Fordham University has surpassed the goal of its most recent fundraising campaign, Cura Personalis | For Every Fordham Student, a five-year effort that enhanced every aspect of the student experience, providing everything from added financial aid to new academic opportunities to a campus environment that nourishes a sense of belonging, purpose, and pride.
The campaign officially closed over the summer with $371 million raised, exceeding its goal by $21 million. That success reflects the generosity of the Fordham community and the Jesuit principle of magis that for 183 years has prompted Fordham to go beyond expectations in serving students, said Tania Tetlow, president of Fordham.
“Today, more than ever, Fordham is attracting students who are passionate about engaging with the great issues of our time and building a better future for humanity,” she said. “With this campaign, we have shown that their desire to make a difference is more than matched by our community’s willingness to support them in every way possible. To all who gave, no matter the size of your gift, thank you, and I hope you will take pride in what you have accomplished for our students.”
Educating the Whole Person
The Cura Personalis campaign—named for the Jesuit principle of educating the whole person—was formally launched in 2021. Its four pillars were access and affordability, academic excellence, student wellness and success, and athletics, and embedded within each pillar was the overriding imperative of fostering a sense of welcome and belonging throughout the University.
Varied gifts both large and small propelled the campaign. Thirty-five percent of the gifts were less than $100. Sixty-seven donors gave $1 million or more for the first time. Bequests and planned gifts account for 29% of the total. And 37% of the campaign total was contributed by members of the Fordham University Board of Trustees.
“Through this campaign, the entire Fordham family of alumni, parents, faculty, staff, students, and friends of the University has shown the depths of its generosity,” said the board’s chairman, Armando Nuñez, GABELLI ’82. “And I’ve never been prouder to serve on the board with this extraordinary and generous group of trustees.”
Among the campaign contributions was the largest gift the University has ever received: a $35 million gift to the Gabelli School of Business from Mario Gabelli, a 1965 alumnus for whom the school is named, and his wife, Regina Pitaro, a 1976 alumna of Fordham College at Rose Hill.
Impacts Large and Small
The campaign left its mark across the University—perhaps most prominently with the creation of the Joseph M. McShane, S.J. Campus Center on the Rose Hill campus. The project combined an 80,000-square-foot addition with existing buildings, providing vastly greater space for student activities and University events. It also provided bigger, upgraded spaces for the Career Center, Campus Ministry, and the Center for Community Engaged Learning, enabling students to gather, socialize, and take greater advantage of their resources.
A ‘W’ for Students
In the athletics arena, the campaign supported a host of new and improved facilities as well as the New Era Fund for the basketball program, which boosted the number of wins by the men’s team and helped with revving up Ram spirit on campus.
Many gifts were tailored to the goal of inclusion—including those made to the Trustee Diversity Fund for economically disadvantaged students from historically underrepresented backgrounds, a fund spearheaded by Fordham Trustee Valerie Rainford, FCRH ’86. Another new fund, the LGBTQ Student Wellbeing Fund, was led by Joan Garry, FCRH ’79.
Scholarships, Advising, Internships, and More
Students benefited in numerous other ways: Campaign contributions created 153 new financial aid funds, supported student-faculty research, fueled an expansion of community engaged learning courses, helped create the Fordham College Advising Center, and funded the popular Serving the City internships with local cultural institutions. The campaign also supported an emergency fund and other resources for student veterans who often live on tight budgets while pursuing their studies.
Susan Conley Salice, FCRH ’82, one of five co-chairs of the campaign, noted one of the through lines connecting this and other Fordham fundraising campaigns: financial aid.
“Fordham was founded by an immigrant, and the University has a proud tradition of serving students of limited means, including first-generation college students,” said Conley Salice, a first-generation college graduate herself. “Thanks to all who supported our campaign, Fordham is well positioned to sustain its tradition of welcoming the most talented, committed students, regardless of their financial need.”
Supporting STEM
Campaign gifts provided new resources in the STEM fields, such as research fellowships, a new laser for optics research, and an endowed professorship, one that evokes the legacy of one of the University’s most involved and generous alumni.
With a $5 million gift, Fordham Trustee Kim Bepler, recipient of a 2022 honorary doctorate from the University, created a chair in the natural and applied sciences in honor of her late husband, Stephen E. Bepler, FCRH ’64. It was the fifth endowed chair in the sciences created by gifts from Kim Bepler and the estate of her husband, who served as a Fordham trustee and gave generously to many areas of the University before he died in 2016.
The campaign’s success bodes well for future fundraising efforts, noted Roger A. Milici Jr., vice president for development and university relations, who leads Fordham’s fundraising division.
“The pace and level of support for this campaign are a reflection of the energy and passion for Fordham’s Jesuit and Catholic mission in a fractured world desperately in need of hope,” he said.
Milici noted that Fordham just completed its second-best fundraising year ever, with more than $80 million in total gifts and pledges. “With the successful closure of this campaign,” he said, “we are also building a more mature advancement operation capable of greater impact, thanks to so many mission partners.”
