Breaking tradition at Fordham University

First non-ordained woman is selected to be President of a Jesuit University

JENNY HAN / ASST. NEWS EDITOR / THE USD VISTA

Fordham University, a Jesuit institution, recently announced their next president will be a non-ordained woman of Jesuit faith: Tania Tetlow. Traditionally, only priests of the Jesuit Order have led Fordham University and other educational institutions similar to it. According to The New York Times, “The decision makes Fordham the 21st Jesuit college or university to be led by a layperson and the sixth to be led by a woman. Ms. Tetlow, who has served as president of Loyola University since August 2018, was also the first woman and the first layperson to lead that institution.” 

For Sam Wilcox, a junior at Fordham who identifies as Protestant, this new change is a positive one. 

“I think it’s definitely a good thing,” Wilcox said. “It’ll be really good not just for only the student body but also for the Bronx Community. I’m just really excited to see what she has to offer.” 

Christina Boniello, a junior at Fordham University who identifies as Roman Catholic, also agreed with Wilcox’s thoughts. 

“I feel like having a women perspective of a predominantly male-led school board adds perspective that they lack,” Boniello said. “Maybe that can evolve our school into something it hasn’t been before.” 

For Boniello, this new perspective is also important because it can help tackle prevalent issues that she sees in New York City, such as sexual assault. 

“I feel someone with a female perspective would probably make that [dealing with cases of sexual assault] more important than other Presidents have before” Boniello said. 

Boniello also argues Tetlow would be more relevant and relatable to university students in general.

“I think it adds a great light as to how opinions and different ideas evolved throughout generations at a time, and I think it’s nice to have a newer, younger perspective rather than an older perspective because we’re dealing with college students,” she said. 

Even though Tetlow would be bringing new ideas and perspectives to the table, both Wilcox and Boniello believe that Tetlow embodies what it means to be Jesuit.

“She always talks about maintaining Jesuit ideals and a Catholic identity but I liked how she didn’t necessarily talk about Catholicism as a religion but more focused on the ideals of a Jesuit,” Wilcox said. 

For both students, it’s these fundamental Jesuit values that will ensure that it will continue to be relevant in modern day society. 

“Being a Jesuit is definitely who you are as a person. It’s how you treat people, how you treat a community despite religion,” Boniello said. 

“I know that just by being at Fordham; It’s so accepting of all types of people, whether it be religion, race, or gender. That is something that is so important that I think that all schools should take advantage of whether it’s Jesuit, Catholic, or non-religious.”

Aaron Bianco, a theology professor at USD and alumni of Fordham university, shared how he was at first surprised by this announcement.  

“I was a little shocked. They have always had Jesuit Priests have that role,” Bianco said. “It did shock me a little bit. If you look at every Jesuit university, 98% of them are run by Jesuit priests or men”

Bianco also shared his support for this monumental decision, and the effect it will have on the Church. 

“It doesn’t shock me that Fordham would be the first. It has always pushed the boundaries of the Church. It’s a very big step,” Bianco stated. “I say all the time to people that don’t follow Church stuff very often, but for the Church these small steps are giant leaps. For Fordham to say that yes we are a Jesuit institution, but there is no reason why a qualified woman can’t run the university makes sense.”

While Fordham may be the first Jesuit University to make this decision, the world watches to see if the announcement will echo for the years to come.