We asked Fordham faculty and staff to reflect on their most memorable, meaningful moments from the past year. Their highlights remind us why our work matters, and why the Fordham community continues to inspire.
Forging Friendships That Will Last for Years to Come
“Students fuel us and inspire us,” said psychology professor and Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives Rachel Annunziato, Ph.D. This year, one student, Steven Laureano, reminded her of this. Annunziato met him as a first-year when she was tapped to be a summer faculty advisor for this year’s graduating class, and “he stood out quickly as embodying what I love about our students; he was so kind, excited, grateful, and hard-working,” she said. Annunziato focused on creating a schedule that would fit his commute and his work in sales, and “I have watched him soar ever since,” she said.
“He is now a well-known leader in the Commuter Student Association, a superstar psychology major, the recipient of our Davidson Scholarship, and a few weeks ago he called to tell me that he was accepted into Fordham’s Graduate School of Social Work, where his mom is also a student.” They may even graduate from GSS together.
“Students like Stephen are symbolic of the close connections that faculty form here—he’s one of those students that I know I’ll get to be in touch with for so many years to come,” she said. “It’s a gift to be at a place like this where those kinds of relationships are possible. I’ve been at Fordham for almost 15 years and you always get this joy, each and every year.”
Creating a Sense of Home in the Classroom
Theology professor Leo Guardado, Ph.D., began his undergraduate Christian Mystical Texts class one morning in April by asking his students how they felt in this current moment. Students cried, he said; they shared what it’s like to feel unwanted by society. “What I thought would be a brief discussion turned into a class-length holy time and holy space for sharing our vulnerabilities, anxieties, and fears,” said Guardado, who received two Faculty of Arts and Science awards this year, the Humanities award and the James C. McGroddy award, in recognition of his excellence in teaching.
“It became clear to me as I listened to my students that one of the most critical tasks facing us is the communal and ongoing re-creation of a sense of home even amidst the ongoing threats and persecution that is tearing apart communities,” Guardado said. Inviting students to share their stories was a simple gesture, he said, that created a time for healing.
They tabled their discussion on the 16th century Spanish mystic, Teresa of Avila, for the next class, but “the conversation about the reality we are living through made spirituality even more relevant as a source of resistance to violence. We heal together, not alone.”
CCEL in Action in Albany
Each year for the past three years, the Center for Community Engaged Learning [CCEL] has participated in Albany’s annual SOMOS Conference, a statewide gathering of community leaders, elected officials, and changemakers dedicated to promoting justice, public service, and cultural celebration. This year Travis Proulx, vice president of external affairs, joined to participate in a panel discussion on the future of DEI in higher education.
The students who took part in the event made it truly memorable for Keisha Shay, Ph.D., director of academic development and administration in CCEL. They helped design a participatory installation called “Clima,” a handmade tree where visitors could hang their personal pledges and visions for a better climate future.
“Seeing our students engage with communities beyond the Bronx and Manhattan was truly meaningful,” said Shay. “It was a powerful reminder of what’s possible when education uplifts and empowers.”
A Defining Moment in Water Polo’s Winning Season
Before the Fordham men’s water polo team finished its greatest season ever, 32-1, and went further than any other Fordham team in the NCAA Championship, they had to defeat a rival they had only beaten once in the program’s history: Princeton.
“They’ve just been our thorn in our side that we’ve never been able to get past,” said Head Coach Brian Bacharach. But their Sept. 27 game—one of the highlights of Bacharach’s year—was different. “It was the first time in five years that we got them to come to our place to play, so we got a home game against them, and the night was just magical. We played amazing and the stands were packed. We never had so many people in our place before, so we had to open up seating down on the pool deck. We brought all the parents down, because there was not any room up in the stands.” After the win, hundreds of alumni were there to celebrate. “They knew how long it’s taken for us to finally get over the top against those guys. That was our first marquee win.”
Music Meets Mission
As Director of Ignatian Mission Initiatives, Rob Parmach, Ph.D., organizes many opportunities to connect Fordham faculty, staff and students to the local communities around Lincoln Center and Rose Hill. Looking back on them all, a visit by the all-male a capella group, The Fordham Ramblers, to a local middle school, was the most memorable.
“This was for me a great example of seeing God in all things—you have 13 college adults who are talented musicians, but also college students who want to mentor and give a good life lesson to these middle school kids who are in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. They teach them not only about how they put music together, identifying that it’s hard work and it requires a lot of patience and collaboration and teamwork, but also to recognize that through their music and through their soft skills, they’re becoming lifelong friends.”
Getting Everyone in the Room—and on the Field
University Secretary Dorothy Marinucci had a hard time picking just one standout moment from the past year. “January’s Mental Health and Crime Symposium was extremely well received, and I was very proud to have worked on it with my colleagues,” she said. She also spearheads the yearlong commencement planning that brings everyone from the Ram Van crew to facilities to public safety to faculty together for meetings.. “It’s a wonderful opportunity where we’re all in the room together and we go over every crazy thing and we all get to see each other. It’s not that often that we can do that.”
The return of Fordham’s Dagger John Day, which Marinucci and Kathy Law, office coordinator and event specialist in the Office of the University Secretary, helped bring back last June after the pandemic put it on hold, was another highlight of the past year. “We wanted to bring it back in a more engaging, fun way, and so we created a cornhole tournament and other games, and we opened up the football field snack bars to serve hamburgers and hot dogs. It was fun.”
This year, the celebration will move indoors to the air-conditioned Rose Hill Gym on Monday, June 2.
