| Fordham University | |
|---|---|
Fordham University seal |
|
| Latin: Universitas Fordhamensis | |
| Motto | Latin: Sapientia et Doctrina |
| Motto in English | Wisdom and Learning |
| Established | 1841 |
| Type | Private, Independent, Coeducational[1] |
| Religious affiliation | Catholic, Jesuit |
| Endowment | $396 million[2] |
| President | Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J. |
| Provost | Stephen Freedman, Ph.D |
| Academic staff | 703 full-time[3] |
| Students | 15,158[3] |
| Undergraduates | 8,220 |
| Postgraduates | 6,938 |
| Location | New York City, New York, United States of America |
| Campus | Rose Hill (Bronx): Urban, 85 acres (340,000 m2) Lincoln Center (Manhattan): Urban, 8 acres (32,000 m2) Westchester (West Harrison): Suburban, 32 acres (130,000 m2)[3] |
| Former names | St. John's College (1841-1907) |
| Colors | Fordham Maroon, White, Marymount Blue |
| Sports | 23 NCAA Division I varsity teams.[3] |
| Nickname | "Old Maroon" |
| Mascot | The Ram |
| Affiliations | A-10, ECAC, MAISA |
| Website | http://www.fordham.edu |
Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university[4] in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St. John's College, placed in the care of the Society of Jesus shortly thereafter, and has since become an independent institution under a lay Board of Trustees, which describes the University as "in the Jesuit tradition."[5]
Enrollment at Fordham includes approximately 8,000 undergraduate and 7,000 graduate students spread over three campuses in New York State: Rose Hill in the Bronx, Lincoln Center in Manhattan, and Westchester in West Harrison. In addition, the University operates two centers abroad, one in the People's Republic of China[6] and one in the United Kingdom.[7] Fordham awards bachelor's (BA, BFA, and BS), master's, and doctoral degrees.[3]
Fordham is composed of four undergraduate schools and six graduate schools, including the Graduate School of Social Service, the Graduate School of Education, the Graduate School of Business, and the School of Law. It also offers a five-year BA/BS engineering program in cooperation with Columbia University and Case Western Reserve University[8] and a BFA program in dance in partnership with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.[9]
Fordham Preparatory School, a four-year, all-male college preparatory school, was once integrated with the University and shares its founding. It became legally independent in 1972 and moved to its own facilities adjoining the northwest boundary of the Rose Hill campus.
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Fordham University was originally founded as St. John's College in 1841 by the Irish-born coadjutor bishop (later archbishop) of the Diocese of New York, the Most Reverend John Joseph Hughes. The college was the first Catholic institution of higher education in the northeastern United States. Bishop Hughes purchased most of Rose Hill Manor and Estate in Fordham, the Bronx,in September 1840 at a little less than $30,000, for the purpose of establishing St. Joseph's Seminary. "Rose Hill" was the name originally given to the site in 1787 by its owner, Robert Watts, a wealthy New York merchant, in honor of his family's ancestral home in Scotland. The seminary was paired with St. John's College, which opened at Rose Hill with a student body of six on June 21, 1841. The Reverend John McCloskey (later Archbishop of New York and eventually the first American Cardinal) was its first president, and the faculty were secular priests and lay instructors. The college went through a succession of four diocesan priests in five years as presidents, including Fr. James Roosevelt Bayley, a distant cousin of Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt and nephew of St. Elizabeth Seton. In 1845, the seminary church, Our Lady of Mercy, was built. The same year, Bishop Hughes convinced Jesuits from St. Mary's College in Maryland and St. Mary's College in Kentucky to staff the new school.[10]
In 1846, St. John's College received its charter from the New York state legislature, and about three months later, the first Jesuits began to arrive. Bishop Hughes deeded the college over but retained title to the seminary property of about nine acres. In 1847, Fordham's first school in Manhattan opened. The school became the independently chartered College of St. Francis Xavier in 1861. It was also in 1847 that the American poet Edgar Allan Poe arrived in the village of Fordham and began a friendship with the Jesuits at Fordham that would last throughout his lifetime. In 1849, he published "The Bells," to which some traditions credit the college's church bells as the inspiration.[10]
The college's early curriculum consisted of a junior division (i.e. the prep school), requiring four years of study in Latin, Greek, grammar, literature, history, geography, mathematics, and religion, and a senior division (i.e. the college), requiring three years study in "poetry" (humanities), rhetoric, and philosophy. Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, famed commander of the all-Black 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry American Civil War regiment, attended the junior division. An Artium Baccalaureus degree was earned for completion of both curricula, and an additional year of philosophy would earn a Magister Artium degree. There was also a "commercial" track similar to a modern college of business, which was an alternative to the Classical, Latin-based curriculum and resulted in a certificate instead of a degree. In 1855, the first student stage production, Henry IV, was presented. The seminary was closed in 1859, and the property was sold to the Jesuits in 1860 for $40,000.[10]
A Congressional act creating instruction in military science and tactics at the college level resulted in St. John's College bringing a cadet corps to the campus. From 1885-1890, a veteran of the 7th U.S. Cavalry, Lt. Herbert C. Squires, built a cadet battalion to a strength of 200, which would provide the foundation for the modern ROTC unit at Fordham. The college built a science building in 1886, lending more legitimacy to science in the curriculum. In addition, a three-year Bachelor of Science degree was created. In 1897, academic regalia for students at Commencement was first adopted. The process of consolidating the Westchester towns that eventually comprised the borough of the Bronx began in 1874, bringing St. John's College within the official limits of New York City.[10]
With the addition of a law school and medical school in 1905, St. John's College became Fordham University in 1907. The name Fordham ("ford by the hamlet") refers to the Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which the Rose Hill campus is located. This neighborhood was named either as a reference to its location near a shallow crossing of the Bronx River or as a reference to Rev. John Fordham, an Anglican priest.[10]
In 1908, Fordham University Press was established.[10]
In 1912, the University opened the College of Pharmacy, which offered a three-year program in pharmacy and did not require its students to obtain bachelor's degrees until the late 1930s. The college had a mainly Jewish student body, and in recognition of that, students were exempt from the then-required course in Catholic theology. The school's longtime dean, Jacob Diner, was also Jewish.[10]
The College of St. Francis Xavier was closed in 1913, and various Fordham colleges were opened at the Woolworth Building in Manhattan to fill the void. They were later moved to 302 Broadway.[10]
The University closed its medical school in 1919, citing a lack of endowment for the school and reduced University funds overall due to the First World War.[10]
The Gabelli School of Business began in 1920 in Manhattan as the School of Accounting.[10]
In 1944, the School of Professional and Continuing Studies was established.[10]
In 1961, the Lincoln Center campus opened as part of the Lincoln Square Renewal Project. The campus originally housed only Fordham Law School, but the colleges at 302 Broadway were moved to the campus in 1969. At the Rose Hill campus, the all-female Thomas More College began instruction in 1964.[10]
In 1967, Bensalem College, an experimental college with no set curriculum or requirements and no grades, was created by University President Leo McLaughlin, S.J. It was conceived of and led by poet Elizabeth Sewell. The college was studied by a wide array of educators and reported on by such large-circulation publications of the day as Look, Esquire, and the Saturday Review. The school closed in 1974.[10]
In 1969, the board of trustees was reorganized to include a majority of non-clergy members, which officially made the University an independent institution. The College of Pharmacy closed due to declining enrollment in 1972. Fordham College at Rose Hill merged with Thomas More College in 1974, becoming coeducational.[10]
In 1993, a twenty-story residence hall was added to the Lincoln Center campus to house 850 graduate and undergraduate students. In 1996, the undergraduate college at Lincoln Center changed its name to "Fordham College at Lincoln Center," having been called "The Liberal Arts College" and subsequently "The College at Lincoln Center" since its creation in 1968.[10]
Marymount College, an independent women's college founded by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (R.S.H.M.) in 1907, was consolidated into Fordham University in July 2002. The college had been steeped in financial hardship since the 1970s. Located 25 miles (40 km) north of New York City in Tarrytown, New York, the school remained open, and its campus received a branch of the School of Professional and Continuing Studies as well as extensions of the Graduate Schools of Education, Social Service, and Business Administration.
In 2005, Fordham announced that Marymount would be phased out; it awarded degrees to its final undergraduate class in May 2007. University administrators announced that the campus would remain open for Fordham graduate programs in several disciplines.
In the autumn of 2007, however, the University announced its intention to seek buyers for the Marymount campus. Administrators stated that the expenses required to support the programs on the campus far exceeded their demand. University officials estimated that the revenue gained from the proposed sale would not be greater than the expenses Fordham incurred maintaining and improving the campus since its merger with Marymount. President Father McShane nonetheless stated that the University's decision was a "painful" one. Fordham then announced its intention to move the remaining programs from the Marymount campus to a new location in Harrison, New York by the autumn of 2008. On February 17, 2008, Fordham announced the sale of the campus for $27 million to EF Schools, a chain of private language-instruction schools.[11]
In 2003, Fordham announced the creation of the Toward 2016 Integrated Strategic Plan, to be implemented by the University's sesquicentennial in 2016. The $500-million plan aims to enhance the University's profile, increase research among faculty members, make capital improvements to both the Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses, increase the competitiveness of varsity athletic programs, and enlarge the University's endowment, among other things.[2] As of November 2010, Fordham is expected to meet almost all of the plan's objectives on time.[2]
In 2009, Fordham was approached by New York Medical College about a possible merger of the two schools. The University declined the offer due to NYMC's financial difficulties, a decision that has sparked controversy among administrators, students, and alumni.[12]
Fordham University's academic ideals are drawn from its Jesuit influences. The University promotes the Jesuit principles of cura personalis, which fosters a faculty and administrative respect for the individual student and his or her uniqueness; magis, which encourages students to strive for excellence in all aspects of life, not simply the academic; and "men and women for others," which intends to inspire service among members of the Fordham community.[5]
All undergraduates at Fordham are required to complete the Core Curriculum, a distribution of 17–20 courses (depending on foreign language proficiency) in nine disciplines. Based on the curriculum established by the Society of Jesus in the sixteenth century, the Core is shared by Jesuit schools all over the world and is intended to provide a sound liberal arts education.[13] At Fordham it is distributed as follows:
Most of these requirements can be fulfilled by a wide array of courses. In addition to these requirements, there are several distributive requirements that can be met in tandem with the requirements above. A student is expected to complete most of the Core by the end of his or her sophomore year.[14] Students pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree take a modified version of the Core.[15]
Fordham University consists of four undergraduate schools and six graduate schools,[16] which are as follows:
In addition to its undergraduate schools, Fordham offers a number of special academic programs for its undergraduate students, some of which are listed below:
Fordham participates in the New York City Graduate School Consortium and other course-sharing initiatives, which allow graduate students to take classes at a number of schools in the New York metropolitan area.[23]
The Fordham University Library System contains over 2.4 million volumes, subscribes to over 50,000 serials and electronic journals, and is a depository for United States Government documents.[24] In addition, the Interlibrary Loan office provides students and faculty with virtually unlimited access to the over 20 million volumes in the New York Public Library System as well as access to media from libraries around the world.[25] The system consists of the William D. Walsh Family Library, ranked in 2004 as the fifth best collegiate library in the country,[26] and the Science Library at the Rose Hill campus, the Gerald M. Quinn and the Leo T. Kissam Memorial Law Libraries at the Lincoln Center campus, and the Reading Room at the Westchester campus. In addition to the University's formal library system, several academic departments and research institutes maintain their own collections.[27] The Rose Hill campus's Duane Library, despite its name, is no longer a library, though it still contains reading and study space for students.
The Carnegie Foundation classifies Fordham as a high-research doctoral university (RU/H),[4] with approximately $7 million in research expenditures in 2010.[28] Major facilities on campus for scientific research include the Louis Calder Center, a biological field station in Armonk, NY, and the William Spain Seismic Observatory. In addition, Fordham collaborates with several institutions in New York City and around the world, such as the New York Botanical Garden,[29] the Albert Einstein College of Medicine,[17] and Los Alamos National Laboratory,[30] for the purposes of conducting research.
The Fordham Museum of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Art is located at the Rose Hill campus and contains more than 200 artifacts from Classical antiquity. A gift from alumnus William D. Walsh, it is the largest collection of its kind in the New York metropolitan area.[31] Similarly, the University maintains a sizable collection of medieval manuscripts and other rare literary works in the O'Hare Special Collections Room at the Walsh Family Library.
Fordham University Press, an affiliate of Oxford University Press, is the University's official publishing house.[32] It publishes primarily in philosophy and theology, the humanities, and the social sciences.
Fordham's undergraduate schools all offer honors programs for their students.[33] The programs' curricula are modified versions of the regular Fordham Core Curriculum with seminar-style classes. Most honors students are selected to join at the beginning of their freshman year, though some are selected at the beginning of their sophomore year. Alpha House, a 24-hour study lounge at the Rose Hill campus, is reserved for use by honors students. Those who complete the programs receive the designation of in cursu honorum on their diploma and transcripts.[34]
In addition to its honors programs, Fordham has chapters of several honor societies on campus, including but not limited to the following:
The Campion Institute is Fordham's office for academic fellowships and scholarships. Its function is to raise awareness about fellowships among the student body, provide resources for students to discover appropriate opportunities, counsel students about their eligibility for various programs, and advise students through the application process.[35]
The Matteo Ricci Society is an honor society for Fordham students who are likely candidates for academic fellowships. Students are invited to join based on academic success and other factors. Faculty assist members in preparing applications for fellowships. The society coordinates internships and provides funding for certain research opportunities.[36] The Rev. William E. Boyle, S.J. Society is a parallel organization exclusively for business students.[37]
The Chronicle of Higher Education lists Fordham as one of the top producers of Fulbright scholars among research universities in the US, the third year in a row that it has received this designation. In addition, the University produces significant numbers of Rhodes, Marshall and Truman scholars each year.[38]
The International and Study Abroad Programs Office at Fordham offers over 130 study abroad opportunities around the world. These programs range in duration from six weeks to a full academic year and vary in focus from cultural and language immersion to internship and service learning. Specific opportunities include faculty-led programs in Spain and South Africa; exchange programs in Brazil, South Korea, and Mexico; and direct enroll programs at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge in the United Kingdom.[39]
In addition to ISAP, the Graduate School of Business Administration and the Gabelli School of Business both offer a host of study abroad programs related to business. Destinations include Spain, Belgium, India, and China.[40]
| University rankings (overall) | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| U.S. News & World Report[41] | 53rd |
| Washington Monthly[42] | 37th |
The 2012 "Best Colleges" edition of U.S. News & World Report lists Fordham as a top-tier, more selective national university; it ranks the University's undergraduate program 53rd in the country, on the same level as Boston University.[43] Bloomberg/BusinessWeek ranked Fordham's Gabelli School of Business 52nd in the nation in 2011, a drop of 11 spots from the previous two years.[44] U.S. News & World Report, however, ranked the business school 71st nationally, up nine spots from 2007.[43] In 2011, the Washington Monthly rankings, created as a public-interest alternative to the U.S. News rankings, placed Fordham 37th in the country.[28]
U.S. News & World Report ranked the daytime division of Fordham's School of Law 30th in the nation and the evening division 2nd in 2010.[43] The publication also placed the Graduate School of Social Service 17th and the Graduate School of Education 58th nationally.[43]
The most recent ranking by the École des Mines de Paris placed Fordham 63rd in the world.[45] The ranking measures the ability of universities to place their students in leading professional positions. Similarly, in 2011, Fordham ranked 6th in US News & World Report's ranking of "Universities Producing the Most Interns."[46]
Kaplan/Newsweek's 2008 edition of the How to Get Into College Guide includes Fordham as one of the "25 Hottest Schools in America," designating it the "Hottest Catholic School."[47] Likewise, in 1962, Time recognized Fordham as a "Catholic Ivy."[48]
In addition to rankings, Fordham participates in the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU)'s University and College Accountability Network (U-CAN).
Fordham University has three main campuses in and around New York City: Rose Hill in the Bronx, Lincoln Center in Manhattan, and Westchester in West Harrison. In addition, it maintains facilities throughout New York State and around the world.[3]
The Rose Hill campus, established in 1841, is home to Fordham College at Rose Hill, the Gabelli School of Business, and a division of the School of Professional and Continuing Studies, as well as the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education. Situated on 85 acres (340,000 m2) in North Bronx,[3] the campus is among the largest privately owned green spaces in New York City. It is located next to the New York Botanical Garden and the Bronx Zoo, with which Fordham is affiliated,[29][49] and the Belmont neighborhood of the Bronx, also known as the "Real Little Italy."[50] Rose Hill's Collegiate Gothic architecture, expansive lawns, ivy-covered buildings, and cobblestone streets were featured in MSNBC's 2008 edition of America's Prettiest College Campuses.[51] In addition, the campus has been the setting of a number of films throughout the years.
Rose Hill is home to the University Church, which was built in 1845 as a seminary chapel and parish church for the surrounding community. The Gothic-style church is an official New York City landmark; it contains the original altar from the old St. Patrick's Cathedral and stained glass windows intended for the cathedral from King Louis-Philippe of France. The windows are also notable for their connection to a workshop in Sèvres, France, where the earliest stages of the Gothic Revival took place.[52] There are 10 residence halls on campus, including four residential colleges and six Integrated Learning Communities for such disciplines as science, business, and leadership.[53] In addition, the campus contains three Jesuit residences; Murray-Weigel Hall, the infirmary for the New York Province of the Society of Jesus; and Ciszek Hall, one of only three Jesuit scholastic residences in the United States.[54] The William Spain Seismic Observatory, located at Rose Hill, was the first seismic station in the United States to record ground waves from the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is part of a national network of seismic stations that report data to the U.S. Geological Survey in Boulder, Colorado.[55]
The campus is served by the Fordham station of the Metro-North Railroad (the tracks run along the boundary fence), which ends at Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. Public transit buses stop adjacent to campus exits, and New York City Subway stations are within walking distance. The University also provides a shuttle service between the three main campuses, which is known as the "Ram Van." About 7,000 undergraduates and graduates take classes at Rose Hill.[3]
As part of the Toward 2016 Integrated Strategic Plan, Fordham recently added two new residence halls to the Rose Hill campus. In addition, it is currently working on renovations to the Gabelli School of Business, and it intends to add a new student union, recreation center, and science building to Rose Hill in the coming years.[2]
The Lincoln Center campus, created as part of the Lincoln Square Renewal Project in 1961, is home to Fordham College at Lincoln Center and a division of the School of Professional and Continuing Studies, as well as the School of Law, the Graduate School of Business Administration, the Graduate School of Education, and the Graduate School of Social Service. The 8-acre (32,000 m2) campus occupies the area from West 60th Street to West 62nd Street between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues,[3] placing it in the cultural heart of Manhattan. Across the street from the campus is one of the world's great cultural centers, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts; nearby are Central Park, Carnegie Hall, Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall, Fifth Avenue, Broadway, and Columbus Circle. The campus is served by public transit buses; the A,B,C,D, and 1 trains of the New York City Subway; and the University's "Ram Van" shuttle.
Approximately 8,000 undergraduate and graduate students take classes at the Lincoln Center campus, of which about 1000 live in University housing either on campus or in Midtown, Manhattan.[3][56] The campus currently consists of the Leon Lowenstein Building, McMahon Hall, the Gerald M. Quinn Library, and the Doyle Building and has two outdoor basketball and tennis courts.
The Lincoln Center campus has two grassy plazas, built one level up from the street over the Quinn Library. The larger plaza was once a barren cement landscape known as "Robert Moses Plaza;" the smaller plaza is known as "St. Peter's Garden." A memorial to Fordham students and alumni who died in the September 11, 2001 attacks stands in St. Peter's Garden.
The Toward 2016 Strategic Plan calls for the complete reconfiguration of the Lincoln Center campus in order to make room for a new Law School building, designed by the noted architectural firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners,[57] as well as additional residence halls, classrooms, and offices.[2] Ground was broken on the project at the beginning of the Spring 2011 academic semester.[58]
The Westchester campus is home to divisions of the School of Professional and Continuing Studies and the Graduate Schools of Business, Education, and Social Service. It consists of a three-story, 62,500-square-foot (5,810 m2) building on 32 acres (130,000 m2) landscaped with a stream and pond. Fordham signed a 20-year lease for the facility, which includes 26 "smart" classrooms, faculty and administrative offices, a reading room, a food service facility, and indoor and outdoor meeting areas. In 2008, the University spent over $8 million renovating the building to increase its sustainability.[59]
The campus is served by the White Plains station of the Metro-North Railroad, approximately 4 miles (6 km) away in White Plains. The White Plains station and the campus are both served by the Westchester County Bus System ("The Bee-Line"). The University's "Ram Van" inter-campus shuttle also stops on campus.
Fordham maintains a biological field station 30 miles (50 km) north of New York City in Armonk, NY. The Louis Calder Center consists of 114 acres (0.46 km2) forested, a 10-acre (40,000 m2) lake, and 19 buildings, which house laboratories and offices, educational programs, equipment storage, a research library, and residences. The station is the middle site along a 130-kilometre (81 mi) urban-forest transect, the Urban-Rural Gradient Experiment (URGE), and supports the longest running ecological field study of Lyme Disease in the country.[60]
The Fordham University London Centre is located on the campus of Heythrop College, the Jesuit philosophy and theology school of the University of London. It is home to several undergraduate business and liberal arts programs as well as Fordham College at Lincoln Center's London Dramatic Academy.[7]
Several of Fordham's graduate schools maintain satellite facilities for easy access by commuting students and faculty.[61]
Relations between Fordham and the neighborhoods that surround it vary according to campus. At Rose Hill, the University actively recruits students from disadvantaged backgrounds through the Higher Education Opportunity Program.[62] In addition, about 80% of students participate in community service.[63] The surrounding neighborhood seems to respond positively to these initiatives.
The relationship between the Lincoln Center campus and the Upper West Side, however, is significantly cooler. Recently, the New York State Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit against Fordham brought by the Alfred Condominium Complex. The suit was filed in response to the University’s expansion plans at Lincoln Center and their expected visual and auditory impact on the surrounding community.[64]
Fordham University sponsors over 135 clubs and organizations for its undergraduate and graduate students, some of which are described below:[65]
The University supports 23 men's and women's varsity teams and various club teams and has an extensive intramural sports program. Fordham athletic teams are known as the "Rams," and their colors are maroon and white. The Fordham Rams compete in the NCAA Division I Atlantic 10 Conference in most sports. A notable exception is football, in which they are an associate member of the Patriot League.[3]
The Rams football program boasts a National Championship title (1929), two bowl game appearances (1941 and 1942), two divisional championships (2002 and 2007), two FCS playoff appearances (2002 and 2007), and the 15th most wins of all college football programs. It is probably most known, however, for the "Seven Blocks of Granite," a name given to the team's 1928 and 1936 offensive lines. The 1936 team was coached by "Sleepy" Jim Crowley, one of the University of Notre Dame's legendary "Four Horsemen," and included Vince Lombardi, arguably the most famous professional football coach in history. This team is credited with inspiring the term "Ivy League" after New York Tribune sportswriter Caswell Adams compared it to the Princeton and Columbia University football teams, two powerhouses of the day. Adams remarked disparagingly of Princeton and Columbia, saying that they were "only I-V League", A reference to the lowest college division of football. There are currently four Rams in the National Football League.[66] Moreover, the St. Louis Rams NFL franchise was named in honor of Fordham's football heritage.[67]
Fordham's men's basketball program also has an impressive heritage, boasting four NCAA tournament and 16 NIT appearances. During the 1970 season, the team was coached by Digger Phelps, who subsequently rose to national prominence as the head coach of the University of Notre Dame's men's basketball program. Fordham basketball plays in the Rose Hill Gymnasium (also known as "the Prairie"), the oldest on-campus venue currently in use by an NCAA Division I basketball team. The team has fared poorly of late, with just two wins in the 2009 season, but it defeated St. John's University and the University of Massachusetts along with five other teams this past season.[66]
The Rams have had great success in other sports as well. They have launched the careers of dozens of professional baseball players, including Hall of Fame inductee Frankie Frisch (also known as "The Fordham Flash"). They also claim among their ranks Tom Courtney, an Olympic gold medalist in the 800m and a member of Fordham's world record-setting two-mile relay team. Fordham Crew has won several national championships during its almost 100 years in existence. Rowing out of the Peter Jay Sharp boathouse on the Harlem River, it makes regular appearances at such prestigious regattas as the Henley Royal Regatta in the United Kingdom and the San Diego Crew Classic. The Fordham sailing team, headquartered at the Morris Yacht and Beach Club on City Island, and the Fordham golf team, which plays out of the Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, NY, also have notable successes.[66]
Most of Fordham's athletic programs are housed at the Rose Hill campus; however, some maintain additional facilities elsewhere, including, in addition to those previously mentioned, the hockey, tennis, and track and field teams.[66]
The Ram is the weekly newspaper for the Rose Hill campus. It serves as the University’s official journal of record and is published and edited by Fordham students through University funding.[69]
First published in 1918, The Ram’s mission states that it is devoted to serving both campus and community, acting as a means of club networking and cooperation, and “providing a forum for the free and open exchange of ideas in service to the community.”[69]
Staff of The Ram have gone on to achieve great success in the news and media industry. Famous Ram alumni include former Associated Press President & CEO Louis Boccardi; New York Times sportswriter Arthur Daley ('26), who was the first sportswriter to win a Pulitzer Prize; sports announcer Vin Scully ('49); author Robert Daley ('51); Emmy Award-winning news anchor Shiela Stainback ('72); and author and New York Times writer and columnist Jim Dwyer ('79), a Pulitzer Prize winner.[70]
The Observer is the student newspaper for the Lincoln Center campus, with distribution to the Rose Hill campus as well. First published in 1981, it is the fourth in a lineage of newspapers at Lincoln Center, after The Curved Horn, The Review, and Evex.[71]
The Observer has received multiple accolades, including the following:[71]
In addition, four Observer staff received the Mark of Excellence Award for Sports Photography from the Society of Professional Journalists (Region 1) in 2008.[71]
The Fordham Debate Society (FDS) is based at the Rose Hill campus and is the oldest existing club at the University, having been founded in 1854.[79] The club competes in the American Parliamentary Debate Association (APDA), which was founded at Fordham's annual tournament in 1982. FDS regularly places among the top teams in the country, and it ranks well in the World Universities Debating Championship standings. The club hosts several tournaments throughout the year, including the Fordham Fandango tournament and a tournament for novice debaters in New York City. Additional competitions, such as an Intervarsity Tournament in the British Parliamentary style, a public policy forum for high school students, and a round robin for students at Fordham, are in the works. The club holds practice debates and chamber discussions on Monday and Thursday nights, in which anyone at Fordham can participate.
The purpose of Campus Ministry at Fordham is to provide “opportunities and resources for spiritual growth to members of [the University] community.” It currently offers programming for more than 15 faith traditions in such areas as worship, music ministry, and social ministry. One of its most popular initiatives is its retreats, which are held at Fordham's McGrath House of Prayer in Goshen, NY and other retreat houses in the Greater New York area.[80]
Global Outreach! (¡GO!) is a student-run organization that leads service projects to various locations around the country and the world, with the goal of promoting social justice and fostering a sense of individual responsibility among the student body. ¡GO! currently sponsors 27 annual projects over the winter, spring, and summer breaks that deal with such issues as HIV/AIDS, affordable housing, migrant labor, and environmental justice.[81]
The Fordham Military Science program is available to all undergraduate and graduate students, regardless of their chosen course of study.[82] It is also available to students at over 50 other New York area colleges and universities. The program consists of membership and training in the Ram Battalion of the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) and a sequence of military science classes taught on campus.[83] Participants in the program are also eligible to enroll in the Air Force ROTC program at Manhattan College and the Navy ROTC program at SUNY Maritime College.[83] In 2011, Fordham Military Science began offering a combat nursing program in conjunction with Regis University and the University of Colorado at Denver.[84]
The Military Science program has several notable alumni, including former Secretary of State Colin Powell, four-star General John M. Keane, and at least four recipients of the Medal of Honor. The program has been distinguished as being in the top fifteen percent of military science programs in the country.[83]
In addition to the Military Science program, Fordham contributes to military education through the FordhamVets initiative, which provides financial assistance to veterans looking to attend the University to complete a degree. The initiative was one of the primary reasons that Fordham ranked 34th on the Military Times EDGE list of "veteran-friendly" universities in the United States.[85]
Like many Jesuit institutions, Fordham does not have any Greek letter fraternities or sororities on campus. Nevertheless, it does have a number of organizations that are similar to fraternities and sororities in both structure and function. The University has an informal system of Houses off campus, which performs many of the same social functions as a traditional Greek system (though in a milder context). Most of the houses are independent, but some are affiliated with specific clubs and athletic teams on campus. In addition, Campus Ministry oversees a number of Christian Life Communities, co-ed, faith-based social organizations that meet weekly to discuss spirituality, build friendships, and “put the Gospel values into action.”[80] Finally, the University supports a chapter of Pershing Rifles, the national military fraternity.[83]
The Jack Coffey College Council is Fordham's chapter of the Knights of Columbus, the national Catholic service fraternity and secret society for men. Committed to the advancement of charity, unity, fraternity, and patriotism, the council meets weekly for various social, service, and spiritual activities and operates a sister organization on campus, the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Society.
The Fordham Club is a senior society that serves as an advisory board to the President of the University. Composed of about 30 students who are generally at or near the top of the senior class, the club meets every month to discuss various issues surrounding the student experience at Fordham and make recommendations to the president regarding these issues.[86]
Fordham University has many traditions, some of which are listed below:
There are several symbols associated with Fordham University, some of which are listed below:
Fordham has over 125,000 alumni spread throughout the world, supported by the University's Office of Alumni Relations as well as more than 40 regional chapters in the US and abroad. Alumni benefits include unlimited access to all University campuses, membership opportunities at the Princeton Club of New York, the Hudson Union Society, and the Reebok Sports Club/NY, and discounts on such brands as Choice Hotels, Hertz, Liberty Mutual, Lenovo, and the New York Times. These benefits also apply to Fordham faculty members.[93]
Geraldine Ferraro, the first female Vice Presidential candidate of a major political party in the United States, attended Fordham, as did three current members of the United States House of Representatives and numerous past members of Congress, including at least two United States Senators. Current New York State Governor, Andrew Cuomo, is an alumnus. A number of Fordham graduates have served at the highest levels of the U.S. Executive Branch, including John E. Potter, former Postmaster General of the United States; William J. Casey, U.S. Director of Central Intelligence from 1981 to 1987; John N. Mitchell, former U.S. Attorney General; and Bernard M. Shanley, Deputy Chief of Staff and White House Counsel to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Fordham claims a number of distinguished military honorees, including three Medal of Honor recipients and a number of notable generals, including General John "Jack" Keane, retired four-star general and former Vice Chief of Staff for the United States Army, and Major General Martin Thomas McMahon, decorated American Civil War officer. Fordham has produced college and university presidents for at least 10 institutions around the United States, including two for Georgetown University and one each for Columbia University and New York University.
Business and finance magnates that have attended Fordham include Anne M. Mulcahy, retired Chairman and CEO of Xerox and named one of the "50 Most Powerful Women in Business" in 2006 by Fortune Magazine; Rose Marie Bravo, Vice Chairman and former CEO of Burberry and named one of the "50 Most Powerful Women in Business Outside the United States" in 2004 and 2005 by Fortune Magazine; E. Gerald Corrigan, former President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Maria Elena Lagomasino, CEO of JP Morgan Private Bank from 2001 to 2005 and currently on the board of directors of Coca-Cola; Joe Moglia, Chairman and former CEO of TD Ameritrade; John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer of Airbus; Stephen J. Hemsley, CEO of UnitedHealth Group; Wellington Mara, former owner of the New York Giants; Mario Gabelli, billionaire and founder and CEO of GAMCO Investors; Lorenzo Mendoza, billionaire and CEO of Empresas Polar; Eugene Shvidler, billionaire and international oil tycoon; and billionaire Donald Trump (attended, no degree).
In the media and communications field, Fordham has produced Charles Osgood, three-time Emmy Award and two-time Peabody Award-winning journalist for CBS and Radio Hall of Fame inductee; Louis Boccardi, retired President of the Associated Press; Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Loretta Tofani; G. Gordon Liddy, political operative for President Richard Nixon, leader of the White House Plumbers, political pundit, and radio show host; and Baseball Hall of Fame broadcaster and Radio Hall of Famer Vin Scully.
Fordham's list of contributions to the arts and entertainment industry is long and includes Alan Alda, six-time Emmy Award and six-time Golden Globe Award-winning actor; Mary Higgins Clark, best-selling suspense novelist; Bob Keeshan, television's multiple award-winning "Captain Kangaroo;" John LaFarge, painter, muralist, and designer of stained-glass windows; Virginia O'Hanlon, who, as a child, wrote a letter to the New York Sun that prompted the famous response "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus;" Tony Reali, Host of ESPN's Around The Horn; and Denzel Washington, two-time Academy Award and two-time Golden Globe Award-winning actor.
Among the giants of sports who attended Fordham are Frankie Frisch (known as the "Fordham Flash"), Baseball Hall of Fame inductee; Vince Lombardi, football coaching legend; Bill Chadwick, Hockey Hall of Fame inductee; Tom Courtney, two-time Olympic gold medalist and holder of the world record in the 880-yard run; and Steve Bellán, the first Latin American to play Major League Baseball.[94]
Fordham's campuses have been featured in a number of films, including the following: The Adjustment Bureau, Awake, A Beautiful Mind, Center Stage, Cheerleaders Beach Party, The Exorcist, Fair Game, The Gambler, Godspell, The Iron Major, Kinsey, Love Story, Quiz Show, Solitary Man, The Verdict, and Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps. Rev. William O'Malley, a Jesuit intructor at Fordham Prep School, played Father Dyer in The Exorcist. The film's language lab scene was filmed in Keating Hall on the Rose Hill campus, and the bedroom scene was filmed in Hughes Hall. The 1993 crime drama A Bronx Tale is set in the neighborhood around Rose Hill in the 1960s.[96]
Television shows filmed at Fordham include Shattered Vows, a 1984 made-for-TV film starring Valerie Bertinelli, which portrays the true story of a young nun in the 1960s who goes to Fordham for her master's degree and falls in love with a priest; White Collar, a crime show on USA Network; Naked City; Saturday Night Live; CEO Exchange; And-1 Mixtape, a skit performed by Dave Chappelle for his sketch-comedy show, Chappelle's Show; the 2009 U2 performance on Good Morning America; and the music video What's Luv? by Fat Joe and Ashanti.[96]
Fictional alumni of Fordham include the title character of Michael Clayton, Ray Brocco of The Good Shepherd, Michael Patrick Flaherty of Spin City, Jacob Moore of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Annie Norris of Life on Mars, Vinnie Terranova of Wiseguy, ADA Nick Rice of Law Abiding Citizen, Bruno Tattaglia of The Godfather, and Dave Norris of The Adjustment Bureau.[96]
Fordham has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions 30% by 2017. It has also committed to certifying all new buildings as LEED Silver. In addition, Fordham is pledging to recycle up to 90% of its construction debris, to use low flow faucets and shower heads, and to use sustainable materials such as recycled flooring. The school's Grounds Department has also pledged to make half of its vehicle fleet electric, while the Security Department has pledged to make its entire fleet hybrid.[97]
Fordham University is affiliated with the following organizations:[98]
In addition, the University is accredited by the following entities:[98]
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