His story is now on display at Quinn Library at Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus in a new exhibit “Have a Heart: Friendship and Activism of Jesùs Lebròn.” Lebròn donated his papers, artifacts, and more to the Bronx County Historical Society Research Library, where the exhibit was first displayed. It was curated by his friend and fellow activist Brendan Fay, as well as Steven Payne, director of the Bronx County Historical Society, who received his Ph.D. at Fordham in 2019.

Professor Karina Hogan, who helped bring the exhibit to Fordham, saw it first at Bronx Community College and said seeing it and speaking to Lebròn and Fay afterwards had a huge impact on her and the development of her Religion in NYC course.

“It was transformative for me,” she said. “I thought, ‘Oh it would be so cool to try to get the exhibit here because it’s so related to what I was teaching in my class.’”

Fighting Against the Defense of Marriage Act

The exhibit tells the story of Lebròn, who was born in the South Bronx, and how his work impacted LGBTQ rights in the U.S. In 1985, he became the manager of the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop in Greenwich Village in Manhattan, which was the first to sell LGBTQ-themed books. It was there that he met Fay, who became a friend and fellow activist in fighting for LGBTQ+ rights.

Lebròn got involved locally, starting Gay & Lesbian Advocates for Change, the first group in New York to ask political candidates about their stance on gay marriage. Following the passage of the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, Lebròn co-founded an organization called Marriage Equality, which grew to more than 40,000 members across various states, and organized educational and political campaigns. He led all of these efforts despite being diagnosed in 1991 with AIDS, which he’s lived with ever since.

The Civil Marriage Trail

In 2003, Lebròn and Fay started the Civil Marriage Trail Project, which helped LGBTQ couples travel to Canada—and eventually Massachusetts and Connecticut—to marry where it was legal. One of the couples who used the trail was Edie Windsor and Thea Spyer. After Spyer died in 2009, Windsor’s legal efforts for her wife’s estate traveled to the Supreme Court, which ruled in her favor in United States v. Windsor in 2013. That case laid the groundwork for Obergefell v. Hodges two years later which legalized marriage equality.

Local History, National Impact

Hogan said that she hopes the exhibit will help students and community members understand the connections between local history and national impact.

“We owe a lot to these two guys, especially to Jesùs Lebròn, who was this kid who came up out of poverty in the South Bronx,” she said. “They had such a huge impact on American history and nobody even knows about it.”

The exhibit was opened at the Ignatian Q conference and will be on display at the library through the end of June.

Thanks to a recent renovation, the second floor of the Lowenstein Center is home to a brand new welcome center for undergraduate admission, where potential Rams can learn about all that Fordham has to offer.

For decades, the admission office at Lincoln Center served as the place where staff greeted visitors and staged tours. But the space was confined to a few small offices adjacent to the second-floor lounge, and in recent years it had become difficult to accommodate a growing number of guests.

In the 2017-2018 academic year, admission staff welcomed more than 14,000 visitors to the Lincoln Center campus. That included nearly 6,000 prospective students—a 68 percent increase in student visitors from 2010.

The new welcome center, which remains on the second floor of Lowenstein, is designed to comfortably accommodate many more people than before. Its offices have been reconfigured, and the space has expanded to include a large presentation room with a state-of-the-art display screen, a workspace for student employees, and a new seating/reception area. 

“The new space gives us an opportunity to greet prospective students and their families in a way that is far more gracious and inviting than we have been in the past,” said John Buckley, vice president for admission and student financial services.

The renovated center has replaced what used to be the second-floor lounge. But the University has taken several proactive steps to maintain the amount of study space available to students. A new lounge on the plaza level (PL-100) was recently opened and offers ample seating. And there are additional lounge options on campus, both in Lowenstein and in 140 West.

Three new seating areas are also currently being installed, said Frank Simio, vice president for Lincoln Center. In the west wing of Lowenstein’s third floor, there will be 24 new seats, along with electric outlets for laptops and phone chargers. In the Quinn Library, there will close to an additional 100 seats available in quiet study areas. And on the eighth floor of Lowenstein, there will be a smaller seating area, also with electrical outlets. The first two areas will be available to students before final exams begin.

The seats in the library will be in QuinnX (an abbreviation for Quinn Annex), an open stack area that holds more than 260,000 titles. It is located down the law corridor from the library entrance.

“Opening QuinnX answers the need for additional quiet study space for Lincoln Center students and provides for open browsing of the stacks, which is so valuable to faculty and researchers,” said Linda LoSchiavo, director of University Libraries.

The new admission welcome center will open for business this month. In celebration, the center will host a reception with refreshments for students and staff on a date to be determined. 

Wed., Nov 2 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.Once considered the ugly stepchild of original source material and the bane of professors, Wikipedia has evolved into go-to source of in-depth information on the internet.

Now, a group of Fordham librarians is spreading the word that Wiki is not only reliable, but continues to evolve into a high-quality source of information sharing.

Next week, the librarians will hold a Fordham-focused edit-a-thon on Wed., Nov. 2 from 12 noon to 3 p.m. The event will take place in Lab 047 at the William D. Walsh Family Library on the Rose Hill campus.

According to Wikipedia, an edit-a-thon “is an organized event where editors edit and improve a specific topic or type of content, typically including basic editing training for new editors.”

In celebration of Fordham’s Dodransbicentennial, the librarians have chosen University history as the topic. The intent is to beef up citations for existing Wikipedia articles, and to add content that may have been overlooked—such as the history of women and minorities at the University, said Shira Atkinson, who works at Quinn Library as the scholarly communications and distance learning librarian.

Another benefit of the event will be three hours of training on Wikipedia for professors, students, and staff. No prior experience is necessary. A representative from Wikimedia New York City will be on hand for the training.

Wikimedia “is a global movement whose mission is to bring free educational content to the world.” Through its various chapters, the group has held edit-a-thons on a variety of topics and for a variety of organizations. Last month an edit-a-thon focused on African-American history. In June there are edit-a-thons to build up LGBTQ history.

“At MoMA they held one that helped expose hidden resources at the museum,” said Elizabeth Karg, emerging technologies librarian at Fordham Libraries. “For a large and complex organization like Fordham, this very important. A couple of our schools don’t even have a Wikipedia article and several of our notable faculty are missing.”

Timothy Ryan Mendenhall, metadata librarian at Fordham Libraries, said that participants will start by setting up account and making their first edits. They’ll then move toward best practices and learn how to make entries that meet Wikipedia’s increasingly stringent standards.

“There’s a huge community out there that goes through the cue of articles and decides which ones are good,” said Karg. “Once it’s taken from there it’ll go on the web. After that, simple things like enriching citations make the article better.”

Mendenhall said that edits can be done by anyone with an account at any time. He added that faculty-directed class projects on the site can help build the Wiki community and improve the quality of the site.

The librarians said they understood there is a lingering reticence on the part of the research faculty to encourage students to use Wikipedia, but they insist that the site is a far cry from what it once was.

Mendenhall said that having an article on a topic, person, organization, or event in Wikipedia can greatly increase its prominence in Google search results,

“This make  Wikipedia a crucial gateway for the online representation of an organization like Fordham,” he said. “But beyond the University, it’s crucial that scholars leverage Wikipedia to improve global knowledge of underrepresented topics.”

“The fact is that articles are promoted by Google, and we all use it almost every single day,” said Karg.

“Students may not want to admit they use it, but they do,” added Atkinson. “If you show them how to better use it, they’ll understand what the information limits are.”

It was dark and dreary, but the old Quinn Library held fond memories for generations of Lincoln Center students—even if it wasn’t an ideal place to study.

Now, instead of one rambling open floor plan down on the lower level, lit entirely by florescent lights, a new Quinn Library staggers across three floors and opens to the sun.

“For years we were removed from weather and time,” said Linda LoSchiavo, director of Fordham Libraries. “The big joke became if someone came in with a wet umbrella we’d say, ‘Oh, it must be raining.’ Just the fact that there are now windows and sunlight pouring into this building is a sea change.”

The new library reflects the urbanity of a vertical campus in Manhattan, said LoSchiavo. Situated in the freshly renovated 140 West 62nd Street building, the new library is a funky mix of building materials, with curvaceous metallic grids and wood panels dropping from the ceiling, and multi-colored patterns popping up from the floor.

“The campuses have their own distinct feel: Rose Hill is more the ivy-covered halls of academe and the Walsh Library reflects that, whereas Lincoln Center has an edgier feel,” she said. “We wanted something that picked up the pulse of the campus and the neighborhood. I think we achieved that.”

The library’s main level can be accessed from Robert Moses Plaza, where one enters a two-story atrium-like space with a balcony and catwalk that hover above the library’s lower level. The lower level has a community-focused room with access to the stacks, coffee, and conversation. Called the “Learning Commons,” it’s open 24 hours a day, Sunday through Thursday.

Just beyond glass doors on the balcony level sits the circulation desk, a staff area, and computers and study tables. On the third level is the “Quiet Zone” with private booths, tables, and six study rooms, four of which are equipped with smart technology.

More than 80,000 books have been moved to the new library, while more than a quarter million books will stay behind in the old, lower level space , now called Quinn X. Any book published before the year 2000 will stay at Quinn X, while all books published since 2000 have been moved to the new Quinn. The staff will retrieve books requested from QuinnX.

“It was a considerable achievement to tag 260,000 books with Quinn X stickers,” said Robert Allen, assistant director of Fordham Libraries. “We started in the summer of 2015 with teams of students putting the stickers on.”

A Manhattan Library with Roots in the Bronx (and Kentucky)

The actual move was done over the summer. It revealed quite a bit about the history of the Lincoln Center library, which is inextricably linked to the history of Fordham’s libraries in the Bronx and other long-gone Fordham libraries housed in former Manhattan locations, said Patrice Kane, head of Archives and Special Collections.

Many Fordham students are aware that, in the 1840s, Edgar Allan Poe was given free rein to use the college’s library when he visited to play cards with the Jesuits, who had brought their books with them from Kentucky when they started the university.

Eventually Duane Library housed the growing collection, until 1997 when the Walsh Library was opened. But in the early part of the 20th century, the Law School, the Business School, and the School of Social Service grew their book collections in their various locations in downtown Manhattan. (The social service library shared its collection with students from Dorothy Day’s School for the Catholic Worker.)

When the downtown collections were moved to Lowenstein in 1968, they barely filled the miles of empty shelves. So a request was made to Duane Library to send books.

Now nearly 50 years later, the renovation has rustled books from their sleepy shelves, revealing a few treasures here and there, like an 1896 edition of Pudd’nhead Wilson by Mark Twain.

The Mark Twain edition speaks to a 175-year legacy that makes up an extremely comprehensive liberal arts collection, said LoSchiavo, to say nothing of philosophy and theology.

“It is a testament to the faculty and the staff of the library, for the last 175 years, that we have the magnificent collection that we do,” she said. “I am often stunned when I see a book cited as a source, I’ll think, ‘I wonder if we have that?’ I’ll check and find that we do.

“That’s because of the combined knowledge, over 175 years, that has gone into putting the collection together.”

The blessing and ribbon cutting ceremony, which was held inside the airy Platt Court atrium, was the official kickoff for what is the building’s third act. It first opened in 1961 as the home of the School of Law, was expanded in 1985, and was fully vacated in 2014, when the law school moved into its new home just west of the old building.

After a gut renovation, the new building, dubbed 140 West, now serves as home for the Gabelli School of Business, the Quinn Library, and a student center.

At a dinner celebration, Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, said the new renovation had, along with the newly constructed Law School and McKeon Hall, finally created a vibrant, all encompassing campus.

One way this was accomplished was the addition of an entrance to 140 West on the side facing the Robert Moses plaza; in the past, it was only accessible via the West 62nd Street side.

He said that, when looking out from his second floor office at the Lowenstein Center, he’s noticed more students than ever enjoying themselves on the plaza. It now feels like a traditional quad.

What distinguishes Fordham, he said, is the way students seamlessly move from intellectual formation to character formation to networks to friendship building.

“Every day you convince us that what we’re doing is important, noble, sacred, and world changing,” he said, thanking the students in attendance. “Every day we see you dreaming, and going beyond dreaming to action. You redeem for us every day our belief in the values and the core vision that is behind everything that Fordham has tried to do for 175 years.”

Bob Daleo, chair of the board of trustees, called the renovation a key strategic move that has created much-needed space for students. The addition of the law school and the renovation of 140 West 62nd Street added a total of 570,000 square feet to the campus.

“We have gone from a vertical campus, which was the essence of the Lowenstein Center, to a real campus here where students go from building to building, and into a library [that]is now filled with light,” he said. The previous location of the library was in a windowless, below-ground area of the campus.

Fordham College at Lincoln Center senior Tyler Tagliaferro lent his bagpipe-playing skills to the ceremony with a rendition of The Ram. A native of Cleveland who plays competitively, he said he’s also taken advantage of living at the Lincoln Center campus by busking in Central Park.

The reopening of the building came at a perfect time for him, he said.

“I love that they’ve opened this plaza in front of the school, and that we can use more of the green space on campus,” he said.

We stopped by the newly finished space the day before faculty and administrators began moving into the new building.

Chillers installed on the top floor of the future home for the Gabelli School of Business at Lincoln Center, the Quinn Library, and Fordham College at Lincoln Center will convert steam from Con Edison’s 14th Street cogeneration plant.

On May 5th, representatives from the utility presented Fordham’s facilities management department with a check for $225,600, which the University will use to defray the costs of installing the chillers. When it opens, the building will be the second one on the Lincoln Center campus, along with the Lowenstein Center, to use steam to power its air conditioners.

Marco Valera, vice president for facilities, said the University has also negotiated a preferred rate for the steam, making it ideal for the building, which was completely gut-renovated.

“It allowed us to take advantage of what would be waste steam that ConEd generates. So in many ways it’s very green. We’re taking something that would not be utilized, and we’re using it in lieu of electrical power,” he said.

“By negotiating a preferred rate as well as a preliminary discount on the equipment, we’ve managed to have a return on investment of the physical plant of under 10 years, which is very good for an engineering plant.”

Charles Viemester, manager of steam business development at ConEd, said that the steam that New Yorkers occasionally see coming out of the distinct candy-stripe towers atop manhole covers offsets just short of 300 megawatts of electrical power in the summer, thanks to installations such as Fordham’s.

“You’re putting a very efficient energy source into the building, and by staying with steam, you’re keeping your carbon footprint down, too,” he said.

“Anytime you see a tall building, you’re probably looking at a place that’s sourced by steam. Steam is a very efficient way of getting energy up to the top of these tall buildings. The system has been in place for 137 years, and yet it is still finding new uses and new benefits to bring to the city.

Pictured: Deborah L. Russelli, director of business operations in the Office of the Vice President for Facilities Management; Fran Rooney, senior analyst, energy efficiency, Luthin Associates Energy Management Consulting; Marco Valera, vice present of facilities at Fordham; Joseph Scaltro, director of engineering services at Lincoln Center; Charles Viemester, manager steam business development at Con Edison; David Pospisil, manager, Commercial & Industrial Energy Efficiency Programs, Con Edison; Michelle D’Angelo, engineer, steam services, Con Edison; and Scott Springer, operations manager, commercial energy efficiency and demand management programs, Con Edison

The sale is a strong indicator of the University’s financial health, according to Martha Hirst, Fordham’s senior vice president, chief financial officer, and treasurer.

The offering was done via the New York State Dormitory Authority and overseen by Morgan Stanley. The sale achieved three outcomes that will benefit the University:
•    Refinancing the $50 million maturity from a bond issued in 2011 at a lower interest rate;
•    Refinancing in advance of the due date bonds that were issued in 2008;
•    Freeing up $15 million in new funds to help finance the completion of the renovation of 140 West 62nd Street at the Lincoln Center campus.

Assistant Treasurer Bob Steves said the University’s move is similar to when homeowners refinance their mortgage when interest rates are low.

“When you issue tax-exempt bonds, there are some limitations as to how often you can sell, or when you can do it relative to when you originally borrowed the money. To make it worthwhile, the market has to have improved significantly from when you originally issued the bond,” he said.

“By combining these three opportunities, we were able to reduce the administrative cost of this borrowing.”

He noted that the $15 million figure was chosen based on the amount the University saved by refinancing the 2008 and 2011 bonds.

“We were very sensitive to our position in the marketplace, and sensitive to the budgetary needs of the University,” he said. “We wanted a situation where we could raise the capital without increasing the debt burden on the University.”

Current market interest rates provided that opportunity, he said. “Thanks to the sale we’re estimating the University’s interest payments over the next five years to be about $1 million less than if it had stayed the course.”

Timing wasn’t everything though. Fordham received an A2 rating from Moody’s and an A rating from Standard & Poor’s, he said, but was able to secure even lower interest rates than would normally be granted on such ratings.

Martha Hirst, chief financial officer for the University, compared it to winning a gold medal instead of a bronze it was predicted to win.

“It’s a measure of the investor’s community having confidence in the strength and solidity of Fordham as an institution to invest in,” she said.

A major shelving installation project, said Quinn Library Director Linda LoSchiavo, is scheduled to be finished by the beginning of the academic term.

The project, which has been underway all month, will enable the Library to house approximately 290,000 books on electrically operated high density shelving systems replacing stationary shelving. It will boost the library’s total potential capacity to 562,000 volumes.

Currently, the library stores 400,000 volumes.

The new shelving will be used to expand the Quinn collection as well as to hold a portion of the present collection of law library books while the new law school is built. The old law school and its library will undergo a major overhaul to create new space for Quinn Library and Fordham-Lincoln Center’s other professional schools.

LoSchiavo said that Clancy-Cullen Movers have been transporting approximately 10,000 books a day to the new shelves, which are compressed on moveable tracks.

“This type of shelving gets a lot of volume into a lot less space,” she said.

In an effort to conserve, the university had its existing metal shelves taken off and put in the moveable frames, she said.

Once the books are moved, the Quinn Library will get a mini-facelift: new carpeting, new paint, new lighting and a re-configuring of the reading and study areas.

And quiet, of course.

—Janet Sassi