Joshua Somrah, FCLC ’20, was recently hired as assistant director for Student Leadership and Engagement. A New York native, Somrah attended Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) and graduated in 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts in international studies and political science. He was also a resident assistant during his time at Fordham University. Somrah graduated from St. John’s University in Flushing Meadows, New York, with a Master’s of Arts in government & politics in 2021.
Prior to his employment at Fordham, Somrah worked as a resident director at Gonzaga University, a Jesuit institution in Spokane, Washington. Somrah shared that he served on a four-year contract, which was up this past summer. He was hired by Fordham in September and his official start date was Sept. 29.
“I enjoyed working as a Residence Director because it allowed me to work collaboratively with different offices within Student Affairs,” Somrah said in an email.
He also said that he greatly appreciated working with Student Affairs at Gonzaga and decided he wanted to apply for a new job in Student Affairs in the summer of 2025. Somrah also longed to return to New York, especially as a member of the Fordham alumni body.
“I looked into different job opportunities at Fordham University and eventually applied for the Assistant Director for Student Leadership and Engagement position,” he said.
The position of assistant director for Student Leadership and Engagement serves as the principal liaison between the Office of Student Involvement (OSI) and the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA). The position is responsible for leading key initiatives between both departments, which foster co-curricular activities in line with Fordham’s Catholic, Jesuit mission. Somrah reports to both Juan Carlos Matos, assistant vice president for Student Affairs for Diversity and Inclusion in OMA and Catharine McGlade, Ed.D., assistant dean for Student Involvement in OSI.
“[M]ost of my time has been spent on training or reading through various files to get myself accustomed to the work I will be doing,” Somrah said when asked what he had done so far in his role.
His time is split between OMA and OSI, and he is formally part of both departments. Within OSI, Somrah acts as the co-advisor for Fordham’s United Student Government (USG). He is responsible for attending USG Senate meetings and has personally met with each member of the executive board to become better acquainted with them and their work on the board.
“In these one on ones, I will schedule a time with the Committee Chairs to attend at least one meeting for each USG Committee during the Fall Semester, so I can see the great work that is being done first hand instead of just hearing about it at a Senate Meeting,” Somrah said. He also takes on an active leadership role within OMA, especially through first-year orientation programming.
“Within my role in OMA, I have started co-facilitating the remaining Civility and Community presentations for the first-year students, and I have started scheduling other training sessions with different groups on campus,” he said.
