“We think one of the reasons your cognitive abilities are so much better post-exercise is because your brain is releasing more BDNFs,” Chaku explained. 

Then the teens played either an exergame or a video game. For 20 minutes, half the participants played Shape Up, an Xbox exergame; the others played Sonic Mania, a more sedentary video game (to compare the exercise results with the non-exercise results). Afterward, the teenagers’ saliva was collected again to measure the change in their testosterone and BDNF levels. Finally, the teens redid the executive functioning tests to evaluate how their cognitive skills had changed after exercise. 

Chaku’s team is still calculating their results, but she said their preliminary data suggest that exercise improves executive functioning skills, just as they thought. What they didn’t expect was that the teenagers tended to choose riskier responses on post-exercise tests. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, she said. 

“Risk-taking can have a bad rap. Sometimes those risks are negative because you’re engaging in, for example, drug use. But a lot of times, risks are really positive. Asking someone out that you like can be really risky, but it could lead to something positive,” Chaku said. “It’s less about whether they’re risky or not and more about how can we channel those risks in positive ways?”

Unlike many health studies and clinical trials, the participants in Chaku’s study were primarily black and Hispanic. Her team targeted approximately 120 adolescents, aged 9 to 15, from the Bronx.  

“Interventions may work in different ways, depending on cultural differences. It’s important to get data from those adolescents,” Chaku said. 

She said she hopes her research results will lead to the development of physical activity interventions for adolescents, and that they, in turn, lead to positive risk-taking behaviors. 

“When you go to camp—before you meet new friends—doing a physical activity might prime you to be more likely to introduce yourself to people,” Chaku said. “Or having a physical activity intervention right before taking a challenging class … that might prime you to take more risks in that class.” 

“Donika’s passing is a terrible blow to her family, loved ones, and classmates,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham. “The death of someone so young and full of life is profoundly painful, and a source of unspeakable sorrow and loss to everyone who knew her. I know you will join me in keeping Donika’s family, loved ones, and friends in your thoughts and prayers today and in the days ahead.”

Celaj (who also spelled her last name “Cela”) was born on Nov. 13, 1997, in Yonkers, New York. In 2015, she graduated from Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy, a public middle school and high school in the Bronx. At Fordham, she was a commuter student who traveled to the Rose Hill campus from her apartment in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.

Fordham College at Rose Hill senior Lara Carrion forged a close friendship with Celaj that began during a first-year English class.

“She would make faces at me across the table. One day she emailed me her number. We were friends ever since,” she said.

“She was crazy, she was selfless, she loved basically everybody. She loved to eat, she loved to drive, and she loved to listen to music,” said Carrion, who lives off campus in the Bronx.

“She would burst into my house and the first thing she would say is, ‘Where are we eating?'”

They would go for pizza or sushi, or sometimes, since Celaj was Albanian, they would go to the Albanian restaurants near Arthur Avenue.

As a commuter student, Carrion said, Celaj didn’t have a huge number of friends on campus. “But the few friends, she did have, she was ride or die for them.” Over winter break, when Carrion was having some issues with her family on Long Island, Celaj drove from the Bronx to pick up her friend. True to form, they went to eat.

Carrion said her friend was looking forward to going to Albania this summer to hang out with her cousins. And she was very close to her younger brothers and her parents.

“She always wanted to do the best for her parents,” Carrion said, adding that they were very protective of her and wouldn’t always allow her to do the things typical college students do. “But she would rather make sure that her parents were happy.”

Celaj’s professors described her as an involved, hardworking student.

“Donika was a reflective young woman who was finding her voice at Fordham,” said Mary Procidano, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology. “Though she sat toward the back of my classroom, she was consistently engaged in our discussions. She was a valued presence in my classes, and we all will miss her.”

Celaj not only studied psychology but also had an interest in art. This semester, she took two studio visual art classes at Fordham.

“She was an excellent student who was self-motivated in her work, serious, and focused,” said David Storey, associate professor of painting and director of visual arts at Rose Hill. “Donika was also a student who was able to recognize that even an assigned exercise could transform into a compelling work of art—and I believe this was always her goal.”

Another friend, Fordham College at Rose Hill senior Maye Yassin, recalled the way that passion emerged in Celaj’s friendships: her fierce loyalty toward her closest friends, her way of making people in a room laugh, her “silly” sense of humor.

“No matter how much time passed in between us seeing each other, every time we would first see each other, she would run up and give me the biggest hug and lift me off the ground and say, ‘I missed the ’fro!’” Yassin said, referring to her own curly hair. “She just loved people so much, to her core … and you could feel it.”

Celaj is survived by her parents, Gzim and Ariana Celaj (Nokshiqi); her brothers, Fisnik and Lorik; and an extended family.

Visitation was held for Celaj on Sunday, Feb. 24, at Pleasant Manor Funeral Home in Thornwood, New York. Funeral services were held at Pleasant Manor on Monday, Feb. 25, followed by interment at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.

Students struggling during this difficult time can reach out for help at the numbers below.

Counseling Center:

Rose Hill: 718-817-3725

Lincoln Center: 212-636-6225

Campus Ministry:

Rose Hill: 718-817-4500

Lincoln Center: 212-636-6267

Students may also contact a commuter assistant, resident assistant, or resident director at any time to request assistance or to talk; they can also contact Public Safety at 718-817-2222 for assistance at any time.

—Nicole LaRosa contributed reporting

In the United States, where just 0.2 percent of the population serves in the armed forces—compared to six percent during World War II—the threads that bind veterans and civilians together have weakened, as their lives rarely intertwine.

A new initiative spearheaded by the Veteran’s Administration (VA) aims to bridge the divide through a training program that pairs business leaders and veterans together for a full day of lectures, workshops, role-playing, and performances.

On Wednesday, Dec. 12, about 70 people attended the workshop, “Veteran Cultural Competence Training Program” at Fordham’s Rose Hill campus.

An Immersive Experience

Joseph Geraci, Ph.D., a retired lieutenant colonel in the Army and founder and director of military relations for the Resilience Center for Veterans & Families at Columbia University, said the trainings, which have been taking place under the auspices of the James J. Peters Veteran Affairs Medical Center, where he is on staff, are based around a simple premise: If an employer can put themselves in the shoes of a veteran, they can help them make the leap to civilian life.

“As a veteran, I’m expected to just merge into civilian society, acclimate to everyone else, and to some extent disavow my identity as a warrior and as a military service member,” said Geraci, who based the training on findings he published in his doctoral dissertation, Trained, Peer Mentorship and Veteran Support Organization Membership to Assist Transitioning Veterans: A Multi-arm, Parallel Randomized Controlled Trial (A Preliminary Investigation).

“That can be really frustrating and hard and further the divide, because there are not a lot of people who can relate to me. At the VA where I work, for example, there’s not one clinical psychologist who’s a veteran. Even in organizations where people are dedicated and are hired to assist me, they really don’t understand me on a very deep, personal level.”

That isolation manifests itself in the workplace, as the average veteran today will change jobs three times in the first two years after they’ve re-entered the civilian world.

A Challenge for Students

The training on Dec. 12 was the sixth of its kind and the first that Fordham supported. It drew attendees from firms and institutions such as Bloomberg LP; Mount Sinai Health System; entertainment firm Avant Gardner, LLP; and the David Lynch Foundation, which promotes transcendental meditation. Last year, students in a consulting class taught by Michelle Weber, Ph.D., a clinical assistant professor at the Gabelli School of Business, helped Geraci launch his first training outside of New York, in Charlotte, North Carolina. This fall, Weber gave students in a similar class, called Applied Social Innovation, the option of working on one of three projects. One of them was organizing the Dec. 12 event at Rose Hill.

“This country has a really big suicide problem with veterans, and it hasn’t been totally proven yet, but what I contend is that it is tied to work. What we know about work is veterans don’t have a hard time getting jobs, but they have a hard time sticking to it, whether they get fired or quit,” she said.

“There’s something going on in this country with the assimilation part. I’ve seen it in my classrooms. It’s sad. It could be so much better than it is.”

The Dec. 12 event became, in essence, a final exam for the team of students tasked with coordinating the logistics, from reaching out to participants and working with caterers, to securing space in Faber and Campbell Halls. Julia Townsend, a junior at the Gabelli School majoring in business administration, was one of them. A native of Washington, D.C., whose family has served in various capacities in the military, she felt drawn to Geraci’s cause the moment he presented to the class.

“When Joe spoke, he was really personable, and he talked about suicide from a very personal perspective about his friends passing away and him having PTSD. I felt like helping him be successful could in some small way help other people,” she said.

Workshops, Role Playing, and Performance

The day started with sessions such as “Knowledge and Understanding of Military Worldview, Veteran Risk/Protective Factors, and Effective Skills,” and “Military Culture, and Awareness of Our Own Personal Beliefs/Attitudes.” The afternoon kicked off with “Operation Restore Hope,” a mock training exercise where participants were tasked as a team with rescuing a hostage from a room of hostile forces. It ended with a dramatic reading, by professional actors, of scenes from Sophocles fifth-century play Ajax, which chronicles the fate of the Greek warrior Ajax the Greater after the events of The Iliad and the Trojan War.

Daniel Gomez, GABELLI ’18, an Army veteran and founder of First Person Xperience L.L.C., helped facilitate some of the sessions. He was most impressed with Operation Restore Hope. As part of the post-mission debriefing, participants were asked what they were thinking about as they attempted the rescue. Answers ranged from “the person to the left of me,” “the person to the right of me,” “the mission”, and “don’t get shot.”

When they were asked what they were not thinking about, Gomez said a look of confusion would cross their faces.

“I told them, ‘You weren’t thinking about your family, your Christmas party, or what kind of car you were going to buy.’ The only thing you could think about at these seconds while you were entering the room was the mission. Pretty intense,” he said.

“So now, go back to your normal life, pushing paper or working with a broken copy machine, and now it just seems completely different. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s something we all need to understand. Even this simple thing really helped them get a quick understanding of the types of things we go through. It was like their ‘aha’ moment.”

You Never Know How Deep It Is

Miguel Melbourne, GABELLI ‘13, an associate at JustWorks, a human resources partner for small businesses, echoed Gomez’s take on the mock training exercise and said the day went by faster than he expected.

“From start to finish, it took you to so many places. You cried, you laughed, you sat down, you got up and did exercises, there was a play at the end. It was beyond anything I’ve ever experienced,” he said.

He was especially moved by a session in which Geraci took off his suit jacket, donned his military uniform, sat in a chair perched atop a roundtable, and told the story of his own service, including details about three friends who were killed in battle.

“There might not have been one dry eye in the room,” Melbourne said.

Because his younger brother is in the Army and his company’s CEO is a veteran, Melbourne said he felt confident going into the training that he could relate to veterans. That session made him realize he still had much to learn.

“When we had that session, man, it was rough. It made me really realize, sometimes you just never know what vets have experienced, you just never know how deep it is,” he said.

“There’s no way to be prepared for it, but just having that awareness that these conversations may not be as easy as I thought, was probably one of the most valuable and touching parts for me.”

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