Legacy Parents Gather at Pre-Commencement Breakfast

The fourth annual legacy breakfast in the William D. Walsh Family Library was held prior to commencement for Fordham alumni with family members in this year's graduating class. Over orange juice and bagels, more than 170 students, parents and family members toasted the day. Below, Alumni banner bearer Nelson Gonzalez, CBA '75, poses with daughter Jeannette Gonzalez, CBA '09.



Above, Gregory Costa, FCLS '82, embraces daughter Morgan Costa, FCRH '09, prior to her commencement. Below, Arthur Chin, CBA '09, joins his family: from left to right, Benjamin Chin, Constance Fung, Sylvia Chin, LAW '77, and Edward Chin, LAW '77.



Above, Dora Williams, FCRH '81, gets some help with her ceremonial sash from son Ronald Williams, FCRH '09. Below, Father Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, explains to Devin McNamara, FCRH '09, how to put on his academic hood, as Paul McNamara, FCRH '72, proudly watches on.

Commencement Before the Ceremony

Syd made the rounds of Keating Steps.

Staff Outnumber Guests at This Point

Staff is trickling into the press room. Nicole arrived at the stroke of 7 a.m., surprising herself. Kate, Doug, Syd and Miles are also here, as are our freelance photographers Bill and Chris. The photos in this blog were taken by the staff—this batch is Nicole’s.

Commencement Day

Six in the morning at Rose Hill, Commencement day. There’s a light mist in the air, but no rain, which is what all of us feared. The campus is impossibly green, and mostly quiet—birds chirping and the distant buzz of a leaf blower.

Margie Ball, the University secretary, is already out on the steps of Keating, checking everything (seats dry enough?) and taping name cards to the seats behind the speaker’s podium. Facilities workers circulate around, making last-minute tweaks. All of a sudden the opening bars of Neil Diamond’s “Coming to America” blare over the speakers. Sound Check.



Coffee has arrived in the press room, on the first floor of Keating Hall. The staff is happy.

The Calm Before Commencement

Fordham College at Rose Hill senior and former News and Media Relations intern, Brendan Gibbons, took this shot of the set up at Edwards Parade on the Rose Hill campus on Thursday. Says Brendan via his Twitter account, "Is this really happening? Bittersweet!"

-Gina Vergel

GSE Professor Bill Baker on Tavis Smiley Tonight

William F. Baker, Ph.D., the Claudio Aquaviva Chair and Journalist in Residence in Fordham’s Graduate School of Education, will be the guest on the Tavis Smiley Show, which airs at Midnight tonight on WNET 13/WLIW 21. (The show technically airs on Tuesday, May 12, 2009, at 12 a.m.)

Baker was named the Claudio Aquaviva Chair and Journalist in Residence at Fordham in October 2008, after 20 years as chief executive officer of the Educational Broadcasting Corporation (EBC).

WFUV Auction Gifts Run the Gamut

There were items for all tax brackets at the May 6 WFUV Gala and Silent Auction fundraiser. A vinyl record of On and On, signed by Jack Johnson, Hawaiian surfing champion turned alternative pop-folk singer, was set at an opening bid of $75. At the opposite end of the disposable income curve was a Harry Winston Ladies Diamond Avenue C watch that opened at $20,000. (both items sold)

Some of the more unique and personal gifts were sold off in a short live auction (after dessert and coffee) performed by Southeby’s auctioneer C. Hugh Hildesley. One of the more coveted gifts was The Midnight Ramble jam at Levon Helm’s Woodstock home, held in a recording studio in his barn. Helm is reportedly a gracious host who not only plays music but who feeds his guests well. The gift, set at a $200 minimum bid, went for $3250.

Other hot tickets included four nights at the Austin City Limits Festival with WFUV’s Rita Houston (four gifts went for $5,000 each) and a visit to the Sesame Street studio to meet Big Bird, et al. ($3,000).

One of Fordham’s newest jewels, the Museum of Greek, Roman and Etruscan art, was also represented in the catalog. A personal tour of the museum with university art curator Jennifer Udell went for $850.

- JS

Fordham Graduate School of Business Awards Entrepreneurs

Life is bad enough if you live on top of a pile of garbage, as the residents of “Smokey Mountain,” a shantytown in Manila, The Philippines, do. But imagine how much worse it would be if, like countless children, you had to pick through the dump every day without anything on your feet.

In a nutshell, that’s the problem GreenSoul Shoes, a company founded by Alastair Onglingswan, (LAW, 95) hopes to alleviate. The company’s plan, which Onglingswan came up with after visiting the infamous shantytown, is to use recycled rubber from discarded tires to supply shoes to some of the 300 million barefoot children around the world who suffer from puncture wounds. It recently got the thumbs up from the Fordham’s Graduate School of Business’s (GBA) Bert Twaalfhoven Center for Entrepreneurship, which awarded the company a $10,000 prize as part of its first annual business plan competition.

The competition was the culmination of several workshops, submissions, a day of coaching with mentors and a final round, where four teams presented their ideas to a panel of investors, lawyers and entrepreneurs. The award, which was presented by GBA Dean Howard Tuckman, will be used to purchase the first two months of inventory for the company, which plans to market the shoes toward eco-conscious consumers attracted to a “buy one, give one policy.”

—Patrick Verel

Fordham EMBA Students Dazzle on the Court

First it was Jazz. Now add basketball to the exciting way Fordham University’s Executive MBA program trains its top executives.

While in China for the traditional Capstone residential trip to Beijing, the graduating cohort played the Tsinghua University “All Stars” in a full-court basketball game.

Although the average age of the Fordham EMBA students was 33 compared to the average age of 22 for the Tsinghua University squad, Fordham emerged victorious, winning 63 to 62 in front of a crowd of about 200 spectators.

“The purpose of the game was to serve as a cultural experience in how the sport of basketball can be used as a universal communicator and bonding tool,” said Francis Petit, Ed.D., assistant dean and director of executive programs at the Graduate School of Business Administration (GBA). “This new initiative of a basketball game will be part of future EMBA residentials.”

The Executive MBA (EMBA), Fordham’s executive-style MBA program, is housed at Fordham’s GBA. It is designed for business professionals and managers on the fast track toward challenging managerial and global assignments.

-Gina Vergel

(Photo courtesy of Francis Petit, Ph.D. The Fordham students are wearing red jerseys.)

Fordham Students Make Pilgrimage to Omaha

Five Fordham students traveled to Omaha on April 16 to meet the Sage of Omaha, Warren Buffett, and other Fortune 500 executives for a weekend of networking. The weekend was capped by dinner at Gorat's Steak House, Buffett's favorite restaurant.

The students—Samantha Beattie FRCH '09, Anu Joseph CBA '10, Angela Luongo CBA '11 , Lily McGettigan CBA '11 and Candice Sorbera CBA '10—are members of the Fordham chapter of Smart Woman Securities. SWS arranged the trip, which also included students from its Columbia, Harvard and Yale chapters.

In this photo, Buffett is seen whispering a stock tip to Samantha.

—Syd Steinhardt