Message
F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote that the test of a first-rate
intelligence is the ability to hold two contradictory
thoughts at the same time.
As we use the opportunity of this New Year to reflect on
Fordham Prep, Fitzgerald’s observation is timely and
applicable.
Fordham Prep is undoubtedly a strong institution:
• Enrollment is so strong that we are seeking support to
expand the envelope of the building’s east wing to
accommodate our ideal enrollment of 1,000 students.
• We have a loyal alumni base whose generosity and
engagement in advancing our mission have grown
steadily over the past several years. Our participation
rate of annual alumni givers increased by several points
last year alone. Classes have banded together to create
endowed scholarships. We have revived and
established new affinity groups promoting our athletic
program and our Ignatian Jesuit mission. Alumni
participate in service immersion trips to Tennessee, on
search committees to hire coaches and in sponsoring
internships for our students.
• In this issue of Ramview, you will find our endowment
report. The endowment has nearly doubled in the past
four and a half years, from $21 million to $41 million.
While this growth has been helped along by the recent
market surge, most of it has come through
transformative giving in our 175th Anniversary
Campaign and its successor, “Igniting Our Mission.”
• Each year, more than 90% of our junior class elect to
participate in the Emmaus retreat. Alumni report that
this is one of the most powerful experiences of God’s
grace in their entire lives.
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• Fordham Prep recently established a 1-to-1 Computing
Program to enhance teaching and learning.
• Leveraging our global network of Jesuit secondary
schools, we recently launched a Global Education
Program. More than 70 students will participate this
year alone in exchange programs that include
educational and service immersion in Europe, Africa,
South America and Asia.
• Our athletic program has grown to 18 sports. On fields,
courts and rivers, and in the recruitment of our
student-athletes to selective and competitive colleges
and universities, we have few peers in metropolitan
New York City.
• Our arts programs continue to expand. The Dramatics
Society has received accolades and recognition from a
nationally-recognized arts organization. We have
assembled an extraordinary Jazz ensemble which has
received invitations to play at venues throughout the
city and suburbs.
• Prep alumni are enrolled currently at every Ivy League
college or university, and at three U.S. service
academies. On average during the past five years,
60% of our seniors received acceptances at one or
more of Barron’s top colleges and universities.
So where’s the contradiction, you ask?
As one of our trustees reminds me frequently, private
secondary education is undergoing tectonic shifts.
Experts warn that the sustainability of tuition-driven
schools, even when supported by philanthropy, is no
longer a given for various reasons: Technological
innovation is reshaping radically access to information
and challenging traditional modes of education. The
Catholic population in the United States—especially in the