Fordham University labels itself as “The Jesuit University of New York” to highlight its Catholic pedagogical tradition but the satellite campus at Lincoln Center on West 61st Street has a decidedly secular and ecumenical atmosphere. The campus incorporates some graduate divisions, including the well-respected law school, as well as an undergraduate college. With 1,700 undergraduates enrolled, Fordham College at Lincoln Center has approximately half as many students than the main Bronx-Rose Hill campus and is heavily focused on the performing arts. It is a newer facility, built in 1968 on eight acres adjacent to the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
All students must fulfill requirements in a broad-based liberal arts curriculum, and so there are course offerings in all the standard departments, albeit somewhat abridged. Our tour guide, Sophie, had auditioned for the theater performance major, but was only accepted as a liberal arts B.A. candidate. She is a classical civilizations major, and apparently loves Fordham’s humanities curriculum (classics and humanities are traditionally strong at Jesuit colleges). The college has extensive opportunities for foreign travel and study for those who would like to branch out beyond Manhattan.
One of Fordham College-Lincoln Center’s greatest magnets is the dance conservatory program, offered in conjunction with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. This program not only attracts many dancers, but it contributes to the already highly diverse makeup of the student body. We noticed many attractive young women at our open house and Monkey Mama chose to withdraw slightly after one spectacularly beautiful student initiated a conversation about various theater programs and Fordham College-Lincoln Center’s advantages among them. She preferred the smaller class sizes at Fordham-Lincoln Center to those at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (more about which will be forthcoming). Monkey Son listened attentively and nodded sagely at that.
The theater department stages a variety of performances annually and we were impressed with the facilities. Potential majors must audition but they must also be accepted academically. Fordham’s acceptance rate is approximately 50% but only 14% of accepted students actually enroll. The admissions representative hinted that highly talented applicants might be forgiven some academic shortcomings but they still need to have achieved certain benchmarks and requirements. Monkey Mama inferred that the theater department might be able to prevail over other skeptics on the admissions committee but are probably somewhat less influential than the head basketball coach (Fordham’s Division I team plays in the Atlantic 10 Conference).
Fordham-Lincoln Center’s vertical campus is expanding horizontally to include sorely needed student housing. Like other Manhattan student accommodations, the dormitory facilities are comfortable but without frills. Room and board can exceed $16K for a single, bringing the total cost of attendance to more than $55K. Although the campus chapel includes worship spaces for Moslems and Jews (the main building is named for its prime benefactor, Mr. Leon Lowenstein), the dormitories do observe nominal parietal regulations, banning overnight guests of the opposite sex. Despite that, Monkey Son declared Fordham College at Lincoln Center his favorite among those visited thus far.
Bound 4 College 