The Fordham Ram Serving The Fordham University Community Since 1918 Volume 108, Issue 5
March 4, 2026
TheFordhamRam.com
Jewish Studies Hosts Lecture on Haggadot
Massaro and Bush Discuss the “View from the Pew”
By KAT ROSSI
By EMMA LEONARDI
ASST. NEWS EDITOR
NEWS EDITOR
Professor Katrin KogmanAppel, Ph.D., of the University of Münster delivered the first lecture in a multi-part lecture series on Feb. 25, presenting “The Book and the Seder: Medieval Evidence of Passover Rituals.” The threepart Distinguished Lecturer series, which is being held by the Fordham University Center for Jewish Studies, explores the evolution of one of Judaism’s ritual texts. Kogman-Appel, a leading figure on medieval Hebrew illuminated manuscripts and various early printed books, has spent decades studying Jewish book culture. Much of her scholarship focuses on the Haggadah, the text used during the Passover Seder to recount the biblical Exodus from Egypt. While many Jewish families continue to use the Haggadah today, KogmanAppel’s research reveals that its historical development was far from static. “The more I get to know this field, the more I realize that there remain numerous questions open,” she said. The series, which is being led by Kogman-Appel, which covered her nearly-completed research project, examines how the Haggadah emerged as a distinct book type around the 14th century and how its design, imagery and function shifted during the transition from manuscript to print culture. Aside from its primary topic, this lecture series highlights Fordham’s own resources. In addition to the lectures, Kogman-Appel led a workshop using 17thcentury printed books and some high-quality facsimiles of the medieval manuscripts from the Fordham’s Special Collections. Passover centers on the ritual meal known as the
The Health Center is run by four nurse practitioners and one registered nurse, with eight additional nurse practitioners on part-time duty, rotating daily. Director of the Health Center Maureen Keown said they try to keep at least four providers on site every day to keep up with the number of patients that walk into their office. The Health Center sees students who come in for medical reasons. But before they are seen, they must sit in the waiting room for a nurse to be available. Some students say they have had to wait just five minutes to be seen by a staff member, while others say they have had to wait over an hour.
The Laurence J. McGinley Chair in Religion and Society Thomas Massaro, S.J., just presented a lecture focused on secularization and the role of religion in society on Feb. 25. The lecture was followed by a brief response by associate professor of sociology and anthropology Evelyn Bush, Ph.D. Massaro began his McGinley lecture by discussing Émile Durkheim’s reductionistic view of religion, Sigmund Freud’s view of religion as an illusion and also Peter Berger’s role of the Protestant Reformation in secularization. Massaro then identified the Protestant Reformation alongside the rise of modern nation states and the scientific revolution as major developments in the process of secularization within society. Massaro also noted Jose Casanova’s “Public Religions of the Modern World” when countering the secularization theory. He then explored the idea of resurgence of religious influence in global politics, such as Roman Catholicism, Islamic activism, the Hindu nationalism and Evangelical Christianity, and how the desecularization of the world has implications for religious leaders and institutions. Massaro also then explained the ideas as presented in Charles Taylor’s “A Secular Age” by sharing the focus on its subjective aspects of modernization and the human condition and how this shift from a Godcentered understanding to a humanist one affects the social concept of religion. In terms of the decline of religion, Massaro noted the introduction and increased popularization of “spiritual, but not religious” individuals.
The Health Center at the end of February, with Christmas decorations still up.
SEE HEALTH, PAGE 5
SEE MCGINLEY, PAGE 5
IN THIS ISSUE
Page 15 Culture TV Review
Page 18 Sports Women’s Hockey
SEE HAGGADOT, PAGE 4
6 News Jordan Fisher
Jordan Fisher Speaks at ASILI Black History Month Event
COURTESY OF THE CHRONICLE
KerryAnn O’Meara is set to replace current Provost Dennis C. Jacobs in July.
KerryAnn O’Meara to Replace Provost Jacobs By SIDNEY BLASCO FEATURES EDITOR
KerryAnn O’Meara will be assuming the role of provost and senior vice president of Student Affairs for Fordham University, effective in July. O’Meara will be replacing current Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Dennis C. Jacobs, who has been serving as Fordham’s “Chief Academic
Officer” since 2019. “It is my job [and] responsibility to ensure that Fordham fulfills its mission of offering all the academic programs that it offers, of hiring the deans and the faculty, and ensuring that we deliver on the promise of Fordham education for every undergraduate and graduate student,” Jacobs said. Jacobs said he was not on the search committee or hiring committee for the
new provost, and that it is University President Tania Tetlow’s decision, which he said is common practice in higher education. O’Meara graduated from Loyola University Maryland in 1993 with a bachelor’s in English literature. She then received her Master’s in studying higher education administration from Ohio State University, and later, SEE PROVOST, PAGE 4
A Walk Through of the University Health Center By SIDNEY BLASCO FEATURES EDITOR
Sour punch straws and lollipops, Vogue magazines and mandatory face masks await students who frequent
the health center. Down the unassuming stairs in O’Hare Hall right before the bookstore entrance, the Rose Hill Health Center is easy to miss for those not familiar with the campus.
SIDNEY BLASCO/ THE FORDHAM RAM
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