<p>I'm a Forham grad myself from 20+ years ago, lived in Little Italy and loved it.
Also look at the video on post # 25.
Is</a> there a student quarter/ghetto for Fordham's Rose Hill Campus? - Page 3 - City-Data Forum</p>
<p>Ugh, I hate the fact that this board is set so that posts can’t be edited just a few minutes after they’re submitted! Of course I meant Fordham grad, not Forham grad!</p>
<p>Hmmmm…after watching the video at the end , I’m certainly hoping Lincoln Center offers a different perspective on college life.</p>
<p>I’m no pollyanna. But a couple of salient points here. First, people who post this kind of stuff are just trying to draw attention to themselves and seemingly trying to hurt Fordham. If the op graduated 20 years ago, that makes them mid 40’s. So what’s the point? I am dubious of this claim. </p>
<p>Is Fordham Rose Hill urban? Yes. So are almost all the other 28 Jesuit universities around the country. By design. If you want a southern finishing school or a prissy campus in suburbia, pick somewhere else. Many of the world’s greatest universities are urban. Get over it. </p>
<p>You think drinking and immoral behavior, and bad language and lewd videos dont exist at Harvard and Princeton? Guess again. You think BC isnt known of HEAVY drinking and much of the behavior exhibited in the video of Fordham? Guess again. Happens at Duke as well. Big time. </p>
<p>Many college kids like to act out and “be outrageous” as a means of attracting attention to themselves. Kids are kids. </p>
<p>But Fordham is also a serious academic school with many students working extremely hard for four years to attain their own levels of excellence, seeking admission to graduate schools and/or jobs. My kid hung with similar “nerds who had fun” for four years. They ALL graduated Phi Beta Kappa, thank you very much. </p>
<p>Its a gross mischaracterization to suggest Fordham is full of drunks, whores and ne’er do wells. Screw ups dont last long at Fordham…they flunk out. Fact. If they survive, they dont graduate at the top of their classes, but at the bottom. Good luck with that. </p>
<p>As for claims in the blogs posted that Fordham kids have a disconnect with the Bronx, that is partially correct and partially wrong. Fordham has MANY outreach programs that many students at Fordham EMBRACE. Some programs at Fordham REQUIRE outreach involvement. The Curran Center is one of them. Its a phenomenal program getting phenomenal results. The vast majority of students at Fordham come from suburbia…whether from Long Island, New Jersey, Connecticut or suburban locales of major US cities, such as Dallas or Los Angeles or Miami. Many are from wealthy families. But many students come from middle class families, not from wealth. These kids tend to be the ones most committed to helping the less fortunate and who embrace the Bronx. There are many non-profit organizations in the Bronx who depend on Fordham students volunteer hours to complete their vital missions. Are there rich kids who turn up their noses at urban outreach? Yes. They also exist at Columbia, NYU, Princeton, Harvard, MIT, BU, BC, Georgetown (!!!), etc. </p>
<p>Fordham is very diverse economically, racially (24%), socially, and religiously. Kids from all over, from all sorts of backgrounds. That is a good thing. A lot of growing up occurs on campus. As Fr. McShane is fond of saying at move in weekend, “kids come here young and immature and leave here substantially changed, hopefully bothered by injustice in society.” What goes on during those four fabulous years is what makes Fordham special. </p>
<p>Rose Hill is a gorgeous and SAFE campus. For the most part, Belmont/Arthur Ave. is safe. I’ve eaten late meals on Arthur Ave and walked back to campus with my kid and her boyfriend or one or two others, many times. Never a problem. But NO! You do NOT want to go wandering around outside the gates late at night, alone, drunk. That is good advice in any large city. A student disappeared at Dartmouth a few years ago, after wandering around late at night drunk. Dartmouth is not urban. </p>
<p>So for all those who are trying to trash Fordham, I say, 'buzz off and have a nice day." Its a simply fabulous school in a fabulous location. Its not for everyone, and doesnt try to be. But its very special and beloved. :-)</p>
<p>Finally Justice Sonia Sotomayor was on 60 minutes last night. I am not one of her supporters, but I do admire her commitment to and love of the Bronx. She is a very proud citizen of the Bronx having grown up in the projects and raised by a single mother. She was gushing about the Bronx last night.</p>
<p>I guess I just get nervous because my daughter is exceptionally quiet, writes poetry, is super sensitive, and, while noticeably attractive and very smart (not a goody-two-shoes, quite cynical, actually), is a bit socially awkward, and would not fit in at all with rowdy behavior. She sees some of that in high school, obviously, but she’s not living with it on any kind of steady basis. I think maybe Lincoln Center has less of the athlete or partying culture? She wants to be in the city for sure, for the social aspect as well as the education, but not really for the clubs and bars – more for the culture and sophistication and diversity. Her older sister is 15 years older (I was much younger when she went to college !) and she chose to live at home and commute to a tiny, private liberal arts school. That daughter headed to Manhattan at age 27 – this feels much different!! </p>
<p>Thanks, sovereign, for the reality check!!</p>
<p>My daughter graduated from the Rose Hill campus in May 2012 and loved her 4 years there. She was not a “partier” but found a niche of friends that she remains close with today. She chose to live on campus all 4 years and had apartment style housing in the dorms both junior and senior year which she loved. Several of her friends moved off campus to the Arthur Avenue area and my daughter was a frequent visitor to their apartments. As the previous post said, you just have to use common sense like you would anywhere. When my daughter was a freshman and wanted to visit friends at UCONN, I was more nervous about her visiting there since it has remote areas and there had been recent reports of rapes on campus! My daughter knew not to walk alone at night and did tutoring off campus in the Bronx at an all girls school. Fordham is a wonderful school and I would love it if one of my younger sons went there (although they “hate” NY!). Taking advantage of plays, museums, ice skating, wonderful Italian food in the Bronx, internships in Manhattan made for a great 4 years for my daugher. Good luck with your decisions.</p>
<p>thanks Frankie. I fully agree.</p>
<p>To mythreedaughters…a few more salient points.</p>
<p>First, going to Fordham and most any college, will bring about growth and change. Embrace it. We are not New Yorkers and my daughter was a public school graduate but still fairly sheltered and naive. </p>
<p>Every college has boisterous and rowdy and sometimes outrageous students. No exceptions. Its not a convent or seminary. It is real and sometimes gritty and also very rewarding. The best thing is to embrace what fears you/she have and get involved in community service. The vast majority of Fordham kids are good kids…hard working…a bit grade obsessed and often workaholics. There is a frenzy to New York (and the Northeast). But managed well with healthy outlets, like the Botanical Gardens, the New York Public Library, museums, and picking friends who are like minded will help balance that stress. She will be homesick. She will be freaked at times with the big city and the workload. All part of the program. But if she has good values and strong character will manage just fine. Keep focused on school work. Queens Court is an excellent freshman dorm to choose, if you can. Quiet nooks to study. Disputatio debating contest. Etc. </p>
<p>We wouldnt trade those four years at Fordham for anything. My kid grew up, and found her niche…not without some bumps freshman year…but it all worked out with perseverence, some wonderful mentors/professors, and some outstanding friendships. We visited a few times to help with the transition. </p>
<p>Lincoln Center is more artsy and less preppy. But there are party people there too, just as NYU is full of artsy party animals. It all depends on your desire for a college experience. TO me Rose Hill offers both worlds…academic, athletics, large campus, and still urban. </p>
<p>My kid also got deeply involved in non profits in the Bronx and was handsomely rewarded with life changing experiences and friendships that last still today. Got an email from someone there last week in fact…two years after the fact. She also did an internship on the Upper West Side which was incredulous. </p>
<p>We will be here for you. Trust me. Fordham is about family. Fordham kids hang together and go into the city together. They take the RamVan to LaGuardia together. Some of their friends drive the RamVan! LOL.</p>
<p>There are stories at every college campus and dorm. Including Notre Dame. Can’t avoid it. Smart and well behaved kids learn to roll their eyes, and move along and rise to the top of their class. Faculty do an excellent job at Fordham…and mentor very well. They quickly tap the kids who turn in superior quality work…and recommend them for internships and other perks…some on campus, like dinners with Fr. President. Rose Hill Society, Fordham Club, etc etc. </p>
<p>I remember like yesterday the day we dropped her off freshman year…pig tails bobbing as she ran across eddies to get her group and class schedule, following mass on the lawn. We got into our minivan and headed home…a long hard slog…tears rolling down our cheeks. Fearful, yet happy for her. Four years later she graduated and we had tears of a different sort…with the Deans! But oh the memories. Embrace Fordham. Embrace the Bronx. She will be perfectly safe and filled with wonderment.</p>
<p>My daughter also was not an uber partier. She took full advantage of manhattan while at the Bronx campus.</p>
<p>As on any campus there are noisier dorms and quiet ones. Fordham is strict about drinking on campus, so the drinking takes place on Arthur avenue and for many gets old. </p>
<p>Your daughter would fit right in and if she at all into volunteering Fordham has great programs and she would finds kindred spirits.</p>
<p>Good luck and having had two girls go there, I love the olace</p>
<p>Fordham is a big, diverse place. I know people like the one in the video, and I know people who are so busy with studying, internships, and other “productive” things that they’ll be mad by 25. Most of us fall somewhere in between. Non-sociopaths can always find a crowd here.</p>
<p>Rose Hill does sometimes seem disconnected from the community because, as one of the linked forum’s posters said, most of us don’t have much reason to talk to locals who aren’t cutting our hair, selling us food, etc., and in NYC you just don’t go around talking to people you don’t have a reason to talk to. Many students can and do get involved in the Bronx community, but the fact remains that Rose Hill is mostly a bunch of rich-ish white-ish people who don’t engage most of their their poor-ish brown-ish neighbors–it looks bad to some people.</p>
<p>Angle:</p>
<p>The same can be said at every urban school, particularly private and jesuit schools around the country. Kids are kids.</p>
<p>But there are many Fordham students who are working in the community, and they are appreciated and valued and get along well with “our neighbors.” </p>
<p>It all depends on who YOU hang with…if you are hanging with some of the kids who are involved, your perspective might change a lot.</p>
<p>As for sociopathic nerds…well…they are just uber aggressive about studying and getting where they want to go. For some that is Goldman Sachs, for others its Harvard Law and for others its superlative (not pejorative) graduate programs in international affairs, theology, philosophy, psychology, history, languages, math etc. </p>
<p>They aren’t mad cappers, they are just focused and determined. My kid was one of those…and although a bit wound up at times, had similar friends…and they had fun as well…they just arent heavy drinkers and party animals. </p>
<p>hard work at Fordham pays huge dividends. Trust me.</p>
<p>Sovereigndebt:</p>
<p>So how does my post try to trash Fordham? </p>
<p>Nowhere did I say that I agree with the thread linked or with the video. I have kids still in high school and middle school and would be pleased if they end up going to Fordham. But I want to know what their campus experience might be like and hope that they don’t find too many students like the one in the video. If there were lots of posts here saying that the type of experience in the video was really representative I would not be happy.</p>
<p>Why is my claim that I’m a Fordham grad and former Little Italy resident suspect? I lived on Lorillard Place for 4 years and walked through the Bathgate entrance every day. I’ve driven through the neighborhood a couple of times in recent years but can’t really tell how much it’s changed in terms of off-campus housing. I know that dorm life isn’t for everyone and would like to think that if either of my kids wanted to live in Little Italy it would still be a viable option.</p>
<p>@crepes - I am a junior at Fordham and have lived on campus all three years. I have been really happy with the dorms here (this year I’m in Walsh - an apartment style suite which is great) I have a number of friends who have moved off campus for various reason (typically either the lower cost or to get away from the ResLife rules). </p>
<p>While off campus life is a viable option, I’d suggest that, if possible, your kids live on campus at least for their freshman year – my freshman dorm was a great way to meet a lot of people. If someone starts off living off campus, he/she may not be able to develop as large a circle of friends.</p>
<p>Interesting and timely thread. My kid is looking into off campus housing for next year. They are looking at an apartment off Lorillard and Fordham Road. There’s a 24 hour checking cashing place and a 24 hour White Castle on the corner. I seems to be a rather isolatedblock with a school, boys and girls club, one townhouse and large apartment building. Unlike locations on Arthur Ave, there is no security on the block in terms of Fordham guards. I heard from recent and older graduates that this is an unsafe block and a hang out for possible trouble makers late at night due to the 24 hour stores. I’d like to hear from current Fordham students if they know about this location and the off campus housing. Right now my vote is no for this location.</p>
<p>My D just graduated and lived off campus her senior semester. While my W was concerned, by this time our D had developed some street smarts after coming from a suburban NJ home. She knew not to hang out without a group of friends at night and was careful. Fordham has been very good for her and she has a great job waiting. The same urban issues are found by students who dorm at Columbia and NYU, Chicago, UPENN, Temple etc…even Georgetown and Notre Dame are not immune. I have heard of some rapes and assaults on quiet, pretty campuses like Cornell, Dartmouth, Michigan, Wisconson etc. There was a law created to publically report campus crime after a student was raped and murdered at Lehigh years ago; another rural campus of an elite school. This is the world and the world is thus: crime happens. Fordham itself is a safe campus. If a kid wants to live off campus, s/he needs to do so knowing the neighborhood and using common sense.</p>
<p>On the flip side, this is NYC: the most exciting and amazing city that has so much to offer. A college education in NYC offers opportunities that are simply unmatched.</p>
<p>Crepes</p>
<p>I guess we don’t understand the connection with the (negative) rap video you referenced in this forum and your comment that you enjoyed living off campus.</p>
<p>Hey, I think the kid who did the video wants to be a future rap star and taken as a “Typical” rap video one sees on MTV, this kid may be the next EMINEM. Like most rap videos, they tend to denegrate something or someone, so I get that this was a topic this kid knew: Fordham. It is a very negative view, but it is expressive music and not a documentary, so no one should take it as such. I just don’t see/understand the connection you were trying to make here.</p>