Alexander “Alex” Gadegaard Shah, a rising senior on Fordham’s swim team, is back at the Olympics. 

Shah, a psychology major at Fordham College at Rose Hill, will compete in the 100-meter freestyle in Paris on July 30. It will be the second time that he has represented his home country of Nepal in the Olympics. 

In 2021, he competed in the pandemic-delayed 2020 games in Tokyo, finishing with a time of 53.41 in the same race. Since then, Shah has competed both with the Fordham swim team and on his own. In February, his 52:17 finish at the World Aquatic Championships in Doha, Qatar, earned him his spot on Nepal’s team again this year.

Shah talked with Fordham Now just before his departure.

What are your hopes for Paris? 

I want to break that 52-second barrier. That was something that I wanted to do in February. I also want to lower that record for Nepal, where I currently hold that 100 freestyle record as a national record. So from a broader standpoint, it’s also about representing my country to the best of my ability.

How has your time at Fordham prepared you for the Olympics? 

College swimming is very demanding. We race a lot, and training is a bit more intense because I’m also trying to balance student life, like studying for exams. But it’s also a huge advantage to be a Division 1 college athlete because of the competition around us. It’s helped me practice and compete at a high level. 

What about 100-meter freestyle is so appealing to you?

Growing up, I just enjoyed sprinting more than distance training. I wasn’t really about going long distances. I found that pretty boring. Also, the 100-meter freestyle at the Olympics is one of the most watched final events in the whole competition. It really comes down to pure athleticism, and it’s just really a fun race.

Are you going to approach this competition any differently than the last one?

I’m definitely fitter and stronger than I was then, and that’s through training at Fordham. I’ve been able to include lifting into my swimming routine, and as a sprinter, that’s very valuable. Working with Coach Tom Wilkins, my aerobic capacity has really increased as well. I have to just trust the process and look back at some of the other races that I’ve had this last year. Those races have helped me understand exactly what I need to do. 

Have there been any setbacks along the way that you’ve overcome?

This last year has been super important because it’s been that Olympic year for qualifying, and I didn’t know how well I’d do in February. But it all worked out in the end when Tom Wilkins came in. I felt really supported and prepared in terms of racing training. I haven’t swum this fast in my life before, and I haven’t felt this good before. 

Opened to the community on Aug. 1, the arcade brings together the new campus center—opened in 2022—with the Rose Hill Gym and athletics facilities.

Upon entering the arcade under a new glass canopy, students can now either proceed left into the addition and the original student center, right to enter the gym, or straight to head into the Vincent T. Lombardi Memorial Center, which is home to the indoor track, aquatics center, and intramural and recreational basketball and volleyball courts.

And not only will the new structure make it easier to get around these facilities—it will also offer gathering space of its own. With natural light streaming in through skylights and fixed seating with power outlets and USB ports, it is designed both for passing through and for relaxing and gathering.

Construction of the 25,000-square-foot structure began immediately after the opening of the campus center addition in 2022.

Larry Peifer, an associate and senior designer for the architecture firm HLW International, noted that the newly unified structure now features upwards of 250,000 square feet of student-oriented space.

“Four distinct, disparate structures are now one dynamic hub for the University. It’s a place that is really focused on student experience and well-being. It’s where students come to eat, it’s where they work out, it’s where they come to socialize. It’s where they come to cheer their peers on and their university on,” he said.

“These spaces are really here to enhance the student experience and help students develop connections for the rest of their lives.”

To make the space more than just a place that community members pass through, Peifer’s team used the challenges inherent in the project to their advantage. The entrances to the four buildings are at different elevations, and the space still needs to serve as an egress for each of them.

The solution was to construct a series of platforms, ramps, and stepped seating elements that create a multilevel forum where the seating is integral to the efficient circulation of crowds. The rough-hewn stone of the Gym frames one side, while the contemporary, now opened-up sides of the addition and the original building frame the other. Strategically placed plants provide a soothing element to the space.

A robust audio-visual and media system will allow speakers to broadcast announcements and content, and the tiered bench seating invites visitors to work together or just have a cup of coffee and check e-mail before heading off for the day. The basement level of the arcade also features new “smart” lockers for use by commuter students.

Ed Kull, director of Fordham Athletics, said the arcade will dramatically improve the experience of both student-athletes and fans. The new layout makes it dramatically easier for student-athletes to go from the locker room to the center’s common areas to relax with friends, or to the career center or the center for Community-Engaged Learning. They will also have easier access to the renovated Marketplace dining facility when it’s completed in 2024. (Learn more about the cafeteria renovation and destination dining options available on campus this fall.)

It will also vastly improves the experience of visiting the gym. On games days, the arcade will be home to a new box office and expanded concessions area. Additional bathrooms and improved accessibility will also improve the fan experience.

While fans will still be able to enter the Gym through the front doors, Kull said he’s excited to see how the arcade will be used for pre-game and post-game celebrations.

“Last year, the line was out to Edwards Parade to get into the Gym, so it’s great to have the flexibility of another area to gather, especially when it’s cold or raining,” he said.

“I’m pumped that we’re continuing to build and foster the school spirit on the campus that we’ve really been building the last two years.”

As Fordham celebrates the successful conclusion of Faith & Hope | The Campaign for Financial Aid, the University is transitioning to a new campaign dedicated to enhancing the overall student experience.

The centerpiece of the campaign will be a new campus center at Rose Hill that is scheduled to be completed in 2025. The campaign will also seek support for other student-focused issues like wellness, financial aid, athletics, and STEM facilities, which are being developed in the University’s strategic planning process.

“The new campus center will be bigger, both literally and in concept, than its current incarnation,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham. “It will be at the heart of the student experience campaign, and the student experience is at the heart of the University. In caring for the whole person, we want Fordham to be a place where students can live, learn, study, celebrate, dine, play, and perhaps most of all connect—with their peers and with the faculty and campus community.”

The campus center project, which the University began work on over the summer, will take place in two phases and cost an estimated $205.3 million.

A Dramatic Expansion

The first phase is scheduled for completion in August 2021 and will entail the construction of a roughly 75,000-square-foot addition in the area in front of the existing McGinley Center.

The sleek glass and stone addition will be connected to the existing structure via a two-story glass arcade, with elevated walkways between the two buildings. The glass canopy-topped main entrance will beckon visitors into an airy space between the Rose Hill Gym and the new addition. The center’s façade, once defined by the modernist arches of the McGinley building, will now be dominated by vertical, soaring windows and stonework that complement the neighboring Gym. In a nod to iconic Rose Hill structures such as Keating Hall and Duane Library, it will also feature a four-story illuminated tower immediately to the west of the entrance.

Once the addition is complete phase two will begin, and the existing structure, which was built in 1958, will be gutted and renovated. When it is finished, it will feature 22,000 square feet of dining facilities and 36,000 square feet of state-of-the-art sports and fitness facilities. Ultimately, the new campus center, which is being designed by the architecture firm HLW, will be much larger, encompassing more than double the space of the original building. It will also include efficient LED lighting, heat recovery systems, enhanced insulation, solar panels, and other features designed to lower its carbon footprint.

The expansion will allow for a dramatic increase in space for several areas. The 20,000 square-foot fitness center will encompass more than half of the basement level, while more than 16,000 additional square feet will be devoted to sports medicine and a varsity weights training center. A 9,500-square-foot student lounge will occupy the first floor of the addition, while Career Services, the Center for Community Engaged Learning, and Campus Ministry will be housed in larger offices on the second floor. The third floor of the addition, which will rise a floor above the existing McGinley Center, will feature space for meetings and special events.

Funding for the Center

Funding will come from a combination of fundraising, loans, and dining services provider Aramark, which has committed $13.3 million toward the renovation of the dining facilities. Fordham will borrow $150 million through a bond offering, and raise up to $85 million for the project through the next capital campaign.

Together, nine donors have already committed $10 million toward the Campus center. Maurice J. “Mo” Cunniffe, FCRH ’54 and Carolyn Dursi Cunniffe, Ph.D., UGE ’62, GSAS ’65, ’71, whose generosity in the previous campaign led to the creation of the Maurice and Carolyn Cunniffe Presidential Scholars Program, has given $3 million.

Other donors include Board of Trustees Chair Robert (Bob) Daleo, GABELLI ’72, and Linda Daleo; Trustee Fellow Emerita Kim Bepler; Trustee Emeritus Robert E. Campbell, GABELLI ’55, and Joan Campbell; former Trustee Stephen J. McGuinness, GABELLI ’82, ’91, and Anne McGuinness; Trustee Brian MacLean and Kathy MacLean, both FCRH ’75; Brian Kelly, LAW ’95; former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg; and several anonymous donors.

The center will feature many spaces with naming opportunities. Among the high-profile spaces in the new building are the fitness center, arcade, career services space, and special events space. When refurbished, the original building’s main dining room, ballroom, and student affairs suite will be available as well.

A Positive Financial Picture

The bulk of the funding for the project will come from a loan that the University will take on through a bond offering via the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York.

Martha K. Hirst, senior vice president, CFO, and treasurer, noted that Fordham is able to do this in part thanks to the University’s solid financial footing. Last month, for instance, global rating agency Standard & Poor upgraded its outlook on Fordham from negative, which it issued in 2017, to stable, and affirmed its “A” long-term rating on outstanding bonds. The University previously borrowed $212 million in 2008 via bonds for the construction of the new Law School building; Hirst said it continues to be the best way to finance big projects.

A Focus on Students

Jeff Gray, senior vice president for student affairs, said the new campus center will dramatically increase the ability of the University to deliver the services and spaces that students need to thrive.

“We have clearly outgrown the current campus center over the years, and it’s going to bring online a lot of exciting new spaces that will improve the quality of life for all our students,” he said.

He noted that in recent surveys of students at Rose Hill, 60% indicated that current student club and programming spaces are inadequate for their needs, which is not surprising given that the center was built to accommodate just 2,500 undergraduates total, 850 of whom lived on campus at the time. Today, 3,500 students live on campus, another 1,000 live in off-campus housing and another 2,000 commute to campus. The new campus center will be a place where all of these students can come together to socialize and collaborate.

For a preview of the benefits to come, Gray pointed to the 2016 renovation of the garden level of the Lincoln Center campus’ 140 W. 62nd Street.

“There’s a retail dining facility there that’s very popular; there’s a large community lounge where students gather, study, and meet; there’s dedicated space for student clubs; and dedicated space for important student services, like the dean of students, student involvement, health services, counseling, and career services,” he said.

“They’re all located in that hub, and that’s had a very palpable, positive impact on the quality of life for our students at Lincoln Center. We hope to achieve some of the same benefits at Rose Hill on a larger scale.”

Studies have shown that the longer a student remains on campus and in an academic mindset, the greater their chances are for academic growth and success, Gray said, noting that student retention is a key priority for the University. The new campus center at Rose Hill, he said, will be designed to give students a better sense of place outside the classroom.

In addition to dining, fitness, student lounge, and career services spaces, Gray said he expects that students will benefit greatly from the improved office spaces for departments such as Campus Ministry, the Center for Community Engaged Learning, and the Office of Student Involvement, which supports student clubs and activities.

“Those services are certainly central to our mission and what we do, and I think all of those things have the net effect of improving the overall student experience for the students,” he said.

The second phase of updates to the court, which focused on new flooring, is scheduled to be finished by mid-October.

“[It is] a much more modern and professional, state-of-the-art approach for a building that is close to 100 years old,” said Aldo Di Vitto, assistant director of architectural services.

The court is located in Fordham’s historic Rose Hill Gym, a building steeped in 94 years of history. For decades, it has hosted hundreds of basketball and volleyball games. Year after year, it has seen Encaenia ceremonies, Block F Awards dinners, Fordham Prep graduations, and performances by musicians like the Ramones. During World War II, it was even used as a U.S. Army barracks. The gym’s name has stayed the same, but the court was recently renamed the Frank McLaughlin Family Basketball Court in honor of Frank McLaughlin, FCRH ’69, a former Ram team captain, current associate vice president of student affairs for athletic alumni relations and external affairs, and distinguished athletic director emeritus.

Today, the building remains the oldest regularly-used NCAA Division I gym in the country. But nearly a century of wear and tear took its toll on the space. In the last 15 years, the arena has undergone several small-grade upgrades. In 2017, the University initiated a massive two-phase project—the most significant renovation to date. The first phase involved replacing all lower spectator seating; new bleachers with a seating capacity of 3,470 were installed, while chair back seats were placed behind the team benches.

Then just a few days after Fordham’s 2019 commencement, the second phase of renovations began. In roughly four-and-a-half months, the University, in collaboration with Caldwell & Walsh Building Construction, Inc. completely replaced the gym’s flooring system with a modern alternative. The new state-of-the-art wood surface contains shock-absorbing materials that reduce strain on student-athletes’ bodies, as well as a waterproof membrane that keeps moisture away.

“When you come down [on the floor after jumping], you compress your entire body, and you exert a ton of energy through your legs into the floor. You have this tremendous compressive force when you land,” explained John Puglisi, associate vice president for facilities management. “This floor will actually absorb that energy and return it much slower, so you don’t get the shock in your knees and ankles.”

In addition, the “sprung floor” gives student-athletes an extra boost.

“When you compress the floor, you compress these gaskets, if you will, or these pads,” Puglisi said. “And all of the energy gets returned back up to you.”

In a two-minute-long time-lapse video, viewers can watch the lengthy construction process from start to near completion. Workers in construction hats strip away the wooden panels, revealing compacted soil that is soon replaced with concrete. The surrounding walls morph from concrete to sheetrock. The pipes that once ran along the perimeter of the arena now run underneath the floor. Over the next three weeks, the floor will receive its finishing touches, and the bleachers, temporarily moved to a different location during construction, will be reinstalled in the space.

“The concept here was to provide a safer playing surface for our student-athletes,” Puglisi said.

The first basketball game played on the new floor will take place on Nov. 5. The women’s basketball team is scheduled to play Notre Dame University at 7 p.m. and the men’s basketball team will play St. Francis College at 9:30 p.m. There will be a Maroon Club Reception at Bepler Commons prior to the double-header at 5:30 p.m. 

To date, the court’s $2.5 million fundraising campaign has raised more than $1.5 million—more than half of its intended goal. Donations in support of the court renovations can be made here.

Erin Kiernan, an English and film and television student who opened for Saturday Night Live comedians Alex Moffat and Mikey Day this past Spring Weekend, was the 2019 Lady of the Manor. In a monologue that mixed nostalgia with good humor, she poked fun at her home for the past four years.

“We entered Fordham with countless questions: Will I make friends? Will I find my passion? Is my roommate bringing the mini fridge, or am I? When will Edward’s Parade occur?” Kiernan joked.

“As we move into the next stages of our lives, we’re faced with even bigger questions: Will I get a job? What is my purpose? How do you pronounce Cunniffe House? Is the small building next to Freeman a seismic station or a tomb? Where did all the cats come from? What is the Calder Center for, except shutting down for a week every time there’s a rumor of snow?” she continued, to laughter so frequent it seemed like a laugh track.

At the end of her playful satire, she tempered her tone to one of gratitude. Kiernan listed a string of things she was grateful for at Fordham. Among them were the sunny days on Eddies and GO! (Global Outreach) trips.

“Thank you for turning me into the woman I’ve always wanted to be. And most of all, thank you for not having an application fee or requiring a supplementary essay,” Kiernan said, as her classmates cheered.

Valedictorian Robin Happel, an environmental studies major and the daughter of field biologists, steered the night’s speeches toward a tougher topic—climate change.

But before doing so, she acknowledged two young women who should’ve been at the ceremony that evening.

“I would also like to take a moment to acknowledge Donika Celaj and Sydney Monfries, two members of our class who tragically could not be with us,” Happel said. “May their memories be a blessing.”

She then delivered a personal reflection on the climate change crisis. For three consecutive years, Happel and her friends faced natural disasters that were worsened by the effects of climate change. The fall of her sophomore year, her close friends from California were forced to drive through wildfire flames that encircled—and eventually destroyed—their homes. A year later, her roommate’s hometown flooded during Hurricane Harvey. And last fall, Happel’s own family home flooded during Hurricane Florence.

She urged the audience to not only celebrate her classmates’ four years of achievements but to also focus on what they need to achieve in the next 11.

“That’s how long climate scientists have given us—11 years to avoid catastrophic climate change,” Happel said. “It’s already damaging our homes, our health, our safety, and our happiness. We won’t let it take our futures, too.”

It’s more than possible at Fordham, she said. The University already has solar panels that help provide low-cost power to its neighbors in the Bronx. It’s home to the fair trade start-up Spes Nova and other student clubs that aid the less fortunate. And it’s created a global alumni network that now includes the Class of 2019, she said—the class of “zero emissions, zero excuses, and zero time to waste.”

“I challenge you tonight to see yourself as placed here for a purpose. Whatever that purpose is, I hope that—win or lose—you pursue it. Because you are free, free someone else. Because you are alive in this moment, do more than simply step aside. Because we are the class of zero, and we have zero time to waste,” Happel said, to a standing ovation from her peers and other audience members.

More Fordham College at Rose Hill students were recognized for being inducted into top academic honor societies and winning prestigious awards, fellowships, and scholarships over the past four years.

There were two special awards, whose winners—unlike the rest—were a surprise.

The Claver Award, given from the Jesuits of Fordham to a senior who epitomizes the University’s commitment to community service, was bestowed on Katarina Martucci, a senior who met weekly with an immigrant child living alone in the United States, and then accompanied the child to court as a child advocate with the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights. The Fordham College Alumni Association Award, given to a senior who exemplifies the Fordham spirit, was presented to Charlotte Hakikson, a senior who served the campus community in more than six roles at Fordham, including vice president for ASILI: the Black Student Alliance.

At the end of the night, Maura Mast, Ph.D., dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill, addressed the graduating class of 2019. She encouraged them to find God in all things—including the bad and the ugly—with a simple approach used to cross a street: stop, look, and go. When you stop, you take a break from the chaos of reality and begin “to see clearly,” she said. When you “look” and become more aware of the reality around you, you can develop a deeper, more receptive attitude. And when you “go,” you engage with the world based on what you have learned from stopping and looking.  

“Weave attention, reverence, and devotion into your life,” she said. “And when you do that, when you practice that, your eyes will open, your heart will open, and you will find God in all things.”

Mast also described the students as her “classmates.” Like the students sitting before her, Mast said, she was also new to Fordham in August 2015. She learned the hard way that she “couldn’t get on the red trains bound for Grand Central” at Fordham’s Metro-North station. It took her three years to find Pugsley’s, thanks to the aid of Google Maps.

But the last four years, no matter the train or on-campus Wi-Fi issues, were transformative for all—and the years ahead will be, too.

“Your education doesn’t stop on Saturday,” Mast said. “I expect you to continue learning and growing as you reflect on your Fordham experience throughout your life.”

The University has raised $75.9 million in funds—7 percent more than the previous record set eight years ago, and $30 million more than the amount raised in 2016.

“We are deeply grateful to the members of the Fordham family who have given, and given so generously,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham. “Their support—financial and otherwise—speaks to the importance of Fordham’s sacred mission, and to the enduring value of a Fordham education. Though we can number the gifts, their impact on a new generation of Fordham students is beyond price.”

Making a Fordham Education Accessible

Among the major gifts that helped to drive the University fundraising achievement was a $10.5 million gift to support science education from the estate of the late Stephen (Steve) Bepler, FCRH ’64, and a $20 million gift to the University from Maurice J. (Mo) Cunniffe, FCRH ’54, and Carolyn Dursi Cunniffe, Ph.D., GSAS ’71. The Cunniffes made the second-largest gift in Fordham’s history when they established the Maurice and Carolyn Cunniffe Presidential Scholars Program to support the studies of high-performing students.

“Our generous donors are people who are passionate about Fordham and are motivated to invest in our mission,” said Roger A. Milici Jr., vice president of development and university relations. “These gifts are meant to ensure that a Fordham education is within reach for first generation students and students of all economic backgrounds.”

As the University has prioritized making a Fordham education accessible for students of every class, race, and faith, it is grateful that $48 million of the $75.9 million raised in FY 2017 was allocated by donors to support financial aid. This brings the Faith & Hope | The Campaign for Financial Aid, which was announced during Fordham’s 175th anniversary, to $107 million.

Milici said the University has made fundraising strides across the board that have contributed to its unprecedented fundraising year.

“We have an increasingly talented and driven advancement team—staff and volunteers—working together to create these types of successes,” he said.

Law and Cybersecurity

Among the University wide successes was the Fordham Law School’s fundraising, which topped its FY 2017 goal of $12.5 million, driving its Faith & Hope | The Campaign for Financial Aid total to $21.4 million. Fordham’s Center on National Security also received a $1.7 million gift from Trustee Fellow Vincent J. Viola and the Viola Family Foundation. That gift will support the work of the center’s director, Karen J. Greenberg, Ph.D., and other research staff, as well as the Terrorism Trials Database, a data and analysis project focused on terrorism prosecutions.

This important gift comes as Fordham was recently designated a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CDE) by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.

Another fundraising advance included the Fordham Fund, which raised $5.1 million and set a new record for unrestricted and school annual funds. What’s more, the 16th Annual Fordham Founder’s Award Dinner, raised $2.4 million—the second largest amount in the dinner’s history.

Support for Capital Projects

With the added emphasis of raising funds to support two important capital projects that will give the University a competitive edge in student-athlete recruitment and improve the Rose Hill Gym fan experience—namely the McLaughlin Family Basketball Court at the Rose Hill campus, and the new football office projects—athletic fundraising had a 42 percent increase from FY 2016.

Fordham parents also played an integral part in helping the University reach its fundraising goals. Parent giving more than doubled, going from $1 million from 2,348 parents the last fiscal year to $2.7 million from 2,699 parents this year.

The spirit of giving was further exemplified in Fordham’s inaugural Giving Day, where the University exceeded its goal of 1,750 donors in 24 hours with gifts from 2,101 donors from across the United States and around the world.

“Fundamentally, Fordham alumni appreciate the rigorous Jesuit education and overall experience they had on campus, and if given the opportunity (and we do a good job of earning their trust), I believe alumni will invest in that promise so that others can have similar experiences and follow in that long maroon line,” said Milici.

But to Frank McLaughlin, FCRH ’69, a former Ram team captain and standout player, the court is simply known as “home.”

“Fordham to me has always been about family,” said McLaughlin, the University’s associate vice president of student affairs for athletic alumni relations and external affairs, and distinguished athletic director emeritus. “I’ve been fortunate to have had a long career in athletics here. I’ve seen a lot of great things happen [at Rose Hill]and shared in a lot of successes.”

To honor McLaughlin’s legacy, the Rose Hill Gym’s basketball court will be renamed the Frank McLaughlin Family Basketball Court as part of a $2.5 million fundraising campaign, which aims to herald a new chapter in Fordham’s athletics program. So far, more than $1.3 million has been raised to support the University’s efforts.

As McLaughlin’s career nears its half-century mark, he said he is especially excited for the future of the Rose Hill Gym, which will be transformed into a more fan-friendly basketball arena equipped with new spectator seating, a state-of-the-art wood surface, and an upper balcony with a hospitality suite. The prospective changes offer the most significant renovation to date for the 92-year-old, 3,200-seat gym, which has had several small-scale upgrades over the last 15 years.

“It provides our coaches with a better opportunity to attract outstanding student-athletes,” he said.

McLaughlin guided the Rams to the National Invitation Tournament in 1968 and 1969. The former hoops star also helped win a record-breaking 23 home games in two seasons, defeating Seton Hall, Syracuse, and Georgetown, among others. Later, he served as an assistant to famed basketball coach Richard “Digger” Phelps on the nationally ranked 1971 Fordham men’s team before serving as the University’s athletics director for 27 years. In 2016, he was inducted into the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Hall of Fame.

“Frank truly bleeds maroon,” said Darlene Luccio Jordan, FCRH ’89, a member of the Board of Trustees. “He has been a force both on Fordham’s basketball court and then courtside for more than four decades. I couldn’t think of a more fitting tribute to Frank, [his wife]Susan, and their girls than to name the Rose Hill Gym’s basketball court in honor of his family.”

Fordham family

The McLaughlin family has been associated with the Rose Hill Gym since 1945. The son of a New York City police officer, McLaughlin grew up in the Woodlawn section of the Bronx, where he said basketball was the premier sport in his family. His three brothers, Walter, FCRH ’53, Tommy, and Jackie graduated from Fordham Preparatory School on the Rose Hill campus—and they all played on the court.

The McLaughlin family connection continued at Fordham through McLaughlin’s daughters, Tara, GABELLI ’99, Heather, FCRH ’02, and Colleen, GABELLI ’05.

Throughout his career at Fordham, McLaughlin sought to create a supportive environment that would assist student-athletes in reaching their greatest potential on and off the court. He recruited first-rate coaches who understood that being a good athlete and a good student were not mutually exclusive.

“The student-athlete that goes to Fordham realizes that we want to be successful athletically, but it’s not a win at-all-costs attitude,” said McLaughlin. “They realize that the top priority for coming here is to receive an outstanding education, and then to compete at the highest level athletically.”

Returning home 

McLaughlin’s unique leadership and recruitment approach has had an impact on other institutions, too. When Phelps went on to coach at Notre Dame in the early ’70s, McLaughlin followed, helping to guide the top-ranking Fighting Irish to NCAA tournament bids. As the head men’s basketball coach at Harvard University from 1977 to 1985, his record ranked fifth in the school’s history of basketball wins.

“Coach McLaughlin is a tremendous coach and leader who has given back much to the game of basketball and to Fordham University, both of which mean so much to him,” said Tommy Amaker, Harvard’s head men’s basketball coach.

McLaughlin found his way back to his alma mater when he was named Fordham’s athletic director in 1985.

 “Frank was never too busy to do something that was to Fordham’s advantage and interest,” said Edward H. Mank, a Massachusetts-based backer of the McLaughlin Family Court, who first met McLaughlin when he was a coach for the Harvard Crimson.

Advancing Fordham athletics

David Roach, who succeeded McLaughlin as director of intercollegiate athletics and recreation in 2012, said the renovations will be a draw for fans. “The new seating will also allow spectators to have an enjoyable game-viewing experience throughout the season.”

Current and former members of Fordham’s athletic community said the McLaughlin Family Court might usher in a new era of men and women’s basketball at Fordham.

“[Frank] has seen the ups and the downs. He’s seen Fordham ranked nationally,” said University of Colorado Associate Head Coach Jean Prioleau, FCRH ’92, former basketball player who helped the Rams make it to the NCAA Tournament in 1992. “He’s the sounding board for letting a new generation know that it can be done at Fordham because he has seen it happen.”

What about the Fordham job appealed to you?

Certainly the fact that it is Fordham, an elite academic school. The fact that this is New York City, the greatest city in the world. But quite honestly, the most appealing draw for me was simply the fact that Fordham competes in the Atlantic 10, and all the NCAA Tournament bids that [A-10 teams have] secured in recent years. As a coach who is looking forward to challenges, that is a great opportunity.

How do you turn around a program like this one?

We need to look at what it has not done well, and we just have to improve gradually at the things that are important to winning. My first challenge is to install a defensive mentality here at Fordham that has not been there in the past. We’ve got to get this group to defend at an incredibly high level because that’s what Atlantic 10 basketball is. And then at the other end, we’ve gotta get this group of guys to play the right way: to value the ball, to take the right shots, and to be very unselfish.

You’ve talked about having not a five-year plan here but a one-year plan. Why go into your first season with that mindset?

I’ve actually shortened my one-year plan to a two-month plan—November and December of this season. We’ve got to show people that Fordham basketball is different than what it’s been in the past. By that I mean two things. Number one, we need to win, and as we talk to recruits, students, and alums, Fordham basketball and winning are not synonymous. 

Secondly, we have got to fill Rose Hill Gym. If we had a 9,000-seat arena, that would be impossible. But we simply need to get 3,000 people, from a tri-state area that has 23 million people, in this building on nine nights in November and December. The momentum that we will create is where we’re going to begin.

Rose Hill Gym is historic, but it’s also relatively small and not as modern as many arenas. Was it a selling point or something you were unsure about?

When I was determining if I would take the Fordham job, it wasn’t a factor. However, once I became the head coach and started to evaluate the landscape, it really has become our greatest advantage. It just takes 3,000 people to make it a raucous environment. The best thing that we have going right now is that we have a smaller facility that can allow us to create a very exciting environment.

Interview conducted, edited, and condensed by Joe DeLessio, FCLC ’06. Photo by Vincent Dusovic.

For tickets, schedules, and the latest sports news, go to fordhamsports.com.

Think of live music in New York, and you’re likely to think of Madison Square Garden, concerts in Central Park, or the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn. More intimate, singer-songwriter shows might evoke thoughts of a small club in the Village or a sticky-floored hall on the Lower East Side or in Williamsburg. The leafy Bronx campus of a Jesuit university would probably not come to mind.

But with most performers traveling through its home city, and an award-winning public radio station staffed by prominent New York DJs, Fordham has hosted some of the biggest bands of all time. From the Beach Boys in the gym at the height of their popularity, to Adele at WFUV just after her debut, to U2 broadcasting live from Rose Hill on Good Morning America, the past five decades of popular music have been well represented on University grounds.

“Just the thought that the Beach Boys played at Fordham, that’s really cool,” says Darren DeVivo, FCRH ’87, evening host on WFUV (90.7 FM, wfuv.org), Fordham’s noncommercial public radio station. “And then look what happened with U2. It just shows you that quirky but cool place that Fordham holds within the New York music scene.”

During his 25-plus years at WFUV, DeVivo has welcomed more than a few music icons to the station’s studios in Keating Hall. He even interviewed Beach Boy Brian Wilson in 2008.

But a 1966 Beach Boys concert at Fordham was something else.

University Trustee Dennis Ruppel, FCRH ’68, was sophomore class president, and John Valente, FCRH ’68, was floor chairman of the concert committee that year. They decided to try to bring the surf rockers—one of the most popular acts in the country at the time—to Fordham to play the traditional sophomore concert. Bolstered by the audacity of youth, Ruppel called the band’s management, and the committee signed the Beach Boys to play at Rose Hill on March 18, 1966, along with the Lovin’ Spoonful.

“This is what was so great about the pre- Woodstock era,” says Valente, a former executive producer of network soap operas who runs two independent movie theaters in the Berkshires. “You’d look at the back of the LP, find the management company, and make a couple of phone calls.”

“It was very easy,” adds Ruppel, who brokered the deal with the William Morris agency. Still, signing the contract was nerve-racking. “When you have to come up with $7,500 you don’t take it lightly! It was a lesson in risk management—and I live today as the CEO of an insurance company,” says Ruppel, who heads Ark Royal homeowners insurance company and is a partner in the Florida-based law firm Johnson, Pope, Bokor, Ruppel & Burns, LLP.

Ruppel needn’t have worried; the committee sold so many tickets that it exercised its contract option to add another show on the same night.

The late New York DJ Pete Fornatale, FCRH ’67, who began his career as a student at WFUV and came back to the station in 2001, recalled the Beach Boys concert in an interview for this magazine shortly before he died in April 2012.

“Fordham was the place to be that night,” he said, “and fortunately for me I knew the concert committee and they knew FUV, and they set us up in the dressing room to do recordings.”

That meeting sparked a decades-long relationship between Fornatale and the Beach Boys. He emceed their 1971 comeback concert at Carnegie Hall, and the surviving members of the band recorded a video tribute that was played at his June 2012 memorial at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York.

Soon after that 1966 Beach Boys concert, Fordham students and other New Yorkers began flocking to Rose Hill to see bands that would later become legends: Simon and Garfunkel, the Four Tops, Buffalo Springfield, the Byrds, and many more in the ’60s and ’70s. Joan Jett, Squeeze, and 10,000 Maniacs, among others in the ’80s and ’90s. And no one will ever forget that chilly morning in 2009 when U2 played an electrifying set on Edwards Parade.

What follows is a collection of vignettes highlighting Fordham’s rock-and-roll reputation.

The Beach Boys with the Lovin’ Spoonful
March 18, 1966
Rose Hill Gymnasium

Led by native New Yorker John Sebastian, the Lovin’ Spoonful had a hit in 1965 with “Do You Believe in Magic?” but they were still relative newcomers when they signed on to open up for the Beach Boys. By March ’66 the band had a few more hits, including “Daydream,” and they were just a few months away from releasing one of their most enduring singles—“Summer in the City.” Yet they’d never played a gig as big as this one.

“To the Spoonful, it was a step up,” says Sebastian. “We had been playing high schools the year before, so to get a job at Fordham meant a tremendous amount to us.” The band was also excited to perform on a bill with the Beach Boys.

When the Lovin’ Spoonful showed up at the McGinley Center that night—in taxi cabs from the Village—someone mistakenly placed them in the faculty lounge reserved as the Beach Boys’ dressing room. When the Beach Boys pulled up in their limos and found another band in their room, “You could cut the tension with a knife,” says Dennis Ruppel.

“I talked to John Sebastian and very kindly asked him to leave. He was very cool about it; he got it instantly.” But he left his autoharp behind. “One of the Beach Boys picked up the harp and was sitting on the couch playing it. [Sebastian] came back and there was again this high tension level,” Ruppel remembers, especially because the Beach Boy insisted on finishing his song.

As for the show? “It was great,” says Ruppel. “People were yelling and screaming. They played everything. ‘California Girls,’ ‘Little Deuce Coup,’ ‘Surfin’ Safari.’ It was one hit after another.”

The Supremes with Gladys Knight and the Pips
March 11, 1967
Rose Hill Gymnasium

By 1966, the Supremes were international stars and Motown’s biggest act. Their catchy singles “Stop in the Name of Love,” “Back in My Arms Again,” and “You Can’t Hurry Love” along with the easy tone of Diana Ross’ voice, allowed the trio to cross over from R&B to pop, and made them one of the most successful groups of the decade. Gladys Knight and the Pips opened the show. “We caught them on the rise, just before they became headliners themselves,” recalls John Valente, FCRH ’68.

Mary Bruton Reid, TMC ’69, waitressed in the McGinley Center’s Ramskeller that evening and brought a tray of beers to the Supremes.

“They were just beautiful, in shimmering, glittery gowns,” says Reid. “They took complete control of the stage. Diana Ross had huge charisma.” When they introduced themselves during the show, Reid recalls, Ross said, “‘And me, I’m the skinny one,’ and did a sort of wiggle, and then they went into all their songs.’”

Kate Schumann, GABELLI ’83,’96, posted a memory of the show on the Fordham alumni Facebook page: “They let the neighborhood kids in for free. I was so small that I sat just below the stage. Afterwards, I was caught trying to sneak [into]the reception being held at the McGinley Center. A very fond memory!”

The Kinks with Aerosmith
March 30, 1973
Rose Hill Gymnasium

Nearly 10 years after “You Really Got Me” and “All Day and All of the Night” paved the way for the hard rock of future decades, the Kinks played at Rose Hill with Boston rockers Aerosmith. According to New York Times critic John Rockwell, the Kinks made it clear that night in the gym that “they are still one of the finest groups around.”

Rockwell gave most of the credit to front man Ray Davies, but also praised “the simple invention of their material and arrangements (a three-piece mini-Dixieland band was on hand) and the skill of their execution.” The writer had less-than-kind words for Aerosmith, who would release their debut album, including the now-classic “Dream

On,” two months later. The band “played loud, derivative rock, distinguished only by Steven Tyler’s fawning imitation of Mick Jagger.”

Kurtis Blow
February 26, 1983
McGinley Center Cafeteria

Three years after releasing “The Breaks”—the first-ever rap hit on a major label—Harlem-born Kurtis Blow played a sold-out show in the McGinley Center. Blow’s influence was so significant that rapper Run (aka Joseph Simmons) of the seminal hip-hop trio Run DMC, called himself “The Son of Kurtis Blow” when he was first starting out.

“It was a great performance. He was really, really entertaining,” says Joe Cerra, FCRH ’84, chairman of the concert committee at the time. “We had booked it as sort of a New York City nightclub. We opened the doors early and had a mixer with a DJ.”

Mimes and Mummers, the theater company at Rose Hill, had an earlier performance, Cerra recalls, and people were able to go to both shows for a full night out. “It was a really great night on campus.”

Billy Idol
December 2, 1983
Rose Hill Gymnasium

“The Billy Idol show got out of hand,” Cerra says of the winter concert by the English rocker. The concert committee booked the show before the 1983 summer break, when Idol’s single “White Wedding” was popular. They’d planned to sell 3,000 tickets at $5 each—the same price as the Beach Boys show nearly 20 years earlier. “We were never trying to make money,” says Cerra, now an attorney living in Suffern, N.Y.

But before the fall rolled around, the new music-video craze had made Idol famous. “He got a lot of play on MTV that summer and was very, very hot,” Cerra says. “There’s no question there were more than 3,000 people in that gym.” Idol played all his big hits: “Rebel Yell,” “Mony Mony,” and “Dancin’ with Myself.” Teen idol Matt Dillon even showed up with Idol’s entourage. “The place was really rockin’,” says Cerra.

The Ramones
April 27, 1984
Rose Hill Gymnasium

“We originally wanted the Go-Go’s. They were red hot at the time,” says Cerra. But the all-female group’s drummer needed open-heart surgery, and they canceled one month before the show.

“The Ramones were available for that day, and we scooped them up,” says Cerra.

The iconic punk rock pioneers from Forest Hills, Queens, released their debut album in 1976 and toured relentlessly, playing often at the nowshuttered East Village venue CBGB. Even though the band’s popularity was waning by 1984, their hits had staying power. “At every college party you went to, ‘I Wanna Be Sedated’ was playing,” Cerra says. The show nearly sold out.

Backstage, the Ramones’ demands were few. “They were pretty straightforward and pretty down-to-earth guys,” says Cerra, although they did have one special request. Concert committee member Rich Srsich, GABELLI ’85, “had to keep giving Joey Ramone updates on the Knicks game.”

The Violent Femmes with The Roots
March 28, 1998
Rose Hill Gymnasium

American alternative rockers the Violent Femmes played at Rose Hill 15 years after the release of their popular self-titled debut album. Known for their jittery yet melodic sound and eternally appealing odes to teenage angst (burger chain Wendy’s used “Blister in the Sun” in their 2007 TV ads), the Milwaukee band was still releasing albums and touring in the ’90s. They reunited in 2013, playing at the Coachella festival.

The Roots, considered by many to be the best live hip-hop band, released their breakthrough album Things Fall Apart the year after playing at Fordham. But by 1998, critics had already lauded the future Grammy Award winners for their jazzy, funky approach to the genre. Today the Roots serve as the house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Adele
June 9, 2008
Studio A at WFUV

Pop sensation Adele did one of her first U.S. radio interviews at WFUV in 2008, just after the American release of her debut album, 19.

When Rita Houston, WFUV’s music director, heard the young singer perform that day, she had a sense that she’d make it big. “There was something that was so honest about what she was doing,” Houston says. Adele returned to FUV after releasing 21, which won the 2011 Grammy Award for Best Album of the Year.

U2
March 6, 2009
Edwards Parade

“It was just a rumor for the longest time, but we were very excited. We all knew something was coming,” says Dennis Elsas, WFUV’s afternoon host. “There was great anticipation at the thought that one of the biggest bands in the world was going to be coming here, literally on the steps of Keating Hall.”

Elsas, a recognized rock authority who spent 25 years at New York’s WNEW as a DJ and music director, has interviewed rock’s greatest legends, including John Lennon, Mick Jagger, and Pete Townsend. “I’ve been involved with many shows,” he says, “but they were a hundred yards from our studio—less—it was our backyard!” Between the staff from Good Morning America, which was broadcasting the show live, U2’s security, and University security, it was tough even for Elsas to get near the Irish rockers. But he made his way to the stage, where he filed reports for WFUV.

The group played beautifully to the Fordham crowd, Elsas says. Front man Bono reminisced about how he and his bandmates got together when they were in their teens. “We joined a band to get out of going to college,” he said, “but maybe if it looked like this and felt like this, things could have been different.”

“There was a tremendous sense of pride [that day],” Elsas says. “It was both rock and roll and Fordham history.”

MGMT
May 1, 2010
Martyrs’ Court Lawn

At Spring Weekend 2010, student bands Average Girl and Penrose opened for the Brooklyn-based synthpop sensation MGMT, which had just released its second album, Congratulations. The band, hot off an April 24 performance on Saturday Night Live, played all of its hits, including the electrodisco anthems “Kids” and “Time to Pretend.”

Emeli Sandé
February 27, 2012
Studio A at WFUV

Emeli Sandé chose FUV for her first American radio interview after the release of her debut album, Our Version of Events, which later reached No. 1 in the United Kingdom. “She was just lovely and so self-possessed,” Houston says of the singer, who grew up in Scotland. “Her songs knocked me out.”

The 26-year-old songwriter has penned tunes for Alicia Keys, Rihanna, and many others. At Fordham, she performed stripped-down versions of her own soulful hits, including “My Kind of Love.” The YouTube videos of her FUV Studio A session have received more than 1 million hits combined, possibly due to her growing popularity after performances at the London Olympics in summer 2012 and at the White House in May.

The basketball team’s 77-73 win over UMass on Saturday had fans seeing stars.

Well, one star in particular.

Sitting courtside at the Rose Hill Gym was indie filmmaker Edward Burns, whose hits include The Brothers McMullen, Sidewalks of New York and Nice Guy Johnny.

Burns, a friend of Head Coach Tom Pecora, brought his son to watch the team in action. The Rams rewarded him by posting their first Atlantic 10 victory in more than two seasons.

He tweeted after the game, “Courtside in the Bronx. Big win for Coach Pec,” and posted a photo he took from his seat.

Burns recently announced that he will star in a new HBO series called 40, which focuses on four friends in their forties whose lives are at varying levels of success.

—Joe McLaughlin

When John Lyons, FCRH ’50, attended Fordham, entertainment options were few for him and Beryl, his childhood sweetheart and future wife.

Rams football filled that void.

“Fordham was playing at the Polo Grounds, and you could get a ticket for 75 cents. So for all the home games, I would get the 75-cent tickets, Beryl and I would go up to the Polo Grounds, and after the game, we would take the D train down to Broadway,” Lyons said.

“There was a restaurant on 48th Street just off Broadway—one of these Italian restaurants in a basement. Many times we wouldn’t have enough money for two meals, so we’d get a meal to share, or whatever we could. But we would come out of that restaurant, and as long as we had 15 cents in our pocket, that was a nickel each for the subway, and a nickel for the Sunday Daily News.”

After those collegiate days, when he commuted from Elmhurst, Queens, to Rose Hill, Lyons ascended the corporate hierarchy to become vice chairman of Merck, Inc.

Lyons returned to Rose Hill on Sept. 24 to commemorate the days he and Beryl spent cheering the Rams, and to dedicate a new football locker facility that his generosity helped create.

The Beryl and John Lyons Football Locker Room has opened in the basement of the Rose Hill Gym in a space once occupied by the University’s first swimming pool. The room features more than 90 wooden lockers, widescreen televisions and a theatre-type viewing area for the team. It also includes two sealed lockers with memorabilia to honor Fordham football legends Vince Lombardi and Bill Tierney. At roughly 4,800 square feet, it is more than four times larger than the former room.

The $1.5 million cost was covered by a $1 million gift from Lyons and a $1 million gift from an anonymous donor. The remaining $500,000 went to the University’s football fund.

At the dedication ceremony, current team captain and wide receiver Jason Caldwell thanked Lyons for his generosity. “We used to have to meet in the Rose Hill Gym during games since we didn’t have enough space in the old locker room. But now that we have a place to call home, the team’s spirits have been lifted and it makes us that much prouder to be Rams,” he said.

The project appealed to Lyons because, even though he missed out on campus life as a commuter student, football provided a connection to the social aspects of the University. In fact, Don Cameron, a fellow chemistry major, played halfback for the team, and would regale classmates with retellings of games in class.

“He was our own Monday morning quarterback,” Lyons said.

Those classes were where he learned enough to walk into his first job as a research chemist at Merck with total confidence.

“I absolutely knew there was nothing they could throw at me that I couldn’t handle, because Fordham prepares you to handle anything,” Lyons said. “You worked your butt off.”

More than anything, Lyons said he wanted his gift to highlight the memories of his time with Beryl, who died on May 9—just 39 days before their 50th wedding anniversary.

“There are three things that have influenced my life. One is, without a doubt, Beryl; she was my rock. Without her, I was nothing. The second was Fordham, and the third was the United States Navy,” he said.

“I’ve traveled the world and I’ve been in every fancy restaurant in the world, but Beryl and I often said we were never richer than when we had those meals we could hardly afford after the Fordham football games.”

Director of Sports Information Joseph DiBari contributed to this report.