“We are so delighted to have a new president with such deep and interesting connections within the U.K. and a commitment to continue to develop Fordham’s international impact,” said Fordham London’s senior director, Vanessa Beever, LAW ’94, a University alumna herself. “It’s fantastic to have a fellow female lawyer, mother, and dog owner as our president.” 

Fordham London opened in 2018. After nearly a decade of borrowing a building from another institution in London, the University signed a long-term lease for a space in the center of the city that it could call its own. The 17,000-square-foot facility has six floors that comprise a lounge, small library, classrooms, and a rooftop terrace that overlooks the trendy Clerkenwell neighborhood. Students from New York can swipe into the London campus with their original ID card. Inside the building, they take business and liberal arts courses that have taken them across the city—to British art museums, theaters, and even fashion shows. 

At a presidential alumni reception that also included current students and several Fordham board members and administrators, Tetlow said she’s been hard at work building on the many advantages Fordham offers its students—both in New York and in London.

“In this work of leading Fordham, I get to build on incredible strengths, on our location in the other capital of the world, in New York, and on the chance we have—with our amazing strengths in the humanities, in law, in business, and so much of what we do—to matter to the world, to model for our students what that looks like, to give them opportunities that come from being in New York and also in London,” she said. “To show them the kinds of jobs they can get, the kind of impact they can have on the world, and how they can stretch their imagination about what that looks like.”

Tetlow’s Longtime Ties to London 

Tetlow herself is no stranger to London and the United Kingdom. She is a longtime member of the British-American Project, an organization that promotes cross-cultural understanding among young leaders. Through this group, she made many friends in London and met her husband, Gordon Stewart, who is originally from the United Kingdom. She has a daughter who has American/British dual citizenship; a stepson who lives in Scotland; and a home in Fife, Scotland, with Stewart. 

When she first began visiting the United Kingdom, she was surprised by the similarities and nuanced differences between American and British culture, she said. Now, the country—and Fordham’s London campus—feel like home. 

“I am proudly bilingual. I drink a cuppa. I take out the rubbish. I feel chuffed from all this praise,” she said at the presidential alumni reception. “And I can, if I’ve had a couple of pints, even understand Geordie. That’s how local I feel.”

Connecting with the Catholic Church Abroad

Tetlow’s first trip to London as president of Fordham began with a visit to Westminster Abbey, a historic church that has witnessed coronations and burials for generations of British rulers. As the sun set below the London skyline, Tetlow sat in the same space where recently deceased monarch Queen Elizabeth II had once walked, and observed an evensong performance with colleagues from New York. 

On Oct. 25, her first full day in London, she attended a morning Mass at Farm Street Church, which has served as the Jesuits’ flagship church in London for nearly two centuries. She was introduced to Michael Holman, S.J., a prior Jesuit provincial of the United Kingdom, who gave her a tour of the sacred space and taught her about the history of London’s Jesuits. (Father Holman has a connection to Fordham, too. In 1989, he earned his master’s in education and administration from the Graduate School of Education and lived at the Rose Hill campus with the Jesuits for several years.) 

Meeting Fordham London’s Staff

In the afternoon, Tetlow visited Fordham’s London campus for the first time. Following in the footsteps of her predecessor, Joseph M. McShane, S.J., who last visited Fordham London in 2021, she toured the facilities and met its staff.  

Seated at a table with staff, Tetlow inquired about Fordham London. What are the academic programs and curriculum like? Where do the students live? And what are the students themselves like?  

Every year, there are about 500 students at Fordham London, she learned, most of whom are upperclassmen from the Gabelli of Business and liberal arts students. The majority are Americans from Fordham’s New York campuses, and they tend to come to Fordham London for a single semester. Students from other American universities studying abroad can also study at Fordham London. Through connections with study abroad housing partners, students are able to live in local apartments that offer a glimpse of post-graduate living. They commute to campus by taking the Tube, riding a red double-decker bus, or simply using their own two feet. 

Through partnerships with local universities, students are able to take one or two courses outside the campus, at the City University of London and other schools. But the bulk of their education takes place at Fordham. Through their faculty and coursework, liberal arts students have been able to perform in the iconic Tower of London and view versions of Shakespeare’s plays that appeal to a modern audience. Through school-sponsored trips, students from all disciplines travel across the United Kingdom to famous sites like Stonehenge. (They also use their free time to explore the whole European continent, including Paris, which is no more than three hours away by train.) And just outside the Fordham London campus is Leather Lane, a bustling food market that stretches across several streets and boasts a wide selection of cuisines, from Persian kebabs to Japanese hibachi to Yorkshire burritos—pudding wraps with sage stuffing, spinach, roast potatoes, and gravy.  

Armando Nuñez Jr., chair-elect of Fordham’s Board of Trustees, attended the meeting with Tetlow and Fordham London staff. 

“It’s so wonderful to be here in person with our new president and to be engaged in this conversation,” said Nuñez. “The University has a great opportunity here to expand its global footprint in a smart and strategic way.” 

After the meeting, Tetlow hosted a reception for the British-American Project at Fordham London. The next day, she welcomed more than 100 members of the Fordham family at the presidential alumni reception held in the Shard, the tallest building in Western Europe. And in private meetings paired with food and wine throughout her trip, she became acquainted with alumni who now call London home. 

William J. Loschert, GABELLI ’61, is a trustee fellow who grew up in Queens, New York, and now lives in London.

“Fordham London is a great hub for students,” Loschert said. “London has a lot more traditional history than New York. We also have a different form of government, which right now is kind of a mess with three prime ministers in two months, but it’s a different culture, and I think it’s good that students can get out of New York and America and see how the rest of the world lives.”

On Thursday—Tetlow’s final day in London—she met with the Fordham London Advisory Board and other senior members of the University’s administration to brainstorm ways to improve the study abroad experience for students; she also met Fordham London’s new head of experiential learning. At an evening reception held on campus, she was introduced to Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, the apostolic nuncio to Great Britain. 

A Luncheon with the ‘Future Generation of Fordham Leaders’

Finally, she ate lunch with visiting Gabelli School of Business students in Fordham London’s ground floor lounge. The students, who study in the Professional MBA Program, had flown to London as part of their course called The Tale of Two (Global) Cities. For one week, they studied the differences between American and British businesses through lectures, walking tours, and site visits at places like Goldman Sachs, Mercer, and TrueLayer. 

In attendance at the luncheon was Andrea Mennillo, Ph.D., chair of Fordham London’s Advisory Board, who thanked the business students for coming to the London campus. 

“At this table are my fellow members of the board,” he said, gesturing to his colleagues in the room. “We are available to help—to advise, to consult—because you are the future generation of Fordham leaders.” 

The students introduced themselves to Tetlow and the senior members of Fordham’s administration. Most of the students are in their final year in the MBA program and already hold jobs at prestigious companies, including Warner Bros, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and JPMorgan Chase. They work in a variety of industries, including advertising, fashion, law, cybersecurity, health care, media, investment relations, and private equity.

Tetlow told the students she was glad their business education at Fordham could include this international perspective. 

“This is an amazing city, and I bet a lot of you have gotten a taste of it and want to come back,” Tetlow said to the students. “So I’m glad, especially to those of you who are here just for a week, that you’re digging in, really listening hard, asking good questions, and learning in ways that will change your thinking forever.” 

The papal honor—investiture as a knight in the Order of St. Gregory the Great—was bestowed on him by Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, the apostolic nuncio to Great Britain, for his longtime support for the church, including helping make possible the canonization of Saint John Henry Newman in 2019, as well as his support for Fordham.

Loschert’s gifts to Fordham established an endowed chair in entrepreneurship and have funded scholarships, construction at the Rose Hill campus, and a lecture series at Fordham’s London campus. Loschert served for six years on the Fordham University Board of Trustees and has hosted more than 1,000 Fordham students at his home in London.

For his contributions to the University, Loschert received an honorary degree from Fordham in 2015 and the Founder’s Award in 2018. In 2009, Rose Hill’s Loschert Hall, formerly known as Alumni Court North, was named in his honor.

Loschert grew up in Queens and paid for his education by working part time at an insurance company. After graduating, he began a career in the insurance industry. In the mid-1980s, he helped launch ACE Limited, which has since become one of the largest property and casualty insurance companies in the world. He served in the company’s Bermuda office before going to London as chairman of ACE UK Limited in 1996. In London, Loschert became the first American to sit on the council of Lloyd’s. His appreciation for what his Jesuit education brought to his business career was clear from a quip he made prior to being honored at the 2018 Fordham Founder’s Dinner: “I studied accounting and philosophy. I never practice accounting; I practice philosophy all the time.”

At the dinner, Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham University, called Loschert “an extraordinary presence for Fordham in London,” and at the dedication ceremony for Loschert Hall in 2009, Father McShane referred to him as “a man who has a love of learning and devotion to the cause of education.”

During that same 2009 ceremony, Loschert told attendees, “We all have the means to give—and not just money, but time and effort. It is our duty to help others and future generations.”

“Faith & Hope has created opportunities for students of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds to come to Fordham, earn a world-class education, and seek employment,” said Susan Conley Salice, FCRH ’82, one of three campaign co-chairs and a first-generation college graduate herself. “These scholarships open doors to students who may not otherwise be able to attend, and give them the opportunity to transform their lives.”

The campaign raised $175,311,288 from April 2014 to June 2019, surpassing its original goal of $175 million. Donations funded existing scholarship funds and 197 new scholarship funds for students—including Fulbright scholars, community leaders, and first-generation college students.

“Scholarships are at the heart of Fordham’s mission, and are central to the Jesuit notion of service to the human family,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham. “Scholarships transform individual lives, of course, but in democratizing education and knowledge, they also help create a more just world and a more equitable society. I am deeply heartened that so many of our generous alumni and friends agree, and I am forever grateful for their openhearted and openhanded support.”

Breaking Records Across the University

The Faith & Hope campaign achieved historic results for Fordham. The 2017 fiscal year was the most successful single year of fundraising in the University’s history, at $75.8 million. This year, the University’s Development and University Relations (DAUR) division was recognized with a 2019 Educational Fundraising Award for sustained excellence in fundraising programs over the past three years, putting Fordham’s advancement effort among the top 90 colleges and universities in the nation.

At the 2019 Fordham Founder’s Dinner, nearly $2.6 million was raised for Faith & Hope—specifically the Founder’s Undergraduate Scholarship Fund. It was the second-highest amount in the event’s 18-year history, with 100% participation from the Board of Trustees and the President’s Council. During the years of the campaign, the annual event raised nearly $12 million to support Founder’s scholars.

Nearly a million dollars was raised on Fordham’s third annual Giving Day last March—the most successful Giving Day to date. More than 3,000 participants—alumni, parents, students, faculty, staff, and friends of Fordham—raised $933,689 in 1,841 minutes. Most of the donations, which ranged from $1 to $100,000, came from the U.S., but some came from as far as Australia and the Philippines.

One of the campaign’s biggest accomplishments was the creation of the Maurice and Carolyn Cunniffe Presidential Scholars Program—one of the most selective merit scholarships available to Fordham students. Three years ago, the scholarship program was established through a $20 million gift from Maurice J. (Mo) Cunniffe, FCRH ’54, and Carolyn Dursi Cunniffe, Ph.D., UGE ’62, GSAS ’65, ’71. Over the next decade, it will fund a Fordham education—tuition, living expenses, internship, research, and study abroad opportunities—for dozens of talented students.

“Each year, Mo and I spend time with these students who are young stars with bright futures,” said Carolyn Cunniffe, a Faith & Hope co-chair. “We hope that they will contribute back to society far more than Mo and I can.”

Campaign co-chair Darlene Luccio Jordan, FCRH ’89, said Faith & Hope supported Fordham’s core values and identity.

“This campaign really went to the central mission of Fordham, which is our commitment to higher education and educating first-generation students, and keeping Fordham accessible, regardless of a student’s ability to pay,” she said.

Student Impact 

At the heart of the campaign were Fordham students and the donors who helped fuel their future.

In interviews and speeches spanning the past several years, students have described how a Fordham scholarship has changed their lives.

They talked about how a Fordham education helped shape their career paths. For some students, the University’s Jesuit values strengthened their Catholic faith, while others from different faiths said they felt welcome in the University community. Students also praised Fordham’s core curriculum, which encouraged them to connect with their neighbors in the Bronx. And they spoke about how Fordham helped them understand who they are and what legacy they want to leave behind.

Caroline Koenig, the daughter of seventh-generation French bakers, knew that attending Fordham would be a challenge. In high school, she experienced an injury that dashed her hopes of winning a college track scholarship. Fordham initially gave her a generous financial aid package, but it wasn’t enough. She was taking extra classes to graduate early and considering a commute from Connecticut to save money—that is, until she was awarded the Peter and Carol Howe Endowed Scholarship. It helped her land a summer internship at KPMG and identify her passion for forensic accounting.

“My parents taught me the value of hard work and holding onto your dreams. Because of them and because of Fordham, now I can follow my own,” Koenig said.

The campaign also made a college education possible for Fordham students who, in the face of overwhelming student debt, found it difficult to continue their education.

One of them is Muhammad El Shatanofy, the son of immigrant parents who dreamed of becoming a doctor. Throughout his time in Fordham’s neuroscience program, he wondered how he could pay for his undergraduate education without incurring debt. After all, he’d soon be paying for four years’ worth of medical school.

When he found out he was awarded the Founder’s Scholarship, which would pay for almost all his outstanding tuition costs, he was thrilled.

“It really has given me that extra motivation, so that now I just want to accomplish so much,” said El Shatanofy, who went on to mentor 12 high school students from disadvantaged high schools and volunteer at Mt. Sinai Hospital. “I have this drive to make other people happy that they invested in my education and my future.”

For many students, scholarships have left an emotional impact on their lives.

“There’s just no words I can give to express how thankful my family and I are. It takes a big load off our shoulders, and … I’m just so thankful because I wouldn’t be able to go to Fordham without you and apply to grad school,” Jeannie-Fay Veloso, GABELLI ’17, tells her scholarship donor, Robert D. Daleo, GABELLI ’72, in a campaign video. Seconds later, the two alumni embrace in tears.

What It Means to Give 

Faith & Hope’s scholarships were made possible through donations both big and small.

Among the campaign’s biggest donors, in addition to the co-chairs and their spouses, were Brian W. and Kathleen H. MacLean, both FCRH ’75; Susheel Kirpalani, LAW ’94; William J. Loschert, GABELLI ’61; Alice Lehman Murphy, the McKeon Family Foundation; Grace A. Dorney-Koppel, UGE ’60, and Ted Koppel; and Alex and Jean Trebek.

Many of them said they give back because they want to support the next generation of leaders and help families break out of the cycle of poverty through education. Some donors once stood in the same shoes as the students they now support.

“I came from a family where my father was a factory worker and my mother worked as a seamstress. I had two other brothers. So if I was going to do it, I was going to do it on my own—and my brother, too,” said Daleo, honorary campaign chair and chair of the Fordham Board of Trustees, who established a scholarship in his brother’s name. “We both went to Fordham. We both had scholarships, worked and paid our way. That scholarship helped me [and]  made the difference.”

Rosemary Santana Cooney, Ph.D., established a scholarship with her husband Patrick in recognition of her 42 years as a professor and associate dean at Fordham, her belief in generating a diverse student body, and her Puerto Rican heritage. Her scholarship will support minority students across Fordham.

“I was always aware that I was different—an outsider—because I tend to be dark, like my father. And I always worked extra hard because I figured as a woman and a minority, you had to work extra hard … I know, sympathetically, how hard these kids who try to make the transition are having to work. And I wanted to make sure that some of them were getting some help,” said Cooney.

For many donors, their Fordham experience gave them not only academic, social, and life skills—it showed them what they’re capable of.

“It’s taught me things about myself that I didn’t even know before,” said Sophie Scott, FCLC ’18, who studied journalism and now works as a production assistant at CNN. “Fordham literally showed me the world in a way I didn’t know possible, and a way I could fit into the world.”

Scott, echoing a sentiment shared by many donors, said she hopes to give that same experience to someone else.

“It literally brings me no greater joy than to think that someone else could be having that same experience—someone who, from a financial perspective, may not be able to,” said Scott, who serves as chair of the Young Alumni Philanthropy Committee at Fordham.

Faith & Hope marks the third of Fordham’s biggest campaigns since the early 1990s—a growing list of campaigns that are already transforming the world.

“It really is a win-win for both the donors and the students,” said Salice. “And ultimately, the world at large.”

Now that the University has successfully closed Faith & Hope, administrators and volunteers are planning for the launch of a new fundraising campaign that will be focused on enhancing the student experience and will include the construction of a new campus center at Rose Hill.

To read more success stories, visit the Faith & Hope campaign site.

The 17th annual Fordham Founder’s Dinner, held March 19, raised a total of $2.2 million for the Fordham Founder’s Undergraduate Scholarship Fund and Faith & Hope | The Campaign for Financial Aid. So far, $131 million has been raised toward the campaign’s $175 million goal.

Speaking on behalf of her fellow Founder’s Scholars, Fordham College at Rose Hill senior Genie Hughes, a biology and theology major, thanked the donors for helping the scholars overcome financial barriers to education, and for being “bothered into action.”

“It’s easy enough for a bio student to view life as a series of signal transduction pathways and neuronal networks that allow us to function,” she said. “But life—the thing we spend every day living—is made up of so much more than that.”

Founder’s Scholar Marla Louissaint, currently performing in the national tour of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, took the stage and sang a moving rendition of “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” for the attendees.

A World of Infinite Possibilities

In thanking the donors for their generosity, Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, said their financial support—indeed all forms of scholarship support—“opens up a world of near-infinite possibilities.”

Those possibilities are reflected in the lives of the donors themselves, “with their talents, their vision, their discerning wisdom, and their passionate integrity.” In particular, he called out the evening’s three Founder’s Awards honorees: John R. Costantino, Esq., GABELLI ’67, LAW ’70, PAR; Barbara Costantino, PAR; and William J. Loschert, GABELLI ’61.

“They have lived their lives in ways that bring lustre to the University,” said Father McShane. “It also means that, having reflected deeply on the transforming impact that a Fordham education had on them, they have come to the realization that like all of us, they were the beneficiaries of a legacy they didn’t create.”

Legacy Builders

Bob Daleo, GABELLI ’72, chairman of the Board of Trustees and the event’s co-chair, said the Costantinos had a “shared love” of the University, and were generous in their support for the new Law School building, Fordham athletics, WFUV, and two scholarships—the Costantino Family Endowed Scholarship Fund, and the Edelman Postgraduate Fellowship in Neuroscience.

In accepting the Founder’s award, Fordham Trustee Emeritus John Costantino paid homage to his parents; his father, an orphan who emigrated to America from Sicily when he was just 14 years old, had little chance for a formal education.

“The proudest day of my parents’ lives was the day they attended my graduation at Fordham Law School,” he said. Although his father passed away just two months after the graduation ceremony, Costantino’s mother always felt that his father had “gotten his wish” to see him become a lawyer.

Barbara Costantino said she was honored to share the stage with her husband of 48 years, whom she’d known when he was a student in 1963 at Fordham’s business school. Back then, she said, she’d read and typed his college and law school papers—free of charge.

“I have often felt that I probably should have gotten an honorary Fordham degree [for that],” she said jokingly, and to applause.

Trustee Fellow William J. Loschert, who has hosted more than 1,000 Fordham students at his home in London and is a steadfast supporter of Fordham faculty, scholarships, and building projects, captured the evening with the shortest acceptance speech—at approximately 30 seconds. He thanked Father McShane, Gabelli School of Business Dean Donna Rapaccioli, the Fordham faculty, and “most importantly the students.”

“Enjoy the rest of the evening, have another glass of wine, and God bless,” he said.

Although Loschert proved to be a man of few words, Father McShane called him “an extraordinary presence for Fordham in London … He has been a fatherly figure.” 

Into the Future

In his speech, Father McShane described Fordham’s founder, Archbishop “Dagger John” Hughes as “a fundraiser who was not afraid to knock on any door.”

“He was, thank God, incapable of dreaming small dreams,” Father McShane said. “Therefore, with zeal and urgency, he took on New York and American culture with what some thought was an unholy impatience.”

“Now I may be prejudiced, but the greatest of all his realized dreams was Fordham,” said Father McShane. “The dream was bold, its dividends have been rich—but the costs associated with ensuring the continuation of that legacy were, and are, high.”

He called the evening’s honorees “worthy successors” to the legacy of Dagger John. Just as Archbishop Hughes gave hope to the recent Irish immigrants, the Fordham Founder’s awardees have given the promise of an education to the scholars.

“You’re, for them, patron saints,” he said. “You are men and women, who, not knowing our students’ names, have harbored great hopes for them.”
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Watch Founder’s Scholar Marla Louissaint Perform ‘Will You Still Love Me’