The University’s Internship Promise, unveiled this week, pledges that every undergraduate student from the Class of 2029 and beyond will have the opportunity to participate in at least one internship, research project, or other form of experiential learning.

“Learning by doing has always been part of the Fordham experience, as our students demonstrate every year through their internships and research in our hometown of New York City,” said Fordham’s president, Tania Tetlow. 

With New York City as their launchpad, 90% of undergraduate students participate in at least one internship—and many enter the workforce with more than one on their resume. Unlike other locations, New York City offers internship opportunities year-round. 

Fordham students have interned at places as varied as Bloomberg, the Apollo Theater, the United States Tennis Association, EY, and Disney. They have been awarded research fellowships and opportunities stemming from unique partnerships, including those with NYC’s faith communities. Student journalists at Fordham’s WFUV have reported from the field at Yankee Stadium and gone on to intern at top news organizations like MSNBC.

Proven Benefits

Annette McLaughlin, director of Fordham’s Career Center, said students who participate in internships are more likely to receive offers for full-time employment, regardless of their field of study. 

“There’s great value in any type of hands-on learning experience, and we find that’s true even with students who do internships and then decide that it’s not the right industry for them,” she said.

“Internships are important for student’s career exploration and professional development, as well as giving them insight into the culture of an organization.”

A recent survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that employers rate internship experience within their industry as the top factor they consider when deciding between two otherwise equally qualified candidates. 

“In everything they study, students want to understand the ‘why.’ So when they can get hands-on experience through internships, they can connect what they’re doing in the classroom to the real world,” McLaughlin said.

Finding Internships at Fordham

The Career Center, which expanded its footprint in the Joseph M. McShane, S.J. Campus Center in 2022, hosts employers at several events each semester. In addition to holding nine career fairs annually, the center also hosts a fair devoted exclusively to internships, featuring employers such as Barclays, EssilorLuxottica, L’Oreal, Phillips Auctioneers, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, EY, LSEG, and Tapestry. 

Students can also access internship opportunities—86% of which are paid—through Handshake, the Career Center’s one-stop online career platform for students and alumni. Gabelli School of Business students have access to the Career Center’s resources as well as their school’s Personal and Professional Development Center, which has connected students to internships at companies such as Morgan Stanley, Estee Lauder, and PwC. 

Fordham students can also receive internships via Serving the City, a unique paid internship program that connects them to New York area nonprofits and cultural organizations. 

In addition to internships, learning opportunities such as research and fieldwork can be found University-wide. Fordham faculty oversee capstone projects, assignments, case studies, and research projects. Students can also gain experience with Fordham departments such as the Center for Community Engaged Learning, Marketing and Communications, and the Office of Information Technology.

Continuous Support

As they progress in their education, students are encouraged to connect with alumni mentors who can help them with career advice and utilize all the tools of RamConnect, the University’s online community for professional development. Career counselors also work with students all four years to help them improve their career readiness skills. 

“We are always looking to prepare our students for the future,” said McLaughlin. 

“Internships, research, experiential learning, and study abroad are key components to setting our students up for success.”

“This program has shown me how important it is to be organized because it’s so massive,” said Cintron, a Bronx native majoring in finance.

That program is the Gabelli School’s Corporate Communications High School Pipeline Program, begun six years ago to help students from underrepresented groups enroll at Fordham or comparable schools, thereby increasing their presence in university classrooms and in the world of business.

Scholarship Support

A key part of the program is scholarships. As a student co-leader, Cintron receives the Gabelli Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Scholarship, established in 2021 to support students who, like Cintron, took part in the program as high schoolers and serve the program in administrative roles as students at Fordham.

It has proved to be a critical piece of his financial aid, said Cintron. “The scholarship has lifted a huge financial burden and created a sense of security for my mom and me,” he said. “I have so many opportunities and resources at Fordham, and to have lost those resources because I can’t pay tuition would be heartbreaking.”

The pipeline program prepares students for business school through mentoring, corporate site visits, a class on the Fordham campus, and a business class taught in the high schools by Gabelli School students to prepare the high schoolers for a year-end pitch proposal competition.

Over the past six years, the program has served approximately 300 high schoolers, and nearly 100 Gabelli School students have served in the program. About two dozen of the high schoolers are either enrolled at Fordham or have recently graduated, said Clarence E. Ball III, former director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at the Gabelli School, who founded and built the pipeline program.

Dramatic Growth

The program has grown dramatically, he said—since beginning in 2018 with 12 students at Cardinal Hayes High School, Cintron’s alma mater, it has expanded to six Catholic high schools in the Bronx and East Harlem. Because of that growth, Cintron was extra busy last year managing other Fordham students who joined the program as mentors and classroom instructors.

Thanks to a spate of alumni donations in recent years, the Gabelli School will soon be able to award scholarship funds to more students who, like Cintron, play leadership roles in the pipeline program, Ball said.

Leadership Skills and an Internship at Citi

As he looks ahead to his career, Cintron is grateful that being able to attend Fordham helped him land an internship at Citi this past summer. And his experience at the head of a high school classroom should come in handy as well.

“Leading a classroom is very transferable to leading any group, and just understanding how to get through to people, how to get the group back on track,” he said.

“I’m still not over it, I don’t think,” said Biggs, who has contributed to six other publications as a coauthor.

Targeting Tumors

The publication is also good news in the fight against cancer: It describes a possible new method for treating tumors without the side effects that sometimes accompany chemotherapy. Biggs and her coauthors—Fordham students and alumni and her research mentor, biochemistry professor Ipsita Banerjee, Ph.D.—show how peptides derived from living organisms can be designed to precisely target tumors with chemotherapy drugs. It’s an alternative to a less precise method involving a barrage of synthetic peptides, which can cause damage to cells surrounding the tumor.

After developing a series of naturally derived peptides, the team tested them using computer models and by applying them to tumors grown in their lab. The next step would be testing their efficacy in animals. Biggs and her team members have shared the research at national and regional conferences while working toward publication, “and to have it published is really the culmination of all of that hard work,” she said. 

But the research might still be far back in the pipeline, working its way toward publication, if not for a funding award Biggs received last year. 

A Gift Toward Science Education at Fordham

In fall 2021, Fordham received a $250,000 gift from the Blavatnik Family Foundation, established by Ukrainian-born industrialist Len Blavatnik to support the arts, culture, and the sciences at institutions around the globe. The gift in support of STEM education at Fordham included funds for student research fellowships, one of which was awarded to Biggs in fall 2023.

It proved a crucial accelerant to her research, making “a world of a difference,” she said. 

“I can’t really overstate the level of impact that it had,” she said. “I was able to really devote a lot more time and energy to my research as a direct result of having that funding. It really let me have that one-track-mindedness that I think research requires sometimes.”

Without the fellowship, she would have had to devote more time to paid work, and the research “likely would’ve taken a lot longer,” Biggs said. “It may not have reached the publication stage as quickly as it did.” The fellowship also supported her work on other projects for which she’s now a published coauthor, all of which involved peptides that target different types of tumors, she noted.

Today she’s applying to doctoral programs, possibly with a focus on plant biochemistry. “I’m enormously grateful” for the Blavatnik award, she said, and also expressed gratitude for other financial help that Fordham has provided her. “I wouldn’t have gotten to this point,” she said, “without that robust support.”

An additional 8% are international students. This is the third-largest class ever admitted to Fordham, with more than 2,500 students enrolled as of Monday, Aug. 26.

“With the Class of 2028, Fordham did as it always has done: admitted a group of students whose academic drive and diversity of experience make for an enriching learning environment—one in which all students feel a sense of belonging and support,” said Patricia Peek, Ph.D., associate vice president and dean of undergraduate admission at Fordham.

“It’s wonderful to be able to welcome these students we’ve worked with for such a long time through the admissions process,” she said. “We’re excited to bring them into the Fordham community and to see what they’ll contribute and achieve here.”

A Tradition of Serving First-Generation Students

First-generation students are 27% of the entering class (up from 24% last year), the most in Fordham’s history—a number that resonates with Fordham’s legacy of welcoming students who were first in their families to attend college.

“I’m proud to see that Fordham continues to carry on the legacy of its founder, Archbishop John Hughes, who wanted nothing more than to provide opportunity to struggling Irish immigrants who were unwelcome in the 19th-century school system in New York City, helping them gain a foothold in America,” said Tania Tetlow, president of Fordham University.

Last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision banning affirmative action has created uncertainty in university admissions across the nation, noted John W. Buckley, Fordham’s vice president for undergraduate enrollment.

“This ruling has been unsettling for higher education generally, but Fordham has always pursued strategies that foster diversity at the University,” he said. “A key part of our strategy is recruiting from a wide range of high schools, public and private, to ensure that every entering class comprises the widest possible variety of exceptional students.”

Black and Hispanic students account for nearly 7% and 26% of the incoming class, respectively, he said. The number of students from each group has increased substantially compared with last year’s entering class. The number of Black students is 26% higher, and the number of Hispanic students is 28% higher.

A Diverse Class of Exceptional Students

Other figures attest to the class’s academic strength and diversity:

The class has an average SAT/ACT score of 1404. The average high school GPA was 3.64 on a 4.0 scale.

Students came from 55 countries, 46 states, the District of Columbia, and three U.S. territories. Beyond the tristate area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, the three states that sent the most students were California, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.

Nearly 600 students represent New York City’s five boroughs, including a 32% year-over-year increase in students from the Bronx and an 11% increase in students from Manhattan, boroughs where Fordham’s Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses are located.

Fordham’s international student population also continues to grow year over year. The increase of students coming from Canada and India is notable, Peek said—each country sent twice as many students to Fordham compared to last year.

“We’re thrilled to welcome the Class of 2028!” Buckley said. “We look forward to seeing the impact you make here at Fordham and out in the world.”

High school students and their families seeking to learn more about Fordham are encouraged to connect with the University’s Office of Undergraduate Admission. The University offers numerous opportunities to visit campus or attend virtual information sessions to experience Fordham firsthand.

Note: Data are current as of Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. The final entering class is typically set by late September.

“It’s a really great opportunity that I never even thought was possible,” she said.

Rochetti unveiled her piece alongside seven other student musicians at the Fordham Composers Concert, held on May 1 at Fordham Lincoln Center’s 12th-Floor Lounge. The annual event is the culmination of a semester’s work, where students develop their new pieces with top professionals who rehearse, provide advice, and ultimately perform the compositions for a live audience.  

Working at a Professional Level 

The Fordham Composers Workshop is a one-of-a-kind combination of theory and practice designed to give undergraduate students the experience of creating an original concert work at the professional level. Each student is assigned a different ensemble of three instruments to write for, culminating in a five-minute piece played on some combination of flute, clarinet, oboe, violin, or cello. 

The students then workshop the piece through multiple drafts which are read and played throughout the semester by members of the Exponential Ensemble —a chamber music collective made up of some of the most in-demand musicians in the New York City region.

“We’re working with professional musicians,” said Daniel Ott, D.M.A., associate professor of music theory and composition and chair of the art history and music department, who teaches the class. “It’s a really rare opportunity to get that hands-on experience when you’re a student.”

The format of the class is both lecture and workshop, as Ott spends half of the class time outlining classical composition principles and techniques. The other half allows students to engage directly with the instrumentalists, who offer insights and critiques on everything from the sonic impact of a key change to the proper way to notate specialty sounds like a flute growl.

“It’s not like any other regular class,” said Elena Smith, a senior music major at Fordham College at Rose Hill. “The structure of it is really different. It’s more interactive.”

Opening New Possibilities

The first Composers Workshop class was held in 2013. Since then, the small performances in the 50-seat Veronica Lally Kehoe Studio Theatre have grown to become an integral and vital part of artistic life on campus. In 2018, the final concert had its largest attendance to date when the student composers’ pieces were inspired by artworks from Fordham visual arts students. In 2020, during the pandemic, student works were still performed by the musicians despite their having to do so online —a monumental task that involved separate recordings of each part for every piece.

The class continues to be a highlight for students who relish the opportunity to combine academic rigor with personal expression.

“You just have complete creative freedom to create whatever you want with your music,” said Henry Domenici, a senior music major. “I really have enjoyed the opportunity to get to do that for a class.” 

“The first time I knew about the Climate Museum, I was just walking in SoHo; I saw the window and I went in and loved it,” said Salume, who recently graduated from Fordham College at Lincoln Center. “I thought, ‘Wow, it would be great to work at an organization like this, that combines art and climate action.’ It was right up my alley with my environmental studies and humanitarian studies majors.”

John van Buren, Salume’s major advisor and director of the environmental studies program, sent an email a few weeks later with internship opportunities that included one at the museum.

Salume said she “applied immediately.” She started in January as a development intern, working with companies to secure donations.

“Majo [her nickname]has been an incredible force,” said Saskia Randle, a design and curatorial associate at the museum—the first of its kind in the U.S. “As the Climate Museum looks to expand our impact, her research and organizational skills have been essential. Her sincere and enthusiastic work with visitors, particularly younger students, has reinforced our mission to offer opportunities for climate awareness and action to all.” 

Salume said that she became interested in sustainability at a summer camp when she was younger. At Fordham, courses, such as Art Design and Politics, have helped her connect art with environmental action. She also explored those two themes through another internship with the Chelsea Music Festival, which had an environmentally-focused theme last year.

Through working at the museum, Salume said that she saw how art helps younger people connect with complicated topics like climate change. 

“We have this mural, and I think it’s so visually appealing,” she said. “It has so much color, and it does a great job at envisioning a sustainable future. There is a section where it represents where we are now, which is a lot of protests …. And at the end of the mural, you can see a very green, very colorful, very lively world—the kids really resonate with that more than just plain facts.”

Salume was surprised to find she liked the fundraising aspect of her internships. 

“In my past two internships, I’ve been the development intern, which became an unexpected interest of mine,” she said. “But I’m doing my thesis on fast fashion, and the environmental and humanitarian impacts of that, and that has really pushed me to that sector as well.”

We asked grads to welcome the Class of 2024 with a special gift: their advice and life lessons. And they eagerly answered the call.

Always Persist  

Persist even in the face of iron-clad adversity. We get one chance to do this thing called life, so don’t dream too small, and never give up!

Benedetto Youssef, Fordham College at Lincoln Center, Class of 2012

Balance Your Ambition and Happiness

Don’t ever let your hunger for success ruin your happiness.

Michael Bennis, Gabelli School of Business, Classes of 2017 and 2018

Turn the Page

Take it all in—day by day, week by week, month by month. You will feel weird at first. It’s inevitable. A chapter closing. But your new chapter will bring so many blessings, so many new lessons—and some old lessons and people that you will hold on to. Whether you’re staying in NYC, in your hometown, or venturing out where you know no one, you’ll be great and amazing at everything you do. Congratulations, and here’s to many new memories for you!

Aminata Konateh, Fordham College at Rose Hill, Class of 2023

Embrace Change, But Stay True to Yourself

Don’t be afraid to change direction. Remember why you started this whole journey.

Jayne (Zambito) Lee, Graduate School of Education, Class of 1977

Build Strong Relationships

Cultivate meaningful connections with friends, family, mentors, and colleagues. These relationships will support you through both the good times and the challenges life throws your way.

Lisa Manfredi, Gabelli School of Business, Class of 1991  

Lift Up Those Around You

Hold on tight to one another and lift up those around you, for the best is yet to come. I was lucky enough to find a group of women who were supportive, kindhearted, and passionate. If you had asked us in March 2022 where we would be today, we would have responded, “Together, of course.” But we accepted life-changing opportunities, erupting with excitement for one another: I accepted a job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, another accepted a position with Amazon in Seattle, one with the Los Angeles Lakers in LA, another began her career in luxury real estate in San Diego, one went to Boston to work in marketing, and one stayed in the Big Apple. Although we are still living coast to coast, we make time for each other, whether it is in our group chat, at Homecoming, or on our yearly weekend trip. I am so grateful to Fordham for allowing our paths to cross.

Maggie Flahive, Fordham College at Rose Hill, Class of 2022

Keep Reading, Keep Learning

Always be reading a well-written book—even if it’s just a few pages a day. I’m an attorney, and that habit always sharpens my mind and is enjoyable. In the course of a year, it’s amazing how many books you’ll read!

David G. O’Brien, Fordham College at Rose Hill, Class of 1969; School of Law, Class of 1975

Submissions have been edited for length and clarity. Many thanks to all the alumni who shared their advice and graduation day photos.

A graduating senior and valedictorian at Fordham College at Rose Hill, Tejiram was accepted to three medical schools. She’s planning to attend the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in Manhattan next year. 

“Medicine is so much more than just the [coursework]—there’s a heart to medicine,” she said. “It involves bonds of compassion; you’re there for somebody, and not only just to be there to feel with them, but to do something about it.”

Ahead of graduation, Tejiram, who is on the pre-health track, shared some advice for students interested in medical school. 

Explore unique research opportunities—when you’re ready.

Tejiram didn’t start working in a lab until her sophomore year, which she said allowed her to adjust to college and better understand the science behind the research.

Since then, she’s worked on two different research projects. She studied diseases such as age-related blindness in the vision lab of Silvia Finnemann, Ph.D., where she worked on a project that tests treatments for mice with vision defects. 

She also worked with Rachel Annunziato, Ph.D., on a clinical research project at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens—her hometown. The project aimed to engage at-risk patients and reduce medicine avoidance.  

“For some patients, I’ve been able to see them from the beginning to the end of the study, which has been really great,” she said. “I’m really excited to see the impact.”

Look for lessons that translate. 

In both research projects, Tejiram said she was looking for lessons that “can be easily translated” for medical school.

“For example, I do live tissue imaging,” she said. “It’s taught me how to balance precision and also time efficiency because you have a short window of time to work with the tissue. I think that’s going to be really important going into the fast-paced environment of medicine.”

Through her work at Elmhurst Hospital, Tejiram said she’s gained strong patient skills. 

“Being able to sit with them and talk with them and hear their stories—I think I’m going to need that … so they can trust me as their physician,” she said. 

Make a plan for applying to med school.

Tejiram said that the application process lasted about a year, so planning things like coursework and when to take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) was essential. Fordham advisors helped her navigate the process.

“I started applying in junior year—I had to take the MCAT, and then I had to do the primary application,” she said, noting that schools also send a secondary application. 

She spent last summer writing essays and submitting secondary applications before interview season started in the fall. She got her decisions starting in February. 

Expand your studies beyond your major courses. 

Tejiram minored in bioethics, an area she discovered after taking a philosophical ethics course through Fordham’s core curriculum. 

“I realized how many ethical dilemmas come up in daily life, but especially in a field where you’re dealing with patients and human lives,” she said. 

Find supportive mentors and ask them for guidance.

When she was deciding if she wanted to go straight into medical school or take a gap year, Tejiram said she relied heavily on the advice of her Fordham mentors. 

“Those mentors, those support networks I found have been so instrumental throughout my whole journey, and I think it’s really important to remember that you don’t have to do it alone,” she said.

Remember, on the evening of May 18, New York’s Empire State Building will be illuminated in Fordham maroon for our graduates.

But off the court, Tsimbila’s story is anything but typical.

Here are five things to know about this star Fordham Ram.

1. He’s Representing Cameroon in Olympic Qualifiers.

After graduating, Tsimbila will suit up for his country and head to training camp for the Cameroon National Basketball team this July in Latvia. Cameroon is one of six teams competing in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament ahead of the Paris games this summer.

“I’ve always dreamed about wearing my Cameroon jersey,” he said.

2. He Speaks Five Languages.

Tsimbila grew up in Cameroon speaking French, Arabic, Lingala, and Banham—but mastering English is among his proudest accomplishments.

“I learned basic English with my friends in the locker room, but in the locker room, we don’t always use proper formal language,” said Tsimbila, who attended high school in Maryland.

When a recruiter said his English wasn’t strong enough to succeed in college, Tsimbila worried—after several attempts—that he might never pass his proficiency exams.

Then he called his mom.

“She told me, ‘Son, if you believe in something, you have to go after it and do whatever it takes,’” Tsimbila said.

By summer’s end, Tsimbila not only passed his exam—he nearly doubled his score.

3. He Wants to Be an FBI or CIA Agent.

Tsimbila is graduating from the School of Professional and Continuing Studies with an individualized major in arts and computers. After graduation, he’ll pursue a master’s degree in cybersecurity at Fordham while continuing to play for the Rams. He plans to apply to work for the FBI or CIA.

4. His Bond with Coach Keith Urgo Goes Beyond Fordham.

Tsimbila forged a special connection with Fordham Head Basketball Coach Keith Urgo—before either became a Ram.

When COVID-19 and visa complications made it impossible to return home for Tsimbila—then playing for Penn State with Urgo as assistant coach—Urgo promised his star recruit he would personally make the trip to Cameroon to reassure Tsimbila’s family that their son’s future was in good hands.

“Abdou is everything a coach could ever want in a player,” Urgo said.

When Urgo came to Fordham, one of his first moves was to recruit Tsimbila from the transfer portal. Again, it was Tsimbila’s mother who swayed his decision.

“She said, ‘That man came all the way to Cameroon to tell me that he cares about you not just as a player, but as a human being,’” Tsimbila recalled. “‘I think you should follow that man—he wants the best for you.’”

5. Fordham Is ‘the Best Decision’ He’s Ever Made.

According to Tsimbila, his decision to transfer to Fordham has paid off beyond the court.

Last summer, Fordham Basketball provided financial and logistical support for Tsimbila to travel home for the first time in six years.

“There’s no other school in America that would have done something like that for me,” he said.

During his senior season, he learned that his family was affected by devastating landslides in Cameroon.

“I received a lot of support from people at Fordham that I never would have imagined,” he said.

Despite those family challenges, Tsimbila had one of his strongest seasons.

“I won’t be sad when I leave Fordham because I know I can come back here anytime,” he said. “Fordham for me means home.”

Remember, on the evening of May 18, New York’s Empire State Building will be illuminated in Fordham maroon for our graduates.

Aggressive Pigeon Behavior: Bridget Crosby, Taylor Goche, Cream Sananikone, and Van Tran

Going to school in New York City made these four biological science majors “fascinated by pigeons.” “I’ve noticed particularly how close pigeons get to us, how they’re foraging for food, how they’re really never alone,” Crosby said. “I’m just fascinated by pigeons, especially in Manhattan, in comparison to more suburban areas. We wanted to see whether there was a correlation between the aggressive behavior and the location that they live in.” Working with the Ecology Lab at Fordham, the team spent hours in four parks analyzing pigeon behaviors. They found pigeons were more aggressive in the urban parks—Bryant Park and Washington Square Park, compared to the more suburban parks—Van Cortlandt Park and Crotona Park, concluding that pigeons in more urban areas are more accustomed to traffic and people, prompting them to act more boldly.

Mental Health in Literature: Marianna Apazidis

A senior from Massachusetts who is double-majoring in psychology and English, Apazidis united her academic interests through research that examined the portrayal of mental health in literature, particularly in Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. The novel centers on a protagonist often considered to be schizophrenic in literary interpretations. Apazidis received a summer research grant that allowed her to visit the Jean Rhys archives in Tulsa, Oklahoma. There, she conducted empirical research, first-hand interviews, and archival research to investigate why the novel’s protagonist is often diagnosed this way and whether this is an accurate portrayal of psychosis. “I started with psychology because I’ve always been interested in how people work and what makes them who they are,” she said. “I quickly found that English is a very similar parallel discipline. I think literature is one of the most important ways to study human nature.”

Detecting the Presence of Metals in Water: Eva Riveros

Riveros was drawn to chemistry as a tangible way to find environmental solutions. Her research project involved the development of a Thiazole probe—a solution that uses proton transfer and fluorescence to detect the presence of metals in water samples. Riveros hopes to eventually create strips using the solution that can be used more easily and efficiently. “One of the main applications we’re thinking of is drinking water, so safety,” said the junior from New Jersey. Riveros developed her love of research after completing the ASPIRES program, which gives incoming students practical exposure to labs and hands-on experimentation.

Religion as Rebellion: Christopher Supplee

Supplee’s interest in how shared narratives shape cultural experiences led him to research the role of Haitian Vodou in confronting the shared traumatic experience of slavery. Supplee applied the three-part trauma recovery theory from Dr. Judith Herman, a leading expert on trauma, as a basis to examine the migration of Vodou from Haiti to the United States. “I look at how the enslaved population used [the practice of]voodoo as a means of maintaining their humanity under the dehumanizing conditions of slavery and rebuilding the community bonds that were separated through the TransAtlantic slave process,” said Supplee, an English and theology major from Philadelphia, “but also making new ones as a result of the diverse peoples that were coming from or transported from the African continent,” he said.

Additional reporting by Kelly Prinz.

Five new state-of-the-art music rooms will be available to students next year, along with a completely renovated and expanded visual arts wing. Construction will begin this summer and the new spaces will be unveiled in the fall.

Modern, Spacious Facilities for Visual Arts

The visual arts space will see a complete overhaul of its existing classrooms and studios located on the first floor of the Lowenstein Center at 60th Street and Columbus Avenue. The improvements will include updated furniture, more open layouts, and new state-of-the-art lighting fixtures. There will also be a brand new seminar room and a large increase in storage space to support more ambitious and varied exhibitions. The space will be anchored by the Lipani Gallery, which features solo and group exhibitions of student work as well as work by professional artists, architects, and designers.

Improvements like these will vastly enhance the opportunities available to all students and allow the gallery to operate at a professional level, according to Stephan Apicella-Hitchcock, associate clinical professor of photography and head of the visual arts program.

“Creativity is one of the major aspects that people of the future need in order to discern opportunities, where others do not see anything,” he said about the benefits of access to the arts. “When you put artists, actors, and musicians all in proximity to one another with an espresso machine, something’s bound to happen.”

The Father Grimes Music Center

The music department will also be joining the updated wing, with a suite of five brand new rooms that will make up the Father Grimes S.J. Music Center—named in honor of Robert Grimes, S.J., the dean emeritus of Fordham College at Lincoln Center.

“It enriches the life of the community so much,” Grimes, a former professor of ethnomusicology, said by phone about the increased footprint of music on campus. The project was funded in part by private donors and alumni, who were eager to honor Grimes’ contributions to music at Fordham.

The plan features two private practice rooms, two ensemble rooms for bands and small groups, and one large rehearsal room that will house Fordham’s performance ensembles as well as specialty courses like the Fordham Composers Workshop.

These enhanced facilities will also be outfitted with recording capabilities and technological updates like the Wenger VAE Rehearsal System—a playback process that allows students to change the sound of the room to mimic different environments such as a cathedral, auditorium, or recital hall.

“I’m excited that the school is making an investment in the arts on this campus, and that it is translating directly into something our students can take advantage of,” said Daniel Ott, D.M.A., associate professor of music theory and composition and chair of the art history and music department. “I want the students to feel recognized in that way, and I think this does that.”

For the Whole Community

The project is being spearheaded by Laura Auricchio, Ph.D., dean of Fordham College at Lincoln Center.

When Auricchio began planning for this project by sending out a student survey soliciting a wishlist for new music spaces, she expected a few dozen responses at most.

Instead, hundreds of students answered—and the majority were not music majors.

“Students are interested in music and art, whether as a vocation or not,” Auricchio said. “I truly believe that music and art does have an impact on their well-being. Creative expression is really necessary, and contributes to the mental health of our students.”