The Fordham University Student Life Council (SLC) held its first meeting of the semester on Wednesday, Jan. 21, to hear from multiple guests in order to discuss how the SLC could be improved, as well as various updates.
The first guest speakers to present were Vice Provost for Student Success Elizabeth Rainey, Ed.D., and Digital Campus Experience Manager Sara Sapienza, who spoke about the inaugural First Year Forward events. The program is a “series of events curated specifically for the first-year class,” which attempt to “bridge the gap between wellness, career readiness, and classic NYC fun,” according to Fordham’s website page.
This is the first time these events will take place, and this lineup serves as a soft launching of the series before they become annual in future fall semesters. The events will take place from Jan. 21 to Jan. 31, and, according to Sapienza, an email was sent out to all first-year students to promote the program series.
Some events mentioned at the meeting were the Spring Career Fair, which will be held on Jan. 28 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in Room 303 of the McShane Campus Center, as well as ice skating in Central Park, which will be on Jan. 30. Registration for this event closed on Jan. 23, and the first 100 students to get to the event will receive a free beanie.
When Sapienza asked the SLC for suggestions on how to improve the First Year Forward events, the President of United Student Government Lucas Hjertberg, FCRH ’26, suggested weaving the club fairs into the event lineup. Co-President of the Campus Activities Board (CAB) Emma Seber, GSB ’26, suggested collaborating with CAB in the future.
The second guest to present was Director of Fordham University’s Office of Career Services Annette McLaughlin, who was invited to talk about Fordham’s internship promise. “Every undergraduate student will have the opportunity to land at least one internship, including research and other experiential learning, gaining real-world experience that top employers seek,” according to the Career Office’s website.
According to McLaughlin, the university is currently working with departments to curate webpages with opportunities catered to certain majors, with the hope that getting these opportunities into an online system will not limit students’ opportunities to network.
Members of the audience posed several questions to the SLC. The Paper Editor-In-Chief Emeritus Adam Serfilippi, GSB ’26, asked if the opportunities listed will be strictly for the Fordham community or externally as well. McLaughlin assured that there would be options listed for both.
McLaughlin noted that the opportunities will be for all students, regardless of their school, and that the university is trying to elevate resource access for Rose Hill students so that they are more balanced across the schools.
Dean of Students Kevin Williams then asked for feedback from not only the SLC council, but the gallery as well. McDonnell added that the SLC is a really powerful resource for students if they use it, with both wondering how to involve students more.
Associate Director for Campus Center Operations Stephen Clarke suggested that the council bring in guests that the student body is actually interested in, as well as bringing in different student clubs, in the same way that the different departments are invited. Serfilippi suggested bringing in club liaisons as is done during the USG weekly meetings.
Hjertberg pitched an idea for an SLC-specific Blackboard page that every Fordham student can be added to, with potential subsections for the big four clubs (USG, RHA, CAB and CSA), as well as a calendar and contact subsection. This could make it easier for students to submit public concerns and find the time and location for each SLC meeting.
For SLC updates, CAB informed the council that they are focused on Spring Weekend planning. An event for Valentine’s Week is also being scheduled, with specific dates and events to come.
Hjertberg informed the council that there were 137 clubs and/or departments at the Spring Club Fair, and estimated 1,000 people were at the event. He also told the council that USG would be holding special elections on Jan. 22 for the three open Class of 2027 senate seats, one being for a GSB student to fill and the other two being for FCRH. Information sessions for spring elections will begin in early April.
GSB Assistant Dean for Seniors Jenna Cook, Ph.D., noted that the add/drop period ended on Jan. 21. Summer registration for GSB will begin on March 2. Emails for commencement start on Jan. 23, and Cook emphasized that each graduating senior is entitled to two tickets to commencement should there be severe weather, but the tickets must be claimed.
Assistant Director of Residential Life for Housing Operations Nicole Vaughan, M.Ed., noted that the Resident Assistant (RA) recruitment process is underway. A total of 249 applications were received, with interviews and networking sessions beginning in early February. The application for returning RAs has not closed yet. Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Residential Life Charles Clency shared that the average returning RAs have historically been around 30, with the total number of RAs needed being 97.
Vaughan also mentioned that in early February, all residents will get an email for deposits for housing for the next academic year, and they will have two weeks to submit them.
During his updates, Williams explained that there would be microphones for each member of the council starting during this meeting so that everyone can properly hear one another.
The next SLC meeting will occur on Feb. 11 in the Campbell Multipurpose Room.
