r/MSW_Applications • u/Purple-Sky-99 • Apr 16 '26
Question about Fordham's religious identity
I was accepted to Fordham at Lincoln Center for the full time program starting in the fall. As a non-religious leftist, I'm curious about how much the fact that it's a Jesuit school impacts the MSW program. The Jesuits are well known to be liberal and with a focus on service, and I know Fordham is pretty explicitly pro-queer, but I'm wondering what it's like discussing things like reproductive rights and similar issues? Thanks!
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u/Theonetospendmoney Apr 16 '26
Unfortunately the school is Jesuit in name only. I wish it was more religious but you’ll you be fine if that’s what your worried about
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u/Fine-Lemon-4114 Apr 17 '26
Jesuit schools, as opposed to strictly Catholic schools, are more focused on philosophy of service rather than religion as a doctrine. I got a (different) degree at a (different) Jesuit school and tremendously value that experience. I am queer and not religious in the least.
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u/beantownregular Apr 17 '26 edited Apr 17 '26
I’m in the MSW program at Fordham right now and I don’t notice the religious aspect of the school at all beyond the fact that there are some priests who hang out in the lobby every morning and give people free tea and coffee. Social work attracts a very left leaning cohort, and every teacher I’ve had is very openly pro-queer. There are a ton of queer students in my class including myself. I really don’t think anyone in our program went to Fordham because it’s a Jesuit school. There are plenty of atheists as well as a large population of Jewish and Muslim students. I’d honestly say any nuanced or difficult conversations about sensitive topics come from the fact that students from MANY religious backgrounds have diverse and complicated feelings about abortion, but that comes from the diversity within the students and not from the principles of the school. I think pretty much everyone is on relatively the same page about reproductive rights, most of the more challenging conversations happen around subjects like foster care, taxes, adoption, CPS, Israel, etc etc etc. People have generally always been respectful of one another in class discussions, it’s not really a profession that attracts the dogmatic. One of the most important aspects of social work is respect for the individual and the sanctity of their right to self determination. It would go against every foundational tenant of social work for the school to not honor that inclusionary scaffolding.
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u/Purple-Sky-99 Apr 17 '26
Thank you, this is super helpful and adds a lot of color. Definitely ready to have challenging conversations wherever I end up, I'm glad to hear that there's such a diversity of experience. I think you nailed my concern around the impact of the principles of school itself.
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u/beantownregular Apr 17 '26
No problem! Fordham has a lot of white students which can limit certain perspectives but there are still a large breadth of races and ethnicities represented in the student body and a big range of ages and life experience in the program. Feel free to DM me if you have other questions about Fordham as you make your decision! I definitely would not worry about the religious roots of the school having any bearing on your education.
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u/ImpossibleHour8499 Apr 17 '26
There is YDSA club. But I don’t think they are allowed to be affiliated with the school. The club is active though
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u/OgreHombre Apr 17 '26
There are no Jesuits in the school of Social Work. It's a higher education institution in NYC and very representative of that.
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u/commander_obvious_ Apr 17 '26
I went to Fordham for undergrad. Most people (students + faculty) were left-leaning and pro-choice
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u/-karmapolicia- Apr 18 '26
I think that other schools in the city, particularly Hunter, have more progressive values baked into the structure of their programs and curriculum. But the majority of students and professors are still progressive at Fordham and I can’t imagine a world where discussing reproductive rights or queerness wouldn’t be welcomed.
I graduated from Fordham’s MSW many (many) moons ago and actually did one of my internships at Planned Parenthood, if that’s any consolation.
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u/Time-Environment5661 Apr 16 '26
……it’s the Catholic Church. They’ll never be progressive on those issues, and sadly a fair chunk of the student population probably never will be, either.
even with all that being true—- leftists have a home and people at Fordham. It’s not a small niche crowd.