The Fordham Ram Volume 100, Issue 2
Serving The Fordham University Community Since 1918 FordhamRam.com
January 31, 2018
Senate Votes on Merit By AISLINN KEELY NEWS EDITOR
MORGAN OUTLER FOR THE FORDHAM RAM
Students enjoy food at the Fordham Dance Marathon Promotional Dinner, the first fundraiser of the semester.
FDM Sets Goal of $100,000 By JOERGEN OSTENSEN ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
Four celebratory plaques span the walls of the Residence Hall Association (RHA) office, each showcasing the annual funds raised by Fordham Dance Marathon (FDM). The first reads $30,059 in 2014, and across the wall there is a steady growth to last year’s donated total of $91,869.75. This year, FDM hopes to add a fifth plaque that
tracks over a $100,000 donated. The money raised by FDM benefits pediatric cancer research and is donated directly to affected families in conjunction with the Andrew McDonough B+ (Be Positive) Foundation, according to Claire Polacheck, the Executive Director of FDM and the Executive Vice President of RHA. On Thursday, FDM hosted their first event of the semester – a promotional dinner and live performance by Satin Dolls that was
free for students who sent out ten emails to people they knew asking for donations. Polacheck said that it is one of the group’s most effective fundraisers. “We don’t get anything from the students themselves, but it really spreads awareness and [provides] big outreach into the community,” she said. FDM’s first ever event took place in O’Keefe Commons and SEE FDM, PAGE 6
Debate over the pool of funds for faculty salary and benefits continued into 2018 with a recently approved motion by the Faculty Senate. After a faculty referendum, discussion and Senate vote, a motion has been passed that will consequently decrease the sum allocated to merit. The Faculty Senate, which represents the entire faculty on such issues as salary and benefits, approved an across-the-board salary increase for the 2018-2019 academic year of 0.2 percent above the 2017 consumer price index (CPI), with the remainder of the funds allocated to merit increments, according to Action Minutes of the Jan. 26 Senate meeting. The faculty had held a referendum in December on whether or not to keep merit pay. Merit pay is additional compensation received by certain faculty selected by their department for exceptional performance. At Friday’s meeting, the Salary and Benefits Committee recommended keeping merit pay for 2018-19. According to the Bureau of Labor SEE MERIT, PAGE 3
Wertz Serves As LC Dean By AISLINN KEELY NEWS EDITOR
Frederick J. Wertz, Ph.D., professor of psychology, will serve as acting dean of Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) this semester. Rev. Robert R. Grimes, S.J., will take a leave of absence due to a “personal matter,” according to Bob Howe, director of communications for the university. Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the university and Stephen Freedman, provost of the university, announced the decision in a university-wide email on Jan. 29. In an email comment to The Fordham Ram, Grimes said he has not had a fellowship in his 20-year tenure, although most tenured faculty are eligible for a fellowship about every five years. He also said now is a good time for him to address recent foot problems that have made walking difficult. McShane and Freedman made the decision to appoint Wertz, according to Howe. They discussed the transition with others. Grimes is the college’s longest
SEE DEAN, PAGE 3
KEVIN STOLTENBORG/THE FORDHAM RAM
Panelists at Know Your Rights forum, pictured above, discussed challenges facing immigrants.
Immigration Discussed at Know Your Rights By JASMIN BOYCE
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Students and community members discussed current New York City immigration laws and immigrant rights at an open “Know Your Rights” forum on Monday night, sponsored by Fordham’s Bronx African American History
Project. The forum, held in the Campbell Hall multipurpose room, featured representatives from organizations heavily involved in fighting for immigrant rights, including Bronx Defenders, the International Refugee Assistance Project, the CLEAR Project and the Office of the
Mayor’s Center for Faith and Community Partnership. The event comes at a time of frequent raids conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as the Trump administration has put greater focus on illegal immigration. Describing the fear of deportation or of losing SEE RIGHTS, PAGE 6
CDO Takes Office By HANNAH GONZALEZ ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
After his hiring this fall, Rafael Zapata has officially assumed his role as Fordham’s first Chief Diversity Officer, Special Assistant to the President for Diversity and Associate Vice President for Student Affairs. In the next year of his involvement at Fordham, his goals include building a support team, as well as gaining an understanding of the community’s priorities and perspectives in regard to diversity. In an interview with The Fordham Ram, Zapata stressed the importance of working alongside faculty, students and administration to reach the goals of diversity and inclusion laid out in the President’s Task Force. “If I fail to articulate that this is a shared endeavor, then I would have failed, because that is not the work of a true diversity officer,” said Zapata. In response to queries about the purpose of the position and its role in comparison to other positions such as offices of multicultural affairs, the National Association of Diversity Officers released a list of Standards of Professional Practice for Chief Diversity Officers in October 2014. Zapata said the purpose of the position is to foster diversity in all aspects of the university. “Frankly, our job is to work ourselves out of a job. To do the work so that it becomes embedded in the culture, in the policies and the practice of the institution,” he said. In order to promote the goal of diversity at Fordham, within the next three months Zapata aims to hire a staff to assist with the management and outreach demands of the position. In the meantime, he has been in frequent meetings with members of the Fordham community to gain an understanding of the unique challenges at this institution. SEE CDO, PAGE 5
in this issue
Opinion
Page 7 “Congrats Democrats, You Played Yourself”
Sports
Page 18
Spring Preview
Culture Page 14 The Ram Culture Crossword