Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

GOAL: $120 million (included across the pillars)

CSTEP ScholarshipWe are called to renew and strengthen Fordham’s historic commitment to building a richly diverse and inclusive community and to developing a strong sense of civic virtue in the hearts of students. Diversity, equity, and inclusion inform and permeate the fundraising goals within each of the four pillars of our campaign. We must enrich every element of the Fordham student experience. And we must ensure every student has equitable access to the meaningful connections and opportunities that nurture belonging, engagement, and purpose.

This goal, woven throughout our campaign, is supported by giving opportunities listed in all our campaign pillars, such as: 

  • The Diversity Fund 
  • Programs to help students from low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented backgrounds
  • Housing scholarships
  • Health and wellness
  • Programs for LGBTQ+ students

Featured Funding Initiative: Support for LGBTQ+ Students

Endowment Supports Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Meeting the distinctive needs of LGBTQ+ students is consonant with Fordham’s identity as a Jesuit, Catholic university. As a part of our mission, Fordham has the opportunity to show every student, prospective student, parent, and alum that they will be welcomed, included, and affirmed at the University. Learn how you can help.

Related Campaign Stories

At Fordham Law School, Investing in Diversity—In All Its Dimensions

At Fordham Law School, Investing in Diversity—In All Its Dimensions

Feeling grateful to Fordham Law School for the education he received, Chris Torrente, LAW ’00, has been supporting the school for years—most recently, supporting a new diversity, equity, and inclusion effort that resonates with him personally. His reasons stem from challenges family members have faced, and from his own experience as a first-year Fordham Law …

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Fordham LGBTQ+ Student Wellness Fund Attracts Strong Support

Fordham LGBTQ+ Student Wellness Fund Attracts Strong Support

In April, when Fordham hosted the Ignatian Q conference, attended by students from Fordham and 13 other Jesuit colleges and universities, it was a joyous occasion for the University’s LGBTQ+ community. With its focus on activism, spirituality, and justice, it “breathed life into the conversation around LGBT life on campus,” said one student organizer, Ben …

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With Help from Donors and Students, Gabelli School Builds Diversity Pipeline

With Help from Donors and Students, Gabelli School Builds Diversity Pipeline

Every week, Andres Cintron takes a bus and subway across the Bronx to All Hallows High School, where he co-teaches a class. The goal? To prepare students to succeed in a place like Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business, where he is a sophomore. He always looks forward to it. “They’re very engaged, and it’s fun …

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Fordham Housing Fund Transforms College Experience for CSTEP Students

Fordham Housing Fund Transforms College Experience for CSTEP Students

For his first two years at Fordham, Alvin Feliz Varona was commuting to the Rose Hill campus, first from New York City’s northern suburbs and then from a town further north, near Poughkeepsie. From there, he commuted for two hours. Each way. “That is very difficult to do, if you do that every day,” especially …

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A New Prize Invites Greater Diversity in the Pages of The Observer at Lincoln Center

A New Prize Invites Greater Diversity in the Pages of The Observer at Lincoln Center

This coming academic year, a new prize will go to a staff member of The Observer, the student newspaper at Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus, thanks to a financial gift from a faculty member seeking to help the paper’s staff meet their goal of publishing work by a greater diversity of writers and other creators. The …

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Giving Back to Fordham Law, an Alumnus Invests in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Giving Back to Fordham Law, an Alumnus Invests in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Following the May 2020 murder of George Floyd and the ensuing outcries about structural racism in society, Fordham Law School, like institutions everywhere, looked inward—and, a few months later, produced a plan for addressing racism within and beyond the campus community. While Fordham Law School was founded to serve people who had traditionally been excluded …

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A Growing Network Supports First-Generation Students at Fordham

A Growing Network Supports First-Generation Students at Fordham

This year, a new organization at Fordham is putting the focus on the needs and experiences of students who are the first in their families to pursue college degrees—and helping them find connection and support. The First Gen Network debuted in the fall, founded by students after Fordham administrators held listening sessions last year about …

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New Endowment Supports Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts at Fordham

New Endowment Supports Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts at Fordham

Going to Fordham College at Rose Hill in the 1960s, the late Joseph Esposito learned a lot about theology, philosophy, his own abilities as a writer and a communicator, and the value of the liberal arts. But there was one thing about himself that was still coming into focus. “The whole concept of sexuality was …

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