If you think you’re Fordham’s biggest fan, think again. We’re willing to bet that campus celebrity Denisse Garcia has you beat. From losing her voice at the first football game of the year, to representing clubs on campus at the annual club fair, Denisse constantly embodies what it’s like to be a true ram fan. An avid sports lover and ambitious business student, Denisse sets the bar high for all of her classmates, inspiring us to always be enthusiastic about our interests and passionate about our goals. Before you cheer along with her at the next home game, get to know Fordham fanatic Denisse Garcia.
Where are you from? I’m originally from the Dominican Republic, I wasn’t born in the states, but I currently live in the Bronx, NY.
What year are you? Senior
What is your major? Business Administration with a double concentration in Marketing and Communications.
What activities are you involved in? Fordham fanatics, Academia Hispana, Ballroom Dancing Club, El Grito de Lares, Commuting Students’ Association, Fordham marketing association, and I am a Fordham Football assistant.
How did you decide to come to Fordham? Thankfully I had academic scholarships to all of the schools that I applied to, but once I came to [this] campus I just fell in love with it, especially the gothic architecture, because I went to art school before Fordham. Then, once I researched the school, especially Gabelli, I fell in love with it.
What’s your favorite thing about Gabelli? The variety of classes that you can take – that’s the reason I did business admin instead of just being a marketing major, because I wanted to take these advertisement and public relations classes, to be a more well-rounded business woman.
What’s your favorite class you’ve taken at Fordham? Theater.
What do you think the best part of a Jesuit education is? The Jesuit education teaches you to develop the whole person, not just your academic side, helping you use your powers to help the community around you.
Who is your favorite professor at Fordham? Dennis Cappelo (business law).
Where’s your favorite spot on campus? Walsh Hall.
What’s your dream job? CEO or CMO of a major fortune 500 company.
Do you have any tips for students who are trying to balance schoolwork, extracurriculars, and other obligations like internships? Prioritize! Don’t stretch yourself too thin, but always try to do as much as possible.
You’re really involved on campus, but we did a little Instagram stalking and noticed you have some really cool stuff going on outside of school. Can you tell us more about Young Whales? Young whales is a clothing line owned by New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz, which he started when the NFL had the lockout. He wanted something to fall back on.
Where does the name come from? He loves poker, and in poker whales is the big earner, the one that never loses and is always on top. And young because he’s so young and but already has so much going for himself.
So what do you do for the company? I do social media marketing, events, pop up shops, sneaker expositions; lots of urban-type events because it is an urban clothing line.
Since we are Her Campus Fordham, we have to ask, what’s Her League Online? HerLeagueOnline.com is a sports blog for women. I’m the NFL contributor. It helps me a lot with my writing.
That’s awesome, how did you get started there? The editor-in-chief of the blog contacted me through Instagram, because she saw my massive amount of sports related Instagrams.
So then who is your favorite NFL player? Victor Cruz, my boss.
We saw you at the club fair tabling for Fordham Fanatics. What’s the club all about? Basically we’re the “official” fan club of Fordham; we make it to every single football game, basketball game, and we’re now expanding to other sports. We are that really rowdy fan section that you see at every game. We actually even research the other teams, their names and their mom’s names, so we can throw them off.
The club has a new name this year. What else is new? We’re being appropriately funded this time, so we might have a lot more giveaways, possibly tailgates. Hopefully more t-shirts – last year we only got a few t-shirts or sweaters that were just for Fordham fanatics, so that’s what we’re trying to use the funding for, so we just look like a big sea of maroon. Also, a lot more ram horns; that’s my petition for the club. I just got mine last year and it was like a struggle to get just one.
What’s your favorite piece of Fordham apparel? My Fordham penny, I think that’s my favorite piece of Fordham clothing.
Do you have a favorite Fordham memory? I’d have to say the Fordham football game against Bucknell University last year.
Do you have any game-day superstitions, or something you have to do for luck before every game? I have this one pompom, it’s literally been with me since the first game, at the first game [Fordham Football] won against Columbia they were giving out these pompoms. Ever since then I carry it around with me to every single sporting event. It’s always with me, always supporting team.
What’s one thing that bugs you about the Fordham cheering sections? When you start heckling your own team! What is that? Not so much for football anymore, but our first year that’s all I knew. They’re like yelling obscenities at the guys and I’m really close friends with these guys, so I’m just yelling right now, you’re messing up the morale. You’re supposed to be supporting our team at all times.
You say there’s less heckling for the football team recently. How did Fordham football fans go from doubting their own team to filling the stands? My freshman year here we were only 1-10, that was in 2011. Coming from a big sports family, (I was raised with just boys, so I was kind of a tom boy,) football was the biggest thing in my house. I was so excited coming here, thinking ‘we have a football team; it’s going to be awesome!’ To my disappointment, we only won one game. I still went to every single game; I have not missed a game since freshmen year. Last year’s season was the 2nd biggest turn around in FCS history.
What do you think inspired the change? [Fordham] brought in Coach Joe Moorhead, who I think is an absolute genius; he plays smart football.
If you had to trade your seat in the stands for a spot in the game, which sport would you play? I played varsity basketball for three years, shooting guard.
If you could give one piece of advice to a Fordham collegiette, what would it be? Don’t worry about what other people say about you.
What’s your favorite thing about New York? The Giants.
Do you have a favorite NYC memory? I’ve been to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular almost every single year, it’s like a family tradition. Everybody wants to be a Rockette.
What’s on your NYC bucket list? Rooftops! To go to every single rooftop in Manhattan possible, and to revisit the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. You do that as a kid but it’s obviously different as adult.
What’s one thing everyone would be surprised to learn about you? I play every instrument on expert on Guitar Hero and Rock Band. I’m a secret gamer, I love playing Gears of War and things like that.
Pick one!
Bronx Zoo or Botanical Gardens? Bronx Zoo
Arthur Ave or Fordham Road? Arthur Ave
Cafeteria or Grille? Grille
RamVan or Subway? Subway
Met or MoMA? Met
Hot Dog or Bagel? Hot Dog
Broadway or Off-Broadway? Off-Broadway
Radio City or Madison Square Garden? MSG
Central Park or Brooklyn Bridge? Central Park
Photo courtesy of JMR Photography