Last weekend, new Fordham students were officially welcomed to campus. Residence halls opened for early move-in on Aug. 16, first welcoming residence leaders, student-athletes, Urban Plunge leaders and participants and orientation leaders. Most students, however, arrived on Aug. 24 through 29, with first-year student move-in taking place on Sunday, Aug. 27.
Associate Vice President for Communications and Special Adviser to the President at Fordham, Bob Howe, commented on changes to housing.
Howe said, “There are no major changes planned for the housing program this year. The residence halls will open at full occupancy on Sunday, Aug. 27 with a fairly small number of first-year students assigned to converted triples where students receive a reduced room rate.”
First-year students, who began orientation programming immediately after move-in, were welcomed by returning students and orientation leaders who helped carry their things into their rooms. The Class of 2027 is the third largest incoming class in Fordham history. It is also the most diverse in university history.
Orientation Coordinator for Training and Staff Development, Grace Yearwood, FCRH ’25, said planning for orientation programming began in early 2023.
Yearwood said, “As a Coordinator, my job started in January 2023. We first planned the spring 2023 Transfer Student Orientation. Then all our focus was on August 2023 Orientation. We worked throughout February and March to recruit a team of about 250 student Orientation Leaders. We then trained these students in April. Throughout the summer we carefully planned and executed three Summer Orientation Programs all while completing tasks for the fall 2023 Program.”
Yearwood also mentioned that planning for move-in spans multiple departments and teams, requiring a lot of cooperation from Fordham staff.
She added, “There was a lot of work going into the coordination between different departments to plan move-in day. For example, the New Student Orientation Staff works closely with the Office of Residential Life and Public Safety in order to ensure a smooth day. Personally, there was not too much new planning that went into this year’s move-in day since Public Safety and the Office of Residential Life have worked the day for numerous years. It’s a pretty well-oiled machine.”
Yearwood said that the days of orientation programming were a success. She said, “We had good feedback from families, students and the departments that participated and helped make it happen. All of our events that happened throughout move-in had good attendance and ran in a timely fashion.”
Molly Ewing, FRCH ’25, was one of many orientation leaders who assisted in move-in. Student helpers were tasked with the job of carrying student belongings up four flights of stairs. Ewing helped in Martyrs’ Court.
Martyrs’ Court, a first-year dorm with no elevators, proved logistically and physically difficult for move-in. Ewing said, “Let’s just say, I had 35,000 steps by the end of the day and about five fridges that I helped carry up the stairs.”
Despite the stairs, Ewing said the day was successful and very rewarding. She said, “It was very exciting. The energy on campus was very high.”
Bridget Woods, FCRH ’24, is a resident assistant in Walsh Hall. This year will be her third academic year working as a resident assistant and helping with move-in. She said this year’s move-in process went very smoothly.
Woods mentioned that she is excited for the upcoming year. “This semester, as a senior now, I am looking forward to taking full advantage of Fordham’s location within the Belmont community — especially through programming events,” she said.
Woods added, “I love seeing the campus full again, especially in the halls! For Walsh, it is super exciting to welcome many returner students as well as transfer students. We welcomed back lots of sophomores, juniors and seniors, and it was really fun to see all the upperclassmen settle in for the new year.”
