The Fordham Ram Volume 101, Issue 15
Serving The Fordham University Community Since 1918 FordhamRam.com
October 2, 2019
Fordham Mourns Brian Mulkeen
McShane Addresses Clerical Abuse
By HELEN STEVENSON
By ERICA SCALISE and HELEN STEVENSON
NEWS EDITOR
Brian Mulkeen, GSB ’08, was shot and killed in the line of duty as a New York Police Department (NYPD) officer this Saturday, Sept. 28. He was 33. Mulkeen had over six years of service with the NYPD, and was serving as a member of The Bronx Anti-Crime Unit. According to CNN, he and two other officers on duty at the Edenwald Houses on East 229th St. exited their vehicle to question a man. The man subsequently fled, and a struggle ensued. As the officers attempted to apprehend the man, multiple shots were fired. Mulkeen was shot three times. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the university, said Mulkeen was lost to senseless violence in a statement to the Fordham Ram. "Brian Mulkeen went out into the world to do exactly what we expect of our alumni—be a man for others—and he was slain in service to the local community,” he said. While attending Fordham, Mulkeen was captain of the track-and-field team for two years, competing for weight throw and hammer throw. According to the New York Times, he had recently joined the team as a volunteer coach. Brian Horowitz, Fordham track team coach and Mulkeen's former peer, said he was always cheerful during their time at the university in a statement to The New York Times. McShane said his heart goes out to Brian’s family and loved ones, and to his fellow officers. “I know the Fordham community joins me in prayer for the repose of Brian’s soul, and for his family and loved ones as they mourn his untimely death,” he said.
in this issue
Opinion
Page 8
The Pros of Public Polling Outweigh the Cons
Sports
Page 24
Football Takes Down Richmond
Culture
Page 13
Kanye West: Jesus is King
MEGHAN MCALARY/THE FORDHAM RAM
President Higgins gave an address on “Humanitarianism and the Public Intellectual in Times of Crisis.”
Michael Higgins, President of Ireland, Visits Fordham LC By KATHERINE LEONARD CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Michael D. Higgins, president of Ireland, gave an address on “Humanitarianism and the Public Intellectual in Times of Crisis” at the Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus on Monday, Sept.
30. The talk was part of Fordham’s Humanitarian Lecture Series, a collaboration between the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations and Fordham’s Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs. Higgins has served as Ireland’s head of state since November of 2011 and was reelected in 2018 to serve another
seven years. He was one of the 40 heads of state and government who attended and spoke at the firstever World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul in May 2016. He also has vocally supported the work of Irish Aid and the LÉ EiSEE IRELAND, PAGE 5
After a series of credible allegations of sexual misconduct against priests who were connected to the Fordham community, Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the university, said he is infuriated and does not want any student to feel they are in a compromised situation because of the university’s proximity to Murray-Weigel Hall. “It would be hard for me to put into words how angry I am that priests, my brothers, used this position of authority and affection to take advantage of the most vulnerable people in their parish communities and of their school communities,” said McShane in an interview with The Fordham Ram. McShane addressed abuse allegations connected to the university, Fordham Preparatory — the Jesuit high school on Rose Hill’s campus — and Murray-Weigel SEE MCSHANE, PAGE 3
Students Discuss Autism Awareness By JOERGEN OSTENSEN STAFF WRITER
Paul Morris started his involvement with Autism Speaks U — Fordham University (ASUFU) in 2013. Now he attends regular club meetings and gives yearly addresses at Light it Up Blue, the club’s spring event which fundraises for Autism Speaks Inc. (ASI). Morris said he was diagnosed with autism when he was two years old and did not speak until after his fifth birthday. According to him, speech therapy, listening and selfadvocacy have helped him gain independence. He graduated College Internship Program (CIP), Berkshire, in 2009. Currently, he works three jobs and has lived alone in White Plains since last summer. He said that being a part of the Fordham community through ASUFU has allowed him to make friends and build a greater sense of common understanding with respect to his autism. “I think we learn a lot and we understand well, because before we had clubs we had no understanding, now we understand,” he said. “It’s
Writers Ford and Oluo Speak at “The Bronx Is Reading” Event
SEE ASUFU, PAGE 6
SEE READING, PAGE 6
ALEXANDER WOLZ/THE FORDHAM RAM
Fordham University hosted “The Bronx is Reading” in Keating First auditorium last Wednesday.
By MAGGIE ROTHFUS COPY CHIEF
On Wednesday, Sept. 25, Fordham University hosted The Bronx Is Reading, sponsor of the Bronx Book Festival, in Keating First auditorium. This is part of the ongoing partnership between the university and the organization and, according to Chief Diversity Officer Rafael Zapata, had been planned two to three months
prior. The event involved a conversation between writers Ashley C. Ford and Ijeoma Oluo, whose memoir, “So You Want to Talk About Race,” was being promoted for its paperback release. The memoir confronts various questions about race Oluo found people constantly asking her and aims to guide people through those conversations.
Ford began the event by asking Oluo discussion questions surrounding herself and her book. Oluo stated that she originally had not wanted to write a book on race because she had been asked to write numerous columns on race already. She said her mind changed once she realized she continued to have conversations with people on race about the pain caused by racism.