Fordham University

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Fordham University
Latin: Universitas Fordhamensis
Motto: Sapientia et Doctrina
(Latin: Wisdom and Learning)
Established: 1841 (as St. John's College)
Type: Private, Independent,[1] Catholic, Jesuit
Endowment: $513 million[2]
President: Joseph M. McShane
Faculty: 681 full time, 475 adjunct
Undergraduates: 8,430
Postgraduates: 7,579 (1,652 law)
Location: Bronx, Manhattan, and Tarrytown, New York
Campus: Rose 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)
Athletics: 22 NCAA Division I varsity teams, Atlantic 10 Conference, (except football, Patriot League)
Colors: Maroon and White            
Mascot: Ram
Website: www.fordham.edu

Fordham University is a private university[3] in the United States, with three campuses located in and around New York City. It was founded by the Diocese of New York in 1841 as St. John's College, placed in the care of the Society of Jesus shortly thereafter, and has since become an independent institution under a lay Board of Trustees that describes the University as being "in the Jesuit tradition."[4] Fordham is one of the largest among the 28 member institutions in the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, and is home to a large Jesuit community of the New York Province of the Society of Jesus.[5]

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 offers 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.[6]

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[7] and a BFA degree program for dance in partnership with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.[8]

The University was affiliated with Fordham Preparatory School, a four-year, Catholic, college preparatory school, with which it shares its founding. Since legally separating from the University in 1972, "Fordham Prep" moved to its current location on the northwest corner of the Rose Hill Campus.[9]

Contents

[edit] History

 This section does not cite any references or sources. (February 2008)
Please improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

[edit] 1841-1900

The Administration Building at the Rose Hill campus, constructed circa 1841.
The Administration Building at the Rose Hill campus, constructed 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 $40,000 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.

In 1846 St. John's College received its charter from the New York state legislature, and Bishop Hughes convinced a group of Jesuits in Kentucky to staff the new school. In 1847, Fordham's first school in Manhattan opened. In 1861, this school became the separate, chartered College of St. Francis Xavier.

[edit] 1901-1950

Keating Hall at the Rose Hill campus circa February 1937.
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.

In 1908, Fordham University Press was established.

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 late 1930s. The College had a mainly Jewish student body, and in recognition of that, students were exempt from the then-required course in Catholic theology. The College's longtime dean, Jacob Diner, was also Jewish.[10]

In 1913 the College of St. Francis Xavier was closed, and various colleges were opened at the Woolworth Building in Manhattan. They were later moved to 302 Broadway.

[edit] 1951-2000

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

In 1961, Fordham Law School opened at the new Lincoln Center campus -- the first building to open in the Lincoln Square Renewal Project.In 1969, the colleges at 302 Broadway were moved to the new Lowenstein Building on the Lincoln Center campus, and other colleges soon followed.

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 1972. 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 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.

[edit] 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 1,500,000 square feet (139,000 m²) 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.[11] 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.[12] 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.

In December of 2007, the University established the Fordham Museum of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Art at its Bronx campus. The museum contains more than 200 relics from classical antiquity, ranging from Greek terra cotta vases to Roman marble heads to Etruscan urns. The museum was a gift from William D. Walsh, a 1951 graduate and founding chairman of Sequoia Associates. The museum is located at the William D. Walsh Family Library on the Rose Hill campus. It is the largest collection of its kind in the New York metropolitan area.[13]

[edit] 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.[14]

[edit] Core Curriculum

All undergraduate colleges at Fordham share a Core Curriculum that consists of 17–21 courses (depending on foreign language proficiency) drawn from nine disciplines and/or families of disciplines intended to provide a sound liberal arts education.[15] In outline, the core includes:

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.[16]

[edit] Colleges and schools

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

[edit] Undergraduate colleges

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

[edit] Graduate schools

[edit] Libraries

Leo T. Kissam Memorial Law Library at Fordham Law School
Leo T. Kissam Memorial Law Library at Fordham Law School

The Fordham University libraries own over 2 million volumes, subscribe to over 15,500 periodicals and 19,000 electronic journals, and are a depository for United States Government documents.[17] The William D. Walsh Family Library is at the Rose Hill campus; the Gerald M. Quinn Library at the Lincoln Center campus; the Gloria Gaines Memorial Library at the Marymount campus; and the Leo T. Kissam Memorial Law Library serves the Law School.[18]

[edit] 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 extracurricular 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.
  • National Honor Societies: The University has chapters of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi, national honor societies; Alpha Sigma Nu, the national honor society of Jesuit colleges and universities; Beta Gamma Sigma, the national honor society of accredited schools of business; Beta Alpha Psi, the honor society of accounting, and Alpha Sigma Lambda, the national honor society for non-traditional students.
    • 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.

[edit] Rankings

U.S. University Rankings
USNWR National University[20] 67th
USNWR Law School[21] 25th
USNWR Education School[22] 58th
Washington Monthly[23] 41st

In 2008, U.S. News & World Report ranked Fordham 67th [1] among national universities in the United States, up three places from the previous year. In the same year the Graduate School of Social Service was ranked 17th nationally by U.S. News & World Report, and also ranked the College of Business Administration 71st, up nine spots from 2007.

In 2008, BusinessWeek magazine ranked Fordham's College of Business Administration 27th nationally. 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.[24]

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.

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.[25]

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”,[26] with the title "Hottest Catholic School."

[edit] Campuses

Fordham University attracts students from around the world, and at the turn of the 21st century had registered students from approximately 90 countries in addition to every US state and territory.[27] 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.[28]

The undergraduate Fordham College of Liberal Studies holds classes on all three New York campuses, utilizing the same faculty and curriculum as the other colleges in the University. In addition, the flexibility of multiple campuses facilitates options for both full-time and part-time study and unconventional scheduling, in order to accommodate students who are employed full-time or otherwise unable to take advantage of the offerings at Fordham's other, more centralized, undergraduate colleges.

[edit] Rose Hill

The Southern Boulevard entrance to the Rose Hill campus.
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. Rose Hill is also home to the University Church, which was built in 1845 as a seminary chapel and parish church for surrounding farms. The gothic-style church is an official New York City landmark and contains the original altar from Old St. Patrick's Cathedral along with stained glass windows first intended as a gift by Louis-Philippe of France for the cathedral.[29] Among the 15 campus dormitories are Fordham's three residential colleges: O'Hare Hall,[30] Tierney Hall,[31] and Queen's Court[32] (the last, with its notable Bishop's Lounge, dates back to the days of St. John's College).[33] Finlay Hall, now an upperclassman dormitory, was built in 1905 as home to the (since defunct) medical school,[citation needed]and later was home to the chemistry department for 47 years, until 1968. 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.

[edit] Lincoln Center

Peter, Fisher of Men statue at the Lincoln Center campus.
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 at 59th Street–Columbus Circle station. The University also provides a "Ram Van" shuttle service among its three campuses.

About 8,000 undergraduate, graduate, professional, and doctoral students study at the Lincoln Center campus, where sbout 940 live in apartment-style housing. There are almost 1,800 undergraduates enrolled in Fordham College At Lincoln Center, with an additional 300 undergraduates in the Fordham College of Liberal Studies (at this campus), and the remainder comprise the graduate population.[34] 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 was historically known as Robert Moses Plaza and once hosted a bust of its namesake on a barren cement landscape (lawns have since been added), and the smaller one is known as 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.

[edit] Marymount

The 25 acre Tarrytown campus was officially established in 2002 when Marymount College consolidated with Fordham University, and closed in 2008.

Located 25 miles (40 km) north of New York City in Tarrytown, New York, the campus was 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 was 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,[35] 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.[36] 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 elsewhere in Westchester. University administration stated that the expenses required to support the programs on campus far exceeded their demand. University officials estimate that the revenue gained from the proposed sale would not be greater than the expenses Fordham incurred maintaining and improving the campus since its merger with Marymount College.[37] President Father McShane nonetheless stated that the University's decision was a "painful" one.[38] Fordham has since announced the intention to move the remaining programs from the Marymount campus to a new location at 400 Westchester Avenue in Harrison, New York by Fall 2008.[39] On February 17, 2008, Fordham announced the sale of the campus for $27 million to EF Schools Inc., a chain of private language-instruction schools {[40]

[edit] 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.[41]

[edit] Beijing, People's Republic of China

The Beijing International MBA Program (BiMBA) is a joint venture between a consortium of Jesuit Colleges and Universities in the United States and Peking University and is managed by Fordham University and the China Center for Economic Research (CCER)[42] BiMBA was founded in 1998 and is located on the campus of Peking University in Beijing, People's Republic of China. BiMBA enrolls over 400 students a year in traditional part-time and full-time MBA programs, and in Executive MBA (EMBA) programs. It offers the first foreign MBA degree to be approved by the Chinese government, and was ranked number 1 in China by Fortune Magazine.

[edit] 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.

The London Dramatic Academy is currently headed by Richard Digby Day.[citation needed]

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

[edit] Fordham as a filming location

[edit] Movies

[edit] Television

[edit] Music videos

[edit] Student activities

There are many student activities at Fordham, including the following.[43]

[edit] Athletics

Main article: Fordham Rams
Fordham Rams logo
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,[44] and captured the 2007 Patriot League title outright.[45]

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".

[edit] 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, (formerly: Excersions) 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 [2] 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

[edit] Broadcasting

  • WFUV, 90.7 FM is Fordham University's 50,000-watt radio station, with studios located in Keating Hall on the Rose Hill campus and the transmitter located atop a building owned by Montefiore Medical Center. First broadcast in 1947, the station serves approximately 280,000 listeners weekly in Greater New York and thousands more globally on the Web (wfuv.org).[citation needed] The station is a National Public Radio affiliate, and mainly has an adult album alternative format, although it adheres to a variety (radio) format] on weekends, when it broadcasts programs devoted to various genres, including folk music, jazz and Irish music, as well as live sports.[46] The station has student-run news and sports departments, though much of the other programming has been staffed by professionals since the 1980s.[citation needed] It has 27 full-time employees and 70 part-time student enployees.[47]
  • 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.[48]

[edit] Performance Arts

  • Fordham University Choir is an ensemble of students from the Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses. Its repertoire includes both sacred and secular music.
  • Fordham University Theatre Company: 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.
  • Mimes & Mummers, a theatre troupe housed in Collins Auditorium on the Rose Hill campus, is one of the oldest traditions at the University.
  • Fordham Experimental Theatre, located in the Blackbox Theatre in Collins Hall on the Rose Hill campus, is an entirely student run theatre group.
  • Expressions Dance Alliance, located in Keating Hall's Basement Dance Studio, was established in 2001 and strives to produce an original show every semester.

[edit] Rhetoric and debate

  • Fordham Debate Society (FDS) is based at Rose Hill and is the oldest existing club in the university (founded 1852), and the eighth oldest college debating society in the United States.[citation needed] In 1982, the American Parliamentary Debate Association (APDA), Inc. was founded at Fordham, during a tournament called the "Fordham Fandango." FDS is still very active on APDA, and regularly places among the top teams in the country. The team competes weekly on APDA, but also occasionally attends international tournaments, ranking well in the World Universities Debating Championship standings.
  • Gannon Speech and Debate is based at the Lincoln Center Campus, and engages students in forensics training so that they may compete intercollegiately. The club is named for the Rev. Robert I. Gannon, S.J., President of Fordham from 1936-1949, considered to have been a popular and effective speaker. Alumni of the club have been successful in earning fellowships and awards.[3]

[edit] Global outreach

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.

[edit] Military science

The Military Science program is available to Fordham undergraduate and graduate students regardless of their course of study,[49] as well as to students at over 50 other New York area colleges and universities.[50] It includes the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program, as well as military science classes and extracurricular activities.

The Army ROTC Battalion at Fordham University has its roots training cadets in the late 1840s before it was officially established as a formal program in 1926. It has since been the Army ROTC headquarters for the New York City region.[51] Among the notable graduates of the Fordham ROTC Battalion (though not necessarily of Fordham University) include former Secretary of State Colin Powell, four-star General John M. Keane, and at least four recipients of the Medal of Honor.[52] The battalion has been distinguished as being in the top fifteen percent of the United State's Army ROTC programs.[53]

Fordham students are also eligible to participate in the Air Force ROTC Program hosted at nearby Manhattan College[54] and the Navy ROTC Program hosted at SUNY Maritime College.[55]

[edit] 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.

[edit] Legacies

[edit] 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
Photo: Alan Light
Geraldine Ferraro
Denzel Washington

[edit] Notable faculty

This list is intended as a sampling

[edit] 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

[edit] Fordham traditions

[edit] Fordham Maroon

Magenta was Fordham's original color, but Harvard used the same color.[57] A series of baseball games between the two was to determine the right to use it. Harvard, despite having lost the competition, continued to use the color. Therefore, Fordham eventually changed its official color to maroon.[57] (Harvard subsequently also abandoned magenta, though in favor of crimson.)[58]

[edit] 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]

[edit] The Victory Bell

The "Victory Bell", which is mounted outside the Rose Hill Gym, is from the Japanese aircraft carrier Junyō.[citation needed] According to the plaque below the bell, it was recovered near Saipan where it was "silenced by an aerial Bomb."[citation needed] 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."[citation needed] 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."[citation needed]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.[citation needed]A small group of students rang the bell on the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor in honor of the war dead.[citation needed]

[edit] The Rose Hill Gymnasium

The Rose Hill Gym
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.[59]

[edit] 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 crucifixion 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.[60]

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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..[61]

[edit] Recordings and other songs

[edit] Affiliations

This is an introductory listing, and may reflect only a portion of the many affiliations the University maintains.[62]

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

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ NAICU - Member Center
  2. ^ Father McShane Highlights Fordham's Vitality During Address at Annual Faculty Convocation
  3. ^ Institutions: Fordham University
  4. ^ Fordham at a Glance
  5. ^ The Fordham Jesuit Community
  6. ^ Fordham at a Glance
  7. ^ Cooperative Program in Engineering | Fordham College at Lincoln Center
  8. ^ Ailey/Fordham Partnership | BFA Dance | Fordham College at Lincoln Center
  9. ^ Fordham Preparatory School - History of Fordham Preparatory School
  10. ^ Fordham University Libraries: What's New
  11. ^ Fordham Unveils Lincoln Center Master Plan
  12. ^ The University's Strategic Planning is in Full Swing
  13. ^ "Fordham Opens Its Gift: An Antiquities Museum," by Robin Pogrebin, The New York Times, Dec. 6, 2007
  14. ^ Fordham's Jesuit Tradition
  15. ^ http://www.fordham.edu/UndergraduateBulletin/ |Undergraduate Bulletin 2006-2008
  16. ^ Core Curriculum | Fordham College at Lincoln Center
  17. ^ Library Handbook - Fordham University Libraries
  18. ^ Library Handbook - Fordham University Libraries
  19. ^ Fordham.Edu
  20. ^ U.S. News and World Report (2008). America's Best Colleges 2008: National Universities: Top Schools. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
  21. ^ U.S. News and World Report (2007). America's Best Graduate Schools 2008: Top Law Schools. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
  22. ^ U.S. News and World Report (2007). America's Best Graduate Schools 2008: Top Education Schools. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
  23. ^ The Washington Monthly (2007). The Washington Monthly National University Rankings (PDF). The Washington Monthly. Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  24. ^ Fordham.Edu
  25. ^ Fordham.Edu
  26. ^ 25 Hottest Universities - Kaplan College Guide - MSNBC.com
  27. ^ FordhamBulletin.indb
  28. ^ Fordham at a Glance
  29. ^ Fordham University website, accessed Jan. 29, 2008
  30. ^ Fordham.Edu
  31. ^ Fordham.Edu
  32. ^ Fordham.Edu
  33. ^ 222243_001-039.v2
  34. ^ Fordham at a Glance
  35. ^ Bittersweet Emotions Mark Final Diploma Ceremony at Marymount College
  36. ^ As Marymount closes, students say they feel neglected - News
  37. ^ University Seeking Buyer for Marymount Campus
  38. ^ University Seeking Buyer for Marymount Campus
  39. ^ Fordham pursues new home in Harrison
  40. ^ "Fordham U. Sells Marymount College Campus for $27-Million" Chronicle of Higher Education Feb. 17, 2008 link
  41. ^ About the LCC
  42. ^ BiMBA
  43. ^ Student Leadership & Community Development
  44. ^ Patriot Conference - The Patriot League Official Athletic Site
  45. ^ Fordham Claims Outright Patriot League Football Title :: Rams Earn First Outright League Crown with Colgate's Loss at Holy Cross
  46. ^ FCC Renews WFUV-FM Broadcast License
  47. ^ Fordham.Edu
  48. ^ Fordham Nightly News
  49. ^ http://armyrotc.com/edu/fordham/about.htm/ ARMY ROTC: New York City Army ROTC at Fordham University
  50. ^ Fordham ROTC Unit Among Best in the Country
  51. ^ http://armyrotc.com/edu/fordham/history.htm
  52. ^ [http://armyrotc.com/edu/fordham/alumni.htm>
  53. ^ Fordham ROTC Unit Among Best in the Country
  54. ^ AFROTC Det 560 - Crosstown Schools
  55. ^ Navy ROTC
  56. ^ Victor F. Hess - Biography
  57. ^ a b University Colors
  58. ^ The Harvard Guide: Why Crimson?
  59. ^ http://www.fordham.edu/audience/tours/rh_map/29_rh_gym.shtml Rose Hill Gym, Fordham Interactive Map, accessed February 27, 2008
  60. ^ A. LCIntroduction
  61. ^ A. LCIntroduction
  62. ^ Accreditation and Affiliation

[edit] References

  • 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

[edit] External links

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Coordinates: 40°51′39″N, 73°53′4″W

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