McShane on the State of the University

In his annual State of the University address on April 1, 2009, Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the University, spoke to students and faculty in Flom Auditorium about the University’s current progress in admissions and financial aid, and future plans University-wide. Before officially starting his address, McShane immediately entertained students with the circumstances leading up to and following the U2 concert held last March, which was kept largely secret until days before the concert.

“It was serendipitous,” McShane said. “‘Good Morning America’ called us and asked if we would be willing to have an early-morning concert on campus. I asked who it was, and they said they couldn’t tell us anything other than it was big.”

The choice to have the concert was largely a result of Fordham’s location and grounds coinciding with the band’s desire to promote their album on a morning television program.

“By the end of the day, I had about 200 e-mails from around the country,” McShane said. “Everyone was impressed by the fact that U2 chose to come to Fordham. All the Jesuit presidents were filled with rage. I’d love to get them back, and students are already asking what we’re going to do next year.”

Quickly moving away from the topic, McShane jumped into the concerns over the state of the University. He began with the progress of admissions, which has been rising steadily for the past 19 years, and related the drastic changes in trends over the past 20 years.

“We actually closed down 400 beds in Hughes, and portions of Loschert and South in the ’90s when we only had 941 students,” McShane said. “Last year, we were 300 over where we wanted to be. At that time, we immediately closed down the waiting list, and we let the entering class float down to where we wanted it to be, and started with 1,836 students in the freshman class. We will finish with 25,000 applications, and we’re expecting to enroll a class of 1,750 for next year.”

According to McShane, in addition to size, the geographical location of students has changed as well. In the ’90s most students were from New York – particularly the five boroughs. Now, only 23 percent are from the five boroughs, and 46 percent are from New York. 14 percent are from New England; 14 percent, New Jersey; and an unusual five percent from California, which currently exceeds the number of students from Massachusetts. There are currently 64 merit-level students, SAT scores of incoming freshmen keep rising each year and Fordham is one of the top 25 Fulbright producing schools in the United States. McShane was also proud of the graduate school acceptance rate among undergraduates: 84 percent for pre-med students and 85 percent for pre-law students.

“It means that we’re doing our bid, small as it is, to overcome the shortage of lawyers we have in the country and in New York,” McShane joked.

McShane also said that the rankings in U.S News and World Report have also been favorable towards the University’s continued rise.

“In the course of the past five years, we’ve seen the University rise in the U.S News and World Report rankings from 84 to 61,” McShane said. “Among national research universities, that’s the largest rise in such a small period of time. But I really want to get us in the top 50 and I want to get us there fast.”

He was also proud of the prestige of the law school.

“Currently it’s ranked number 27, and it’s the 15th most difficult law school to get into in the United States,” McShane said. “The average entering LSAT is 166-167 for the day division. A 160 is what most law schools dream of having for their day division average, but for us it’s the evening division average.”

Fordham’s Graduate School of Business Administration has also followed Fordham’s rising trends. According to the Wall Street Journal, Fordham is number 25 among the top 55 executive MBA programs in the world. In addition, Fordham is number 20 in executive MBA programs that give students the best return for their investment.

McShane then proceeded to talk about the public launch of Fordham’s capital campaign for $500 million, of which $80 million will go towards unrestricted fund money to meet the operating budgets and – one of Fordham’s biggest concerns – financial aid. Fordham’s capital campaign will also invest towards money exclusively for academics and financial aid.

“We’re also seeking $250 million for what we call academic excellence,” McShane said. “Seventy million is for endowments for financial aid. Our annual financial aid budget runs for $90 million, and there’s $500 to 700 million we give out annually, on a budget of only $419.8 million. We take this seriously, and I know every student and family knows that there’s never enough [financial aid], and it’s very tough. We are trying to build our endowments to support the financial aid that we feel is important for our students.”

In addition, $70 million will be sought for endowed professorships in order to attract and maintain faculty that will adhere to Fordham’s mission of caring for students, and $100 million will assist specialized programs and the honors program.

Another $170 million from the capital campaign will go towards facility projects University-wide.

“We have pressing need [for facilities] on both campuses, not including Westchester,” he said. “At Lincoln Center we’re seeking $100 million for an accommodation building, which will be 20-stories tall. The lower 10 floors will house the law school. On top of it, we are putting a 10-story residence hall for the students at Fordham College at Lincoln Center. There is a flood of students who want to come to FCLC, and we can’t accommodate them.”

At Rose Hill, current projects include the new residence halls (Salice, Conley and Campbell), and a new campus center, which would include three pavilions of buildings that will house a new ballroom, new dining facilities, more club and organization space, an expanded bookstore and a central hub for the student life staff. McGinley will also be gutted and turned into an accommodation building for the intercollegiate and recreational sports, and the Lombardi Center will be expanded.

“As of Monday, March 30, we’re at $266 million,” McShane said in regards to the progress of the campaign. “The Board of Trustees has raised $84 million; President’s Council, $10.5 million; the law school, $80 million, and there have also been 49 gifts of $1 million or more.

Overall, McShane was pleased, but conservative about the state of the University in spite of the troubled economy.

“People wonder about how we are financially,” McShane said. “The University is strong right now, but we’re very cautious. We’ve suffered losses in endowments. We’ve had great gains, but we’ve also asked the deans to prepare contingency budgets, which will enable us to remain strong into the future. This is not an easy time for anybody in the United States. But Fordham is in a strong position. Our academics are strong. Our student body is stronger than it has ever been. Our cash position is strong, and financial obligations are being met.”

Finally, McShane expressed his pride in travelling around the country and talking to donors in support of the University.

“I love Fordham,” he said. “Nothing makes me happier than to work, and to beg, for Fordham. As I say to people on the road, I have an easy job because I believe in the place I work in, and when I ask people for money, I see our students, and that motivates me. I am deeply convinced that Fordham is a remarkable place.”

Andrew Vigliotta, FCRH ’10, was in attendance at the event. He said he was pleasantly surprised by some of what he heard.

“It seemed reasonable to expect that Fordham’s plan to launch its capital campaign by the end of this semester would be delayed in light of the current financial crisis,” Vigliotta said. “The fact that we are on schedule and have already well surpassed the $250 million marker to announce this launch is a clear success of Fordham University’s with Father McShane at the helm. Probably the greatest success that I learned of during the State of the University was the fact that our enrollment applications have increased. It was certainly nice to go home and tell my brothers at BC this news in light of Boston College’s 11-percent reduction in applications.”

United Student Government Executive President-Elect and current President of FCRH ’10 John Tully Gordon was also impressed by the speech. He said he was glad to see that McShane directly addressed the economic concerns gripping the Fordham community.

“In these turbulent economic times, as many students grapple with unforeseen financial obstacles, Father McShane’s candor throughout his entire ‘State of the University’ address was reassuring,” Gordon said. “He stressed the importance of ensuring that the financial aid, which many of Fordham’s students rely on in order to continue their studies, will be protected. His responses to the audience’s questions, ranging from the future of Fordham’s athletics to the recent MTA fare hike, highlighted just how important it is that students continue to stay involved and work towards resolving the difficult issues that our University community faces.”