Why Does Fordham Need a Westchester Campus?
by Miles Gamble
Fordham, a Jesuit university established in the Bronx in 1841, sought to teach the principles and disciplines of law, science, religion, history and the arts from a Jesuit perspective. At Fordham, the Jesuit perspective was to foster the moral and religious development of its student body, helping them reach higher education as well as ethical enrichment.[1] Throughout the 20th century, Fordham was able to expand its border, transforming itself from a small Bronx college to a multi-campus university. In 1961, Fordham University established a Lincoln Center campus. However, the campus that followed the one at Lincoln Center was not located in the city, rather the pastoral confines of the suburbs. The Fordham University Westchester campus, located in West Harrison, NY, Westchester County, exists on the periphery of New York City. The Westchester Campus, established in Tarrytown in 1976, then relocated to West Harrison in 2008, offers many of the same classes that are found on the metropolitan campuses. However, the main difference between campuses is its location outside of the city. Historically, it has been assumed that the suburbs favor ideals that stand opposite to that of the city in regards to education. In particular, morality and economic success have been associated with suburban surroundings, where city-life is shrouded by poverty and evil. [2] Yet, one question still remains to be answered: why does Fordham University need a suburban campus?
First, Fordham’s departure may have been caused by its growing disdain for the “Burning City”, which was epitomized by the economically dying Bronx borough, where the move to suburbia was welcomed.[3] And second, the Jesuit ideology of moral development that buttresses Fordham education may have better accommodated in Westchester, based on assumptions of piety in Suburbia.[4] Both reasons have a justification that resonates with those who endorse the suburbs as an ideal place from a religious and educational perspective. Many writers have also spent time positing their perceptions of why institutions like Fordham tend to thrive in pastoral areas. All of the reasons previously mention may have contributed to Fordham’s decision to have a campus in the Suburbs, however we must first examine the time and condition of the city at the time Fordham left.
Historically, institutions have expanded into the suburbs because it is financially sensible to move out of the city.[5] For example, many offices of large corporations left New York City and created over 16 million square feet of new office space in New York’s surrounding suburbs between the 1970’s and 80’s[6] because it was cost-efficient.[7] However, a more significant motive for that may have led to Fordham’s departure was the notion that the Bronx was “burning”, meaning it was a place of social, economic, and scholastic death. The ideology of the suburbs being a sufficient refuge from the dying city has deep roots in American literature and was substantiated by the mass movement of institutions to the city’s periphery. (A further explanation of this can be found in James’ article on the exodus of the American city.)
Burning City
For Fordham University, the Bronx represented, for some, the same concept of the “burning city.” Some students and observers saw the Bronx as a haven for criminals, deviants, prostitution and death. A New York Times article from July 2012 spoke to these negative-perceptions of the Bronx: “The Bronx’s inability to catch up with the rest of the city’s phenomenal economic growth has been disconcerting…nearly a third of its residents over age 25 lack a high-school diploma. Only 17 percent have finished college.”[8]
Based on this article, the statistics describe the Bronx as a location not conducive to the aspirations of an expanding institution. Because Fordham strives to be a successful institution, it needs to be in an area that respects its objectives regarding education and economic resources, both of which the Bronx presumably lacks.[9]
Further, when the University decided to expand to the Westchester campus in 1976, the Bronx was hitting rock bottom. In his memoir, Fordham Alum and Jesuit historian, Raymound Schroth wrote about how the Bronx in the 1970’s was going through economic setbacks and dramatic divestment:
Fordham, a Jesuit university established in the Bronx in 1841, sought to teach the principles and disciplines of law, science, religion, history and the arts from a Jesuit perspective. At Fordham, the Jesuit perspective was to foster the moral and religious development of its student body, helping them reach higher education as well as ethical enrichment.[1] Throughout the 20th century, Fordham was able to expand its border, transforming itself from a small Bronx college to a multi-campus university. In 1961, Fordham University established a Lincoln Center campus. However, the campus that followed the one at Lincoln Center was not located in the city, rather the pastoral confines of the suburbs. The Fordham University Westchester campus, located in West Harrison, NY, Westchester County, exists on the periphery of New York City. The Westchester Campus, established in Tarrytown in 1976, then relocated to West Harrison in 2008, offers many of the same classes that are found on the metropolitan campuses. However, the main difference between campuses is its location outside of the city. Historically, it has been assumed that the suburbs favor ideals that stand opposite to that of the city in regards to education. In particular, morality and economic success have been associated with suburban surroundings, where city-life is shrouded by poverty and evil. [2] Yet, one question still remains to be answered: why does Fordham University need a suburban campus?
First, Fordham’s departure may have been caused by its growing disdain for the “Burning City”, which was epitomized by the economically dying Bronx borough, where the move to suburbia was welcomed.[3] And second, the Jesuit ideology of moral development that buttresses Fordham education may have better accommodated in Westchester, based on assumptions of piety in Suburbia.[4] Both reasons have a justification that resonates with those who endorse the suburbs as an ideal place from a religious and educational perspective. Many writers have also spent time positing their perceptions of why institutions like Fordham tend to thrive in pastoral areas. All of the reasons previously mention may have contributed to Fordham’s decision to have a campus in the Suburbs, however we must first examine the time and condition of the city at the time Fordham left.
Historically, institutions have expanded into the suburbs because it is financially sensible to move out of the city.[5] For example, many offices of large corporations left New York City and created over 16 million square feet of new office space in New York’s surrounding suburbs between the 1970’s and 80’s[6] because it was cost-efficient.[7] However, a more significant motive for that may have led to Fordham’s departure was the notion that the Bronx was “burning”, meaning it was a place of social, economic, and scholastic death. The ideology of the suburbs being a sufficient refuge from the dying city has deep roots in American literature and was substantiated by the mass movement of institutions to the city’s periphery. (A further explanation of this can be found in James’ article on the exodus of the American city.)
Burning City
For Fordham University, the Bronx represented, for some, the same concept of the “burning city.” Some students and observers saw the Bronx as a haven for criminals, deviants, prostitution and death. A New York Times article from July 2012 spoke to these negative-perceptions of the Bronx: “The Bronx’s inability to catch up with the rest of the city’s phenomenal economic growth has been disconcerting…nearly a third of its residents over age 25 lack a high-school diploma. Only 17 percent have finished college.”[8]
Based on this article, the statistics describe the Bronx as a location not conducive to the aspirations of an expanding institution. Because Fordham strives to be a successful institution, it needs to be in an area that respects its objectives regarding education and economic resources, both of which the Bronx presumably lacks.[9]
Further, when the University decided to expand to the Westchester campus in 1976, the Bronx was hitting rock bottom. In his memoir, Fordham Alum and Jesuit historian, Raymound Schroth wrote about how the Bronx in the 1970’s was going through economic setbacks and dramatic divestment:
“The Bronx unemployment rates more than doubled to 9.3 percent, higher than the rest of the city’s…The government’s intervention has neither the scale nor the imagination to stem the tide…and the plague had reached Fordham Road and the University’s front gate.”[10]
The use of the word “plague” in Schroth’s account makes clear the foul reputation the Bronx had in the eyes of some Fordham students in the 1970’s.[11] All of the ills and poverty in the Bronx stood opposite to the Jesuit mission of Fordham University, causing anxiety within some of the student population. Consequently, if some of the students were not comfortable with Fordham Campuses in the city, and particularly the Bronx, a move to the Suburbs may have been viable endeavor.
Religious Getaway
Besides for economic purposes, Westchester would also be an ideal place for Fordham University to expand on the basis of religion. Unlike the sin-filled city, the suburbs, as described by Emerson were “plantations of God” where “decorum and sanctity reign”[12] claiming it to be, in his opinion, something “more dear and connate than in streets or villages.”[13] Making such a distinction between the city and the suburbs determines a notion of righteousness that man should strive for, and in the context of higher learning, an institution should have the same aspirations. Fordham University has a history steeped in Jesuit principles that seek to place the student at the center of quality learning as well as spiritual camaraderie with those around them. Author, Francis P. Donnelly, who wrote the book on the principles of a Jesuit education, explains, “Undoubtedly, the most distinctive characteristic of the American Jesuit School…is the spirit of camaraderie that exists between master and boys”[14]
By using the word “camaraderie”, Donnelly assumes that the best and proper way of educating a student in a religious institution is by having like-minded individuals present.[15] And Donnelly’s assumption of camaraderie resonated with many writers, like Andrew Jackson Downing, who saw the suburbs as the best place those for who considered themselves moral. For example, in his work on architecture, Downing stated that the suburbs was a place where one could live “among educated, truthful, and refined people”[16], meaning that the ideal place for a student educated in the Jesuit tradition is the suburbs, because it was considered a setting that accommodated their religious beliefs and was assumed to be surrounded by scrupulous individuals.
The city, on the other hand, is a place that has been characterized as devoid of God. Author Kenneth Jackson described former perceptions of the city as being a place that was “irresolute, unsupervised, [where] alcoholic men and women too often gave in to wicked temptation.[17] Moreover, negative perceptions of the city throughout the 19th and 20th century has been viewed as one of the key reasons for the mass exodus of American urban centers in the mid 20th century, as James’ essay explains. If the city represents a place of such vice and godlessness, it becomes rational for Fordham to expand its pious campus to the suburbs.
The scourge of economic and moral blight coupled with principles of a Jesuit education both may have served as motivators in Fordham University’s move to the suburbs. Westchester, in particular, is one of the best examples of a suburb that exists just outside of a city, embodying spiritual enrichment and providing space for those looking for a reprieve from the dregs of the city. Throughout the 1970’s, New York City, and the Bronx in particular, experienced horrible divestment and a worse reputation in the context of offering economic and scholastic opportunity, where the Westchester campus may have been symbolic of Fordham’s evolution.
Notes:
[1] Fordham University, “The Mission of the University”, http://www.fordham.edu/discover_fordham/mission_26603.asp, (Accessed December 1, 2012) 1.
[2] Downing, Andrew Jackson, The Architecture of Country Houses (New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1850)
[3] Schroth, Raymound, Fordham: A History and Memoir, Loyola Press, Chicago, Illinois, pg. 323
[4] Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “Nature Addresses and Other Lectures, vol. 1,” (New York: William H. Wise and Co., Current Opinion, 1923)
[5] Rowe, “Corporate Estates.” From Middle Landscapes
[6] Rowe, 152
[7] loc. cit.
[8] Davidson, Adam. “Why Can’t the Bronx Be More Like Brooklyn?” New York Times, July 10, 2012, accessed October 21, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/magazine/bronx-economy.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
[9] Davidson, Adam. “Why Can’t the Bronx Be More Like Brooklyn?”
[10] Schroth, Raymound. Fordham: A History and Memoir (Chicago: Loyola Press, 2002), 324-25
[11] Schroth, 324-328
[12] Emerson, 15
[13] loc. cit.
[14] Donnelly, Francis, The Principles of Jesuit Education in Practice (New York: P.J. Kenedy & Sons, 1934), 7-9
[15] Ibid. 8
[16] Downing, Andrew Jackson, The Architecture of Country Houses
[17] Jackson, Kenneth, Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985)
Religious Getaway
Besides for economic purposes, Westchester would also be an ideal place for Fordham University to expand on the basis of religion. Unlike the sin-filled city, the suburbs, as described by Emerson were “plantations of God” where “decorum and sanctity reign”[12] claiming it to be, in his opinion, something “more dear and connate than in streets or villages.”[13] Making such a distinction between the city and the suburbs determines a notion of righteousness that man should strive for, and in the context of higher learning, an institution should have the same aspirations. Fordham University has a history steeped in Jesuit principles that seek to place the student at the center of quality learning as well as spiritual camaraderie with those around them. Author, Francis P. Donnelly, who wrote the book on the principles of a Jesuit education, explains, “Undoubtedly, the most distinctive characteristic of the American Jesuit School…is the spirit of camaraderie that exists between master and boys”[14]
By using the word “camaraderie”, Donnelly assumes that the best and proper way of educating a student in a religious institution is by having like-minded individuals present.[15] And Donnelly’s assumption of camaraderie resonated with many writers, like Andrew Jackson Downing, who saw the suburbs as the best place those for who considered themselves moral. For example, in his work on architecture, Downing stated that the suburbs was a place where one could live “among educated, truthful, and refined people”[16], meaning that the ideal place for a student educated in the Jesuit tradition is the suburbs, because it was considered a setting that accommodated their religious beliefs and was assumed to be surrounded by scrupulous individuals.
The city, on the other hand, is a place that has been characterized as devoid of God. Author Kenneth Jackson described former perceptions of the city as being a place that was “irresolute, unsupervised, [where] alcoholic men and women too often gave in to wicked temptation.[17] Moreover, negative perceptions of the city throughout the 19th and 20th century has been viewed as one of the key reasons for the mass exodus of American urban centers in the mid 20th century, as James’ essay explains. If the city represents a place of such vice and godlessness, it becomes rational for Fordham to expand its pious campus to the suburbs.
The scourge of economic and moral blight coupled with principles of a Jesuit education both may have served as motivators in Fordham University’s move to the suburbs. Westchester, in particular, is one of the best examples of a suburb that exists just outside of a city, embodying spiritual enrichment and providing space for those looking for a reprieve from the dregs of the city. Throughout the 1970’s, New York City, and the Bronx in particular, experienced horrible divestment and a worse reputation in the context of offering economic and scholastic opportunity, where the Westchester campus may have been symbolic of Fordham’s evolution.
Notes:
[1] Fordham University, “The Mission of the University”, http://www.fordham.edu/discover_fordham/mission_26603.asp, (Accessed December 1, 2012) 1.
[2] Downing, Andrew Jackson, The Architecture of Country Houses (New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1850)
[3] Schroth, Raymound, Fordham: A History and Memoir, Loyola Press, Chicago, Illinois, pg. 323
[4] Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “Nature Addresses and Other Lectures, vol. 1,” (New York: William H. Wise and Co., Current Opinion, 1923)
[5] Rowe, “Corporate Estates.” From Middle Landscapes
[6] Rowe, 152
[7] loc. cit.
[8] Davidson, Adam. “Why Can’t the Bronx Be More Like Brooklyn?” New York Times, July 10, 2012, accessed October 21, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/magazine/bronx-economy.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
[9] Davidson, Adam. “Why Can’t the Bronx Be More Like Brooklyn?”
[10] Schroth, Raymound. Fordham: A History and Memoir (Chicago: Loyola Press, 2002), 324-25
[11] Schroth, 324-328
[12] Emerson, 15
[13] loc. cit.
[14] Donnelly, Francis, The Principles of Jesuit Education in Practice (New York: P.J. Kenedy & Sons, 1934), 7-9
[15] Ibid. 8
[16] Downing, Andrew Jackson, The Architecture of Country Houses
[17] Jackson, Kenneth, Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985)