Funding Initiative: Support for LGBTQ+ Students

LGBTQ Couples on Park Bench

Approximately one in six young people identify as other than heterosexual. A survey by the Higher Education Research Institute indicates that 12 to 16 percent of Fordham’s senior class identifies as LGBTQ+.  Such students as well as faculty and staff continue to confront bias, prejudice, and rejection by family, schools, and spiritual communities.

Meeting the distinctive needs of LGBTQ+ students is consonant with Fordham’s identity as a Jesuit Catholic university. Fordham has the opportunity to show every student, prospective student, parent, and alum that they will be welcomed, included, and affirmed at the University. Our commitment is to support every Fordham student as a whole person.

Areas in which Fordham seeks additional current use and endowed support to advance LGBTQ+ initiatives include:

Speakers, programs, and student conferences

  • Graduate assistantships with the Office of Multicultural Affairs
  • Stipends for LGBTQ+-related research by students and faculty
  • Community engaged learning courses in concert with organizations serving LGBTQ+ communities
  • Retreats and pastoral care for LGBTQ+ students to help them integrate their faith and gender/sexual identities Scholarships, housing, and emergency funds for students facing challenges  such as homelessness, domestic violence, and family rejection that disproportionately affect LGBTQ+ students

Give Now to Support LGBTQ+ Students

Interested in endowing funds, naming opportunities, or have other questions? Please contact Michael Boyd, senior associate vice president of development and university relations, at 212-636-6525 or mboyd7@fordham.edu.

Supporting LGBTQ+ Students at Fordham

Scholar Calls for Wider Acceptance of LGBTQ Community in Eastern Orthodox Church

Scholar Calls for Wider Acceptance of LGBTQ Community in Eastern Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Christian tradition can be a resource for acceptance and affirmation of the experiences of the LGBTQ faithful, a guest speaker said at a March 6 Fordham event, addressing current disagreements about their participation in today’s Eastern Orthodox Church. Especially regarding the LGBTQ community, the Orthodox Church has consistently become “hung up on the …

Hot Off the Press: ‘Disorderly Men’ and H. P. Lovecraft’s ‘Midnight Rambles’

Hot Off the Press: ‘Disorderly Men’ and H. P. Lovecraft’s ‘Midnight Rambles’

A selection of recent titles from Fordham University Press Disorderly Men: A Novel In Disorderly Men, Fordham English professor Edward Cahill evokes New York City in the mid-20th century, several years before the 1969 Stonewall uprising catalyzed the movement for LGBTQ+ rights. The novel opens with a police raid on Caesar’s, a mob-owned gay bar …

Tribute: Dr. Susan Love, Trailblazing Surgeon and Author of the ‘Breast Book’

Tribute: Dr. Susan Love, Trailblazing Surgeon and Author of the ‘Breast Book’

As a young surgeon in the 1980s, Dr. Susan Love bucked tradition when it came to treating patients with breast cancer. Instead of automatically settling on the typical “slash, burn, and poison” approach of mastectomy, radiation, and chemotherapy, she favored methods that preserved as much breast tissue as possible. “It became very clear to me, …

Our Pride and Joy

Our Pride and Joy

Dear Fordham, Re: Our Pride and Joy Last weekend, for the second year in a row, Fordham hosted the Outreach Conference on Catholic Ministry and the LGBTQ community. With welcome letters from Pope Francis and Cardinal Dolan, the conference created (as the pope described in his handwritten note) a beautiful “culture of encounter.” Outreach followed …

Tracing Marriage Equality Back to the Bronx

Tracing Marriage Equality Back to the Bronx

The Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges is famous for legalizing same-sex marriage in the United States. But the roots of that case—and much of the grassroots efforts for marriage equality—can be traced back to the Bronx through activist and community organizer Jesùs Lebròn. His story is now on display at Quinn Library at Fordham’s …

Ignatian Q Conference Advances LGBTQ Inclusion and Equality

Ignatian Q Conference Advances LGBTQ Inclusion and Equality

It was an event that fostered connection and hope—and moved some student to tears. On the weekend of April 21 to 23, students from 14 Jesuit colleges and universities came to Fordham for Ignatian Q, a conference emphasizing community, spirituality, and ways of achieving full inclusion and belonging for LGBTQ+ students on their campuses. The …

On Valentine’s Day, Humanities Scholars Explore the Meaning of Love

On Valentine’s Day, Humanities Scholars Explore the Meaning of Love

In a special Valentine’s Day event at the Rose Hill campus, Fordham scholars in the humanities explored what it means to love—beyond traditional ideas of romance. The group—a professor, a psychologist, and three students—gathered in a classroom in Duane Library on Feb. 14, where they spoke to members of the Fordham community about how love …

Seniors Celebrate at Diversity Graduations

Seniors Celebrate at Diversity Graduations

Dozens of senior students celebrated at Diversity Graduation ceremonies in early May, toasting to their accomplishments while honoring their culture and identity. The celebrations took place from May 2–6 at the Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses, honoring students from the Black, Latinx, LGBTQ, and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. Seniors received colored …

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 …

LGBTQ Hudson Valley Retreat to Offer Fall Foliage and Spirituality

LGBTQ Hudson Valley Retreat to Offer Fall Foliage and Spirituality

Just as the leaves in the Hudson Valley are about to hit their peak, Campus Ministry is organizing a weekend retreat to Goshen, New York, for Fordham students who identify as spiritual and LGBTQ. “We want to affirm to all our students that they are loved, and they are recognized for who they authentically are,” said …

Driving Social Change: Joan Garry, Keynote Speaker at the Fifth Annual Fordham Women’s Summit

Driving Social Change: Joan Garry, Keynote Speaker at the Fifth Annual Fordham Women’s Summit

From helping launch MTV as a recent Fordham grad to becoming a precedent-setting plaintiff for LGBTQ rights and a media-savvy champion for nonprofit leaders, Joan Garry, FCRH ’79, has long been a trailblazer. Along the way, she’s learned many lessons on leadership, communication, the need for mutual support, and the power of the media—some of …