Recently, Rodrigue’s Coffee House and Theory and Praxis held live music fundraising events. Theory and Praxis’ live music performance was held on March 1, 2024, with a $5 admission cost, and the proceeds went to Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP). Rodrigues’ was held on March 8, featuring student DJs and a “pay what you can” option at the door for attendees with a suggested amount of $5.
Theory and Praxis is not a Fordham University-affiliated or recognized club. Therefore, their events are held off campus in a house that three of their team leaders live in. Praxis and Theory founder Sophie Genolio, FCRH ’23, said, “The process is fairly simple; once the date and performers are decided, we create a flier and advertise the event through Instagram.”
Genolio continued, “One of our members is the drummer of Zephyr, the band we’ve co-organized all of these events with. This time, we were lucky enough to have two bands and two DJ sets: Zephyr, Room de Dark, boy_c0ded and DJ drëämgÿrl.”
Fordham Theory and Praxis raised a total of $750 for MAP. “This was our biggest/most successful event for MAP so far,” said Riley Dominianni, FCRH ’24, another E-board member.
Rodrigue’s Coffee House, a Fordham club that functions as a coffee house with student volunteers, has live music events several times a month, including but not limited to concerts and themed open mics. For AFSP, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Rodrigue’s Coffee House held a DJ benefit.
Rodrigue’s co-president Maura Mulvihill, FCRH ’24, stated they held their first DJ benefit in 2022 to raise money for the Bronx fire relief: “We decided to do a similar event. We had been approached but the organizers of the Out of Darkness walk happening on campus on [April 6] in support of AFSP. They asked us to create a fundraising team, so when we were looking for charities to support for the benefit, ASFP seemed like a great option.”
At this recent DJ benefit, four student DJs performed: Mercury Vibration, Lauryn Williams, Allen Wang (a Rodrigues E-board member and the club’s Sound Engineer) and DJ dreamgyrl.
“We reached out to performers we knew personally or had heard of through word of mouth,” said Mulvihill. They were able to raise $331 for AFSP from this DJ benefit.
Rodrigue’s Coffee House has another upcoming event on Tuesday, March 12, at 8 p.m.: a “no guitar” open mic where any attendee can perform but must sign up on a first-come, first-serve basis.
