Living the Mission

Laudato Si’: A Fordham Green Plan

Pope Francis issued a new imperative to our world to act courageously in addressing climate change. This bold and visionary approach asks all Catholic institutions to holistically transform over the next seven years to stave off catastrophic global warming.

Learn More View Our Action Platform

Change yourself. Then tackle the world.

Who we are determines what we do. We seek knowledge and engage with society. We strive to find God in all things. We are committed to the spirit of inquiry and curiosity even when—especially when—we don’t know where the answers will take us.

A Jesuit education means living a life beyond self, helping to feed the hungry, clothe the poor, heal the sick. Service is a critical part of who we are - so much so that it’s built into our curricula.

Nurturing the Jesuit, Catholic approach to education is the work of our division. We help everyone at Fordham grow spiritually through reflection, dialogue, and service. 

At Fordham, service forges the person you become. We hear it all the time from our alumni and current students: Fordham gives them the tools to not only make a positive change in themselves, but also a positive change in the world.

 

Looking for information on Urban Plunge? Head to the Center for Community Engaged Learning's webpage to learn more!

Urban Plunge Students - LG

Campus Ministry Center for Community Engaged Learning Center on Religion and Culture

What Does Living the Mission Mean to You?

Fordham students talk about what Living the Mission means to them.

Living the Mission News Articles

President Tetlow Honored by Nonprofit That Supports Aging Religious

President Tetlow Honored by Nonprofit That Supports Aging Religious

Fordham’s president, Tania Tetlow, was recognized for her dedication to education and leadership at a Sept. 13 awards dinner held by Support Our Aging Religious (SOAR!), a Catholic nonprofit that has served aging sisters, brothers, and priests for nearly four decades.  At the 37th annual New York awards dinner, held at the New York Athletic [...]

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Kayaking and Reflection on the Hudson River

Kayaking and Reflection on the Hudson River

On Sept. 2, 113 undergraduate Fordham students took to the water for some recreation and reflection. For 30 minutes, students paddled around in one- and two-person kayaks in a protected section of the Hudson River next to the Manhattan Community Boathouse. The visit to the boathouse was sponsored by Fordham’s Pedro Arrupe Volunteers and the [...]

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The Feast of St. Ignatius and the Lessons of Discernment—Or How to Make a Difficult Decision

The Feast of St. Ignatius and the Lessons of Discernment—Or How to Make a Difficult Decision

Dear Fordham Community, Today is the Feast of St. Ignatius, when we celebrate our founder, the intellectual and moral genius who left us an extraordinary legacy. But rather than brag about Ignatius himself, we serve his legacy better by remembering his teachings. Every day at Fordham, we struggle with difficult decisions – the agonizing kinds [...]

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Pope Francis, Martin Scorsese Address Conference in Rome Co-Sponsored by Fordham

Pope Francis, Martin Scorsese Address Conference in Rome Co-Sponsored by Fordham

A three-day international conference in Rome at the end of May brought together 60 writers, poets, and artists, including filmmaker Martin Scorsese, to discuss the spiritual and religious dimensions that form the Catholic literary imagination. The Global Aesthetics of the Catholic Imagination, which took place May 25-27, featured a private audience with Pope Francis, who [...]

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Students Immerse Themselves in ‘Religion in NYC’

Students Immerse Themselves in ‘Religion in NYC’

From joining an LGBTQ Ramadan celebration to helping migrants at St. Paul and St. Andrew United Methodist Church, Fordham students in the Religion in NYC course got a hands-on education in the work of New York’s faith communities. Karina Hogan, Ph.D., associate professor of theology, said her goal for the course was to help students [...]

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Migration Justice Advocates Come Together at Fordham Summit

Migration Justice Advocates Come Together at Fordham Summit

More than 50 community leaders and scholars from the New York City area came together on June 1 and 2 for a summit geared toward creating a more just sustainable and dignified immigration system. “Partnering for Migration Justice: Building Sustainable Collaborations between Migrant Communities and Higher Education,” featured a welcoming address by Jacquelyn Pavilon, associate [...]

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Remembering Paul Brant, S.J., a Champion for Bronx Renewal

Remembering Paul Brant, S.J., a Champion for Bronx Renewal

As a young man, Paul Brant, S.J., earned a degree in engineering—preparation, he hoped, to join a Jesuit mission in Peru building earthquake-resistant housing. It was a combination of the deep empathy and solution-oriented practicality that defined his life, explained Roger Hayes, a friend of Father Brant’s since seminary in the 1960s. “He cared a [...]

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Racial, Gender, and Ecological Justice: ‘A Deep Link’

Racial, Gender, and Ecological Justice: ‘A Deep Link’

Melanie Harris, Ph.D., a leading scholar in Black feminist thought and womanist theology, spoke at Fordham’s Rose Hill campus on Wednesday, April 26. In “Ecowomanism, Justice, and the Work of Planetary and Self Care,” Harris, a professor at Wake Forest University, made the case that race, gender, spirituality, and ecology are deeply intertwined and talked [...]

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In Ignatian Community of Practice, a Chance to Reflect on Service

In Ignatian Community of Practice, a Chance to Reflect on Service

Service has always been a core part of Fordham’s Catholic American Studies concentration, a selective program designed to give undergraduate students of any major a deeper appreciation of the historical, theological, and cultural manifestations of Catholicism. But this semester, the Curran Center for American Catholic Studies, which supervises the program, partnered with the Center for [...]

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Fordham Kicks Off Faith Fest, a Campuswide Multifaith Celebration

Fordham Kicks Off Faith Fest, a Campuswide Multifaith Celebration

At the beginning of this school year, new Fordham President Tania Tetlow led an interfaith prayer and picnic that was open to all. Erin Hoffman, director of campus ministry for Lincoln Center, said that the popularity of the event really drove home the need for more multifaith offerings. “For such a long time, we felt [...]

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Agents for Change: Alumni, Students Reflect on Global Outreach Experience as ¡GO! Celebrates 60 Years

Agents for Change: Alumni, Students Reflect on Global Outreach Experience as ¡GO! Celebrates 60 Years

When Jade Catherine Petalcorin traveled to Mississippi through Fordham’s Global Outreach program last year to learn more about the foster care system there, she joined a long tradition at the University, one that has helped thousands of students engage with communities, take action on social issues, and forge their postgraduate career path. “It’s a humbling [...]

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