Cardinal Timothy Dolan honored Tania Tetlow, president of Fordham University, and Grammy award-winning saxophonist/songwriter Kirk Whalum with the 2024 Pierre Toussaint Medallion at the Pierre Toussaint Scholarship Fund Awards Dinner on Monday, November 4.     

The event also honored the legacy of the annual gathering’s namesake – Venerable Pierre Toussaint. The evening’s theme was “Celebrating Leadership That Makes a Difference.” More than 300 people attended the dinner at Guastavino’s in Manhattan.         

“I’m honored to accept this award, really on behalf of Fordham University,” Tetlow told the organizers and attendees. She added that Fordham has “for 183 years brought together brilliant faculty…and an incredible staff and administration, many of whom are here tonight, to create a university worthy of student scholars (such as those in the Toussaint program).” 

She also noted, “We have been a place creating an inclusion that constantly welcomes more and more…We’re particularly proud to have welcomed the Toussaint scholars over the years; many of them have gone on to graduate school and law school, and we cannot wait to see what they will do for the world.” Tetlow was presented the medallion for her “extraordinary, visionary leadership and her commitment to Catholic higher education, and to the highest principles of Catholic social justice.” 

Whalum spoke about the importance of his family upbringing and community neighborliness in Memphis. He is an ordained minister and a 2022 Catholic convert. He spoke of being inspired by the works of Dorothy Day and Sister Thea Bowman, FSPA (Servant of God), and eventually learning that he is a second cousin of the nun. 

“Jesus showed us what it was like to really serve, not to come to be served,” he noted. “I realized that this lady (Sister Thea) was my second cousin whom I never met. And thank God for what she did, because I stand on her shoulders. I’m so grateful; thank you so very much.” Whalum was presented with the medallion for his “commitment to sharing the Good News through his music and his actions, in line with the highest principles of Catholic social justice.” 

Whalum performed musical numbers that were enthusiastically received during the event, as did pianist Dr. Br’von Neal, also a Grammy award-winning artist. The dinner guests included college presidents, major superiors of religious congregations, and Pierre Toussaint scholar alumni, including Malaika Dewes.  

Dewes, 25, told The Good Newsroom that she was “very grateful” to the Toussaint scholars program and its dedicated coordinators. And she noted that her Catholic faith has always played an important role in her life. She is studying at New York Medical College in Valhalla, and is a parishioner at the Church of Joseph and St. Boniface in Spring Valley. 

Brother Tyrone Davis, CFC, executive director of the archdiocesan Office of Black Ministry (OBM), gave closing words of gratitude. Cardinal Dolan offered remarks of praise for the Pierre Toussaint Scholars Program and all works by the OBM. Father Kareem Smith, senior chaplain of the Pierre Toussaint Scholars Program, served as master of ceremonies. 

Venerable Pierre Toussaint (1766-1853) was born a slave in Haiti and died a freeman in New York City. He is credited by many with being the father of Catholic Charities in New York. 

Toussaint was instrumental in raising funds for the first Catholic orphanage and began the city’s first school for black children. He also helped to provide funds for the Oblate Sisters of  Providence, a religious community of black nuns founded in Baltimore, and he played a vital role in providing resources to erect Old Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in Lower Manhattan.