Fordham University’s Student Life Council (SLC) met for the first time this semester on Sept. 17 to host invited guests and go over initial plans for the year.
Several items were scheduled to be presented by members of the community. Two of the individuals were not present at the meeting, but the third, Isabella Marino, FCRH ’26, brought up the process of starting a club. She noted that the link on the United Student Government (USG) website was from 2022 and could no longer be accessed. Marino had reached out to USG, but hadn’t heard back.
Executive President of USG, Lucas Hjertberg, FCRH ’26, shared that the issue with the link has been brought up, and the correct one should be under Committees/Operations on the USG website. Assistant Dean for Student Involvement Catharine McGlade also had mentioned that [email protected] is the direct USG email for club questions, and that students in the same situation should reach out to that one instead of the main USG email.
The first invited guest, the inaugural Dean of Arts and Sciences, Jessica Lang, Ph.D., made an appearance at this SLC meeting to share a little bit about herself and to field any questions from the council.
Sean Huynh, FCRH ’27, who is the vice president of the AI club at Fordham, asked what Fordham is doing about artificial intelligence (AI) and the increasing presence of it in society. Lang handed the question off to Judith Jones, a professor in the philosophy department at Fordham. Jones noted that the university and faculty are not approaching this problem with a top-down approach, but with a general policy.
“The University has opted to have an AI policy that allows maximum flexibility and academic freedom for our many schools, faculty, and students whose teaching and learning and professional work require very different interfaces with AI,” Jones shared in an email to The Fordham Ram at a later date.
The next invited guest to speak was Senior Associate Dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill, David Swinarski, who discussed his new position within the arts and sciences department at Fordham and the overall restructuring of the department.
The final invited guest was Fordham’s new Director of Dining Business Operations and Contract Management, Orla Fitzsimons. She began by describing her role, noting that she is a liaison between Aramark — the university’s food service — and the Fordham community. Fitzsimons then fielded questions from the council.
Hannorah Ragusa, FCRH ’26 the chief communications officer for the Resident Halls Association (RHA) at Fordham, asked about how the new delivery robots were holding up on campus. Fitzsimons mentioned positive reviews overall and shared that the robots recently gained the ability to transport drinks as well as food.
To begin with discussing SLC business, the Assistant Vice President and Dean of Students at Rose Hill, Christopher Rodgers, noted that SLC functions both as a council and as a town hall, and that anyone who shows up can bring up a topic. Rodgers also shared that if someone wants to speak on something, then they can email ahead of time to [email protected].
Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Residential Life, Charles Clency, then presented the August monthly intoxication report. There were 15 students transported for intoxication and four cases of Refusal of Medical Attention (RMA) since the beginning of the semester. In comparison, in 2024 at this time, there were 11 intoxication transports and three RMAs. The year prior, there were 24 intoxication transports and six RMAs.
The representative for the Campus Activities Board (CAB), Aishna Gaikwad, GSB ’26, noted the upcoming Family Weekend event on campus. The event runs from Oct. 24 to Oct. 26 at Rose Hill; there is a list of events available on the Fordham website, as well as a place to reserve tickets for the events.
Hjertberg then updated the council on USG. Despite initial issues with Information Technology, the class of 2029 senate elections were successful. Hjertberg shared that there would be special elections for the classes of 2026 and 2027 senate at the USG meeting the next day on Sept. 18. Hjertberg also mentioned a new major USG proposal adjustment: There will now be four proposal writing teams to ensure proposals get written and executed in a timely manner.
Vice President of Operations for USG, Tina Pathak, FCRH ’28, shared that the new club form for this semester will be available on the USG website until late October. Pathak also noted that in an effort to make the club process more transparent, there would be weekly updates given at the USG meetings on where each club is in the club process.
Executive President of RHA, Anna Calendrillo, FCRH ’26, mentioned that RHA General Board elections were posted on Sept. 19, and that special elections for the remaining seats will be open to vote until Thursday, Sept. 25.
Following updates, transfer student, Diana Carroll, GSB ’28, an audience member, asked about the residential room checks. A Resident Assistant (RA) Justina Diaz, FCRH ’26, responded to the question, sharing that the RAs can’t go into drawers, closets, etc. Clency chimed in to note that there are usually room checks during fire drills, and two usually happen per semester with one announced.
The next SLC meeting will be held on Oct. 15.
