The Fordham Ram Serving The Fordham University Community Since 1918 Volume 104, Issue 13
TheFordhamRam.com
September 14, 2022
Fordham’s Young Alumni Committee Continues Programming
Junior Studies Portrayal of LGBTQ+ Police Officers in Media
By GRACE GALBREATH
By ALICE GAALSWYK
The Fordham Young Alumni Committee (YAC) is a group of recent Fordham graduates focused on fostering and strengthening the connection between young alumni and the university. Through regular meetings and occasional special events, YAC works to encourage alumni participation and connect recent alumni with current Fordham faculty, staff and students. The recurring meetings often include Fordham University speakers from various departments and current-event based discussions. Membership within YAC is open to all Fordham alumni who have graduated within the last 10 years. According to Megan Zuckerman, FCLC ’16, a YAC member since 2018 and the chair of the communication department, the committee’s membership has all types of Fordham alumni. “[We have] members from both FCLC and FCRH and several members who have multiple degrees from Fordham,”
Over the summer, Dorothy Bogen, FCRH ’24, worked on a media studies project that focused on the portrayal of LGBTQ+ police officers in U.S. television. Bogen looked at this issue through the perspective of abolishing the police and used those ideas to frame her research. This required Bogen to look at many facets of the topic, from finding how many LGBTQ+ cops are represented in U.S. television, to researching police abolition and how LGBTQ+ communities have been historically targeted by the police. “The ultimate thesis was basically the idea that even if these characters were otherwise positive representation, they maybe weren’t the most progressive forms of representation because they were upholding ideas about policing,” said Bogen. Bogen’s research presents an interesting issue because, unlike other civil rights and liberation movements in America, Bogen said that LGBTQ+ rights movements have not seen policing as a major obstacle to their aims. “There obviously is a deep history of the police targeting people and our ideas of criminality are influenced by homophobia, but at the same time I think for a lot of white, LGBTQ+ people, there’s not a lot of critique of LGBTQ+ people within the cop system,” said Bogen. Bogen has been interested in the idea of “copaganda” for a long time. She wrote and completed two previous papers on the subject both at Fordham and during her senior year of high school. Additionally, exposure to the issues in shows like “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” in fan discussion forums, helped
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
SEE ALUMNI, PAGE 3
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
COURTESY OF FORDHAM NEWS
Deans Mast and Auricchio unveil a new advising structure for Fordham College First-Year students this year.
Fordham Unveils New Advising Structure By SEBASTIAN DIAZ EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
After years of planning, research and focus groups, the Task Force on Undergraduate Academic Advising has launched the Fordham College Advising Center to replace an advising system that had specifically assigned advisors to gradelevel. The class of 2026 is the first class of students directly affected by the
decision, as there are no longer grade-level advisors for the firstyear students. The new advising system, named the Fordham College Advising Center, is led by an Associate Dean for Academic Advising. Professional advisors have also been hired to staff the center with the responsibility to advise students over the course of their undergraduate studies. These advisors will also work
closely with different departments and programs across the university. This new initiative was spearheaded by Drs. Maura Mast and Laura Auricchio, deans of Fordham College at Rose Hill and Fordham College at Lincoln Center. Mast spoke to The Fordham Ram to explain the decision to switch advising models and to SEE ADVISING, PAGE 5
Alumni and Faculty Rally to Save “Summer in Rome” By SOFIA DONOHUE DIGITAL PRODUCER
COURTESY OF STEPHEN CLARKE
Construction crews have been working all summer long on the McShane Campus Center construction.
A Look at McShane Campus Center Construction By DANA VATAFU
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
It was only a few months ago that the new McShane Campus Center first opened its doors on the Fordham University Rose Hill campus. Students now use the new building to relax in the
lounge, do homework and work out in the new expanded Ram Fit Center. This year, students can even enjoy a redesigned dining option, Dagger John’s, which serves items including sushi, poke bowls, bubble tea and BONMi Vietnamese food. This is also where campus organizations such
as the Career Center, the Campus Ministry and Center for Community Engaged Learning are located. During the summer, the McShane Campus Center project entered into what Stephan Clarke, the assistant director for campus center operations, referred to as “Phase 2”
SEE CONSTRUCTION, PAGE 4
Fordham offers over 110 study abroad programs to its undergraduate students; programs take place in 52 countries on six different continents. For students who cannot study abroad during the academic year, Fordham offers numerous summer study abroad programs such as London Centre, Fordham in Granada and Fordham in Rome. Fordham’s summer abroad program in Rome allows students to take one of three courses during their month abroad: Art and Architecture of Rome, Performing Italian and Documentary Photography in Italy. However, the Fordham in Rome program will not be available in sumSEE ROME, PAGE 3
SEE POLICE, PAGE 4
in this issue
Opinion
Page 8
Culture
Page 11
O'Hare Hall: Reminiscent of the Boland Hall Fire Tragedy
Arthur Avenue Celebrates Festival Ferrogasto
Sports
Page 20
Football Improves to 2-0 With Narrow Win Over Monmouth