These experiences, she said, along with her Fordham education, wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the Robert E. Campbell Scholarship and the Denise Jefferson Memorial Scholarship—two of more than 600 donor-funded scholarships awarded annually to Fordham students.

The Ailey/Fordham B.F.A. in Dance program student and others had a chance to thank their donors in person on April 27 at the University’s annual Scholarship Donors and Recipients Reception, held at The University Club in Manhattan. She was among 300 students and donors who attended this festive gathering that celebrates the spirit of giving and the promise of a Fordham education.

“The financial aid I received has helped turn my dreams into opportunities,” said Ballentine. “If not for the scholarships and the generous donors who make them possible, I simply would not have had these chances to shine.”

“This is one of the most wonderful nights of the year for Fordham,” said Joseph M. McShane, SJ, president of Fordham, as he compared the celebration to a Thanksgiving holiday. “It’s the only day of the year when all the generations come together to break bread and tell the stories that unite us as families. Tonight is our Thanksgiving. This is the story of the Fordham family.”

The lively conversations between donors and students revealed stories of the rewards of hard work and the desire to give back. Students shared experiences made possible by their scholarships, and their plans for the future.

Fordham College at Lincoln Center senior Elizabeth Zanghi met James P. Flaherty, FCRH ’69, and his wife Jane, whose scholarship helped to fund Zanghi’s studies in art history, French, and Orthodox Christian studies. “It has helped so much, especially because I will be going on to graduate school,” said Zanghi, who plans to become a college professor. She is among 19 recipients of two scholarships established by the Flahertys.

Scholarship recipient Amanda Varrone, a Fordham College at Rose Hill junior, said she is thankful for the scholarship that has helped finance her studies in English and Spanish. “I hope to go on to law school,” she said. “And I look forward to continuing learning and growing, not only as a student, but as a person.”

John R. Costantino, GABELLI ’67, LAW ’70, and his wife Barbara chatted with Ferdinand Ruplin, LAW, about everything from his childhood on Long Island to their last trip to Disney World with their grandchildren. “They really are like family,” Ruplin said. The Costantinos have become close to several recipients of the scholarship they established for business students who go to Fordham Law, and in two weeks, will even attend one’s wedding.

The spirit of the evening was captured by Fordham’s Board of Trustees Chair Robert D. Daleo, GABELLI ’72, who grew up in the Bronx and followed his late brother Paul to Fordham, where he received a Uniroyal scholarship that helped fund his education.

“I thought if I ever had the opportunity, I’m going to pay this back,” he said. “I now have the capability and desire to honor my brother with a scholarship in his name and repay Fordham.”

Written by Claire Curry

“I love it. It just smells so new,” she said.
Katherine’s mom, Cheri McNabola, said she was thrilled that her daughter will live in the dormitory, which—along with Salice and Conley Halls—officially opened its doors to students on Aug. 30.

Cheri’s joy was apparent, even though she had to ride the train from Connecticut to Rose Hill by herself that morning while the rest of the family traveled by SUV. With the vehicle full of Katherine’s stuff, there was simply no room for her.

“It’s OK; I’m allowed to embarrass her. I’m her mother,” Cheri McNabola joked on her way into her daughter’s four-person apartment, while dad Jack McNabola wheeled in a tall stack of plastic containers—all belonging to Katherine.

“At least she’s got the room for it,” added Cheri, as she surveyed the sunny environs. “This apartment is wonderful. It’s got such great light and even a living room.”

Katherine McNabola and her three roommates were among 460 students to inaugurate CSC, as the new buildings are called.

Campbell Hall was built thanks to Robert E. Campbell (CBA ’55) and his wife, Joan M. Campbell. Thomas P. Salice (CBA ’82) and his wife, Susan Conley Salice (FCRH ’82), are the benefactors of Salice and Conley Halls. They are the first dormitories to open at Rose Hill since O’Hare Hall in 2000.

The new halls consist of four towers in two buildings on the southwest side of the campus near Fordham Road. Only upperclassmen get the honor of living there; approximately 70 percent of residents are seniors, while the rest are a mix of juniors and sophomores.

Unlike typical university dormitories, CSC offers “urban lifestyle” housing with modern amenities and technologies.

Fordham’s first LEED-certified Gold buildings, the new halls offer several living arrangements. Apartments are designed to house four students in four single rooms or two double rooms; five students in five single rooms; or six students in three double rooms. More than half of the rooms offer single occupancy.

The apartments are fully furnished and boast air conditioning, climate control within apartments and kitchens equipped with dishwashers and microwaves. It is the kitchen that most excites Matt Tracey, a senior in Fordham College at Rose Hill.

“I cannot wait to cook!” he said. Matt’s mother, Jolene Tracey, promptly chimed in that she will miss her son’s cooking.

“He sure has some lucky roommates,” she said.

Matt said that the first dinner at his apartment would be a lamb dish with a special reduction. “All you need is a skillet,” he said.

“I can’t tell you enough how happy I am that I no longer have to buy a meal plan,” he added.

The new residence halls are a step up from the drab dorm rooms of yesteryear. They feature brightly colored accent walls in the living rooms and bedrooms, and sleek lighting fixtures throughout. The first-floor laundry room is another bonus. Student athlete Kim Capicotto, a senior in the College of Business Administration, said she likes the open design of the “laundry lounge.”

“It’s much better than having to go the basement—and the appliances are brand new, which means everything dries faster,” she said.

Amenities and interior design are not the only perks for CSC residents. The new halls will offer a variety of programming, said resident assistant Alex Slavtchev, a senior in Fordham College at Rose Hill.

“We want to foster community,” Slavtchev said. “A lot of programming will focus on transitioning from college to real life. It’s not just for seniors; it’s something that sophomores and juniors should start thinking about, too.”

Career Services at Fordham will be on hand every Wednesday to help students polish their resumes and plan their careers. The Office of Academic Affairs also will be an integral part of programming, as will the Office of University Mission and Ministry.

In fact, the leader of University mission and ministry was CSC’s first resident, having moved in two weeks ago.

“I was the only guest at a 460-room hotel,” said Monsignor Joseph G. Quinn, vice president for University mission and ministry. His residence continues Fordham’s tradition of an “integrated living community” style of housing.

“These are truly 21st century facilities; our students are so blessed to have such extraordinary residences,” Monsignor Quinn said. “I can’t get over how quiet the buildings are. I can’t hear the Metro North trains. It’s amazing.”

Monsignor Quinn has arranged for motivational speaker and New York Times bestselling author Matthew Kelly to speak to CSC students on Wednesday, Sept. 8.

“It is one of the many activities we will have to help our students leave here with a more discerned feeling about what they are supposed to do in life,” he said.

Contact: Gina Vergel
(212) 636-7175
[email protected]

The buildings will encompass 166,000 square feet (Campbell Hall will be the slightly larger of the two at 90,000 square feet), and accommodate 460 students when they open in June 2010.  Marc Valera, associate vice president for facilities, said the buildings, which were designed by Sasaki Associates, Inc., will be constructed using energy efficient lighting and construction materials, and will be certified by the LEED green building rating system. Discussions are under way to possibly include rainwater reclamation centers on the rooftops for use in irrigation and for mechanical systems. The living spaces will be split into four- and six-person suites, half equipped with single bedrooms and half with double bedrooms.

Valera said the aim is to combine the best aspects of dormitory style living with those of apartment life. That means building lounges on every floor that receive natural light from both the east and west and the landscaping that will accentuate the green space currently surrounding Martyr’s Court and the Walsh Family Library.

Michele Burris, associate vice president for student affairs, said the buildings, which will be the Rose Hill campus’s first new residence halls since O’Hare Hall opened in 2000, will be configured specifically with juniors and seniors in mind, with individual kitchens within every unit.

“We administered a survey last spring with our housing community, and the most common request from our students was apartments with single bedrooms,” Burris said. “Juniors and seniors enjoy living with their friends, but they also like to have their own space. We have singles on the Rose Hill campus but none of the singles are located within apartments.”

Burris also noted that the buildings will have an integrated learning community seminar room that professors will be able to use to teach classes.

“We’re still two years out, but we’ll be working very closely with academic affairs and campus ministry, to come up with an integrated learning community concept that meets the needs of our upperclassman,” Burris said.

To accommodate the construction, the guard booth at the Third Ave./Webster Ave. gate will be temporarily located further east on Fordham Road, closer to the Walsh Family Library, and the current entrance will be used as a construction entrance.

“Over the course of the last two decades, Fordham University has risen to a new level of distinction under the historic tenure of Father O’Hare,” said Paul B. Guenther, chair of Fordham University’s board of trustees. “Today, Fordham stands on the threshold of great promise as one of the premier Catholic universities in the country. I am delighted to welcome Father McShane back to Fordham knowing that his ability to ignite the hearts and minds of the entire Fordham community will continue a grand tradition of excellence.”

A native New Yorker, Father McShane’s family association with Fordham began 74 years ago when his father enrolled as a student. His three brothers followed and he eventually joined the Fordham family in 1987 when he was appointed to the Board of Trustees. He served until 1992, when he was named dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill and professor of theology. In 1998, he became president of the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania and was reappointed to the Fordham board in 2001. In addition, Father McShane currently serves as a trustee of St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia, Loyola University in New Orleans, the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania, and he is a member of the executive committee of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities.

Father McShane was recommended to the Fordham Board at the conclusion of a national search directed by Robert E. Campbell, chairman of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and former chair of the Fordham University Board of Trustees.

Father McShane, 53, entered the Society of Jesus in 1967 after attending Regis High School in Manhattan. He received a bachelor’s degree in English and philosophy, and a
master’s degree in English from Boston College in 1972. He received M.Div. and S.T.M. degrees from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley and was ordained a priest in 1977. In 1981, he received a Ph.D. in the history of Christianity from the University of Chicago and went on to serve as a member of the religious studies faculty at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, N.Y., from 1982 until 1992, becoming chair of the department in 1991.

Father McShane is well known in Jesuit higher education for his collegiality and accessibility to students, faculty and staff alike. The driving force behind the establishment of prestigious fellowship programs at both Fordham and Scranton, Father McShane’s legacy is a culture of scholarship in which students are nurtured, challenged and inspired.

During Father McShane’s tenure as president of the University of Scranton, academic and residential facilities were enhanced significantly, and the number of applications to its undergraduate program has steadily increased to historic levels. Complementing the University’s distinguished history in securing Fulbright Fellowships, Father McShane established the Office of Fellowship Programs broadening the variety of esteemed awards secured by Scranton students. In the last two years alone, students have received 20 prestigious fellowships, including eight Fulbrights, a Truman Scholarship and four Freeman Awards.

A distinguished author, Father McShane’s article in Church, “Virtue Must Advertise: The Bishops and Public Relations,” received the Catholic Press Association first prize in 1992. He is the author of numerous articles including: “Roman Catholicism” in the Encyclopedia Britannica Micropaedia (15th edition); “James Cardinal Gibbons” and “Pope Leo XIII” in the Encyclopedia of Religion; and a book, Sufficiently Radical: Catholicism, Progressivism and the Bishops’ Program of 1919 (Catholic University of America Press, 1986).