“But amidst all of this change over the past decades,” said Tetlow, “what has remained constant is all of you.”

The event is held each spring to show appreciation for Fordham employees’ longstanding service of 20, 40, and 60 years. In recognition of their unique contributions, faculty receive the Bene Merenti award, administrators receive the Archbishop Hughes award, and staff receive the 1841 award. All but one awardee honored on Sunday—recent retiree and 40-year honoree Charlotte Labbe, the former Head of Interlibrary Loan—celebrated two decades of work at Fordham. President Tetlow bestowed a medal to each in attendance as their colleagues, partners, friends, and families applauded them.

“You have shaped this University, not just through your work, but through your presence,” said Tetlow, enumerating the many gifts the honorees bring to Fordham. “We recognize all your years of dedication and the profound impact you’ve had on generations of students, colleagues, and the Fordham community at large.” 

Verenika Lasku, who received an 1841 medal for her 20 years of service, emigrated from Kosovo to the U.S. in 1995 with her husband. She waited until their youngest child entered kindergarten to join Fordham as a temporary cleaner and later became the first female foreperson for Fordham’s Campus Operations. 

“Twenty years at Fordham University has been an incredible journey of growth and learning,” said Lasku, who was surrounded by the three Rams in her family: Her daughters Valentina and Gabriella earned master’s degrees in education from Fordham after receiving their bachelor’s degrees here, and her son Robert, currently a sophomore, is studying public accounting. “I am so appreciative of the support and opportunities I’ve been given, and I’m excited to continue contributing to our community.”

Deborah Russelli, who began as an operations assistant and is now assistant vice president for administration, earned her bachelor’s degree and her M.B.A. at Fordham. Her son Andrew also earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Fordham, both in the sciences. And her team was there to cheer her on. 

“I love Fordham,” she said. “Our whole division is like a family; everyone showed up, so this is more than just a place to work. This really is my heart.”

Sertan Kabadayi, Ph.D., the Joseph Keating, S.J., Distinguished Professor in Business at the Gabelli School, expressed the same sense of connection. “I never thought that I would stay in the same place for 20 years, but I think when it’s Fordham, it’s been easy. Since the first day, I felt valued, I felt recognized, so it’s great to be part of this big family.”

2025 University Convocation Honorees and Slideshow

Click the right arrow to scroll through the images.

Below are the names of faculty and staff who were honored. Congratulations to all! 

Bene Merenti Medal | 20 Years

Jose Aleman, Susanna Barsella, Kirk Bingaman, Edward Cahill, Gregory Farmer, Bradford Hinze, Karina Hogan, Robert Hume, Sertan Kabadayi, Rachelle Kammer, Youngjae Lee, Todd Melnick, Sophie Mitra, Daniel Ott, Yan Peng, John Pfaff, Giorgio Pini, Erick Rengifo Minaya, Thierry Rigogne, Lise Schreier, Asif Siddiqi, Blanca Urizar, Yuewu Xu, Suzanne Yeager, and Tiffany Yip.

Archbishop Hughes Medal | 40 Years 

Charlotte Labbe

Archbishop Hughes Medal | 20 Years 

Deborah Adwokat, Alisa Ali, Stephen Brunetti, Adika Christian, Xiomara de Leon, Nicolee Feliz, Pooja Grewal, Aisha Harpe, Jeffrey Haynes, Jack Lugo, Angela O’Donnell, Irving P. O’Neal, Anastasia Pappas, Anibal J. Pella-Woo, Luisa Porretta, John Puglisi, Jeanne Renner, Deborah Russelli, Palma Salerno, Gülay Siouzios, Jeremy Slatken, John Stadler, and Anne Treantafeles.

1841 Award | 20 Years

Yaniris Baez, Ana Brito, Moises Burgos, Tomas Cepin, Erik Cuascut, Carmen Demiroski, Arnold Dorismond, Frederick Grey, Catherine Henson, Juliana Krammer, Verenika Lasku, Viliam Litavec, Kerri Maguire, Iris Mapson, Palina Markic, Kevin Mavrich, Angela Michalski, Ines Montero, Linda Negron, Kathleen Sweeney Parmiter, and Virginia Ungaro.

Fordham launched the inaugural issue of Inside Fordham on September 20, 1966, to connect University employees and students across its multiple campuses. “From the Law School and emerging campus at Lincoln Center, from Rose Hill, from 302 Broadway, from the School of Social Service, it is proposed that the exchange of words will make the distance shorter,” read the first issue.

Our recent internal communications survey revealed that today, faculty and staff still crave that connection. We heard many express a desire to interact more with colleagues (“It is challenging to get to know people outside of your school or your department”) and a hunger for a central calendar as well as more advance notice of upcoming events. We also heard that many of you are overwhelmed by emails and missing key information in the process. “Fewer and shorter emails, please!” was the resounding message from faculty and staff. 

While we work to streamline your inbox and create a shared calendar, our Monday morning Inside Fordham email is our first step in making you feel more informed about the week ahead and better connected to your coworkers and the great work happening at Fordham. We hope that by sharing news this way, there will be less of a need for individual emails from several departments. 

You’ll still get University news via Fordham Now in your inbox every Thursday. Inside Fordham, meanwhile, will be your cheat sheet for the week’s key events and reminders, as well as a vehicle to celebrate everyone’s impact at Fordham and beyond.

One last thing: We’re also introducing a new way to spread the word about your achievements, awards, events, and news. Use this submission form to tell us the stories and events you would like us to share with the Fordham community.