Prater launched Los Angeles Room & Board two years ago to support community college students in California. Much of that support takes place at Opportunity House, a 50-plus-bed residence in LA’s Westwood neighborhood that provides students with affordable housing, free meals, and a strong community to help get them to graduation.

Oprah Winfrey highlighted Opportunity House in her O Quarterly magazine this past summer, calling it a “triumphant story,” and Prater and several of the home’s residents were featured on the TODAY show earlier this month.

“I am very keenly aware of the power of higher education to transform lives,” Prater told TODAY. “If I can get these students through college, the opportunity that will unfold before them is limitless.”

Prater began working with college students at Central Michigan University, where he was a resident assistant while earning a bachelor’s degree in communication. At Fordham, he was a resident director at Queen’s Court Residential College. In 2013, he began working at California State University, Northridge, earning an Ed.D. in educational leadership and policy there in 2018. And from 2016 until March 2020, he worked full time in the dean of students’ office at California State University, Los Angeles.

Fordham Magazine caught up with Prater to talk about his educational journey, how it informs his work at LA Room & Board, and what’s at stake—for the workforce and nation—if students’ needs aren’t addressed.

Talk about your educational journey. Why did you leave school, and what brought you back to it?
I dropped out of school at age 16. I’m the 12th born of 14 kids. When my mom died unexpectedly, it was just my dad and the 14 of us in a three-bedroom house on Detroit’s west side. He was working 12- and 14-hour days at Ford Motor Company to keep the lights on and keep us all fed. As happens when kids are without a lot of supervision, they make poor choices, and so I just was not doing well academically. I think that dealing with my mom’s death threw me into a bit of a tailspin.

My dad had this “18 and out rule” because there’s so many of us. I wasn’t prepared for that at all, and we didn’t have many conversations about money, so I got evicted from my first apartment. I got evicted from another place. I did the whole couch-surfing thing—lived out of my car. That period between 18 and 23 was really touch-and-go.

I finally got my GED at community college and from there, I applied for Central Michigan University and really rediscovered my love for learning. Once I got that chance at school again, I just kind of dove into it headfirst.

Describe your experience working as a resident director at Fordham.
What I loved when I was a resident director is those were super-driven, super-focused students. I saw these students from all over the country who were just bright and creative. It was an inspiration to be around those students, to be honest. It was just a good time, watching students learn and grow and succeed and thrive. I really cherish my time at Rose Hill.

What was your light-bulb moment for starting LA Room & Board?
When I moved to California in 2013 and started to pursue my doctorate, I felt like the issues of student homelessness and student hunger really became salient to me. When you think about student homelessness, people think abject people on the streets, but for students, how it presents is sleeping in your car, couch-surfing, or sometimes even living in a shelter.

I read this book called Back to School: Why Everyone Deserves a Second Chance at Education, and it changed everything for me. People were struggling to get through school, but they were hungry about getting their education. This life and economics just got the best of them. That book made me think about my students at California State, and it made me think about my own experiences, and I was like, “I’ve got to do something about this. I can’t let this go on.”

So what’s the deal? Why is this such a problem?
A lot of the conversation about higher education has been about college access. How do we swing open the doors to the ivory tower? How do we make them wider so that more folks who have been historically excluded from this space can have access?

All these different “bridge” and opportunity programs get students into the university, but we’re still having an issue getting students to graduate. It’s not because they’re not smart. It’s not because they don’t have the intelligence. It’s because they’re dealing with so much else. You’re working 40 hours a week to help with your finances at your home. Well, it’s hard to be a good student when you are trying to support your family. Our students are struggling with their basic needs: housing, food.

Opportunity House opened last September. What does it mean for students to live there?
We guarantee housing for two years. The students pay $300 a month. In addition to providing housing, we partner with a restaurant in LA called Everytable to provide two meals daily to students who need them. We provide a comprehensive set of support services that include tutoring and academic coaching and workshops on financial literacy.

We offer mental health and wellness services to make sure our students are grounded and that we create a culture of wellness and self-care, emphasizing the importance of therapy and mental health. We also have job readiness and career development, mentoring and leadership development, workshops for our students that talk about life skills—how to become a leader in your own personal life.

It’s not just about housing for us. It’s about how can we set them up for success—inside the classroom, in the marketplace, in their personal lives, in their community.

How are you getting the word out to students in need?
We partner with the colleges and universities across LA, and so we’ll tap into the state’s Educational Opportunity Program. We’ll tap into the Guardian Scholars Program, which is designed to support current and former foster youth in college. We’ll say, “Hey, if you learn about a student who is experiencing homelessness, let us be a resource.” We talked to UCLA. We talked to a couple of local and nearby community colleges. Somehow the word got out: We ended up having 300, almost 400, people apply for 53 spots.

Are there other housing solutions your nonprofit is exploring?
We’re not advocating for the construction of new buildings per se; we’re trying solidly to maximize the space that already exists. There are empty spaces like the Opportunity House or our forthcoming Pasadena location, but are there empty dorm rooms that can be used? How do we partner with colleges and universities to reimagine the use of those spaces, where we buy the spaces as a nonprofit, and then place students who need housing in those spaces. We’re looking for all the open spaces that we can find.

Before the pandemic, one in five community college students were experiencing housing insecurity and homelessness. Since the pandemic, nearly three in five are experiencing housing insecurity, so there is just a tremendous amount of need.

So, what’s the big picture?
Student hunger and homelessness are real, and if we don’t act now, lives and dreams will be cut short. California is projected to have a deficit of 1 million college-educated workers by 2030. All of us are going to feel that pain. If we can’t get folks to work, and if we have a workforce that is short a million folks, then all of us are going to have to deal with the impact of that.

Also, if you look at homelessness as a pipeline issue, what we’re doing is prevention. This is the work that helps folks before things get worse. It would be awesome if we had Manhattan Room & Board or Brooklyn Room & Board or New York City Room & Board—anywhere. We can do this work anyplace because the need is everywhere.

Interview conducted, edited, and condensed by Sierra McCleary-Harris.

“Father Koterski was a model Jesuit, an exemplary priest, a companion both in the Society of Jesus and in our mission, and a dear friend,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham. “Wonderfully, he had the kind of death every priest prays for: He died while he was speaking from the heart of the Lord whom he loved and served all his life. He is now at home with that same Lord.”

In 1992, Father Koterski joined Fordham’s philosophy department. Over the next three decades, he held many positions, including chair of the philosophy department, director of the master’s program in philosophical resources, and secretary of the Faculty Senate. He taught more than 20 undergraduate and graduate courses in metaphysics, ethics, and the history of medieval philosophy, including two specialized courses for the honors program. He was awarded several honors himself, including a summer faculty fellowship and an undergraduate teaching award. 

“Father McShane would sometimes comment, ‘Koterski never sleeps.’ You just wonder where he got all the time to do all that he’s doing: teaching his classes, living and working at Queen’s Court, and all that he does for his students,” said Thomas Scirghi, S.J., associate professor of theology.  

At the time of his death, Father Koterski served as associate professor of philosophy and editor in chief of International Philosophical Quarterly, a Fordham peer-reviewed philosophy journal. He was also the master of Queen’s Court Residential College, where he served as an academic adviser and counselor for first-year students over the past two decades. 

For as much as he taught his students, he learned much from them as well. Twice a year, he hosted a formal student debate at Queen’s Court. Four nights a week, he hosted “Knight Court,” where students presented any subject of their choice for 10 minutes. One student taught him the rules of rugby; another taught him how to calculate wind chill factor. A third student introduced him to Bollywood and performed a song in a male and falsetto voice. He also accompanied students on Broadway trips, including “Phantom of the Opera” and “How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying.” 

“We have oodles of fun together. But the [main]idea is integrating their studies and social life,” Father Koterski said in a 2012 “Jesuits in Conversation” video. 

Father Koterski was an Ohio native who grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree in classical languages from Xavier University. He earned three advanced degrees—a master’s in philosophy, a doctor of philosophy, and a master of divinity—from Saint Louis University and the Weston School of Theology, now known as the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. In 1984, he entered the Society of Jesus at age 30. Eight years later, he was ordained a priest. 

“I think of myself as part of the late bloomers’ club,” Father Koterski said in 2012, “and I’d love to encourage anybody else to join the club.” 

In phone interviews, his colleagues described him as a fun-loving fellow with a deeply resonant voice that could have belonged to a radio announcer. He was a reticent man who avoided small talk, said Father Scirghi, but once he started talking about academia or societal issues, conversation easily flowed. He combined faith and fun in his teaching, including one Halloween where students gathered at the Jesuit cemetery on the Rose Hill campus and learned about the holiday’s religious significance while sipping hot apple cider, said Father Scirghi. But what stood out about Father Koterski, said those who knew him, was his generosity. 

“He had an office a few doors down from me. He would be in there for long hours, meeting with students during office hours and outside of office hours, giving spiritual direction to people over the phone or on Zoom,” said Stephen Grimm, Ph.D., professor of philosophy. “He was always willing to help when there were any problems to deal with.” 

In addition, he stayed in touch with prior students and continued to guide them, said an alumnus.  

“A few years after I graduated, I took a more serious approach to my faith, and Father Koterski made himself available. He was willing to talk through difficult issues and approach things with intellectual rigor, but more importantly, a gentle spirit,” said Jared Woodard, GSAS ’13. 

Outside of Fordham, Father Koterski lived a rich academic life that spanned the U.S. and several continents. He traveled to California, Texas, Missouri, Hong Kong, England, and Guam to teach courses on subjects he cared deeply about. He regularly went to Haiti for missionary work, and he often worked with groups of nuns around New York, where he presided at Mass or led retreats. He served in leadership positions for many religious and academic organizations, including a two-term presidency of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars. His sixty-page curriculum vitae is a testament to the hundreds of books, articles, homilies, lectures, and conferences that encompassed his life.

“While an outstanding scholar and teacher, Father Joe Koterski was above all else a Jesuit priest. In Psalm 85(86), David prays, ‘Domine…simplex fac cor meum’ (O Lord…make my heart simple): a line that sums up Father Koterski’s life,” his longtime friend John Kezel, retired director of the Campion Institute, wrote in an email. “He was simply always there when you needed him—for advice, for companionship, for prayer. In all my years of friendship, I never heard Father Joseph Koterski say ‘no’ to anyone.”

In a 2015 interview with America Magazine, a reporter asked Father Koterski what he wanted people to take away from his life and work. 

“A greater love for God, a greater desire for union with Jesus Christ, a greater respect for the teachings of the church and a greater ability to reason in a sound way as a grateful response to God’s gift to us of the power of reasoning,” he said. 

Father Koterski’s wake will be held on Tuesday, August 17, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the University Church, located at 2691 Southern Blvd, Bronx, N.Y., 10458. The funeral will begin at 11 a.m. at the same location. Proof of vaccination must be provided for admittance to campus. Per Fordham University policy, masks must be worn while in the University Church. If driving, please enter through the gate on Southern Boulevard, across from the New York Botanical Garden.

—Chris Gosier contributed reporting to this story.

Queens Court, the three-building complex comprised of St. John’s, St. Robert’s and Bishop’s Halls on Fordham’s Rose Hill campus, beat ten other residence halls at Rose Hill and Lincoln Center in the University’s first RecycleMania contest.

The ten-week long national competition wrapped up last week, and when the final numbers were tabulated, Queens Court had recycled both the most paper and cardboard at 35.93 pounds per person, and the most glass, metal and plastic, at 42.22 pounds per person.

McMahon Hall, the lone residence hall at Lincoln Center campus, took home first prize for an achievement of the opposite sort: Residents there generated the least amount of trash generated over all, at 84.15 pounds per person.

This is the first year Fordham participated in the contest, in the informal “Benchmark” division. Rounding out the rest of the results were:

Paper/cardboard:

1. Queens Court: 35.93 pounds per person, or 4,850 pounds total

2. Campbell Hall: 27.51 pounds per person, or 7,570 pounds total

2. Walsh Hall: 26.32 pounds per person, or 10,950 pounds total

Glass/metal/plastic

1. Queens Court: 42.22 pounds per person, or 5,699 pounds total

2. Salice-Conley Hall: 39.13 pounds per person, or 8,765 pounds total

3. Campbell Hall: 38.91 pounds per person, or 8,133 pounds total

Trash

1. McMahon Hall: 84.15 pounds per person, or 74,137 pounds total

2. Loschert Hall: 115.28 pounds per person, or 29,512 pounds total

3. Alumni South: 122.93 pounds per person, or 37,125 pounds total

While the rest of the residence halls were not far behind the leaders, there were some exceptions. Martyr’s Court, for instance, recycled 17.23 pounds of paper and cardboard per person and 22.90 pounds of glass, metal and plastic per person. Those weren’t the lowest numbers for either category—those honors belong to McMahon Hall and Tierney Hall, respectively—but they do help explain another number: 482.11, the number of pounds of trash generated per person there.

Robert Freda, director of the Custodial Services department, said two issues were at play at Martyr’s Court that they would work with the Department of Residential Life to address. Although magnetic signs distributed by RecycleMania were posted around the building, he said student awareness could be improved.

They also need to re-examine the locations of the collection bins in Martyr’s Court. Because some of the closets where trash is collected are not big enough to also accommodate recycling bins, Freda noted that some of the bins had to be placed in lounges instead. That absence of consistency, and not residents’ apathy, was probably the cause of the spike in trash.

“The containers are there for recycling, but we want to make it as easy as we can for students to know where they are,” he said.

All told, the average diversion rate over the past ten weeks for the residence halls was about 22 percent, according to Great Forest, a consulting firm that crunched the numbers for Fordham. So the competition provided a good look at the ratio of trash to recyclables generated overall from the residence halls.