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THE OBSERVER September 13, 2018
Features
13
More than Summer School: Studying in Granada By GIANNA SMERAGLIA Asst. Features Editor
When summer rolls around, many college students look forward to spending time at home, most dreading the thought of their summer job or dreaming of days at the beach. This was not the case for one group of Fordham students, who hopped on a plane this past summer to study abroad 3,685 miles away in Granada, Spain. Among these students were Maya Banitt, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’19, Becca Light, FCLC ’20 and Joshua Anthony, FCLC ’19, all of whom enrolled at the Universidad de Granada or five weeks. ach o them had different majors and academic interests — Banitt studying theater arts administration, Light pursuing an Ailey/Fordham B.F.A. and Anthony double majoring in history and classical civilizations — and as such, had different reasons for going. For Banitt, it was her love of travel that compelled her to spend the summer in Granada. “I had never been to Spain,” she said. “It was the perfect opportunity for me to go, and I’m so glad I did. It also counted as a course for my Spanish minor.” Light felt similarly about her choice to study abroad as she, too, had always wanted to visit Spain. As a dance ma or, it is di ficult to travel during the academic year, so the summer was the perfect time for her to achieve her goal. “ he five weeks ew by,” ight said. “I wish I could’ve spent more time there, but at the same time it was a great amount of time to get to know the city and explore Spain.” ven though their stay in Granada was academically demanding, the students still man-
COURTESY OF MAYA BANITT AND BECCA LIGHT
Both Light’s and Banitt’s love for travel compelled them to study in Granada, allowing both students to take these beautiful photos of their travels.
aged to explore the city. According to Anthony, he was able to take exit-level Spanish to satisfy Fordham’s language requirement, and also managed to find the opportunity to take a siesta after his lunch breaks. Despite taking classes, there always seemed to be time to have fun with his friends throughout the week. For each of the students, the best part of studying in Granada was experiencing and immersing themselves in Spanish culture — something you can’t get in a classroom, they said. Both Anthony and Light noted that their favorite memory was celebrating the Fe-
ria de San Juan (Festival of San Juan). One highlight of Anthony’s time in Granada was speaking with local kids his age, taking pride in the fact that he was able to hold a conversation in Spanish. “I don’t think I would have been able to do that before this trip,” he said. For Light, the event was incredibly emotional and spiritual as she was able to partake in local traditions. “We wrote down things we wanted to leave in our past and things in our lives that we felt were no longer serving us and threw them into a bonfire on the
beach,” Light said of the festival. “ veryone students and locals dove in the ocean at midnight together as a way of purifying ourselves.” At the end of their trip, Banitt, Light and Anthony all felt as though they had become not only better Spanish speakers, but also better people. Banitt admitted that the whole experience opened her mind and gave her new perspectives on life. For Light, she said studying abroad definitely enriched her as a person. “I think travel in general gives you a better sense of perspective and helps you understand
your place in the world,” she said. “It gives you insight into other cultures that, in turn, informs how you think of yourself as a member of our global society.” For Anthony, the experience made him reevaluate his own culture. “I feel a lot more open to other ways of living now,” he said. hough they only spent five weeks in Granada, Banitt, Light and Anthony were able to learn about the Spanish language, and moreover the culture and history of the city. Overall, their time studying abroad was more than just a vacation or summer school; it was a life-changing experience.
Stephen Freedman Built a Legacy of Care By JEFFREY UMBRELL Features Editor
“Stephen Freedman opted or li e,” ve eller, h. ., president of the Fordham Faculty Senate, said last Thursday. She was speaking at the service of remembrance held for Freedman in the Fordham University Church, and the love and energy with which Freedman had lived was evidenced by the hundreds of faculty, friends and family who were in attendance. tephen reedman, h. ., served as provost of the university from 2010 until his death on July 2, 2018 at the age of 68. Many who spoke at the service grieved the loss of such an admired, accomplished and successful administrator, but hung around the necks of the many deans and academics who sat in the church choir was an unexpected sight: a bright pink Hawaiian lei. va adowska, dean o the Fordham Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, recalled at the service an old photo in which a lei can be seen peeking out from underneath Freedman’s gown, hood and formal academic wear. The lei, she said, was a reminder for him to live his life to its fullest. “He used to say to me,” Badowska continued, “‘Will you visit me when I’m on the beach in Hawaii?’” There was a hint of irony in the question, as Badowska said that Freedman was
“just about the last person who could sit quietly on a beach” in retirement. He worked tirelessly, passionately, generously. But still, she said, the lei and the idyllic beach scene represented for Freedman “a future beyond the here and now,” one where there would finally be ample time to cherish his friends’ company. Indeed, at the heart of Freedman’s work, both here at Fordham and throughout his career, lay a deep care for others. Virtually every speaker at the service emphasized the genuine, intense empathy Freedman possessed. Jonathan Crystal, interim provost and associate chief academic o ficer in the fice o the rovost, was an esteemed colleague and a close friend of Freedman. He recalled the “compassion reedman brought to everything he did.” “It wasn’t an act,” Crystal told those in attendance. “He was genuinely interested in other people.” Interest in and compassion for others guided the course of Freedman’s work at Fordham. The projects he oversaw expanded the university both at the local and global level. Nonetheless, he managed to give an individualized attention to each of those projects and to those involved in them. Freedman was “the kind of decision-maker that would seek input from lots of different people,” Crystal said. “I think he
always wanted to know what other people thought, what their ideas were, what their suggestions were.” No matter the size of the project, Freedman always wanted to build personal relationships with his colleagues. “It wasn’t all business,” Crystal said. “He wanted to know how people were doing and what was going on in their lives.” As provost, Freedman would inevitably have to make di ficult and sometimes unpopular decisions however, llen ahey-Smith, associate vice president and chief of staff in the Office o the rovost, stressed that Freedman would put the utmost care not only into making a decision but also in communicating that decision and its effects once made. “His approach,” Fahey-Smith said of Freedman, “was always one to convey and communicate those decisions in a way that was understanding of how others might eel about them .” ven i a decision went against the interests of an individual or group, those involved “knew that he had listened to them and taken into account their viewpoints,” Crystal said. “Sometimes that makes it easier to have a decision go against you, if you feel that the person who made it heard what you had to say.” As Freedman worked to broaden Fordham’s international presence, his ability to form personal connections proved to
be an invaluable skill. During his tenure as provost, university programs in London, Beijing and okyo ourished the ordham London Centre particularly is gaining recognition both as a branch of the university and a standalone institution. There was an opportunity in London, Freedman saw, to bring together the drama, business and liberal arts programs to create a unified student body. “ is vision there,” Fahey-Smith said of the London campus, “was to take it from a standalone program to a true, integrated center.” Instead of treating the three academic departments as distinct programs, Freedman would ask, “How do they all interact together?” Fahey-Smith explained. “How do you offer extracurricular activities to all those students?” She stressed that Freedman understood that the academic experiences of all students could be “enriched” through exposure to other disciplines. It was important, in considering a location for the London Centre’s new Clerkenwell building, to find a space that “really could be the future of the ordham ondon rogram,” ahey-Smith said. The space had to “fit the needs o our program It was really important that it’s truly functioning as a center.” Born in Montreal, Freedman came to the United States as an immigrant. Consequently, Crystal said, “he always had that
international perspective. He was always fascinated by other cultures.” Nevertheless, for Crystal, Freedman’s ultimate goal in expanding Fordham’s presence abroad was to provide Fordham students and faculty with opportunities to study, research and develop partnerships “across the world.” At the service, University resident Rev. oseph . McShane, S.J., described Freedman as an “academic diplomat.” Fahey-Smith explained what made Freedman such an effective ambassador, both in New York and abroad, for the university: “He had such a passion” for academia and the Jesuit mission, she said. “He brought that everywhere he went.” For the university, it will be nearly impossible to fill the void that Freedman’s death has brought, but both Crystal and ahey mith eel that the fice o the rovost is well prepared to move forward. “We had a very good sense of his vision for the university,” Crystal said. “His emphasis on academic excellence, his concern about students, his pro-faculty perspective, those are things that we all share.” “He really urged me to develop my own ideas and my own vision for the university,” Crystal said of Freedman. “He invited me to disagree with him and to challenge him, and I think that, in some ways, is carrying on his legacy.”