The Fordham Ram Volume 108, Issue 4
Serving The Fordham University Community Since 1918 TheFordhamRam.com
February 25, 2026
The Barnyard BBQ: Fordham Staple Set to Permanently Close By JORDAN DONEGAN ASST. NEWS EDITOR
Fordham’s Dean of Students Kevin Williams reflects and looks to the future.
EMMA LEONARDI/THE FORDHAM RAM
Dean of Students Reflects on His First Months at Fordham By EMMA LEONARDI NEWS EDITOR
A new Dean of Students was named by Fordham University in November 2025, replacing outgoing Dean Christopher Rodgers, who is now fully transitioned into his new role as associate vice president for Strategy and Operations. Kevin Williams, Ed.D., will be
taking up the mantle. But who is he, and how will he assist in improving Fordham? Williams began his Fordham journey as a child. He lived on a farm, where he grew up aspiring to be an actor. But his dream quickly switched to politics, then to education and finally to therapy. Throughout his entire childhood, William’s family had taught him the
IPED Hosts Lecture on Internationalism By KAT ROSSI ASST. NEWS EDITOR
The Fordham University international political economy department (IPED) hosted an event as part of their weekly lectures titled, “Bid for Internationalism: The Dialogue Between Pope Pius XII and President Franklin Roosevelt on Peace and International Order.” The lecture given was a collaboration between the political science department and the Curran Center for American Catholic Studies. Madalena Meyer Resende, Ph.D., an associate professor at the NOVA University of Lisbon and a scholar of Catholicism and also politics, presented on the topic of her new book, which covers the dialogue between Pope Pius XII and former President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
2 News Book Talk
Fordham Hosts Michael Luo for a Book Talk
Resende had begun her presentation with framing the project within broader scholarship on the reformation of the international order, noting that major wars often prompt global frameworks that had been established by those victorious powers and highlighting the 1648 Westphalia System, the 1815 Vienna Congress and the 1918 Versailles system as highly relevant examples. In the formation of the postwar international order, Resende had emphasized a less apparent “underground dialogue” between Washington, D.C., and the Vatican which had contributed to various emerging ideas that were about sovereignty, human rights and also multilateral institutions. “The emergence of Nazi SEE IPED EVENT, PAGE 4
7 Opinion From the Desk Sidney Blasco: The Road Less Traveled
importance of learning about and helping others. “My parents instilled at a very young age that we needed to help others, be of service to others,” Williams said. “I think that’s why the Jesuit … connection, lifelong learning and being of service to others was really important.” Williams ended up attending SEE WILLIAMS, PAGE 4
After nearly six years of hosting late-night drinkups and the jam-packed Halloweekends, one of the local bars Barnyard BBQ recently announced they are permanently closing on Feb. 28. This closure comes after months of negotiations with landlords over increasing rent prices, according to Barnyard owner Simon Kajtazi. Barnyard, which is located on Fordham Road next to Arthur Avenue, is one of the major primary attractions for the Fordham University night life. Many students have expressed formative undergraduate experiences and memories attached to the bar. However, Kajtazi said the rent is simply too high for him to keep up with, forcing him to permanently close the doors to his establishment. “Barnyard is closing down because our lease is going up and the rent is going up,” Kajtazi said. “The rent is going up; that is the whole case. The lease couldn’t be negotiated,
so we just decided to end it.” When Kajtazi had made this announcement on the Barnyard official Instagram page, many Fordham students were left wondering whether the closure would actually take place. Kajtazi had previously announced its closure in 2024, only to retract it and remain open for another two years. However, Kajtazi confirmed that he is closing his bar for good this time. He remarked that when he almost closed Barnyard two years ago, Fordham students were the ones who saved his business after he struggled with financial issues and a lack of customers at his bar. “I made an announcement a couple of years ago, but thank God Fordham came through by supporting us,” he said. “And now, the lease is going up too much, and the rent is getting too high.” Notably, Barnyard is not the first bar outside of Fordham’s gates shutting down for good within the last couple of years. At the end of the 202425 academic school year, SEE BARNYARD, PAGE 5
Fordham’s Inherited Campus: The Calder Center By SIDNEY BLASCO FEATURES EDITOR
Despite walking through the dense 18-inch snow left from the recent snowfall, the silence of the Louis Calder Center is warm and welcoming. Roughly 30 miles north of the Rose Hill campus and a 45-minute Ram Van journey away from it, the center serves as Fordham University’s own biological field station. It is filled with laboratories, researchers and acres of forest, all fulfilling the purpose of environmental work. The Calder Center is a 113acre property established in 1967, and was donated to Fordham by philanthropist Louis Calder. The property includes forests, the wetlands and water systems, giving researchers the environment to study ticks, trees and other
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organisms living nearby. The center is separated from Fordham’s two main campuses and, for the last three decades, has generally been run by four staff members, according to Thomas J. Daniels, director of the Calder Center. Originally focused on faculty research,
the center now supports undergraduate and graduate students in interdisciplinary environmental studies. “We take students up here, we expose them to the outdoors … we give them hands-on experience through SEE CALDER PAGE 5
SIDNEY BLASCO/THE FORDHAM RAM
The Calder Center’s main building was built by the Calder family.
12 Culture Wuthering Heights
A Departure from the Text We Thought We Knew
19 Sports Olympics
Medals and Mayhem in Milan