Friends, family and University trustees gathered at the Rose Hill campus on Thursday, April 24, to break ground on Campbell Hall, a 90,000-square-foot residence hall that will open in June 2010.

The building will be the namesake of Robert E. Campbell, CBA ’55, and Joan M. Campbell, in recognition of their $10 million gift to Fordham last December.

Joan M. Campbell and Robert E. Campbell, CBA ’55, at the groundbreaking for their namesake residence hall Photo by Chris Taggart

Speaking to a crowd of about 100 guests gathered under a white tent, John Tognino, chairman of the Board of Trustees, said that the Campbells’ gift, one of the largest in Fordham history, ensured an enduring legacy that made future students their heirs.

“We are all humbled by the Campbells’ leadership, support, dedication and service to Fordham University, and their efforts are sincerely appreciated by the Fordham family,” Tognino said.

Before joining the couple at one of 15 ceremonial shovels arrayed alongside the podium, Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, noted that the nearby Walsh Family Library already has a Campbell Atrium. It was no coincidence, he said, that the couple’s name is attached to the intellectual heart of the University.

“And now, where is Campbell Hall? It’s close to the library by design, but if you listen, you do not hear the quiet of a library here,” Father McShane said. “Rather, you hear the throb of the Bronx.

“The Campbells are at the intersection of life and learning, the Bronx and Fordham,” he continued. “Therefore you are, I think, symbolically both places, telling our students what Fordham is all about.”