Engagement & Development
Donor profile: John F. Freeman’ 80
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you ended up at Fordham Prep. We know you grew up in the Bronx, so what was the consideration in attending Fordham Prep?
I started my scholastic career at nearby Our Lady of Mercy on Valentine Avenue in the Fordham section of the Bronx. My older brother attended Fordham University before enlisting in the Marines. Its campus along with the Bronx Zoo and Botanical Garden provided great childhood memories. My father passed away before I turned 8 and my mother thought it best to move further north to the Woodlawn section of the Bronx.
For grades 6-8 I attended St. Barnabas School where I was active in scouting and served as an altar boy. I then applied to the local high schools, including Cardinal Spellman, Regis, Bronx High School of Science, and Fordham Prep. I was accepted to all these schools( in retrospect I had peaked academically as a 7th and 8th grader!) and chose to go the Prep over the others with my widowed mother’ s mixed blessings. While she was very knowledgeable about and a great fan of the Jesuits( she worked at Murray-Weigel Hall caring for their elderly and infirmed Jesuits) the prospect of attending what was then the relatively most expensive option of my possible choices was not a financially prudent decision as far as she was concerned. enthused that I chose to study with the Jesuits. Their reasoning was not fully articulated.
What activities / sports were you involved in during your time at the Prep? Where there any particular subjects you took interest in? What teachers or administrators made an impact on your Fordham Prep experience?
While at the Prep I participated in football( 4 years) and rugby( 3 years); I was a co-captain of the 1979 varsity football team and take pride in our three successive victories over our rival, Xavier High School, in 1977, 1978 and 1979. I also participated in Model Congress, but was otherwise time-constrained regarding other extra-curriculars as I worked part-time jobs during much of my high school career. As far as subjects, I had an affinity for math and the sciences. French was relatively easy as I had grown up speaking French with my mother. I was weak in Latin: it required more consistent study habits, which heretofore in my academic career were secondary in application.
Some faculty who stand out for their positive impact include Stanley O’ Konsky, SJ, Charles Sullivan, SJ, and Russell Sloun, SJ.
What university did you attend after graduating from Fordham Prep and what did you study in college? How did your time at Fordham Prep prepare you for college and life beyond college?
I attended Fordham University after the Prep. I had taken some first-year courses at the University during my senior year at the Prep and I was happy to spend four more years at Rose Hill. It was a natural progression for a boy from the Bronx. I arrived at the University well-prepared if( as mentioned above) less than ideally proficient in my study habits.
I began with the idea of pre-medical studies, but turned to pre-law by the end of my second year. I played for the rugby club at the University.
Fordham Prep helped lay the groundwork for my academic career through law school. It fostered my sense of belonging to a cherished group of alumni-friends, with many of whom I remain in close contact.
The Prep’ s combination of a challenging curriculum, its location on the bucolic Fordham University campus and its wide offering of sports persuaded me that it was the best choice for me. Funnily enough, I recall that some of the lay and clerical mentors at my parish school were less than
After graduating from college, what was your career path and what are you currently doing professionally?
I graduated in 1984 and after a year off enrolled in the evening division of Brooklyn Law School- finally exploring
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