Office of Residential Life at Rose Hill: Mission

Create the Community: Rights, Respect, and Responsibility

Fordham University, the Jesuit University of New York, is committed to the discovery of Wisdom and the transmission of Learning, through research and through undergraduate, graduate, and professional education of the highest quality.  Guided by its Catholic and Jesuit traditions, Fordham fosters the intellectual, moral, and religious development of its students and prepares them for leadership in a global society. View more information about Fordham University's Mission Statement.

The Office of Residential Life at Fordham University’s Rose Hill campus strives to foster an inclusive living-learning community that supports the institution’s educational mission and Jesuit, Catholic heritage.  Committed to the Jesuit ideal of educating the whole person, staff members empower residents to respect each other as individuals, seek new experiences, and take an active and creative role in shaping their living environments. 

Residents are encouraged to develop their fullest potential, as well as hold one another accountable, creating a sense of community, mutual respect, and personal responsibility to themselves and others. In partnership with the greater University community, staff members professionally provide safe and well-maintained halls, University resources in times of need, and responsible policies and procedures that reflect Fordham’s Jesuit, Catholic values. 

Residence Halls provide leadership opportunities that serve as personal journeys, through which residents develop into people of character, conscience, and integrity through a commitment to service and learning.  The office is comprised of educators who model caring for and serving with others, respect for the rights of all community members, and living Fordham’s mission and values.

 

  • The Office of Residential Life inspires, motivates, and cultivates substantive student participation. We dedicate ourselves to encouraging the student to create his or her own sense of belonging, fostering individual growth and the pursuit for excellence.

    In doing so, students are provided with a greater sense of purpose and community founded in the ideas of:

    • Rights
    • Respect
    • Responsibility

  • Students at Fordham University belong to the Fordham, Bronx, and World Communities. By recognizing one’s responsibility to the common good and shared values, students form the basis from which they can grow individually and with others; developing a personal investment in the University’s mission and preparing to enter the global community upon graduation.

    A respect for accountability fosters growth which is not solely based in rules and regulations, but also in the intentions of those within the community.

  • We, as members of the Fordham community and greater society, recognize the individual’s intrinsic dignity and worth, as well as the individual’s right to pursue intellectual, spiritual, moral, and social growth as part of their personal development and is based upon the values upon which our Jesuit University was founded.

    Members of the community should respect the delicate balance between the rights of individuals, the community, the University, and society as a whole.

    These rights exist regardless of race, color, creed, religion, age, ethnicity, disability, gender or sexual orientation, as well as, the many other characteristics that make us unique.

    They are protected by and, in turn, protect the individual, the community, and the University. Rights are assured by, and meaningless without, respect for others and responsibility for actions.

  • Respect is a virtue that is essential to one’s growth and success both on a personal and academic level.

    By establishing individual and communal levels of respect, students may flourish in their interactions with others and contribute to the creation of an open and supportive community.

    Students should feel comfortable retaining their own personal beliefs and practices when confronted with opposing ideologies, but be willing to engage in constructive and respectful dialogue, nurturing in each student an intellectual curiosity through respectful dialogue and learning from peers.

  • It is our responsibility to educate students to clearly understand what it means to be part of the Jesuit tradition, as well as a member of a residence hall, a campus, and the local community. Community members should be comfortable empowering one another to make choices that positively impact the community, as well as promote individual growth.
    Residential Life staff members have a natural duty to uphold not only individual rights, but also the rights of the larger community.

    Residence Halls can provide opportunities for growth by providing challenge and support in a structured environment reflecting the core values of the University.We, as members of the Fordham Community, continue to grow and challenge ourselves, as well as each other, by acknowledging the impact of our actions, holding one another accountable and accepting consequences, both personally and as a group.

    It is our responsibility, now and in the future, to carry on this learning process for and with others. Assisting students in the understanding the consequences of their actions, or lack thereof, are often learning opportunities through which students comprehend that the easy choice is not always the better choice, and that failing to take action is equally as destructive to the community as choosing to directly infringe upon the rights of others.