In their first home game of the season, the undefeated Rams did not disappoint, rallying for 21 fourth-quarter points to secure a thrilling 48-45 victory before an enthusiastic crowd on Jack Coffey Field.

“Each and every visit is better than the one before,” said Julie (D’Attilio) Gautam, who has been coming back to campus since she earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from Fordham in 1989. “I think it looks beautiful, and I’m really excited for the next phase—the new president and bringing all of this incredible investment to building together without losing the spirit and history.”

Gautam’s son, Brij, is now a junior in the Gabelli School of Business, and on Saturday, she arrived early with her husband, Manish, and their daughter, Jaya, to take part in a campus tour led by Patricia Peek, Ph.D., FCRH ’90, GSAS ’92, ’07, dean of undergraduate admission.

“I’m a senior in high school right now, but I’ve been coming to Homecoming my whole life, so I feel like I know the school, and I love the school, so I’m very excited to apply,” Jaya said after the tour, which was co-led by Ben Reilly, a Fordham College at Rose Hill senior.

Near the residence halls, Peek and Reilly joked that students might be sleeping in a bit after the semiformal President’s Ball, which kicked off at 9 p.m. on Friday and didn’t end until 1 in the morning. About 4,000 undergraduates from the Lincoln Center and Rose Hill campuses—the most to date—enjoyed dancing and refreshments under the tents on Edwards Parade, many getting their first chance to meet Fordham’s new president.

Meanwhile, recent graduates kicked off Homecoming weekend downtown with the Young Alumni Yacht Cruise on Friday night. The annual event, open this year to graduates from the classes of 2012 through 2022, drew about 800 alumni and friends. Together, they cruised around lower Manhattan while enjoying cocktails, dancing, and a buffet dinner.

And They’re Off

By 9 a.m. on Saturday, a few dozen members of the Fordham community had taken their marks near the McShane Campus Center for the 11th annual 5K Ram Run. Runners completed three loops around campus before finishing by the Victory Bell in front of the historic Rose Hill Gymnasium.

Michael Parrinello, a junior studying finance, ran with his sister, Lauren, for the second year in a row, as their parents, Michael and Theresa, cheered them on from sidelines. “It’s a fun time,” Michael Sr. said. “They look forward to the race, and we’re looking forward to the football game.”

Shannon Baurkot, a senior studying applied mathematics, was fired up to join alumni in the race. After her first lap, she leaped into the air to high-five Ramses, the Fordham mascot, before continuing down Constitution Row toward the University Church.

“It was a lot of fun,” she said. “Honestly, it’s just such a great way to start Homecoming; I couldn’t have asked for a better way.”

Welcoming a New President

After the Ram Run and campus tour, alumni and guests gathered in the Great Hall of the McShane Campus Center, where President Tania Tetlow shared some words of welcome in a fireside-style chat with Sally Benner, FCRH ’84, chair of the Fordham University Alumni Association (FUAA) Advisory Board.

The discussion came a few days after Tetlow’s first State of the University address, where she emphasized the power of the University as a “force multiplier” and an “agent of change.”

“When you look at the trajectory of schools, the ones where alumni really invest—and by that I mean in all of the ways that you do—those are the ones that lean forward,” Tetlow told the Homecoming audience. “So, the fact that Fordham alumni are so engaged, that they want to pay forward the opportunity they received here, that they care so much about this place, that’s a big part of why we are where we are today.”

Field Full of Memories

After the session, Tetlow headed to Edwards Parade to greet alumni, students, families, and friends as they entered the Homecoming tents. More than 2,000 people enjoyed boxed lunches, drinks, games, music, and even some shopping for Fordham-themed jewelry and swag while catching up with each other and learning about upcoming alumni events and one of the University’s newest alumni affinity groups.

As he hung out in the loyal donor tent, Richard Calabrese, FCRH ’72, recalled his days playing quarterback on an intramural football team. “On this very field,” he said, “there are good memories. It was fun. Our fall afternoons were great.”

Homecoming fell on roughly the same date that Calabrese and his wife, Angela, a 1972 College of New Rochelle graduate, met at an on-campus party more than five decades ago. They come to Homecoming every few years from their Florida home. “Today is probably going to be the best experience we’ve ever had here—based on the people we’re with, and the weather,” he said.

He and Angela were visiting with their friends Jacqueline and Fred Schwanwede, both members of the Class of 1972 who were on the sailing team as students.

Asked about his best Fordham memory, Fred pointed to Jacqueline and said just two words: “meeting her.”

Across the grass, in the family tent, Michelle Acosta, FCRH ’98, and her husband, Mark, sat with their 6-year-old daughter, Valentina, who’d availed herself of the face painting station. The couple got married at the University Church in 2010, and Michelle, a philosophy major who has since gone on to practice law on Long Island, had made it a point to come to just about every Homecoming. After a three-year hiatus, she said it was great to be back.

“It truly feels like coming home. There’s the familiar sights, the familiar energy, and there are also new things I haven’t had a chance to check out since the last timeI was here,” she said.

“Valentina has seen all the pictures of our wedding and we like to take her back there, too, to see the church where we got married. I think she definitely can participate more and she’ll have more of a memory. The last time we went to the football game, she was so little, and she was afraid of the Ram. I don’t think that’ll happen this year,” she said laughing.

Harnessing the Spirit of Homecoming to Spread Awareness

Elsewhere, in the main tent, J. Iris Kim, GABELLI ’07, and Mark Son, LAW ’10, helmed a table where they spoke with alumni and students about the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) alumni chapter, established in 2020 by Christopher P. Lee, FCRH ’71, LAW ’79, amid rising incidents of anti-Asian aggression across New York City and the country.

It’s been a little challenging for them to connect with alumni in person during the pandemic, which is why Kim and Son, two of the group’s co-leaders, decided to set up a table at this year’s Homecoming.

“We want to promote AAPI issues and just awareness of our presence on campus,” Kim said. “We’re relatively new, so we’re just really trying to get our name out there. We’re also hoping to connect with some of the student groups on campus, so we can have that connection with the students who will become alums.”

Son said that they’ve been advocating and supporting work taking place at the University toward creating an Asian American studies program. With support from two University grants—an Arts & Sciences Deans’ Challenge Grant and a Teaching Race Across the Curriculum Grant from the chief diversity officer—a group of Fordham professors is currently developing a curriculum for a minor in the subject.

“May is AAPI Heritage Month, so we’ve been celebrating every year,” said Son, who noted that the group is also working to add programming and partnerships, including with the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and Fordham Law School’s Center on Asian Americans and the Law. The goal of all this work, he said, is to build Fordham pride and “get more people to come out and support these issues.”

Alumni Bookworms Are Back for Round Two

Other attendees stopped by a table piled high with copies of The Complicities, the new novel from Stacey D’Erasmo, associate professor of English at Fordham University. Chosen for the latest Forever Fordham Alumni Book Club, The Complicities tells the story of Suzanne Flaherty, a woman attempting to rebuild her life after her now ex-husband is found guilty of financial crimes and sentenced to prison.

Maureen Corrigan-Connell, GRE ’94, ’95, a Yonkers-based Montessori teacher, said she’s looking forward to reading D’Erasmo’s other books after she finishes The Complicities. She decided to read the novel, and join the alumni book club, in memory of her husband, John, a 1974 graduate of Fordham College at Rose Hill who was an avid reader.

She’s also enjoying the break from education books.

“When the school year is in, it’s education books and all things Montessori, so I must say that when I do pick up a book I like a certain amount of romance, fiction, and history that dates to a place that I haven’t been.”

Tales from the Tailgate

In the parking lot, Blaine and Missy Lavergne were enjoying their first time tailgating on the Rose Hill campus. The couple, natives of Lafayette, Louisiana, were there to support their daughter Maggie, a first-year Fordham College at Lincoln Center student and a member of the cheerleading squad.

The Lavergnes are big Louisiana State University fans, but for the occasion, they were dressed to the hilt in maroon. Both sported custom-made sneakers with the Fordham logo that one of their other daughters had made for the occasion, and Blaine had fashioned a Fordham flag into a cape. Their spread was merely a test run for Family Weekend on October 1, when they plan to return with the whole family to cheer on Fordham football against Georgetown.

“Maggie interviewed at all of these out-of-state schools, and she just fell in love with Fordham,” Blaine said. “As a Catholic dad, it just fired me up that she would choose a Catholic university. She’s in the best of both worlds: She’s here at a traditional campus, and she gets the beauty of New York and Broadway in Manhattan. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

A few spots away, Lea O’Rourke, a senior at the Gabelli School of Business, was playing cornhole and enjoying coffee and bagels with friends and her parents, Barbara and Kevin. Barbara’s father, Marc Angelillo Jr., FCLC ‘50, played football when he was an undergraduate, and she has fond memories of visiting Rose Hill as a child.

“We grew up coming to the alumni weekends, where he would reconnect with all of his friends,” she said. “My father would drag all six children here and we would enjoy the day.”

For Leah, this year’s Homecoming felt like a long time coming. She attended her first in 2019, but she didn’t know many people at the time, and for the past two years, the pandemic made it challenging to really enjoy the day.

“I am ready for the first of the last tailgates. They are so well put together by my mom, and I’m just so excited. It’s crazy that that was my freshman year,” she said remembering 2019, “and now we’re here.”

Rams Remain Undefeated

At 1 p.m., fans made their way to Jack Coffey Field to watch the then 2-0 Rams take on the University at Albany Great Danes. The Rams jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, but they soon fell behind in what became a back-and-forth contest.

Staring at an 11-point deficit with 15 minutes to go, senior quarterback Tim DeMorat was unfazed. He led his team to a 21-point fourth quarter and a thrilling 48-45 victory. The win brought the Rams to 3-0 on the season—the team’s best start since 2013, when Fordham advanced to the second round of the FCS playoffs and finished the year ranked No. 10 in the country.

John J. Pettenati, FCRH ’81, took in the action on the field from the roof of one of the trailers reserved for members of the Maroon Club. A history major who would go on to work in the banking industry, he’s been a season ticket holder since his days as an undergraduate.

“We are a football school,” he said. “And it’s great, bringing alumni and students together in the fall. To me, this is the easiest thing to do. I mean, it’s not terribly expensive, it’s entertaining, I’m supporting my college, and I’m outside. Those are all wonderful things.”

From Oct. 1 to 4, hundreds of alumni, family, and friends—from as far as Germany—tuned in for an expanded series of virtual events that drew on some of the best-loved Homecoming traditions, like the 5K Ram Run and tailgate parties, and included a “pub” trivia competition, updates on academic and student life amid COVID-19, and a tribute to the 50th anniversary of a Fordham football milestone.

In addition to joining panels and discussions sponsored by the Office of Alumni Relations, Fordham graduates took to social media, where thousands viewed Homecoming Instagram stories and tweets shared via the @fordhamalumni accounts, and others used the #FordhamHomecoming20 hashtag to post their own messages, including pictures of pets and kids decked out in Fordham gear.

A Forum for FCLC

Things kicked off on Thursday evening with a panel discussion featuring two relative newcomers to the Fordham College at Lincoln Center community: Laura Auricchio, Ph.D., who became dean of the college in August 2019, and Tracyann Williams, Ph.D., who joined FCLC as assistant dean for student support and success last February.

Fordham University Alumni Association Advisory Board member Samara Finn Holland, FCLC ’03, moderated the discussion, during which the deans shared their observations about FCLC students.

“They are an amazing bunch of people,” Auricchio said. “These are students who are not only intelligent and motivated, but they’re really just decent, kind, wonderful human beings.” She recalled several instances of students greeting her when they saw her around the city.

Auricchio noted that political science, economics, and psychology are the three most popular majors among current FCLC students, and the fashion studies minor is growing particularly quickly. She said her office is focused on four areas: connecting to neighbors, enriching courses, enhancing research, and globalizing the curriculum.

Both she and Williams addressed the unique challenges faculty and students face during the pandemic, and Williams noted that part of her job is to help students acknowledge their feelings of disappointment that it’s not a typical academic year, and doing what she can to assist them.

“I am very much interested in always asking students what their needs are and not deciding for them,” she said.

Having worked at other New York City universities before arriving at FCLC, both Auricchio and Williams shared what they think makes Fordham so special.

“I feel as though it’s a unique place where students can come be part of a deeply caring, close-knit community that will support them and help them as they branch out into the city,” Auricchio said. “And to me, it’s just the best of both worlds.”

Pub Trivia at Home

Alumnus Tim Tubridy, FCRH ’99, and his brother, James Tubridy, co-owners of DJs @ Work, hosted a virtual pub trivia session on Friday night. Attendees were invited to answer 10 Fordham-themed questions, either individually or as teams.

The first question of the night delved into a bit of the University’s architectural history: “For what church were the stained-glass windows in the University church intended?” Father McShane delivered both the question and answer (St. Patrick’s Cathedral, when it was located on Mulberry Street), joking that he’d been imagining Jeopardy! theme music playing as he gave contestants time to respond.

Other fun facts unearthed during the Q&A included how many books are housed in the Fordham libraries (more than 2 million), how many acres the Lincoln Center and Rose Hill campuses encompass (8 and 85, respectively), and how many live ram mascots have lived on campus (28).

At the end of the hour-long session, three teams were tied for first place with a whopping 20,000 points each.

A Virtual 5K Ram Run

While the 5K Ram Run is usually held at Rose Hill during Homecoming weekend, this year, alumni were invited to run, jog, or walk a five-kilometer trek of their own and to share photos on social media. Runners were also encouraged to share their finishing times by taking screenshots of their running apps, and the Office of Alumni Relations will be sending prizes to those who submitted their times.

Justin LaCoursiere, FCRH ’12, posted a photo from Central Park and said, “Fordham Homecoming looks a little different this year, but I’m still taking part in some fun [virtual]activities, like the Annual 5K Ram Run.”

Academic and Student Life Amid the Pandemic

On Saturday morning, a panel of Fordham administrators and faculty discussed the continued uncertainty of COVID-19, its impact on current and prospective Fordham students, and how they’re working to build and strengthen a sense of community under the circumstances. The conversation was moderated by Michael Griffin, associate vice president for alumni relations.

J. Patrick Hornbeck, professor of theology, secretary of the Faculty Senate, and special faculty advisor to the provost for strategic planning, said that soon after Fordham canceled in-person classes and shifted to a virtual format this past March, faculty began planning to avoid such abrupt disruptions for the fall semester. That’s how Fordham developed its flexible hybrid model, which mixes online and in-person learning.

“We would provide opportunities for students to learn and for faculty to teach in several different modalities,” he said. “The idea was, we did not know how things were going to go week-by-week and month-by-month. How could we deliver [a Fordham education]regardless of the way the pandemic would play out?”

During the panel, Patricia Peek, Ph.D., dean of undergraduate admission, said that some of the changes implemented this year, such as virtual guided tours and information sessions, could become permanent to help make Fordham more accessible in the long term.

“I think, even when we’re fully on the ground, we will now always have virtual events because they’re providing so many opportunities and access for students,” she said.

Clint Ramos, head of design and production for Fordham Theatre, noted that the shift “was especially challenging for theatre because our education … is really experiential and a lot of our pedagogy is founded on the ability to gather.” But he said the program has met these challenges head-on, pointing to opportunities for creativity, like a collaborative effort he initiated with theater programs at Princeton, Georgetown, SUNY Purchase, and UMass Amherst. The One Flea Spare Project allows students to virtually attend classes at other universities and collaborate with each other on projects on multiple platforms based on themes in One Flea Spare, a 1995 play by Naomi Wallace set in a plague-ravaged London during the 17th century.

Juan Carlos Matos, assistant vice president for student affairs for diversity and inclusion, spoke about creative ways in which students have tried to maintain a sense of community, whether or not they’re studying on campus. This has included hosting socially distanced outdoor events, such as a “silent disco” on the plaza at Lincoln Center or a musical performance from the Coffey Field bleachers at Rose Hill, for an online audience and a limited number of students in person.

He also said that the pandemic has sharpened students’ focus on social justice, in particular the calls for racial equality that were revitalized this summer.

“Energy that usually is exhausted on other things was nailed into Black Lives Matter in a way where folks who have privilege are just realizing, ‘Hey, these things are happening,’ whereas folks on the margins have always experienced these things.”

Matos said this has spurred action at the University, including an anti-racism plan from Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham. And he said the offices of student and multicultural affairs are continuing to offer a variety of programming to keep students engaged. One of the benefits of having virtual or hybrid events is that more students can attend.

“Sometimes it’s difficult for someone to have to choose one campus or the other or we may be offering something on one campus and not the other,” he said. “But virtually, now people can attend in any capacity.”

Shakespeare and Pop Culture

Shakespearean scholar Mary Bly, Ph.D., chair of Fordham’s English department, led a mini-class titled “Pop Romeo & Juliet” on Saturday afternoon. Attendees were encouraged to watch Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 film, Romeo + Juliet, prior to the class, during which Bly delved into the afterlife of the teen duo and their famous star-crossed love.

“Sociologists have made a pretty reasonable case for the argument that Romeo and Juliet actually changed the way we think about love in the Western world, which is very interesting,” Bly said.

Joined by English professor Shoshana Enelow, Bly discussed the idea of cultural capital, looking at how the characters of Romeo and Juliet have survived and how they’ve been transformed in modern adaptations, other films, music, and advertisements. She and Enelow drew parallels to West Side Story, the Beatles, and even a Taylor Swift music video, inviting attendees to write in impressions and examples of their own using Zoom’s Q&A feature.

An Afternoon with Athletics

Fordham sports fans attended two athletics-focused virtual events on Saturday afternoon, including a conversation between Ed Kull, interim director of athletics, and Head Football Coach Joe Conlin.

While the football season, along with those of other fall sports, has been pushed back to spring 2021, winter sports like basketball are planning to get started in late November. Kull highlighted some of the work that has been done to facilities during the pandemic, noting that not having students around for games has allowed several projects to be completed earlier than expected. Among the upgrades that players, coaches, and fans will now find are a new floor for the Frank McLaughlin Family Basketball Court in Rose Hill Gym, renovations to the strength and conditioning and team medicine spaces, and new offices for football staff.

As his team prepares to play in the spring, Conlin discussed the changes to workouts and practices they’ve had to adopt in the time of COVID-19, including health monitoring, socially distanced weight training, and wearing masks under their helmets during practice. Although he and his staff are not allowed to recruit high school players in person this year, they have been talking to recruits over Zoom and reviewing videos to assess their strength and athleticism.

“It’s been challenging at times, but it’s also been a lot of fun,” he said of this new way of doing things on and off the field. “We’ll continue to make it work for as long as we have to.”

Kull noted that out of the 44 seniors across spring sports whose final season was interrupted by cancellations last spring, 19 have decided to come back for a fifth year of eligibility.

Later that afternoon, the Tubridy brothers returned to host a virtual tailgate party that featured a welcome from Father McShane, trivia, performances by the Fordham band from the Coffey Field bleachers, and video updates from departments and groups like the Fordham University Alumni Association, the Center for Community Engaged Learning, and the Mimes and Mummers Alumni Association.

Kull and Conlin also returned for a pre-recorded video from the gravesite of Fordham graduate and NFL coaching legend Vince Lombardi, FCRH ’37, an appropriate lead-in to the tailgate’s final portion: a roundtable discussion with nine players from Fordham’s 1970 football team, which defeated Georgetown 50 years ago during that year’s homecoming game, just weeks after Lombardi’s death.

Moderated by WFUV’s Emmanuel Berbari, a Fordham College at Rose Hill senior, the players recalled the dominant ground game displayed by the Rams in their 39-17 win over the Hoyas, led by Eric Dadd’s 235 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Kevin Sherry, GABELLI ’70, who played offensive tackle, noted that Georgetown had beaten Fordham the previous year, and the Rams were looking for revenge.

Perhaps an even greater motivation for the team was the emotional pregame scene, when Lombardi’s widow, Marie, his brother Joseph, and the remaining members of Fordham’s “Seven Blocks of Granite” offensive line from Lombardi’s playing days honored the Fordham and NFL legend, who had died of colon cancer on September 3. The 1970 season also marked the return of varsity football to Fordham.

Peter “Pino” Carlesimo, FCRH ’71, the team’s starting quarterback, was among the panelists. “I think the importance of the game can be summed up very easily when I when I looked at that film and I saw my uncle Pete [Carlesimo, FCRH ’40, Fordham’s athletic director at the time] escorting Mrs. Lombardi off the field and tears coming down her eyes,” he said. “It was probably the biggest game I played in my career.”

Closing with Centeredness and Prayer

On Sunday morning, Carol Gibney, associate director of campus ministry for spiritual and pastoral ministries and director of spiritual life, leadership, and service, led a session focusing on “integrating Ignatian spirituality with the practice of yoga.” During the 45-minute practice, Gibney used breathwork to break down the word “grace,” infusing the ideas of gratitude, reflection, affirmation, centeredness, and enthusiasm and excitement into the yoga flow.

The virtual—but still communal—Homecoming weekend came to a close with a livestream of Mass from University Church, concelebrated by Father McShane and Damian O’Connell, S.J., alumni chaplain.

—Additional reporting by Kelly Kultys and Sierra McCleary-Harris

Programming includes campus-specific events for Lincoln Center and Rose Hill, a trivia night, the ninth annual (and first-ever virtual) 5K Ram Run, and a virtual tailgate celebration.

To help attendees get in the Fordham spirit, the alumni relations team is providing a Homecoming toolkit that includes printable pennants, cutouts, and games, as well as graphics for social media, Instagram story templates, Zoom and desktop backgrounds, Ram Run bibs, and coloring pages for kids of all ages.

The events kick off Thursday evening with a Fordham College at Lincoln Center forum led by Dean Laura Auricchio, Ph.D., and Friday night offers both a Road to Reunion Gathering, where alumni can learn more about plans for Jubilee 2021 and how to get involved as a reunion committee volunteer, and a virtual Fordham pub trivia competition hosted by Tim Tubridy, FCRH ’99, and his brother James Tubridy, co-owners of the entertainment company DJs @ Work.

On Saturday morning, alumni, friends, and family are encouraged to take part in a virtual 5K Ram Run by running, jogging, or walking wherever they are and sharing photos of themselves wearing their Fordham gear. Those who wish to be considered for prizes can track their times via running apps and share them, as well.

Later that day, alumni can attend an athletics sideline chat featuring Fordham football head coach Joe Conlin and Ed Kull, interim director of athletics; “Pop Romeo & Juliet,” a talk about Shakespeare’s famous lovers—in music, ads, and film—by Mary Bly, Ph.D., chair of the English department; and, from 4:30 to 6, a virtual tailgate and celebration emceed by DJs @ Work.

Homecoming weekend concludes on Sunday with a morning Ignatian yoga session led by Fordham campus minister and Ignatian yoga teacher Carol Gibney, followed by a Mass livestreamed from the Univeristy Church and concelebrated by Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, and Damian O’Connell, S.J., the University’s alumni chaplain.

To see a full weekend schedule, register for events, access toolkit materials, view photos from Homecoming 2019, or to make a donation, visit the Virtual Homecoming 2020 page on Forever Fordham.