“Tom was a true man of Fordham, and we are proud to call him a Ram,” said Ed Kull, director of athletics at the University. “He will forever be in the Fordham history books, and his character, persistence, and determination will continue to inspire our Rams for generations.”

As a track star at Fordham, Courtney won numerous individual titles. He also anchored the Rams’ relay team that set a two-mile world record at the Los Angeles Coliseum Relays on May 21, 1954. Sports Illustrated featured him in his Fordham gear on the cover of its May 2, 1955, issue, one month before he earned a bachelor’s degree in political philosophy from Fordham College at Rose Hill.

Courtney’s renown only grew after graduation, when he represented the U.S. at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. He earned two gold medals—first in one of the most dramatic 800-meter races in Olympic history, then as the anchor of the 1,600-meter relay team.

“Few men have worked as hard and achieved such personal fame in such a short time as Fordham’s Tom Courtney,” student reporters Ronald Land and Bill Sturner wrote in The Ram less than two weeks later, upon Courtney’s triumphant return to campus.

A Record-Setting Track Star

Courtney was born on August 17, 1933, in South Orange, New Jersey. He grew up in nearby Livingston with dreams of becoming a professional baseball pitcher like his father, who had signed with the New York Yankees in 1928 and played in the minor leagues. Courtney played baseball and basketball, then switched to track in his junior year at James Caldwell High School in West Caldwell.

He received track scholarship offers from several universities, including Georgetown, Villanova, and Yale. He chose a full scholarship from Fordham after meeting coach Artie O’Connor at a New Jersey state meet. It was a decision that thrilled his mother, he once wrote, because her cousin Charlie Deubel was a 1935 Fordham graduate who had captained the Rams’ track team.

“While most runners are slender and wiry, Tom was broad-shouldered and muscular,” Raymond Schroth, S.J., FCRH ’55, wrote in his book Fordham: A History and Memoir, adding that the 6-foot-2-inch Courtney was “absolutely driven” and that “nothing was to get between Tom and his running.”

While competing for Fordham, Courtney won numerous high-profile races, including the 1,000-yard Metropolitan Collegiate and IC4A championships. He set a U.S. record in the 400-yard final at the Metropolitan AAU championship and a world record in the 600-yard final at the intercollegiate indoor championships. At the Washington Star games, an international invitational, Courtney bested the University of Pittsburgh’s Arnie Sowell, then considered the best runner in the world, by five strides.

He formed a tight bond with his Fordham teammates Terry Foley, FCRH ’54, Frank Tarsney, FCRH ’54, and Bill Persichetty, GABELLI ’54. With Courtney as the anchor, the Rams’ “Fabulous Four” two-mile relay team recorded 13 straight wins in 1954.

Courtney also developed a close relationship with O’Connor, a 1928 Fordham graduate. During Courtney’s junior year, the coach “began mentioning the word Olympics to his star,” Father Schroth wrote. “For the next year and a half his training became both grueling and methodical as he kept a daily log of everything he did,” hoping to qualify for the 1956 games in Melbourne.

Qualifying for the Olympics—and a Date with Grace Kelly

Courtney had been a cadet in the Air Force ROTC program at Fordham, and after graduating in 1955, he was drafted into the Army. While completing basic training at Fort Dix in New Jersey, he continued to prepare for the Olympics, sometimes sneaking out of his bunk at night to run along the camp fence.

“After I graduated from Fordham, I was on my own,” Courtney recalled in his 2018 memoir, The Inside Track. “But I knew what to do and each day I tried to improve, to work a little harder, and to become a little faster.”

The Olympic trials were held in Los Angeles in July 1956, and Courtney made the team. Later, he and Olympic rower Jack Kelly Jr. were asked to model the official apparel members of the U.S. team would wear in Melbourne. They became friends, and “he asked me if I would go on a date with his sister, Grace Kelly, of movie fame,” Courtney wrote in his memoir. “We had a nice time and I asked her for another date. She said she was going to Monaco the next week, and the next thing I knew she was getting engaged to Prince Rainier.”

‘The Most Courageous Race I’ve Seen’

On November 26, 1956, the day of the 800-meter final at the Melbourne Olympics, Courtney’s nerves nearly got the better of him.

“As I stepped on the track, my legs went rubbery,” he wrote in The Inside Track. “I found that I could not stand up and I sagged to the grass. I saw the hundred thousand people in the stands, and thought, is it possible that I am so nervous that I won’t be able to run today?”

He took an early lead, then lagged behind his U.S. teammate and college rival, Arnie Sowell, who was favored to win the race. With 120 yards to go, Courtney made a move and eventually caught Sowell “on the turn and slowly passed him,” he later wrote, only to see Great Britain’s Derek Johnson spurt past him with just 50 yards to go.

“The sprint was over for me, my legs were getting rubbery, my head was bobbling, and my body stiffening. I was finished. … But I looked at the tape with just 40 yards to go and realized this was the only chance I would ever have to win the Olympics,” he wrote. “I did not want to finish thinking I might have put a little more into it. I leaned as far forward as I could and threw my arms out ahead of me.”

He crossed the tape one-tenth of a second ahead of Johnson, finishing with a time of 1:47.7, before collapsing from exhaustion.

Journalist Bob Considine later called it “the most courageous race I’ve seen in 25 years of sportswriting.”

Courtney, however, was experiencing “a new kind of agony,” he later wrote. “I had never run myself into such a state. My head was exploding, my stomach ripping, and even the tips of my fingers ached. The only thing I could think was, ‘If I live, I will never run again!”

Five days later, he not only ran again, he earned his second gold medal, as the anchor of the 1,600-meter relay team. The 1956 Olympics were the last not shown live on television, so Courtney had to call his parents in Livingston to tell them he had won.

“Why was trying to win the 800 meters, the 400 meters, and the relay so important to me?” Courtney wrote in The Inside Track. “There was a poem by Sterling W. Sill taped to our refrigerator as we grew up. It read, ‘The average man’s complacent when he has done his best to score, but the champion does his best, and then he does a little more.’ I guess I saw triple in that quote.”

A Homecoming Parade in the Bronx

Upon returning to New York, Courtney appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, and on December 12, 1956, his alma mater threw him a parade in the Bronx, from Poe Park on the Grand Concourse to the Rose Hill Gymnasium, where he received a “huge, triple-decked, silver trophy” from Fordham President Laurence J. McGinley, S.J., The Ram reported the next day.

The Fordham University Band led the procession through the Bronx, followed by the student body and the Livingston High School band. Wearing his white Olympics sport coat and a straw hat, Courtney rode down Fordham Road in the back of an open-top orange Cadillac—an experience he recounted in his memoir.

“That was a lovely time,” he wrote, “and I was in a convertible with my coach, Artie O’Connor. He was very motivational for me. As we went along, he took my losses much harder than I did. He was a dedicated, wonderful man. He loved Fordham and it helped me to love Fordham.”

Raising a Family, Building a Career

After the Fordham parade, Courtney returned to an Army base in Boston and continued to compete, setting a world record for the indoor 600-meter before retiring from competition in 1957, the same year he received an honorable discharge from the Army.

Two years later, he earned an M.B.A. from Harvard University (where he also served as an assistant track coach), setting the stage for a long, successful career in finance. He became a senior vice president of finance at Peninsular Insurance Company in 1962, and later worked as an investor at several firms before forming his own, Courtney Associates, in 1983. He specialized in portfolio management and venture capital before retiring in 2002.

In 1963, he married Posy L’Hommedieu. Together they had three sons: Tom Jr., Peter (who earned an M.B.A. from Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business in 1997), and Frank.

A Loyal Ram—and an Inspiration for Student-Athletes

Over the years, Courtney remained a loyal Fordham graduate and generous financial supporter of the University. He made gifts to the men’s and women’s track and field program, to the Fordham Fund, and the Joseph A. O’Hare, S.J., Endowed Presidential Scholarship Fund.

Courtney also was a frequent attendee at Jubilee reunion weekends at Rose Hill and regional alumni events in Florida, and while he could not attend the June 2022 reunion celebrations in person, he spoke with attendees via Zoom. With his wife, Posy, at his side in Florida, he took questions from his longtime friend and former Fordham track teammate Bob Mackin, FCRH ’55, in the Bronx.

“Fordham was a wonderful place, and I’m thankful for my experience there—and my scholarship too,” Courtney told the assembled Jubilarians and guests.

Along with Fordham and NFL football legend Vince Lombardi, FCRH ’37, Courtney was one of the first five people to be inducted into the Fordham Athletics Hall of Fame when it was established in 1971. He was inducted into the University’s Hall of Honor in 2011. And in 2016, to kick off Fordham’s track and field season, the program honored Courtney with a banner unveiling ceremony at the Vincent T. Lombardi Memorial Center at Rose Hill.

At his virtual Jubilee appearance in June 2022, Courtney received a special thank-you from Brian Horowitz, FCRH ’10, GSE ’11, head coach of the men’s track and field and cross country teams.

“Walking into the Lombardi Center each day and seeing the Olympic rings and knowing that you represented Fordham so well is a real inspiration for myself as a coach and for the current members of the team,” Horowitz said. “We hope to continue to make you proud.”

In addition to his wife, Posy, and their three sons, Courtney is survived by a brother, Kevin, and nine grandchildren.

—Adam Kaufman and Ryan Stellabotte

Watch Tom Courtney’s come-from-behind victory in the 800-meter race during the 1956 Summer Olympics. In this clip from “Greatest Thrills from the Olympics,” produced in the lead-up to the 1960 Olympics, host Bob Considine interviews Courtney, calling his epic victory “the most courageous race I’ve seen in 25 years of sportswriting.”

The tournament, which spanned four days and also featured teams from the College of the Holy Cross and the University of Illinois Chicago, was named in memory of Fordham graduate Tom Konchalski, FCRH ’68, a New York City native widely regarded as one of the most trusted basketball scouts in the country. His four-decade career included assessments of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James as high school players.

“Not only was he one of the most universally respected people in the industry, he was also one of the most well liked,” said Ed Kull, Fordham’s athletic director. “He exalted the values of his Jesuit education every day of his life and I’m honored to help carry on his legacy with the Tom Konchalski Classic.”

On Feb. 9, 2021, one day after Konchalski’s death at the age of 74, New York Knicks broadcaster Mike Breen, FCRH ’83, told viewers that while Konchalski “may not have been what’s called a household name, in basketball homes, he was legendary.”

“Tom was the most influential, the most respected, and the most loved high school basketball scout in the country,” said Breen, who recently received WFUV’s Vin Scully Award for Excellence in Sports Broadcasting. “He helped thousands of young men, thousands of high school basketball players, achieve their dreams of playing college basketball and beyond. And every single day, he did it with kindness and humility.”

In addition to honoring Konchalski, the tournament pays tribute to the memory of Jim O’Connell, a Hall of Fame basketball writer who served as sports information director for the Fordham Rams from 1976 to 1978.

When he died in 2018 at the age of 64, Syracuse University head men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim told Sports Illustrated that O’Connell—known to many simply as “Oc”—covered sports “in a positive way, always,” and “was always good to players, coaches, fans—everybody.” The tournament’s standout student-athlete takes home the Jim O’Connell Most Outstanding Player award, earned this year by Fordham graduate student guard Darius Quisenberry.

On Saturday, Nov. 19, the opening day of the tournament, Fordham also hosted a “Celebration of Basketball,” benefiting the Thomas C. Konchalski Foundation and honoring Bob Hurley Sr., the Hall of Fame coach who led St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, New Jersey, to 26 state basketball championships.

The Rams have started the 2022–2023 season with a 5-1 record, winning all five of their home games. They next face Harvard at the Rose Hill Gym at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 27. The game will feature a special halftime ceremony honoring the family of former Fordham athletic director Frank McLaughlin, FCRH ’69, in whose name the gym court will be named.

More than 1,300 people joined the Fordham University Alumni Association at Yankee Stadium to watch the Twins squeak out a 4-3 victory over the Bronx Bombers on a night that began with a pregame reception for alumni at Yankee Tavern on 161st Street, continued with the distribution of special-edition, Fordham-branded Yankees jerseys inside the gate, and featured no shortage of Rams apparel and block Fs mixed in with the pinstripes and famous interlocking “NY” logo of the Yankees.

Some in the Fordham contingent were seated in right field, just below the Yankee Stadium “Judge’s Chambers” section and a baseball’s toss away from the super-slugging Aaron Judge himself. Among them was the University’s new president, Tania Tetlow, who attended with her husband and daughter and paid a pre-game visit to the press level, where she met with broadcasters Michael Kay FCRH ’82, and Justin Shackil, FCRH ’09, as well as Greg Colello, FCRH ’07, senior director of scoreboard and video production at Yankee Stadium.

“It’s clear that Fordham loyalty runs deep,” said Tetlow on the strong turnout from Fordham grads. “It’s so exciting to know how much Fordham alumni want to come together and to be at the other heart of the Bronx, Yankee Stadium.”

‘So Much Fordham Spirit Up in the Bronx’

It wasn’t Tetlow’s first game in the Bronx: She said her family had taken one in earlier in the summer, when they first arrived in New York. “We got our requisite gear and hats and started training our daughter, Lucy, on the joy of baseball,” she said. The family’s allegiances had been up for grabs because their former home, New Orleans, doesn’t have a big-league team. But Tetlow said their rooting interests are settled now: “We are fully committed to the Yankees.”

Fordham trustee Kim Bepler said she was excited that large groups could once again gather for “fantastic” events like this. “People want to be with people, and what’s better than going to Yankee Stadium?” she said. “And part of the joy of this is also accompanying our new president. So I get to see her cheer on the Yankees with her family.”

Samara Finn Holland, FCLC ’03, a member of the Fordham University Alumni Association Advisory Board, also praised the outing’s large turnout.

“I think it’s amazing,” she said. “It’s so great to see so much maroon and so much Fordham spirit up in the Bronx. And I think it’s really important as Fordham continues to unify all of its schools to have an event like this, where you have alumni from all the undergraduate colleges, as well as the graduate schools, all be able to come together and then celebrate.”

A Ram on the Mound, Camaraderie in the Stands

The Fordham grads in attendance got to see one of their own on the field: Greg Weissert, GABELLI ’18, who made his big-league debut on August 25, becoming the first Fordham grad to play for the Yankees since Johnny Murphy in 1946.

Weissert’s appearance in the Fordham Night game marked the seventh outing of his rookie season, in which he’s shown off deceptive sinkers and sliders, as well as a wicked two-seam fastball. A day after picking up a win with an efficient three-pitch outing to improve his record in relief to 3-0, Weissert entered in the eighth, giving up a home run that would prove to be the difference in the game.

But while the outcome of the game wasn’t what the Yankees fans in the Fordham group were hoping for, the night was about more than the result on the scoreboard.

Steve O’Dowd FCRH ’78, said he and his wife had been planning to come up to the New York area from the Jersey Shore for a wedding the weekend after the game. But when they heard about the alumni outing, they extended their trip (and added a pre-game detour to Arthur Avenue).

“I actually became a Yankees fan starting around the time I went to Fordham,” said O’Dowd. “Prior to that, I was a Mets fan, believe it or not. We’d cut classes and come to a lot of games. Thurman Munson was my hero; that’s why I have this number [15] on my jersey.”

Debbie Myllek, FCRH ’90, another former Mets fan who switched sides upon arriving at Fordham, said her family jumped at the opportunity to bring two generations of alumni to the event.

“We’re Yankee fans and massive Fordham fans,” she said. “My husband and I met at Fordham; I was a sportswriter on The Ram and he was my editor. Now both of our kids go to Fordham. For our friend group, we try to make sure we all sit in the same section, and now my son and his friend started doing the same. It’s really nice.”

—Joe DeLessio, FCLC ’06

“It’s such a unique bunch of guys from all different walks of life, and they’ve gone on to do some incredible things,” Murray said of his former teammates. “And we pride ourselves on staying connected and helping those that have not only come before us but also will come after us as well. It’s a real fraternity there, and the bond is strong.”

Mapping Out a Plan with Family Roots

Sports were a big part of Murray’s childhood in Mahwah, New Jersey, where he lived with his mother, Irish-immigrant father, and brother. His father taught him how to kick a ball before he learned to walk, he said, and he went on to play soccer and Gaelic football, as well as a bit of baseball to “assimilate into the American culture.”

Growing up, Murray said they weren’t just sports crazy in his house, they were family crazy, too. “My [mom’s parents] lived a couple of blocks away from us, and we would be on the phone back to Ireland once every week, or once every two weeks,” he said. His family still visits Ireland regularly, at least once a year (barring a hiatus when COVID-19 paused international travel). During those summer trips as a kid, Murray didn’t just catch up with family and friends; he spent a lot of time training.

“It was funny: I’d get these very interesting looks as a 13-, 14-year-old kid kicking an American football in some of the most famous [Gaelic football] stadiums in Ireland,” he said. The training paid off. Murray enrolled at Don Bosco Preparatory High School, a private, all-boys Roman Catholic school in Ramsey, New Jersey, where he played football.

“We went on to win three state championships, we were nationally ranked every year, playing on ESPN, really getting a lot of great notoriety,” Murray said. Despite his proven skill, Murray was undersized for a football player—”or so a lot of college coaches told” him—so recruitment for college football was “slow to none.” His mother, Linda, a 1986 Fordham College at Rose Hill graduate, made a natural suggestion: Why not check out Fordham? The pair visited the Rose Hill campus, Murray introduced himself to the coach, and they “made it happen,” he said.

“Made it happen” may be a bit of an understatement: Now a member of the Fordham University Athletics Hall of Fame, Murray was a consensus All-American placekicker in 2012, his senior year. He holds Fordham’s record for punting average in a season and is ranked fourth on the University’s list for career field goals made.

During the Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2019, Joe Sullivan, FCRH ’14, one of Murray’s former teammates, said the kicker “had a big leg,” but he was known for his humility and for overcoming adversity.

“Pat was always good, but he wasn’t an NFL-ready player when he got to Fordham,” Sullivan said. “In fact, during his junior year, he missed a few kicks and the coach decided to bench him … but instead of letting it get to him, he let it drive him. He finished up the rest of that year with one of the greatest punting performances in the history of Fordham football.”

Murray’s senior year, he regained the starting position and “had one of the most prolific kicking seasons in the history of college football,” Sullivan added. “His character was always his greatest attribute.”

Life in the NFL—and Beyond

Shortly after graduating from Fordham with a degree in finance in 2013, Murray got his NFL break. Though he was invited to mini-camp with the Chicago Bears, the team released him in favor of Pro Bowler Robbie Gould, who had been the team’s kicker since 2005. Murray spent the rest of the 2013 season working out “for, gosh, at least one team every week” until the very end of the year, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers brought him back for a second tryout and signed him.

“In training camp that summer, I was perfect,” he said. “I made all my kicks and I beat out the incumbent and had a fantastic rookie year.” Unfortunately, the 2015 preseason saw Murray receiving his first of two career-shortening injuries and, after shuffling to the Cleveland Browns and back to Tampa Bay again, the kicker decided to “move on with the rest of [his]life” and start looking for jobs.

Cue 2020 and a global pandemic, though, and Murray wasn’t getting the callbacks he wanted. He “was a little downtrodden,” but he wasn’t at a loss: When he joined the National Football League, Murray had adopted a mantra—the NFL, he told himself, also stands for “not for long.” And so he vowed to continue his education. He enrolled in the online MBA program at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, taking advantage of a partnership between the school and the NFL Players Association that enables current and former NFL players to pursue a graduate business degree.

“You have access to some incredible faculty, and it’s an opportunity to have an advanced degree paid for because of what you did during your time within the NFL,” he said. “So for me, it was a no-brainer.”

Murray hasn’t completely left professional sports behind. As a client services associate in UBS’ Tampa, Florida, office, he helps to expand the firm’s footprint with athletes and entertainers.

“I believe it’s been a unique career, however, a very rewarding career that has allowed me to gain a lot of different skill sets,” he said.

Ties That Bind

Murray, who lives in Florida with his wife, Sara, and their 1-year-old daughter, Ellie, tries to make it back to Fordham as much as he can. Just this week, he was slated to participate in the 2022 Gridiron Golf Outing in Eastchester, New York, with Fordham football coach Joe Conlin, but the event has been rescheduled for May. Once the Rams football season starts on September 1, Murray plans to make the trek up to attend some games, including perhaps the Homecoming game on Saturday, September 17.

Murray said one of the reasons he comes back to campus is to serve as a resource for current student-athletes. It’s a privilege that he said was afforded to him as a student, and one he’s eager to pay forward.

“My whole life, it hasn’t just been me out there,” he said. “I’ve had help along the way—from a fantastic upbringing by my mother and father to a great training partner in my brother to all of the people that I competed against. And the foundation that was built from those early years of playing baseball or playing Gaelic football or playing soccer, culminating in running out onto the field on Sunday to represent a professional sports organization, I never did it alone.”

And he doesn’t expect Fordham’s up-and-coming athletes to do it alone, either. That’s why, he said, he wants to be there for them. He said players can ask Ed Kull, Fordham’s director of intercollegiate athletics, or any of their coaches for his phone number, and he’ll answer.

Murray added that his open-door policy isn’t just for questions about football or business, it extends to all of life, including mental health issues, which he feels need more attention.

“It’s a topic that needs to be discussed more—not only among men. … Pretty much everybody has something that they’re battling,” he said. “Call me up. We’ll have a chat,” he said he tells student-athletes. “I think if there were more open-door policies, we could help out a lot of people.”

Fordham Five (Plus One)

What are you most passionate about?
This one is easy. Family. My family means everything to me. They are the reason I strive to be at least 1% better each and every day. My amazing wife and my beautiful daughter have given me so much in life, and I truly cannot imagine my world without them. I am so lucky to be a girl dad!

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
It’s not happening to you; it’s happening for you. I have had trials and tribulations, just as anyone else has, and the most important lesson I have learned is that feeling bad for yourself does not usually solve the problem. I have learned to take these times of struggle and turn them into learning opportunities, and that has made a huge difference in my life.

What’s your favorite place in New York City? In the world?
Wow, this is a tough one! In New York City, it would have to be the Bethesda Fountain, which is where I asked my wife to marry me, or the Long Hall pub in midtown. The Long Hall has the best pint of Guinness outside of Ireland, and it is one of my first stops every time I come back!

In the world, it is Ireland. Being Irish is a massive part of who I am. I would not have accomplished the things I have without the Irish influence in my life. From playing Gaelic football as a kid in the Bronx to kicking points in the NFL, Ireland’s culture and history have truly left their mark on me.

Name a book that has had a lasting influence on you.
I have two: What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School by Mark McCormack is an easy read and filled with incredible knowledge from one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time. And The Choice by Philly McMahon. This book is written by a Gaelic footballer who was born on the “wrong side of the tracks,” shall we say. Through his own heartache of watching his brother suffer with addiction, he learned valuable life lessons that shaped him into one of the best athletes of his time and a budding fitness entrepreneur.

Who is the Fordham grad or professor you admire most?
This may be cliché, but it has to be Vince Lombardi. If you have not had the chance to read When Pride Still Mattered [David Maraniss’ biography of the 1937 Fordham graduate], I highly recommend picking it up. His life, his time at Fordham, his time at West Point, and in the NFL are all incredibly unique and show why he is regarded as one of the best coaches in football history.

What are you optimistic about?
I try to approach each day with a sense of optimism knowing that my actions can cause happiness in others’ lives. I strive to do the right thing and treat people how I would want to be treated and, in turn, I hope I can provide some sense of optimism and happiness to those around me.

“My vision is to utilize Fordham athletics to elevate the entire institution, to elevate applications, and to be the leader in diversity and inclusion,” he said. “I want us to be a source of school spirit, school pride. I want athletics to support every pillar and priority of Educating for Justice, the University strategic plan.”

Kull, who joined Fordham four years ago as senior director of development for athletics and senior associate athletic director, now oversees Fordham’s 23 varsity sports programs, about 100 coaches and staff, and more than 500 student-athletes. And he reports directly to the president of the University, Joseph M. McShane, S.J., who has praised Kull for his “commitment to excellence” and “the ease with which he connects with all areas of the University.”

“The culture and environment that I’d like to create and build within athletics is one that’s inclusive for the entire campus,” Kull said. “I want to very much engage the rest of the University, as well as our alumni.”

And while the pandemic has been a challenging time for athletics departments across the country, with games and tournaments canceled and teammates going months without being able to practice together, Kull said he took the opportunity to solidify University-wide engagement and focus on student-athletes’ needs.

“Within six months, I had those kinds of relationships with every department on campus because of what we’ve had to go through, because of how we had to help each other … make sure the best interest of the student is taking place, whether that be mentally, emotionally, or physically,” Kull said. And students have responded with initiatives like Fordham Connect, a student-run group that “aims to erase the stigma around vulnerability in sport.”

“How do we talk about the whole Fordham experience from a student-athlete perspective?” Kull said. “Not just success on the playing field, but success in the classroom, and then career services and job placement.”

Not one to leave his fundraising background completely behind, Kull also hopes to bolster giving in support of athletics and has already launched the Men’s Basketball New Era Fund, which has received $1.3 million in gifts and pledges.

As for success on the playing field, Kull is hoping to build on recent conference titles, including ones in women’s basketball, men’s soccer, and baseball. Among his first big moves as athletics director was hiring Kyle Neptune as the new men’s basketball head coach.

“He knows what it takes to recruit, develop, and evaluate talent,” Kull said of Neptune, “and then bring on student-athletes that not only will have success on the basketball court but also make us very proud in terms of our Jesuit mission and values of education, service, and leadership.”

On that sunny autumn day, a crane lifted into place the final steel beam that forms the frame of the 71,000 square foot, three-story addition in front of the McGinley Center that will be part of Fordham’s new campus center.

It was unlike any of the 499 beams installed before it; before it was hoisted up and welded in place, students were invited to grab a Sharpie and adorn it with their signatures.

It was fitting that students should make their mark, as the student body will be at the heart of the new center. Opening in three phases beginning in September 2021, the center will feature several amenities-filled spaces that will work together to enhance the overall student experience on campus.

A Place to Get in Shape

The addition will be the first section to open. The first floor of that building will feature a state-of-the-art 20,000-square-foot fitness center open to all students, faculty, and staff, while the ground floor will feature a 9,500 square foot student lounge.

The second floor will be home to the offices of campus ministries and community-engaged learning, while the third floor will feature a special events space that can be used for large meetings and events, along with an 80-seat multi-purpose conference room.

After the new building addition is connected to McGinley by a Gallery in the first phase of construction, a second phase will commence by building an Arcade that will connect the Rose Hill Gym, Lombardi and McGinley Center together.

During the third phase of construction, the new fitness center will be connected with the adjacent space in the lower level of the McGinley. That area will be the home of a separate new strength and conditioning center dedicated to Fordham Athletics, which will not be completed until 2023 when the current McGinley center is fully renovated. But until then, athletes can take advantage of the new fitness center that will be open to all.

A Sleek Fitness Facility with Yoga, Spin Classes, and More

At 20,000 square feet, the new fitness center will be double the size of the current space, and a second studio space will accommodate groups interested in activities such as yoga or spin classes. Sleek finishes and exposed ceilings will give the space an urban, minimalist feel and call to mind exercise chains such as Equinox.

Ed Kull, interim director of athletics, said that since the expanded fitness area will be open to everyone on campus, “it will benefit the hundreds of students who play in club and intramural sports.” And he looks forward to the next-phase opening of the new varsity strength and conditioning area, which will support and train all 535 students participating in varsity team sports.

“It’s exciting because the varsity center will benefit all varsity female and male programs and athletes, and focus on their physical development, health, and wellness,” he said.

Zachary Davis, a senior history major at Fordham College at Rose Hill and a running back for the football team, thinks both the fitness center and the strengthening and conditioning center will have a big impact on student-athletes. The fitness center, he said, will be a place to get extra workouts in on top of regular practices. And although he will have graduated by the time the strengthening and conditioning area is open, he said the extra space will make a significant difference for future teams. Before the pandemic altered practice schedules, the team had to do its weightlifting in two shifts.

“Instead of having to be broken into different groups, the team will be able to lift and train as one unit, which I think would be revolutionary for the program. It’s always good to be with the guys and have the whole team in one setting,” he said.

“We currently have conditioning outside on the field with the whole group, and that’s always high energy. Guys are just pushing each other, and there’s a whole-team vibe in a way that is second to none.”

A Career Center with Cura Personalis Built In

When career services director Annette McLaughlin learned that her office would be getting a new space in the first phase of the campus center expansion, she was well-prepared to make design suggestions. Seven years ago, she started visiting college campuses with her son and daughter; she estimated she’s seen career service centers at 40 campuses since then. The trend, she noticed, was space that was open, airy, light, inviting, welcoming, and educational, and that’s what Fordham is embracing as well.

“We want it to be a destination, not a checklist for students,” she said. “I want to create a career center for cura personalis. This is all about mind, body, and spirit as it relates to how you find your pathway in the world.”

The new center will feature a spacious lounge, McLaughlin said. Everything is being designed to be flexible and adaptable to different uses, from meet and greets to interviews and meetings. Adjoining interview rooms had been designed to accommodate virtual interviews even before the pandemic made them a must.

The design of the lounge is being driven not only by what McLaughlin’s seen at other colleges but also from the needs of corporations that hire Fordham students.

“Employers want to get to know students on a real level. They’re doing a lot more informal kinds of events, so this lounge area will allow for them to collaborate and talk, and it’ll also be a great place for alumni or employers to have casual conversations,” she said.

A Focal Point for Diversity

When big things happen in the world, New Yorkers know where to go to be together, whether it’s Union Square or a plaza in a well-trafficked section of their neighborhood. Juan Carlos-Matos, assistant vice president for student affairs for diversity and inclusion, hopes the new Office for Multicultural Affairs space will provide that kind of safe, affirming focal point on campus—particularly for students who feel marginalized. The space is designed to hold intimate meetings as well as medium-sized gatherings. It’s set to open in the third phase of the campus center redevelopment.

“Just getting people into the habit of knowing that programming is happening in that dedicated space changes the game,” said Matos. “There are many times where things happen in the country and the world, and … being able to just tell people, ‘Hey, we’re having a healing circle because of XYZ tragedy that happened, in this space,’ will make a big difference.”

Christine Ibrahim Puri, a senior majoring in economics and international, political, and economic development who is the founder and president of the Caribbean and African Student Association, said she was very excited at the prospect of a space set aside just for diversity. Even though she’ll graduate before it opens, she plans to come back and visit.

“I would come over from wherever I was in the world, because it’s something I really have faith in, and it’s something that my friends who have already graduated have advocated for,” she said.

Puri came to Fordham from Nigeria and commuted to campus her first year. The transition was not easy, she said, and in fact, three of her Black friends left Fordham that year. A space like this will go a long way toward retaining students of color, she said.

“The Office of Multicultural Affairs was the first place I visited when I arrived and was the place that really got me acclimated. It’s not just a professional thing or an academic thing. While they’re keeping you on track and making you do events and programs, they’re also there for you personally. They’re like your friends, always checking in on you,” she said.

She also said a new, larger, dedicated space will allow for collaborations between cultural groups, and ultimately, more inclusive events.

“It would be so much easier, and I think more students would be open to going,” she said.

A Modern Space for All to Gather

Larry Peifer, a designer for the HLW architecture firm, said he felt like a kid in a candy store when he was tasked with laying out the new center, because it has everything from office space, to lounge space, to fitness, to dining areas.

Few places best better illustrate how the University is thinking about students in an all-encompassing way than the first floor, which, when complete, will feature the student lounge, the gallery, and the reimagined Marketplace.

The lounge, which at 9,500 square feet will be double the size of the current student lounge, will benefit from its proximity to the gallery, which will have the capacity to accommodate screenings of films and sporting events. It will also be right near the dining area, known as the Marketplace, which will be designed to evoke the vibrancy of a farmer’s market. A new Grab n Go kiosk will be accessible from the Gallery for those who wish to grab snacks or enjoy a freshly brewed coffee.

Pool Anyone?

The lounge will be divided into several “sub-environments”: an area for active socializing featuring a pool table, vending machine, and soft seating; a section with tables that you could saddle up to with your laptop and a cup of coffee, Peifer said, and a quieter, den-like area with a lower ceiling that’s more conducive to reading or studying. Two AV-equipped meeting rooms that can be combined into one larger room will also provide space for collaborating and group study.

“I think it’ll be a really transformative project. The University has been really extremely progressive and has pushed the envelope with the design and programmatic strategy of the facility,” he said, noting that he felt it would be a case study for other universities.

Jeff Gray, senior vice president of student affairs, agreed.

“We hope the new student lounge space, and all of the expanded spaces within the new campus center that will be dedicated to our students, will provide much-needed spaces for student gathering, socializing, and programming, all of which will foster student engagement and a sense of community,” he said.

On December 14, Mark Valera, vice president for facilities management, and John Spacarelli, director of special projects and facilities gave a “Behind-the-Beams” tour of the construction of the new Rose Hill Campus Center. Watch below:

From Oct. 1 to 4, hundreds of alumni, family, and friends—from as far as Germany—tuned in for an expanded series of virtual events that drew on some of the best-loved Homecoming traditions, like the 5K Ram Run and tailgate parties, and included a “pub” trivia competition, updates on academic and student life amid COVID-19, and a tribute to the 50th anniversary of a Fordham football milestone.

In addition to joining panels and discussions sponsored by the Office of Alumni Relations, Fordham graduates took to social media, where thousands viewed Homecoming Instagram stories and tweets shared via the @fordhamalumni accounts, and others used the #FordhamHomecoming20 hashtag to post their own messages, including pictures of pets and kids decked out in Fordham gear.

A Forum for FCLC

Things kicked off on Thursday evening with a panel discussion featuring two relative newcomers to the Fordham College at Lincoln Center community: Laura Auricchio, Ph.D., who became dean of the college in August 2019, and Tracyann Williams, Ph.D., who joined FCLC as assistant dean for student support and success last February.

Fordham University Alumni Association Advisory Board member Samara Finn Holland, FCLC ’03, moderated the discussion, during which the deans shared their observations about FCLC students.

“They are an amazing bunch of people,” Auricchio said. “These are students who are not only intelligent and motivated, but they’re really just decent, kind, wonderful human beings.” She recalled several instances of students greeting her when they saw her around the city.

Auricchio noted that political science, economics, and psychology are the three most popular majors among current FCLC students, and the fashion studies minor is growing particularly quickly. She said her office is focused on four areas: connecting to neighbors, enriching courses, enhancing research, and globalizing the curriculum.

Both she and Williams addressed the unique challenges faculty and students face during the pandemic, and Williams noted that part of her job is to help students acknowledge their feelings of disappointment that it’s not a typical academic year, and doing what she can to assist them.

“I am very much interested in always asking students what their needs are and not deciding for them,” she said.

Having worked at other New York City universities before arriving at FCLC, both Auricchio and Williams shared what they think makes Fordham so special.

“I feel as though it’s a unique place where students can come be part of a deeply caring, close-knit community that will support them and help them as they branch out into the city,” Auricchio said. “And to me, it’s just the best of both worlds.”

Pub Trivia at Home

Alumnus Tim Tubridy, FCRH ’99, and his brother, James Tubridy, co-owners of DJs @ Work, hosted a virtual pub trivia session on Friday night. Attendees were invited to answer 10 Fordham-themed questions, either individually or as teams.

The first question of the night delved into a bit of the University’s architectural history: “For what church were the stained-glass windows in the University church intended?” Father McShane delivered both the question and answer (St. Patrick’s Cathedral, when it was located on Mulberry Street), joking that he’d been imagining Jeopardy! theme music playing as he gave contestants time to respond.

Other fun facts unearthed during the Q&A included how many books are housed in the Fordham libraries (more than 2 million), how many acres the Lincoln Center and Rose Hill campuses encompass (8 and 85, respectively), and how many live ram mascots have lived on campus (28).

At the end of the hour-long session, three teams were tied for first place with a whopping 20,000 points each.

A Virtual 5K Ram Run

While the 5K Ram Run is usually held at Rose Hill during Homecoming weekend, this year, alumni were invited to run, jog, or walk a five-kilometer trek of their own and to share photos on social media. Runners were also encouraged to share their finishing times by taking screenshots of their running apps, and the Office of Alumni Relations will be sending prizes to those who submitted their times.

Justin LaCoursiere, FCRH ’12, posted a photo from Central Park and said, “Fordham Homecoming looks a little different this year, but I’m still taking part in some fun [virtual]activities, like the Annual 5K Ram Run.”

Academic and Student Life Amid the Pandemic

On Saturday morning, a panel of Fordham administrators and faculty discussed the continued uncertainty of COVID-19, its impact on current and prospective Fordham students, and how they’re working to build and strengthen a sense of community under the circumstances. The conversation was moderated by Michael Griffin, associate vice president for alumni relations.

J. Patrick Hornbeck, professor of theology, secretary of the Faculty Senate, and special faculty advisor to the provost for strategic planning, said that soon after Fordham canceled in-person classes and shifted to a virtual format this past March, faculty began planning to avoid such abrupt disruptions for the fall semester. That’s how Fordham developed its flexible hybrid model, which mixes online and in-person learning.

“We would provide opportunities for students to learn and for faculty to teach in several different modalities,” he said. “The idea was, we did not know how things were going to go week-by-week and month-by-month. How could we deliver [a Fordham education]regardless of the way the pandemic would play out?”

During the panel, Patricia Peek, Ph.D., dean of undergraduate admission, said that some of the changes implemented this year, such as virtual guided tours and information sessions, could become permanent to help make Fordham more accessible in the long term.

“I think, even when we’re fully on the ground, we will now always have virtual events because they’re providing so many opportunities and access for students,” she said.

Clint Ramos, head of design and production for Fordham Theatre, noted that the shift “was especially challenging for theatre because our education … is really experiential and a lot of our pedagogy is founded on the ability to gather.” But he said the program has met these challenges head-on, pointing to opportunities for creativity, like a collaborative effort he initiated with theater programs at Princeton, Georgetown, SUNY Purchase, and UMass Amherst. The One Flea Spare Project allows students to virtually attend classes at other universities and collaborate with each other on projects on multiple platforms based on themes in One Flea Spare, a 1995 play by Naomi Wallace set in a plague-ravaged London during the 17th century.

Juan Carlos Matos, assistant vice president for student affairs for diversity and inclusion, spoke about creative ways in which students have tried to maintain a sense of community, whether or not they’re studying on campus. This has included hosting socially distanced outdoor events, such as a “silent disco” on the plaza at Lincoln Center or a musical performance from the Coffey Field bleachers at Rose Hill, for an online audience and a limited number of students in person.

He also said that the pandemic has sharpened students’ focus on social justice, in particular the calls for racial equality that were revitalized this summer.

“Energy that usually is exhausted on other things was nailed into Black Lives Matter in a way where folks who have privilege are just realizing, ‘Hey, these things are happening,’ whereas folks on the margins have always experienced these things.”

Matos said this has spurred action at the University, including an anti-racism plan from Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham. And he said the offices of student and multicultural affairs are continuing to offer a variety of programming to keep students engaged. One of the benefits of having virtual or hybrid events is that more students can attend.

“Sometimes it’s difficult for someone to have to choose one campus or the other or we may be offering something on one campus and not the other,” he said. “But virtually, now people can attend in any capacity.”

Shakespeare and Pop Culture

Shakespearean scholar Mary Bly, Ph.D., chair of Fordham’s English department, led a mini-class titled “Pop Romeo & Juliet” on Saturday afternoon. Attendees were encouraged to watch Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 film, Romeo + Juliet, prior to the class, during which Bly delved into the afterlife of the teen duo and their famous star-crossed love.

“Sociologists have made a pretty reasonable case for the argument that Romeo and Juliet actually changed the way we think about love in the Western world, which is very interesting,” Bly said.

Joined by English professor Shoshana Enelow, Bly discussed the idea of cultural capital, looking at how the characters of Romeo and Juliet have survived and how they’ve been transformed in modern adaptations, other films, music, and advertisements. She and Enelow drew parallels to West Side Story, the Beatles, and even a Taylor Swift music video, inviting attendees to write in impressions and examples of their own using Zoom’s Q&A feature.

An Afternoon with Athletics

Fordham sports fans attended two athletics-focused virtual events on Saturday afternoon, including a conversation between Ed Kull, interim director of athletics, and Head Football Coach Joe Conlin.

While the football season, along with those of other fall sports, has been pushed back to spring 2021, winter sports like basketball are planning to get started in late November. Kull highlighted some of the work that has been done to facilities during the pandemic, noting that not having students around for games has allowed several projects to be completed earlier than expected. Among the upgrades that players, coaches, and fans will now find are a new floor for the Frank McLaughlin Family Basketball Court in Rose Hill Gym, renovations to the strength and conditioning and team medicine spaces, and new offices for football staff.

As his team prepares to play in the spring, Conlin discussed the changes to workouts and practices they’ve had to adopt in the time of COVID-19, including health monitoring, socially distanced weight training, and wearing masks under their helmets during practice. Although he and his staff are not allowed to recruit high school players in person this year, they have been talking to recruits over Zoom and reviewing videos to assess their strength and athleticism.

“It’s been challenging at times, but it’s also been a lot of fun,” he said of this new way of doing things on and off the field. “We’ll continue to make it work for as long as we have to.”

Kull noted that out of the 44 seniors across spring sports whose final season was interrupted by cancellations last spring, 19 have decided to come back for a fifth year of eligibility.

Later that afternoon, the Tubridy brothers returned to host a virtual tailgate party that featured a welcome from Father McShane, trivia, performances by the Fordham band from the Coffey Field bleachers, and video updates from departments and groups like the Fordham University Alumni Association, the Center for Community Engaged Learning, and the Mimes and Mummers Alumni Association.

Kull and Conlin also returned for a pre-recorded video from the gravesite of Fordham graduate and NFL coaching legend Vince Lombardi, FCRH ’37, an appropriate lead-in to the tailgate’s final portion: a roundtable discussion with nine players from Fordham’s 1970 football team, which defeated Georgetown 50 years ago during that year’s homecoming game, just weeks after Lombardi’s death.

Moderated by WFUV’s Emmanuel Berbari, a Fordham College at Rose Hill senior, the players recalled the dominant ground game displayed by the Rams in their 39-17 win over the Hoyas, led by Eric Dadd’s 235 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Kevin Sherry, GABELLI ’70, who played offensive tackle, noted that Georgetown had beaten Fordham the previous year, and the Rams were looking for revenge.

Perhaps an even greater motivation for the team was the emotional pregame scene, when Lombardi’s widow, Marie, his brother Joseph, and the remaining members of Fordham’s “Seven Blocks of Granite” offensive line from Lombardi’s playing days honored the Fordham and NFL legend, who had died of colon cancer on September 3. The 1970 season also marked the return of varsity football to Fordham.

Peter “Pino” Carlesimo, FCRH ’71, the team’s starting quarterback, was among the panelists. “I think the importance of the game can be summed up very easily when I when I looked at that film and I saw my uncle Pete [Carlesimo, FCRH ’40, Fordham’s athletic director at the time] escorting Mrs. Lombardi off the field and tears coming down her eyes,” he said. “It was probably the biggest game I played in my career.”

Closing with Centeredness and Prayer

On Sunday morning, Carol Gibney, associate director of campus ministry for spiritual and pastoral ministries and director of spiritual life, leadership, and service, led a session focusing on “integrating Ignatian spirituality with the practice of yoga.” During the 45-minute practice, Gibney used breathwork to break down the word “grace,” infusing the ideas of gratitude, reflection, affirmation, centeredness, and enthusiasm and excitement into the yoga flow.

The virtual—but still communal—Homecoming weekend came to a close with a livestream of Mass from University Church, concelebrated by Father McShane and Damian O’Connell, S.J., alumni chaplain.

—Additional reporting by Kelly Kultys and Sierra McCleary-Harris

“It was right at the heart of our postseason tournaments for college basketball, men’s and women’s, and right before the NCAA tournament … so it was kind of a big deal when those got canceled.”

Since then, the spring seasons for all sports were canceled by the Atlantic 10 and the Patriot League, the two conferences Fordham competes in. Sports that normally take place during the fall season have been rescheduled for next spring.

“I’ve got to give credit to both of our commissioners in both those leagues,” Kull said. “They were two of the first five or so throughout all athletic conferences to suspend fall sports and I thought that was strong leadership. I thought that was extremely helpful in terms of us being able to protect our student-athletes, protect our families and parents, and give them information and direction.”

Mental Health and Well-Being

As soon as the news about the postponement of the fall season was announced, Kull said he and his team began checking in with student-athletes and their families about how they were handling the news.

“We’ve had an extensive amount of communication—all of our coaches are having Zoom calls with our student-athletes on a weekly basis so I join many of those,” he said.

Kull said he was concerned about the mental health of many of his athletes who are so used to having jam-packed schedules and access to gyms and training centers.

“The mental health piece for me was a real priority for our student-athletes,” he said. “I worried a lot about them because they are very active—they’re practicing three hours a day. They’re lifting, running, doing strength conditioning. They had their classes, sometimes they’re watching video and preparing for competitions, so all of a sudden, [they’re] going straight back maybe to their home or their hometown and not even being able to go to a local gym to run on a treadmill.”

Kull said they worked with two of Fordham’s psychologists to set up town halls to allow students to address their concerns.

Off the Field

While it’s not something anyone would wish for, Kull said, the pandemic has allowed him to focus on off-the-field programs and issues.

“It has allowed me to really fully dive into our finances—our budget management, our resource allocation, our prioritization—and of course, the challenges of social injustice, which we’re putting a lot of effort into, which is so important,” he said.

Kull said they started a task force for social injustice about two months ago, which has allowed a group of student-athletes, coaches, and staff to discuss discrimination, race, and bias, and how those affect students involved in athletics.

The department issued a statement in June that said it is “committed to fostering an inclusive space that has zero tolerance for intolerance.”

“We are committed to organizing bias education and racial justice training for all Fordham Athletics coaches and staff,” the statement read, “committed to supporting Fordham SAAC with their initiatives in The Bronx; committed to implementing a protocol for reporting racist and prejudice acts in our community.”

Kull said that commitment has inspired ongoing discussion.

“It continues to be a very strong conversation on a daily basis for myself and our athletic department of how we can be better and better support our student-athletes, especially those that are Black or of a minority race,” he said. “We’re in the process here of finalizing an action plan that hopefully we’ll be able to roll out in a few weeks once our student-athletes return to campus.”

His team has also been able to add to the programs the department offers off the field, including leadership training and internship connections.

“Career Services, student development, the mental health, the overall health and wellness of our students— in an odd way, it’s been an opportunity for us to reprioritize,” he said, adding that he is working on a new strategic plan.

A Sense of Normalcy

Kull said his plans have included making sure student-athletes returning to campus are following New York State guidelines, including quarantine and testing. (Update: On Aug. 25, the athletics department released its COVID-19 health and safety plan, which details measures and precautions to keep student-athletes safe.)

“We have a significant amount of student-athletes coming from the 38 “hot states,” and we have 44 international students that we’ve been working with,” he said “So [it’s] a lot of moving parts in terms of each individual case,” he said, adding that he’s been working closely with colleagues in student affairs, residential life, and admissions. The plan for the fall is to have no competitions, he said, but in accordance with state health guidelines, there will be some practices and workouts to give student-athletes some sense of normalcy.

“At least it allows them to get back because they literally haven’t been playing or been together in almost five months now, so at least it’s a step in the right direction,” Kull said.

While the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to all spring sport senior student-athletes, Kull said about 19 out of 36 senior student-athletes chose to take advantage of that eligibility at Fordham this coming year.

“Each of them was different—a lot of them had plans after graduation with internships and jobs lined up, or some were going to different programs to get their master’s,” he said. “So [we’re] excited to bring some of them back but obviously it continues to be challenging.”

Despite the challenges, Kull said he and his team are hoping to provide the best atmosphere they can for their student-athletes this season.

“I’m continuing to focus and prioritize the health and safety of our student-athletes,” he said. “I know it’s been a challenging time for many folks. So first and foremost is a strong and productive opening and return to campus for all of our students, not just our student-athletes, and the ability to kind of give back some sort of normalcy to them. We want to get them back healthy and safe, and for our athletes, we want to continue to provide them the best student-athlete experience that we can.”