Campus Alert Archive
Fordham

'Enter Campus From 62nd Street': Fordham's 9:52 AM RamSafe Alert Routed Around the Lowenstein Lobby Encampment

NYcivil unrestemergency notificationhigh confidence
Confirmed Threat

On May 1, 2024, a few dozen students rushed through an exit door into the Lowenstein Center lobby at Fordham's Lincoln Center campus and erected a Gaza Solidarity Encampment. At 9:52 a.m., Fordham Public Safety pushed a RamSafe Alert directing the community to enter campus from 62nd Street and present Fordham IDs. NYPD ultimately cleared the encampment around 6 p.m. that evening, arresting 15 people, including 11 students and 4 alumni.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
Fordham University
Private R2 · NY
~17,000 studentsRamSafe Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 2 verified verbatim

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Verified verbatimThe Fordham Ram (verbatim quote of the 9:52 AM RamSafe Alert)268 chars
there are no disruptions to classes or operations … For the safety of our community, the Lowenstein Center entrance has been closed. Students, faculty, and staff should enter campus from 62nd Street — all individuals will have to present their Fordham ID for entrance.
Pushed at 9:52 AM EDT on May 1, 2024 — approximately one hour after Fordham SJP began the encampment in the Lowenstein lobby
Opens with 'there are no disruptions to classes or operations' — a deliberate normalcy framing that downplays the encampment while still triggering operational rerouting
The redirect to '62nd Street' addresses an unusual constraint: Fordham's Lincoln Center campus is essentially a single high-rise complex, and rerouting access funnels foot traffic through a single alternate entrance
ID-check requirement is unusual for daytime SMS-pushed instruction — it converts a campus-wide alert into a de facto access-control event
The ellipsis in the sourced quote suggests text the Ram trimmed; the substantive instruction (entrance change, ID requirement) is preserved verbatim
FOLLOW-UPEmail
Verified verbatimPresident Tania Tetlow's May 1, 2024 letter to the Fordham community following the NYPD clearance of the Lowenstein lobby encampment489 chars
We draw the line at intrusions into a classroom building, especially by people who are not members of our community. (There is a difference between free speech and people barging into your home to shout.) This decision was not about parsing the difference between protected political speech and threats, nor was it about the Middle East. This was only about the physical protection of the campus. It comes down to this: Fordham students have a right to feel safe and to finish their exams.
President Tetlow sent this community letter the evening of May 1, 2024, after NYPD arrested 15 protesters at the Lowenstein lobby encampment
The 'people barging into your home to shout' analogy was distinct among 2024 presidential encampment letters in framing classroom buildings as quasi-domestic space
The Fordham Observer subsequently reported that every arrestee was a Fordham student or alumnus, contradicting Tetlow's framing of 'people who are not members of our community'
Context

Background

Fordham University is a private R2 Jesuit institution of about 17,000 students with campuses in the Bronx (Rose Hill) and Manhattan (Lincoln Center). The Lincoln Center campus, where the May 1 encampment occurred, is unusual in being functionally a single high-rise complex (the Lowenstein Center) rather than a traditional quadrangle layout. On the morning of May 1, 2024, about an hour before first period, a few dozen Fordham Students for Justice in Palestine members rushed through an exit door into the Lowenstein lobby and set up tents. At 9:52 a.m., Fordham Public Safety pushed the RamSafe Alert directing the community to enter from 62nd Street with ID. By the time school maintenance had draped a blue tarp over the lobby windows and police gathered outside, the protesters were outnumbered. NYPD made arrests around 6 p.m., arresting 15 people — 11 students and 4 alumni — and charging them with trespassing. Fordham requested NYPD remain on campus 'through at least May 22' to prevent re-encampment, an enforcement footprint that drew criticism from faculty and student-press observers.
Analysis

Key Findings

RamSafe Alert opened with a normalcy framing ('no disruptions to classes or operations') while simultaneously triggering operational rerouting and ID checks
The 62nd Street entrance redirect reflects the unusual single-building geography of Fordham's Lincoln Center campus
ID-check enforcement converted the alert into a de facto access-control event, an unusual repurposing of an emergency notification system
Fordham was one of the earliest spring-2024 universities to use RamSafe Alert (rather than email or community statement) to communicate about an active encampment — putting the action in the active-emergency register
Outcome
15 arrested and charged with trespassing (11 students, 4 alumni). Students received interim suspensions; alumni were banned from campus 'until further notice.' NYPD remained on campus through at least May 22 at Fordham's request.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Student Paper
    Fordham Students for Justice in Palestine Organize Encampment and Protest at LC (The Fordham Ram)
    thefordhamram.com
  2. Student Paper
    BREAKING: NYPD Clear Encampment, 15 Arrested (The Fordham Ram)
    thefordhamram.com
  3. Official
    Fordham University Updates Regarding May 1 Protest (Fordham Now)
    now.fordham.edu
  4. News
    15 arrested as NYPD clears protester encampment at Fordham's Lincoln Center campus (NBC New York)
    nbcnewyork.com
  5. News
    Fordham University Foreshadows a Campus Culture of Surveillance (New York Focus)
    nysfocus.com
Tags
civil-unrestgaza-encampmentprotestarrestsfordhamnew-yorklincoln-centerramsafe-alertid-checklowenstein
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion