Veterans Find Closure Through Writing

For the fifth consecutive year, Fordham has made Military Times magazine’s annual “Best for Vets” list of the top colleges and universities for service members, military veterans, and their families.

Fordham has been ranked regularly on the list, thanks to the diverse and comprehensive programs provided by the FordhamVets Initiative — which helps veterans transition from the military to college life — and to the financial support the school provides through the Yellow Ribbon Program.

One program that has been particular helpful to Fordham veterans is the Veterans Writing Workshop, which has been held at Fordham’s Westchester campus since 2010 and recently expanded to the Lincoln Center campus. The workshops are held three times per year at both campuses.

Veterans meet weekly to learn about and practice the craft of writing and to receive feedback and support from their peers. The workshop is “intensive and creative,” said founder and instructor David Surface, and functions primarily as a writing class rather than as a support group or a therapy session. Even so, it’s difficult to separate the therapeutic value of such a group from its artistic value.

“Writing can be healing,” Surface said. “When you write about your experiences, particularly in a serious, intensive, craft-based way, there’s something that happens that doesn’t happen in a therapy session or support group. It has to do with taking mastery of your experience, or taking control of your experience in a way.”

The veterans are not required to write specifically about their experience at war because not all of them are ready to put their trauma into words, Surface said. Instead, they write about whatever inspires them in the moment, whether it’s a memory from the battlefield or a hike with family.

At the conclusion of the workshop, the veterans’ writings are published as an anthology, which the veterans share in public readings and events. In addition to preserving and celebrating their writing, Surface said, the book helps to raise awareness about veterans’ experiences by hearing it in the service members’ own words. This year’s book, Afterwords: Looking Back, marks the 15th edition of the publication.

“There’s a lot of talk these day about the military/civilian divide in our country. Civilians don’t understand what veterans have experienced and vice versa,” he said. “But having the veterans themselves write about these experiences is one of the best ways to help narrow that gap.”

The Veterans Writing Workshop was developed in 2010 through collaboration between Arts Westchester (formerly the County Arts Council), the Hudson Valley Writers Center, and Fordham University Westchester as part of the National Endowment for the Arts’ The Big Read Program. Free of charge, the workshop series is open to veterans from every conflict.

Often, Surface said, a workshop will find veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan sitting side by side with veterans from Korea, Vietnam, and even World War II.

“They talk about their stories, about their feelings,” he said. “There is a comradeship that forms.”

Over and over again he has seen the veterans draw on that natural bond to help each other not only with their writing, but also with the struggles they face in the aftermath of war. He recalled an instance when one veteran decided to write about an event that had triggered a severe post-traumatic stress disorder. When the writing process became distressing for him, another veteran in the workshop offered support.

“He just sat with him while he wrote the story,” Surface said. “They help each other through these experiences.”

In addition to continuing the workshops at Fordham’s Westchester and Lincoln Center campuses, Surface will be running a Women’s Veterans Writing Workshop starting this spring at Arts Westchester. And in February, a Families of Veterans Writing Workshop will begin at Fordham Westchester for friends, family members, and supporters of military personnel.

“What I hope they learn is that their own experiences — their own memories, feelings, and thoughts — are valid,” Surface said. “They don’t need to look outside of themselves for material to write about. I just try to give them skills and tools to do that.”

— Joanna Mercuri

Who Let the Dogs Out?

This Saturday, March 15, Kay Scott, adjunct professor and doctoral student at the Graduate School of Social Service, will conduct a class project that looks at how the use of therapy dogs on campuses affects individuals’ moods.

Using a MAACL-R instrument, an instrument that measures quick changes in mood, Scott’s class will be measuring the impact of interaction of the dogs with students and others who will be at Fordham’s Westchester campus. Anyone from the Fordham community can participate. Volunteers will be asked to take a pre-test to measure their moods. Then, they can play with the dogs for up to an hour. After interacting with the dogs, participants will take the same test again to see if their moods have changed.

In GSS research courses, master’s students are introduced to the research process by being immersed into a class project picked by the professor, said Scott. As her research interests include animal-assisted interventions, a class project on the benefit of therapy dogs in a campus setting was a natural fit.

Scott said that colleges frequently bring therapy animals on campus during midterms for students to interact with, but no one has actually done a study to see if it’s helpful.

Scott said that the class project may become a research project for her in the future.

To interact with the therapy dogs, drop into Room G12 at the Westchester campus between 12:40 – 1:40 p.m. There will be eight therapy dog teams present. Each team consists of a volunteer handler and his/her own dog. Both the handler and dog have been trained and certified by therapy dog organizations.

The dogs have been tested to make sure they enjoy their jobs as "canine therapists". These handler/dog teams normally work at hospitals with psychiatric patients, children, or developmentally disabled individuals.

The event is sponsored by the GSS’s Research II Class. For more information, email grastorf@fordham.edu.

-Jenny Hirsch

Oct. 22: Meet Veterans and Hear Their Stories

On Tuesday, Oct. 22, Fordham's Veterans Writing Workshop will celebrate the publication of the 10th anthology of writings, Afterwards-The Ones We Save, produced by workshop participants. Held at the Fordham Westchester Campus weekly, the workshop is one of the services to metropolitan area veterans offered since 2009 by the FordhamVets Initiative.   

A reception and reading will begin at 7 p.m. at the Westchester campus, 400 Westchester Ave., West Harrison, N.Y. RSVP to gillan@fordham.edu 

If you'd like to know more about the writing workshop and hear excerpts from the veterans' past writings, you can view last year's reading here or you can purchase one of the series here.

MBA Highlights Return to Westchester

With a blizzard bearing down on the East Coast in early February, the Fordham Management Institute's "Highlights of the MBA" remained snowbound. But the Graduate School of Business Administration (GBA) program will come out swinging this weekend, March 1st and 2nd, when the first of two weekend sessions will be held at the Westchester Campus.

This unique program offers an intense sprint through the highlights of Fordham's well-established Executive MBA program, and furthers the Westchester campus' developing reputation as a center for executive thinking.

"This course is positioned for professionals who do not have the luxury of time for the MBA but need some of the content for their current positions," explained Francis Petit, Ed.D., the associate dean for executive programs at GBA. 

Rooted in the fundamentals of business management, the weekend sessions seek to improve participants’ leadership skills and cue them in to cutting edge business conversations.

Petit said this years participants represent an advanced group from a diversity of industries. With an average of 17 years work experience between them, the group is curated in a manner that the participants will likely learn as much from each other as they will from their highly qualified instructors.

-Tom Stoelker

In Peak Form: Fordham Westchester Celebrates Fall

Fordham’s Westchester campus, draped in fall colors.
Photo by Grant Grastorf.

Fordham Westchester will host a Fall Open House on Tuesday, Oct. 30 from 4:30 p.m.- 6:30 p.m. in celebration of its fifth year in West Harrison, N.Y. and over 35 years in Westchester.

The golf tee columns loom.
Photo by Bill Denison

Come enjoy peak autumn colors at the 32-acre hilltop campus and tour the Modernist gem of a building designed by architect Victor Bisharat. Born in Jerusalem and educated at Berkley, Bisharat's work is not well known outside of Connecticut. The New York Times said he was the "architect most closely associated with Stamford's commercial development" from the late 1960s through the 1970s. And Stamford Magazine credited him for bringing a "Modernist celebration of cutting-edge space age architecture" to that city's skyline.

Bisharat, who died in 1996, brought his space age zing to Harrison, New York in 1967. Initially built for a long-gone telephone company, the building's golf tee-like columns and demi-moon balconies were restored during Fordham's renovation. The project won BOMA Westchester's 2009 Building of the Year award.

Architect Victor Bisharat
Courtesy Stamford Magazine

The campus quickly settled into its role as one of the area's leading institutions and the festivities will celebrate the community with live jazz, food, and prizes. Fordham representatives will be on hand to answer questions about the undergraduate programs, as well as master’s degree programs in business administration, education, religion and religious education, and social service.

For further information contact Grant Grastorf, grastorf@fordham.edu or (914) 367-3202.


-Tom Stoelker

Fordham Westchester Hosts Holocaust Memorial Art Exhibit

The Fordham Westchester campus will host an art exhibit on Holocaust memorial art beginning May 13 until May 27 in the Lobby at the Westchester campus, with the artist’s reception on Thursday, May 19 at 5 p.m.


The Holocaust Memorial Art Exhibit will feature paintings by Marilyn Honigman, chair of the Fine Arts Department at Fordham Preparatory School. The exhibit will depict pictorial impressions on the Holocaust.

Honigman’s paintings have been exhibited at the Polish Consulate, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the Corcoran Gallery, the Blue Mountain Gallery, and other group exhibitions.
The art exhibit is part of the Fordham Forum Spring Series and is co-sponsored by Campus Ministry.

-Jenny Hirsch

Fordham Student Produces Video for American Heart Association Luncheon

As the American Heart Association (AHA) holds its annual Go Red Luncheon and Learning Session in Greenwich, Conn., on Thursday, March 24, a little bit of Fordham will have played a part in its success.

The AHA’s Go Red Luncheon committee was able to use meeting space at Fordham’s Westchester campus. Fordham often provided breakfast as well.

The collaboration was part of Fordham Westchester’s ongoing commitment to the local community and area organizations, said Lynne O’Connell, assistant dean of admission for Fordham College of Liberal Studies.

O’Connell, a member of the Go Red luncheon committee, helped plan the event, which raises funds for “Go Red For Women”—a social initiative designed to empower women to take charge of their heart health. And that's not all.

“This past February, one of our newly admitted students, Nick Mathis, volunteered to produce a video, which will be shown at the luncheon. Approximately 620 attendees will see the video,” O’Connell said. (See the video by clicking on this link.)

Fordham’s Westchester campus has worked with several area organizations. The Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson recently honored the campus with a community service award.

—Gina Vergel

Fordham Westchester Helps to Link Volunteer and Professional Leaders in Nonprofit Sector

More than 650 people attended the Not-For-Profit Leadership Summit VIII on May 10 at the Doubletree Hotel in Tarrytown, N.Y.

Fordham Westchester participated as one of several nonprofit sponsors of the event, which linked volunteer and professional leaders in the nonprofit sector.

Participants had the opportunity to:
• identify emerging challenges and opportunities;
• shape new leadership strategies; and
• build organizations that excel.

Keynote speakers included U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and futurist Andrew Zolli, executive director of PopTech. Moreover, real-time electronic polling pointed to how the economy is impacting the industry.

Rob Jacobson, Ph.D., associate vice president, academic affairs and executive director, Fordham Westchester, is pictured here with Senator Gillibrand.

The event’s principal sponsors included the United Way of Westchester and Putnam Counties, ArtsWestchester and the Westchester Community Foundation.

Fordham Westchester Hosts “2-1-1 on 2/11”

After a snow day and cold weather, Fordham Westchester warmed the spirits of students, faculty and staff by hosting “2-1-1 on 2/11.” The campus was the first institution in Westchester to host a “2-1-1 on 2/11” event in partnership with the United Way of Westchester and Putnam.

The catchy title grabbed the attention of students, faculty, staff and visitors entering the lobby of 400 Westchester Avenue. The day featured staff from the United Way of Westchester and Putnam who were on hand to distribute literature, sign up volunteers, and sell limited edition “Live United/Fordham Westchester” tank tops; all to support the United Way and 2-1-1 service. A snowperson (wearing one of the special tank tops) was constructed and outfitted to help spread the “Live United” theme and celebrate the inaugural occasion.

As part of Fordham Westchester’s commitment to the local community, the campus was proud to host the pilot event. The United Way of Westchester and Putnam mission states that they help advance the common good by creating opportunities for a better life for all. Fordham University shares that philosophy and since Fordham Westchester’s student body is social service oriented – the campus was a logical and ideal place to host the first of its kind “2-1-1 on 2/11” event .

2-1-1 is a free, confidential, multilingual information and referral service in the Hudson Valley. They currently handle more than 150,000 calls annually with questions ranging from food, clothing and shelter to legal services, drug treatment, employment support, childcare, physical/mental health resources, elder care, services for persons with disabilities and more. Most of their funding has been cut over the past few years, so they rely heavily on donations, fundraising, volunteers and contracting out the service to keep this important community resource moving forward.

Fordham Westchester helped spread the word about the great services provided by the United Way of Westchester and Putnam and 2-1-1. It is hoped that “2-1-1 on 2/11” will become a nationwide celebration every year and judging from the response shown by students, faculty and staff at Fordham Westchester-its well on its way to achieving that goal.

—Grant C. Grastorf
Academic Operations Administrator
Fordham Westchester