Published: October 22, 2009

A memorial service was held on Oct. 8 for Casey Feldman, former Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) student and news editor for The Observer, who died on July 17 from injuries sustained when she was struck by a van in Ocean City, N.J. The service, organized by friends of Feldman and held in the 12th floor lounge of the Leon Lowenstein building, featured fellow students, Observer staff members, faculty and family sharing memories of Feldman.

Joan Cavanagh, associate director of campus ministry at FCLC, served as the host for the event, and described it as “a night to gather and celebrate the memory of Casey, and the impact she had on those around her.” The service featured speakers from a number of different aspects of Feldman’s life, from family members to high school and university friends.

Feldman’s former roommates, Kelsey Butler, FCLC ’10 and layout editor of the Observer, Janine Repka, FCLC ’10, Cassie Foote, FCLC ’10, Christina Halligan, FCLC ’10, and Callie Fisher, Boston University ’10, together shared “50 memories” of Feldman. Two other close friends, former Observer layout editor Brooke Burge, FCLC ’10 and Marie Larson, FCLC ’10, told their own “Casey stories.”

Observer editorial board members Ashley WennersHerron, FCLC ’10, Kathryn Feeney, FCLC ’10, Rob Beatson, FCLC ’10 and former news editor Meaghan Dillon, FCLC ’08 delivered speeches remembering Feldman the journalist. Professors of communication and media studies Brian Rose, Gail Belsky, Amy Aronson, and Elizabeth Stone shared their memories of Feldman as a student, one whom Aronson called “remarkable.”

Also present were Feldman’s parents, Joel Feldman and Dianne Anderson, as well as her brother Brett. In addition to sharing memories, the Feldmans, along with Keith Eldredge, dean of students at FCLC, announced a scholarship founded in Feldman’s honor. The scholarship, reserved for communication and media studies majors, will provide a student who obtains an unpaid internship in the communications field with a $2,000 per semester stipend for expenses accrued. The scholarship, according to Eldredge, is designed to make an unpaid internship possible for students who cannot afford to forgo a paying job for a semester.

The scholarship will be available starting this spring. Eldredge said that detailed information will be available soon for students.