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Fordham University

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Fordham University
File:Fordhamuniversityseal2.jpg
Latin: Universitas Fordhamensis
MottoSapientia et Doctrina
(Wisdom and Learning)
TypePrivate, Independent [1] , Catholic, Jesuit
Established1841 (as St. John's College)
Endowment$372 million [2]
PresidentJoseph M. McShane, S.J.
Academic staff
681 full time, 475 adjunct
Undergraduates8,430
Postgraduates7,579 (1,652 law)
Location
Bronx, Manhattan, and Tarrytown
,
New York
,
USA
CampusRose Hill (Bronx):
Urban, 85 acres
Lincoln Center (Manhattan):
Urban, 8 acres
Marymount (Tarrytown):
Suburban, 25 acres
Louis Calder Center (Armonk):
Rural, 114 acres (0.5 km2)
Athletics22 NCAA Division I varsity teams, Atlantic 10 Conference, (except football, Patriot League)
ColorsMaroon and White    
MascotRam File:Fordham University mascot.gif
Websitewww.fordham.edu

Fordham University is a private, coeducational research university[3] in the United States, with three campuses located in and around New York City. Though now officially an independent institution "in the Jesuit tradition"[4], it was originally founded by the Diocese of New York in 1841 as St. John's College. Fordham is one of the largest among the 28 member institutions in the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities.

Enrollment at Fordham University includes more than 8,000 undergraduate students and 7,000 graduate students spread over three campuses in New York State: Rose Hill in the Bronx, Lincoln Center in Manhattan, and Marymount in Tarrytown. The University also maintains permanent programs in the People's Republic of China and the United Kingdom. Fordham awards bachelor's (BA, BFA, and BS), master's, and doctoral degrees.[5]

Fordham University is composed of four undergraduate colleges and six graduate schools, including the tier-1 Fordham Graduate School of Social Service and the particularly selective tier-1 Fordham School of Law. The University offers a BA/BS engineering program in cooperation with Columbia University[6] and a BFA degree program for dance in partnership with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. [7]

The University is affiliated with the now-independent Fordham Preparatory School, with which it shares its founding. "The Prep", as it is known colloquially, also shares a geographic boundary with the University, in effect occupying a corner of the Rose Hill campus.

History

1841-1900

The Administration Building at the Rose Hill campus, Circa 1841.

Fordham University was 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 Rose Hill Manor in the Bronx, then part of Westchester County, at $30,000 for the purpose of establishing the school. Rose Hill is the name given to the site in 1787 by Robert Watts, a wealthy New York merchant, in honor of his family's ancestral home of the same name in Scotland.

St. John's College opened with a student body of six on June 24, 1841. The Reverend John McCloskey (later Archbishop of New York, eventually to become the first American Cardinal) was its president, and the faculty were secular priests and lay instructors. The College was paired with a seminary, St. Joseph's, which had been founded in 1839 and was in the separate charge of Italian Lazarists (also known as "Vincentians"). St. Joseph's Seminary closed in 1861.

On April 10, 1846 St. John's College received its charter from the New York state legislature to grant degrees in theology, arts, law, and medicine. Also in 1846, Bishop Hughes convinced a group of Jesuits working in Kentucky to move to New York and staff his new school. Part of the agreement between Hughes and the Jesuits was that they would also open a school in what was then the city proper, and they lost little time in doing so. In September of 1847, the first school in Manhattan with a connection to what would become Fordham University opened its doors on the Lower East Side of the city, on Elizabeth and Walker Streets, across the street from the border of the notorious "Five Points" neighborhood. A devastating fire five months later forced the new school to move to the basement of St. James Catholic Church to finish its first year of operation. From 1848 to 1850, the school operated out of rented space on Third Avenue in the East Village, until its first permanent home was constructed on West 15th Street, just off of Sixth Avenue. In 1861 this school was granted its own charter and became an independent institution under the new name of the College of St. Francis Xavier, although many ties remained with the Jesuits of St. John's College in the Bronx.

1901-1950

File:Keatinghall.jpg
Keating Hall at the Rose Hill campus circa February 1937.

With the addition in 1905 of a law school and a (now defunct) medical school, the name was changed to Fordham University in 1907 (despite the name of the original college, Fordham has never had any connection with St. John's University). 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 the colonial settlement that was located near a shallow crossing of the Bronx River, or as a reference to Rev. John Fordham, an Anglican priest.

Fordham University Press, a member the Association of American University Presses (AAUP) since 1938, was established in 1907 not only to represent and uphold the values and traditions of the University itself, but also to further those values and traditions through the dissemination of scholarly research and ideas. The press publishes primarily in the humanities and the social sciences, with an emphasis on the fields of philosophy, theology, history, classics, communications, economics, sociology, business, political science, and law, as well as literature and the fine arts. Additionally, the press publishes books focusing on the metropolitan New York region and books of interest to the general public.

In 1912, the university opened a College of Pharmacy, which offered a three-year program in pharmacy and did not require its students to obtain bachelor's degrees until the 1950s. 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 College's longtime dean, Jacob Diner, was also Jewish. [8]

In 1913 the decision was made to close the College of St. Francis Xavier (though leaving the associated Xavier High School intact), and Fordham began opening schools in Manhattan once again, then at the Woolworth Building in the Financial District (the tallest building in the world at the time). Due to the ornate lobby of this skyscraper, the students soon began referring to it as the "marble campus" of Fordham in contrast to the then rural nature of the Rose Hill campus. Various colleges flourished at the Woolworth Building over the years, including Fordham College–Manhattan Division, the College of Business Administration, and the Undergraduate School of Education. In the midst of World War II, Fordham moved its Manhattan schools to a new location a few blocks north of City Hall at 302 Broadway. The Fordham College of Liberal Studies traces its founding to this period, evolving from Ignatius College which held classes on both campuses. In the years following World War II, Fordham in Manhattan continued to flourish, and the University was soon looking for a larger space to house its "downtown" schools.

First broadcast in 1947, WFUV 90.7 FM in New York City, is Fordham University's 50,000-watt radio station. It is now a National Public Radio affiliate, and still has a strong student-run news and sports department, though much of the other programming is staffed by professionals. The studios are located in Keating Hall on the Rose Hill campus, and the transmitter is located atop a building owned by the nearby Montefiore Medical Center.

1951-2000

The front of the Leon Lowenstein Building at the Lincoln Center campus.

Fordham's great opportunity came in the mid-1950s, when it was invited to be part of the Lincoln Square Renewal Project, seeking to replace substandard housing on Manhattan's west side with a new performing arts complex that would become known as Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Fordham was the first of the city's institutions involved in the project to fully sign on, purchasing most of the property from West 60th Street to West 62nd Street between Columbus Avenue and Amsterdam Avenue. Part of the opening sequence of the movie West Side Story was filmed on Fordham's property before construction began (the story was set in the neighborhood), and in 1961 Fordham's Law School was the first building to open in the Lincoln Square Renewal Project. Later the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic, the New York City Ballet, and the Juilliard School would join Fordham in the neighborhood as part of this project. As work on Fordham's Leon Lowenstein Building progressed, the University decided to phase out the various undergraduate colleges it conducted at 302 Broadway and replace them with a new school, "The Liberal Arts College." In January of 1969, its second semester of operation, the new college moved into its permanent home in the Lowenstein Building at the Lincoln Center campus. The Law School and the undergraduate college were soon joined by the Graduate School of Business Administration, the Graduate School of Education, and the Graduate School of Social Service.

In 1969 the board of trustees was reorganized to include a majority of non-clergy members, and officially made the University an independent institution. The College of Pharmacy closed because of declining enrollment in 1971. After 133 years as a college for men, the Fordham College at Rose Hill became coeducational in 1974, as a result of the merger with Thomas More College (the University’s coordinate college for women opened in 1964).

Since its opening in 1968, the undergraduate college in Manhattan has has had its name changed from "The Liberal Arts College" to "The College at Lincoln Center" and in 1996 to Fordham College at Lincoln Center. In 1993, a twenty-story residence hall was added to the campus to house 850 graduate and undergraduate students.

2001-present

Marymount College, an independent women's college founded in 1907 by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (R.S.H.M.) was consolidated into Fordham University in July of 2002. It had been steeped in financial hardship since the 1970s.

In August of 2005, the University announced a multi-year, $1 billion proposed master plan to add 1.5 million square feet of academic, student activities, and dormitory space to the Lincoln Center campus. The development of the campus will begin with the expansion of Quinn Library and the construction of a new Law School building, a new student center, a dormitory, and additional parking. Future phases of the development plan include the construction of new space for Fordham College of Liberal Studies, Fordham College at Lincoln Center, the Graduate School of Business, the Graduate School of Social Service, and the Graduate School of Education.[9] In 2007, Fordham launched a "neighbors" site designed to answer community concerns about the Lincoln Center campus expansion.

The plans for the Lincoln Center campus are part of a university-wide plan to enhance the quality of education at Fordham in an effort to become the preeminent Catholic institution of higher learning in America. [10] The first part of the strategic plan is entitled Toward 2016, with intent to achieve significant goals by the University's 175th Anniversary.

In October of 2005, the University's Board of Trustees declared that Marymount College would be phased out of the Institution by June of 2007. The campus in Tarrytown, New York is now, in part, home to Fordham's Graduate School of Religion & Religious Education and no longer an undergraduate women's college. Officials cited financial infeasibility as the cause of the college's elimination. In September 2007 the administration announced that it was seeking a buyer for the Marymount campus, and that its programs would be moved to 400 Westchester Avenue in Harrison, New York by Fall 2008. University administration stated that the costs of operating the campus exceeded the University's needs.

Academics

Fordham University's academic ideals are drawn from its Jesuit influences. The University promotes a Jesuit principle known as cura personalis, which fosters a faculty and administration respect for the individual student and their uniqueness, and the Jesuit principle magis which intends to inspire service and strive for excellence in all aspects of life, even beyond the academic.[11]

Core Curriculum

All undergraduate colleges at Fordham share a Core Curriculum that consists of 17–21 courses drawn from nine disciplines and/or families of disciplines intended to provide a sound liberal arts education. In outline, the core includes:

  • Three courses of English composition and literature
  • Two courses of Philosophy and two of Theology
  • Two courses each in History, Social Sciences, and the Natural Sciences
  • One course each in Mathematics and the Fine Arts
  • Foreign language up to an advanced level
  • Courses on American Pluralism and Global Studies
  • A capstone Senior Seminar in Values and Moral Choices

Students are expected to complete the core (in their home school) by the end of sophomore year, with the exception of the Global, Pluralism, and Senior Values courses[12].

Colleges and schools

Fordham University comprises four undergraduate colleges and six graduate schools on three campuses.

Undergraduate colleges

Keating Hall with Edwards Parade in the foreground (Rose Hill campus).

Graduate schools

  • School of Law (1905)
  • Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (1916)
  • Graduate School of Education (1916)
  • Graduate School of Social Service (1916)
  • Graduate School of Business Administration (1969)
  • Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education (1969)

Libraries

File:FordhamLawLibrary.JPG
Leo T. Kissam Memorial Law Library at Fordham Law School

The Fordham University libraries own more than 2 million volumes, subscribe to over 15,500 periodicals and 19,000 electronic journals, and serve as a depository for United States Government documents. The libraries own many special collections of rare books and manuscripts covering a variety of subjects including Americana, Jesuitica, the French Revolution, and Criminology. The libraries also provide access to more than 200 electronic databases and over 60,000 electronic books.[13]

  • The William D. Walsh Family Library, which opened in 1997 at the Rose Hill campus, contains over 1 million volumes and 380,000 government documents. In its 2004 edition of The Best 351 Colleges, the Princeton Review ranked Fordham's Walsh Library fifth in the country.
  • The Gerald M. Quinn Library at the Lincoln Center campus (in the Lowenstein building) contains some 500,000 volumes. In addition to a general collection serving Fordham College at Lincoln Center, the Quinn Library also has strong collections in business, education, and social service serving the three graduate schools on that campus.
  • The Gloria Gaines Memorial Library at the Marymount campus houses over 130,000 volumes and primarily serves the graduate students in business, education, and social service programs located on the campus.
  • The Leo T. Kissam Memorial Law Library at the Lincoln Center campus (in the Law School building) contains over 326,000 volumes, 1 million microforms, and 5,270 periodicals. Subject strengths include American and international law, with many foreign legal sources including European Community law and international antitrust law.

Honor societies and programs

  • Matteo Ricci Society: The Matteo Ricci Society is an honor society open to 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. It can provide funding for certain approved summer research opportunities and prominent internships
  • Honors Study: All four undergraduate colleges at Fordham offer an honors program for matriculated students. Eligible students from any major (with the exception of the BFA degree program in Dance) may be selected.

Fordham College of Liberal Studies offers an honors program option tailored specifically for non-traditional students, which is unusual for institutions serving that student population.

Specifics of the program differ among the four undergraduate colleges, but the program size is small in each case. Students are selected from the top percentile of each incoming freshmen class, based on their academic and extra-curricular achievements. Honors students are required to take specific Honors classes which replace the Core Curriculum. The Honors programs emphasize independent projects under faculty guidance. Successful completion of the program entitles the student to the designation in cursu honorum on the diploma and the transcript.

There are chapters of the Society of Sigma Xi, a national honorary scientific research organization established to recognize and foster the scientific spirit in American colleges and to provide both stimulus and acknowledgement for independent scientific research; Pi Sigma Alpha, the national honor society for political science students; Alpha Mu Gamma, the national honor society for foreign languages. Fordham also has chapters of Phi Delta Kappa and Kappa Delta Pi, both honor societies in education.

Fordham University has chapters of other honor societies which are major specific.

  • Campion Institute Summer Fellowships: Each year, the Campion Institute (through the Office for Prestigious Fellowships) offers special competitive awards to students who will be competing for external scholarships and fellowships (such as the Rhodes, Marshall, Gates Cambridge, Fulbright, Truman, Goldwater, etc.). These special awards, presented at the end of the spring semester, are available to a select group of students as a way to enrich their intellectual endeavors, build more solid research histories, and help them gain experiences that will ultimately strengthen their applications for the major external competitions. These summer scholarships, available to undergraduate and graduate students, and the specific terms of each award are determined on an as-needed and case-by-case basis (stipend, summer housing, or a combination of both). All summer projects are subject to the approval of the Campion's Summer Fellowship Selection Committee.

Rankings

In 2008, U.S. News & World Report ranked Fordham 67th [36] among national universities in the United States, up three places from the previous year. U.S. News & World Report also ranked the College of Business Administration 71st in 2008, up nine spots from 2007.

Fordham University School of Law, the 15th most selective law school in the United States, is ranked 25th in the nation in the 2008 U.S. News & World Report law school rankings.

While not strictly a "ranking", the editors of Kaplan/Newsweek’s 2008 edition of How to Get Into College Guide included Fordham University as one of the “25 Hottest Schools in America”[15], with the title "Hottest Catholic School."

The Washington Monthly rankings, meant as a public-interest focused alternative to the U.S. News rankings, places Fordham at 41st in the nation, overall.[16]

In 2007, BusinessWeek magazine ranked Fordham's College of Business Administration 34th nationally and 5th in "Return on Investment."

In 2004, the Graduate School of Social Service was ranked 14th nationally by U.S. News & World Report.

Fordham grants degrees in the BIMBA program (Beijing International MBA) — the first foreign MBA degree to be approved by the Chinese Government and ranked #1 in China by Fortune Magazine. [17]

Campuses

Fordham University attracts students from around the world, and at the turn of the 21st century registered students from approximately 90 countries in addition to every US state and territory[18]. To accommodate this student body, the university has two residential campuses: Rose Hill in the Bronx and Lincoln Center in Manhattan. The University also maintains programs at the Marymount campus in Tarrytown, a biological field station in Armonk, New York and two international locations: The Beijing International MBA (BIMBA) in Beijing, China, and the London Center in the United Kingdom, home to the London Drama Academy[19].

The undergraduate Fordham College of Liberal Studies holds classes on both residential campuses, utilizing the same faculty and curriculum as the other colleges in the University. However, it provides options for both full-time and part-time study, unconventional scheduling, and the flexibility of multiple campuses in order to accommodate students who are employed full-time or otherwise unable to take advantage of the offerings at the other undergraduate colleges.

Rose Hill

The Southern Boulevard entrance to the Rose Hill campus.

The Rose Hill campus, established in 1841, is home to the undergraduate Fordham College at Rose Hill, the College of Business Administration, and a portion of the Fordham College of Liberal Studies as well as the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and the Graduate School of Religion & Religious Education. Located on 85 acres in the north Bronx, it is among the largest "green campuses" in New York City. The campus is bordered by the New York Botanical Garden, the Bronx Zoo, and "Little Italy of the Bronx" on Arthur Avenue. Rose Hill's traditional collegiate Gothic architecture, cobblestone streets, and green expanses of lawn have been used as settings in a number of feature films over the years. Among the 15 campus dormitories are Fordham's three residential colleges: O'Hare Hall[20], Tierney Hall[21], and Queen's Court[22] (the last, with its notable Bishop's Lounge, dates back to the days of St. John's College).[23] Finlay Hall, now an upperclassman dormitory, was once home to the defunct medical school.[citation needed] Another dormitory, Walsh Hall, was built facing the street as a condition of the loan Fordham received from New York City. If Fordham had defaulted on the loan, the city would have converted it into a housing project, however this did not occur, and the building's entrance still confusingly faces the street on the edge of the campus instead of the interior of the campus. Walsh Hall was formerly known simply as 555 due to its address: 555 E.191st Street. The campus is served by the Fordham station of the Metro-North Railroad (the tracks run along the boundary fence), with a southern terminus at Grand Central Station 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 "Ram Van" shuttle service among the three residential campuses. About 6,284 undergraduates and graduates attend the Rose Hill campus, with 3,143 in residence.

Lincoln Center

Peter, Fisher of Men statue at the Lincoln Center campus.

The Lincoln Center campus, established in 1961, is home to the undergraduate Fordham College at Lincoln Center and a portion of Fordham College of Liberal 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 eight-acre campus occupies the area from West 60th Street to West 62nd Street between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues, in the cultural heart of Manhattan. Across the street is one of the world's great cultural centers, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts; nearby are Central Park, Broadway, and Columbus Circle. The campus is served by public transit bus stops at the campus entrances, and by the New York City Subway station at 59th Street–Columbus Circle. The University also provides a "Ram Van" shuttle service among its three campuses. About 8,000 professional and undergraduate students attend, with approximately 853 in residence in apartment-style housing[24]. The Lincoln Center campus currently consists of the Leon Lowenstein Building, McMahon Hall dormitory, Gerald M. Quinn Library, and Fordham School of Law. Fordham offices are also housed at 33 W. 60th St and 888 W. 57th St. The Lincoln Center campus also has two outdoor basketball and tennis courts.

There are two open, grassy plazas at the Lincoln Center Campus, built over the Quinn Library, one level up from the street. The larger plaza is unnamed, but the smaller one is known as Robert Moses Plaza or St. Peter's Garden. A memorial to Fordham students and alumni who died on 9/11 stands in St. Peter's Garden. Ironically, according to Fordham's expansion plan, Robert Moses Plaza may be built over, just as Moses razed and built over the neighborhood where Fordham and Lincoln Center now stand.

Marymount

The 25 acre Tarrytown campus was officially established in 2002 when Marymount College consolidated with Fordham University.

Located 25 miles (40 km) north of New York City in Tarrytown, New York, the campus is home to a branch of Fordham College of Liberal Studies, as well as extensions of the graduate schools of education, social service, and business administration. The campus is served by the Tarrytown station of the Metro-North Railroad, approximately 1-mile (2 km) away, and the Westchester County Bus System ("The Bee-Line"). Westchester County Airport is less than 15 miles (24 km) away. The University also provides a "Ram Van" shuttle among the residential campuses and, as a courtesy, service to The Westchester, The Source At White Plains and the Galleria at White Plains shopping centers.

Marymount College graduated its final undergraduate class in May 2007, after Fordham University announced in 2005 that the college would be phased out. University administration announced that the campus would remain open for Fordham graduate programs in several disciplines.[25]. However, in the fall of 2007 the University announced its intention to seek buyers for the Marymount campus and move its programs to less expansive facilities in Westchester. University administration stated that the expenses required to support the programs on campus far exceeded their demand. University officials mentioned that the revenue gained from the proposed sale would not be greater than the expenses that the University had incurred since its merger with Marymount College. [26] President Father McShane stated that the University's decision was a "painful" one [27]. Fordham has since decided the remaining programs from the Marymount campus to a new location in Harrison, New York, at 400 Westchester Avenue, by Fall 2008[28].

Louis Calder Center

The Louis Calder Center is Fordham's biological field station for ecological research and environmental education. Located 30 miles (50 km) north of New York City in Armonk, New York, it is the only exclusively ecological research field station in the New York metropolitan area. The station consists of 113 forested acres with a 10 acre lake and 19 buildings, which are used for laboratory and office space, educational programs, equipment storage, and residences. The station's state-of-the-art equipment, research library, greenhouses, and housing are available for research and educational programs for students, faculty, and visiting scientists[29].

Beijing, People's Republic of China

Fordham's Beijing campus[30], founded in 1998, is the site of the Beijing International MBA Program (BIMBA), which enrolls over 400 students a year in traditional part-time and full-time MBA programs, and in Executive MBA (EMBA) programs. Peking University is affiliated with the BiMBA program -- the first foreign MBA degree to be approved by the Chinese Government -- and ranked number 1 in China by Fortune Magazine .

London Center, United Kingdom

London Drama Academy (LDA) at Fordham's Bloomsbury-area London Center offers classes on British acting, using a primarily practical approach. The Academy was founded in the 1970s by Marymount College and a group of tutors from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). Today it offers semester- and year-long sessions, with classes taught by working RADA-trained theater professionals.

During the summer, the College of Business Administration holds marketing classes in the Center.

Fordham as a filming location

Movies

Television

Music videos

Student activities

There are many student activities at Fordham, including the following.[31]

Athletics

Main article: Fordham Rams
File:FordhamRams.png
Fordham Rams logo

The Fordham varsity sports teams are known as the "Rams." Their colors are maroon and white.

The University supports 22 men's and women's varsity teams and a number of club teams, plus a significant intramural sports program. The Fordham Rams are members of NCAA Division I and compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference in all sports except football. In football, the Rams play in the Patriot League of NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision. The Rams were the 2002 Patriot League co-champions[32].

Fordham athletics gained early fame for college football in the beginning of the 20th century, particularly with the success of the famous "Seven Blocks of Granite". In addition, the University launched the careers of dozens of professional baseball players, including a Hall of Fame inductee, Frankie Frisch, known by the further-alliterative nickname, "The Fordham Flash".

Student publications

Note: This is not intended to be a comprehensive list

  • Fordham Law Review, the most widely-cited of the law school's six scholarly journals serving the legal profession and the public by discussing current legal issues.
  • Red Rover, a literary magazine published once a year from the Lincoln Center Campus. It provides students with an outlet for creativity and expression through fiction, personal essays, photography, cartoons, poetry, graphic arts, etc.
  • The Ampersand, Fordham's literary magazine
  • The CBA Business Journal, a source of business news and commentary written by and for Fordham University students, publishing three issues per semester.
  • The Fordham Ram (commonly known as The Ram), student newspaper, published from the Rose Hill campus since 1918. The Ram is the University's official journal of record.
  • The Observer, Fordham University's award-winning [37] student newspaper, published from the Lincoln Center campus since 1981.
  • The Paper, Fordham University's journal of news, analysis, comment, and review.
  • The Vagabond, The Ampersand's monthly supplement

Broadcasting

  • WFUV, 90.7 FM in New York City, is Fordham University's 50,000-watt radio station. First broadcast in 1947, the station serves approximately 280,000 listeners weekly in the New York area and thousands more globally on the Web (wfuv.org). The station is a National Public Radio affiliate, and mainly has an adult album alternative format, although it does carry programs which play music from other genres, such as folk music, jazz, and Celtic music[33]. It is staffed by 27 full-time employees and 70 student part-time enployees[34]. The station has strong student-run news and sports departments.
  • Fordham Nightly News (FNN), Fordham University's evening news program since 2004, was created by and is produced by students. FNN is a part of radio WFUV News, and its directors are part-time staff at NBC News, CBS News, CBS Radio. The program is produced 4 nights weekdays (no Wednesday broadcast), and has built up a management structure with about 35 staff -- from on-air talent to technical production. FNN is on a closed-circuit channel, EIC-TV10, and reports current topics including local and international news, entertainment, sports, and weather[35].

Self-Expression

  • The Fordham University Choir is a select mixed ensemble comprised of students from the University's Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses. The Choir's repertoire of sacred and secular music is representative of the finest choral tradition. The Choir keeps a full performance schedule that includes five campus concerts and an annual tour. The Choir often performs at various venues in the New York metropolitan area, including Carnegie Hall, the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, and St. Patrick's Cathedral. Highlights of each choir season include the Family Weekend Mass, the Festival of Lessons and Carols each December, and the Spring Concert, which features a major choral work with orchestra. Past performances include Handel's Messiah, Schubert's Mass in G, and Mozart's Requiem. The Choir has performed in many major U.S. cities, such as Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. Internationally, the Choir has performed in Rome, Italy and completed a ten day concert tour through Spain in the spring of 2004.
  • "The Ampersand" is an umbrella organization that encompasses projects such as The Ampersand, Fordham's literary magazine; The Vagabond , The Ampersand's monthly supplement; On the Verge, a writer's workshop; and & What?!?, an open mic night series. The club's primary aim is to create, maintain, and promote a forum in which the Fordham student body can express itself through poetry, prose, short stories, spoken work, photography, and art work.
  • Fordham University Theatre Company: The Fordham Theatre department's training embraces a "company concept," which signifies that all theatre majors may participate in as many productions as they like and in any capacity they wish, as members of the Fordham University Theatre Company[36]. The department produces four "Mainstage" productions each season, and fifteen to twenty-five studio theatre productions. The Mainstage productions are directed and designed by full-time faculty and/or guests from the professional New York theater community. The studio productions are playwriting and directing projects that are completely student-driven, with the support of outside professional directors (playwriting) and mentors (directing). While participation in Mainstage productions is limited to theatre program students, attending performances is a popular activity for all students and the community, and auditions for studio productions are open to students of all majors. (A student may major in any subject and minor in Theatre, which does not require an audition.)
  • The Mimes & Mummers, housed in Collins Auditorium on the Rose Hill Campus, hire professional directors and choreographers to assist with their theatrical productions. "The Mimes" is one of the oldest traditions at the university, and currently produce two top-notch shows per semester, which could be either a comedy, a drama, a musical, or a classic. Students from all major concentrations are welcome to participate in Mimes & Mummers' productions.
  • Expressions Dance Alliance, located in the Keating Basement Dance Studio, was established in 2001 to fill the void of a dance ensemble at Fordham University's Rose Hill Campus. About twenty dancers comprise the dance company with a wide variety of training like hip-hop, ballet, tap, jazz, modern, contemporary, and other areas of dance. The student-run club's main focus is to produce an original show every semester. The members are responsible for every aspect of the show including original choreography, costumes, light designs, sets, budgeting, and publicity. Expressions also participates in community service projects and events around campus. Membership is by audition only. Expressions Dance Alliance also holds dance classes, open to the entire student body.

Rhetoric & Debate

  • Fordham Debate Society: Founded in 1852, Fordham Debate Society is based at the Rose Hill Campus and is the oldest existing club in the university, as well the as eighth oldest collegiate debate society in the United States. The society frequently beat Oxford University and Cambridge University in debates during the early 20th century, and more recently was the first American university to host the World Universities Debating Championship (Princeton University and Yale University followed and remain the only other institutions to have the honor of hosting in the United States). Fordham Debate also had top 5 finishes at Nationals, North American Championships, and major tournaments such as those held at Princeton University and Columbia University, all within the first few years of the 21st century. In 1982, the society hosted a massive tournament called the "Fordham Fandango." There, representatives from Fordham, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, the University of Chicago, West Point, and other schools formed the American Parliamentary Debate Association, Inc. (APDA), a student-run intercollegiate debate league. Fordham is still very active on APDA, regularly placing in the top teams in the nation.
  • Gannon Speech & Debate: Based at the Lincoln Center Campus, the organization was constituted and formed by students for the purpose of advancing the social, intellectual and spiritual development of its members and the community of Fordham University, its reputation and image. The club accomplishes these purposes first, by studying colegiate forensics, and second, by preparing for and competing in intercolegiate forensic tournaments. It has become notably inactive in recent years.

Global Outreach

Main article: Global Outreach! Program, Fordham University

Global Outreach! (commonly known as GO!), is a student led, university sponsored organization dedicated to educating students about issues of social justice and individual responsibility through service trips to global and domestic locations. Separate programs on each campus currently sponsor 27 annual trips ranging from Thailand to East New York, and dealing with such diverse issues as public health, affordable housing, migrant labor, and disaster relief.

Military Science

Main article: New York City ROTC at Fordham University

Military Science is a program available to all undergraduate and graduate students, regardless of their college or major. The Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program qualifies students for appointment as officers of the United States Army, Army Reserve or Army National Guard. Students (other than those with ROTC scholarships) attend the first two years of study without incurring any obligation to serve in the military. The regular course of study includes military science classes. Additionally, a variety of challenging extracurricular activities are open to all students. These include: the regional Ranger Challenge and the international Sandhurst Competitions - intercollegiate "extreme" sports; Color Guard; Pershing Rifles; Drill Team; the Association of the United States Army Ram Company; and an Army Ten-Miler Running Team. In addition, cadets have the opportunity to participate in a variety of military social events, including the annual military ball, Dining in.

Other academic institutions that can participate in Fordham's ROTC program are: City College of The City University of New York, College of New Rochelle, Columbia University, Iona College, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The King's College, Lehman College, Marist College, Monroe College, Mount Saint Mary College, New School University, New York University, Pace University, Polytechnic University of New York, and Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology.

Fordham students may participate in the Air Force ROTC hosted at Manhattan College nearby the Rose Hill campus of Fordham, and the Navy ROTC hosted at Maritime College, State University of New York, also relatively convenient to Rose Hill.

Philip H. McGrath House of Prayer

The Philip H. McGrath House of Prayer is located in Goshen, NY, and is used exclusively for Fordham's Retreat Ministries. The McGrath House is situated in a rural, residential area about seventy miles northwest of Fordham's Rose Hill campus.

The McGrath House has facilities for a large group of students and retreat coordinators to stay overnight while participating in a Fordham Retreat. Fordham Campus Ministry regularly hosts non-compulsory retreats at the McGrath House, including Emmaus, Kairos, Charis, Global Outreach Retreats, and other specialized retreats.

Legacies

Notable alumni

For a more extensive sampling of notable alumni, see the List of Fordham University people.

Among the notable people who have attended Fordham are: Alan Alda, six-time Emmy Award and six-time Golden Globe Award-winning actor; William Casey, former United States Director of Central Intelligence; Mary Higgins Clark, best-selling suspense novelist; Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman Vice Presidential candidate of a major political party; G. Gordon Liddy, lawyer, political operative for President Richard Nixon, leader of the "White House Plumber's unit", political pundit and radio show host; Vince Lombardi, football coaching legend; Charles Osgood, three-time Emmy Award and two-time Peabody Award-winning journalist and Radio Hall of Fame inductee; Vin Scully, Emmy Award-winning sportscaster, Baseball Hall of Famer, and Radio Hall of Famer; and Denzel Washington, two-time Academy Award and two-time Golden Globe Award-winning actor.

A notable fictional alumnus is New York City Deputy Mayor Mike Flaherty (played by Michael J. Fox) from the American television sitcom Spin City (1995-2002).

Notable faculty

This list is intended as a sampling

University Presidents

  1. His Eminence John Cardinal McCloskey 1841-43
  2. Most Rev. James Roosevelt Bayley 1844-46
  3. Rev. Augustus J. Thebaud, S.J. 1846-51 and 1859-63
  4. Rev. John Larkin, S.J. 1851-54
  5. Rev. Remigius I. Tellier, S.J. 1854-59
  6. Rev. Edward Doucet, S.J. 1863-65
  7. Rev. William Moylan, S.J. 1865-68
  8. Rev. Joseph Shea, S.J. 1868-74
  9. Rev. William Gockeln, S.J. 1874-82
  10. Rev. Patrick F. Dealy, S.J. 1882-85
  11. Rev. Thomas F. Campbell, S.J. 1885-88 and 1896-1900
  12. Rev. John Scully, S.J. 1888-91
  13. Rev. Thomas Gannon, S.J. 1891-96
  14. Rev. George A. Pettit, S.J. 1900-04
  15. Most Rev. John J. Collins, S.J. 1904-06
  16. Rev. Daniel J. Quinn, S.J. 1906-11
  17. Rev. Thomas J. McCluskey, S.J. 1911-15
  18. Rev. Joseph A. Mulry, S.J. 1915-19
  19. Rev. Edward P. Tivnan, S.J. 1919-24
  20. Rev. William J. Duane, S.J. 1924-30
  21. Rev. Aloysius J. Hogan, S.J. 1930-36
  22. Rev. Robert I. Gannon, S.J. 1936-49
  23. Rev. Laurence J. McGinley, S.J. 1949-63
  24. Rev. Vincent T. O'Keefe, S.J. 1963-65
  25. Rev. Leo J. McLaughlin, S.J. 1965-69
  26. Rev. Michael P. Walsh, S.J. 1969-72
  27. Rev. James C. Finlay, S.J. 1972-84
  28. Rev. Joseph A. O'Hare, S.J. 1984-2003
  29. Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J. 2003-present

Fordham traditions

Fordham Maroon

There is as much myth as there is truth surrounding the history of Fordham's college color: Maroon was not the original color, magenta was. Magenta was used on the uniforms of Fordham's "base-ball nines." The color was also used by Fordham's archrival, Harvard[38].

Both institutions claimed prior right to use of magenta, and neither institution was willing to make concessions. Since it was "improper" for two schools to be wearing the same colors, the matter was to be settled by a series of baseball games. The winning team could lay claim to magenta. The losing team would have to find another color. Fordham won, but Harvard reneged on its promise[38].

That was the situation in 1874 when the student body gathered at the college to meet Rev. William Gockeln, S. J., the newly installed College president. One of the matters discussed at this historic meeting was that of choosing an official college color that would belong to Fordham and Fordham alone. With matters at a standstill, Stephen Wall '75, suggested maroon, a color not widely used at the time[38].

In a letter that Wall subsequently wrote to the editors of the Fordham Monthly in 1907, he stated, "I was asked what maroon was and the only way I could explain it was that it looked something like claret wine with the sun shining through it, but I said that, if I was given time, I would produce a piece of maroon ribbon. So I was accorded the privilege, and I wrote to my sister to send me a piece of maroon ribbon and velvet. These samples came in due course and were submitted to the committee. It received the unanimous approval of the committee, was adopted and has been the color that has carried Fordham through many a victory[38]."

Ironically, Harvard has since abandoned its official color magenta in favor of crimson [39].

The Ram

The ram evolved into Fordham's mascot and symbol from a slightly vulgar cheer that Fordham fans sang during an 1893 football game against the United States Military Academy at West Point. The students began cheering "One-damn, two-damn, three-damn...Fordham!" The song was an instant hit, but "damn" was later sanitized to "Ram" to conform to the university's image. [Schroth page 207]

The Victory Bell

The "Victory Bell", which is mounted outside the Rose Hill Gym, is from the Japanese aircraft carrier Junyō. According to the plaque below the bell, it was recovered near Saipan where it was "silenced by an aerial Bomb." It was given to Fordham as a gift by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz "as a Memorial to Our Dear Young Dead of World War II." It was blessed by Cardinal Spellman, and "was first rung at Fordham by the President of the United States, the Honorable Harry S. Truman on May 11, 1946, the Charter Centenary of the University." It is rung by each Fordham senior player after victorious home football games and its ringing also marks the start of the commencement ceremonies each May. A small group of students rang the bell on the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor in honor of the war dead.

The Rose Hill Gymnasium

The Rose Hill Gym

The men's and women's basketball teams, as well as the volleyball squad, play in the Rose Hill Gymnasium, the oldest gym still in use at the NCAA Division I level. The 3,200 seat gym opened on January 16, 1925 and was one of the largest on-campus facilities at the time it was built, earning the nickname "The Prairie" because of its large floor space. The arena has been in continuous use by Fordham's basketball teams since its opening with the exception of the World War II years, when it was used as a barracks.

The Great Seal

The Great Seal of Fordham University bears the Society of Jesus coat of arms at the center. The shield bears the Greek letters of the name Jesus, IHS, with the cross resting in the horizontal line of the letter "H", three nails beneath (evoking those used in the crucifixtion of Jesus), all in gold in a field framed in maroon, the color of the University, with silver fleurs-de-lis (reminiscent of the French origin of the first Jesuit instructors) on the edge of the maroon frame. Around the shield, a scroll with the University's motto in latin, Sapienta et Doctrina (Wisdom and Learning), is etched. The scroll rests on a field in which tongues of fire are displayed, recalling the outpouring of the Holy Spirit of Wisdom that marked the first Pentecost. A laurel above the shield has engraved the names of the disciplines that were taught when the school was granted university status in 1907: arts, science, philosophy, medicine, and law. Surrounding the entire seal is a heraldic belt, which has engraved the name of the school in Latin, Universitas Fordhamensis, and year of foundation[40].

William Spain Seismic Observatory

Since 1910, when the Rev. Edward P. Tivnan, SJ, installed a seismograph in the basement of the administration building at the Rose Hill Campus, Fordham has been the site of the oldest seismic station in New York City. William Spain Seismic Observatory has since measured much of the world's natural and unnatural trembling, including earthquakes, China's first atomic explosion in 1964, and local subway trains.

The station opened in 1924 and sits at the edge of Edward's Parade in the center of the campus, next to Freeman Hall, home of the department of physics. It is named in honor of a physics student who died in 1922 and whose father donated the funds to build the station.

Songs

Fordham's school song is "Alma Mater Fordham":

O Alma Mater Fordham, How mighty is thy power
to link our hearts to thee in love that grows with every hour.
Thy winding walks, Thy hallowed halls
Thy lawns, Thine ivy-mantled walls;
O Fordham Alma Mater, what mem'ries each recalls.
O Alma Mater Fordham, while yet the life blood starts
Shined by thy sacred image within our heart of hearts.
And in the years that are to be,
May life and love be true to me,
O Fordham Alma Mater, as I am true to thee.[41].

Recordings and other songs

Affiliations

This is an introductory listing, and may reflect only a portion of the many affiliations the University maintains[42].

Fordham University is affiliated with the following:

It is an accredited member of:

The University is also a member of:

  • American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education
  • Collegiate Association for Development of Educational Administration (New York State)
  • Association of University Evening Colleges

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ [2]
  3. ^ [3]
  4. ^ [4]
  5. ^ [5]
  6. ^ [6]
  7. ^ [7]
  8. ^ [8]
  9. ^ [9]
  10. ^ [10]
  11. ^ http://www.fordham.edu/Discover_Fordham/Fordhams_Jesuit_Trad/
  12. ^ [11]
  13. ^ [12]
  14. ^ [13]
  15. ^ [14]
  16. ^ [15]
  17. ^ http://www.fordham.edu/Campus_Resources/Public_Affairs/topstories_945.asp
  18. ^ [16]
  19. ^ [17]
  20. ^ http://www.fordham.edu/student_affairs/residential_life/rose_hill/residence_halls/ohare_hall_residenti_19848.asp
  21. ^ http://www.fordham.edu/student_affairs/residential_life/rose_hill/residence_halls/tierney_hall_residen_19851.asp
  22. ^ http://www.fordham.edu/student_affairs/residential_life/rose_hill/residence_halls/queens_court_residen_19849.asp
  23. ^ http://www.fordham.edu/bulletins/pdf/undrgrd_blltn_04_06/fordhm_undrgrd_bulltn_04_06_complete.pdf
  24. ^ [18]
  25. ^ [19]
  26. ^ [20]
  27. ^ [21]
  28. ^ [22]
  29. ^ [23]
  30. ^ [24]
  31. ^ http://www.fordham.edu/student_affairs/student_leadership__/index.asp
  32. ^ [25]
  33. ^ [26]
  34. ^ [27]
  35. ^ [28]
  36. ^ [29]
  37. ^ [30]
  38. ^ a b c d [31]
  39. ^ [32]
  40. ^ [33]
  41. ^ [34]
  42. ^ [35]

Sources

  • Fred C. Feddeck. Hale Men of Fordham: Hail!. Trafford Publishing, 2001. ISBN 1-55212-577-7
  • Fordham University Staff, Office of the Sesquicentennial. As I Remember Fordham: Selections from the Sesquicentennial Oral History Project. Fordham University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8232-1338-2
  • Robert Ignatius Gannon, S.J. Up to the Present: the story of Fordham. Doubleday, 1967. ISBN not available
  • Raymond A. Schroth, S.J. Fordham: A History and Memoir. Jesuit Way, Chicago 2002. ISBN 0-8294-1676-5
  • Thomas Gaffney Taaffe. A History of St. John's College, Fordham, N.Y. The Catholic Publication Society Co., 1891. ISBN not available

External links

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