By Erica Scalise and Aislinn Keely
The presidents and executive boards of Campus Activities Board (CAB), Residence Halls Association (RHA), Commuting Students Association (CSA) and the United Student Government (USG) have come together to create the Year of Fordham Voices (YOFV), a university-wide celebration and education about the many voices in the Fordham community.
In a letter written by presidents Brian Reardon, FCRH ’18, Maxson Thomas, FCRH ’19, Nemesis Dipré, FCRH ’18, and Sara Chesnos GSB ’19, the student officers declared the 2017/2018 school year a new era set to foster diversity and inclusion in and around the university.
“Our Jesuit tradition calls for us to always seek for more; and in that search we are tasked to understand/be with the people that make up our community, both within and outside the gates.”
According to the letter, the YOFV calls upon the Fordham community to acknowledge, discuss and celebrate the spiritual, ethnic, racial, socioeconomic, sexualities and gender identities of the many people who live, study and work at Fordham.
“Each of the slc clubs are going about the year in different ways,” said Reardon, president of USG.
“For USG, we are having senators go out and interact with clubs and see what we can do better to lift them up to a ‘global’ scale. This is integral for smaller clubs who usually get lost in the large amount of programs.”
This integration extends beyond student-based clubs and organizations. YOFV acknowledges voices of those who are often unheard such as the dining and custodial staff, both of whom the university would be unable to function without.
The letter by the student officers also calls upon Fordham’s community to recognize why attention to diversity is necessary in the current climate.
“Challenges come as a result of our pluralistic society, which becomes increasingly complex as the world becomes more interconnected, and we encounter new ideas, cultures, and identities.”
RHA board member and O’Hare Hall programmer, Connor Cunniff, FCRH ‘20, said, “I think it’s very important that we continue to listen to every voice on campus and make sure everyone feels heard because our college is made up of people from many different backgrounds. We should take the time to appreciate each individual’s story.”
To amplify individual stories, the YOFV included a week of co-programmed events, such as FLYER DOWNSTAIRS.
In accordance with the YOFV mission, the Our Story event provided a platform and resources for five students to share their individual experiences with members of the university. Each speaker addressed themes of self discovery, pain and growth through the telling of their unique struggles and triumphs to an audience of students in Bepler Commons.
Charlotte Vitak founded the Our Story project while studying as an undergraduate at the University of San Diego (USD). A team formed and used the framework of her community building event to create a version of the program to benefit the Fordham community. Vitak was involved at Fordham’s event, giving the opening remarks at Fordham’s Our Story.
“Here at Fordham, I hope this program translates to you and your community the same way it did to USD,” she said. “You are going to hear from five individual speakers tonight that are excellent individual parts of a spectacular whole.”
Vitak requested in her opening remarks that the stories of the speakers not be reproduced, and said that stories are best told by their owners.
Rosie McCormack, FCRH ’20, said the storytellers were selected to showcase a diversity of voices at Fordham. “The storytellers chosen represented a diverse array of ethnicities, ages – and geographic areas, but much more importantly, they had diverse experiences to share,” she said.
McCormack said she recognized the divisions within Fordham that YOFV seeks to break down.
“Fordham is a unique campus, but it also has a very unique set of divisions- FCRH and GSB, residents and commuters, domestic and international students- the list goes on,” she said.
The Our Story event is a way to break down these divisions, according to McCormack. “Many student organizations are working towards greater connection in our community, but we have few places where we can really come together and hear about people’s experiences, without any agenda or labels or cliques. We wanted Our Story to be a space for this experience to unfold, where students could simply come share and listen, with no other expectations or conditions,” she said.
Our Story was a strong contribution to YOFV, according to Cunniff. “I thought the Our Story event was put together phenomenally and I can’t wait to see how all of the clubs continue to collaborate to make the Year of Voices theme even stronger next semester,” he said.
The Our Story event had a strong turnout, according to McCormack. However, some students are unfamiliar with YOFV, but hopeful for its unifying abilities.
Elise Zimmerman, FCRH ‘20, said she had never heard of YOFV before, but liked the concept.
“I’m honestly surprised I hadn’t heard of this before because I’m definitely in support of something like this,” said Zimmerman.
“I think that now, more than ever, especially given DACA and our current political situation in general, we need to focus on promoting inclusivity within our community,” she said.
