Everything You Need to Know About Fairleigh Dickinson

You're probably suddenly aware that Fairleigh Dickinson University is a college in New Jersey with a remarkably short basketball team.  You probably don't know much more about it.  I do and I'm here to help.

Fairleigh has multiple campuses.  The "Metropolitan Campus" spans the banks of the Hackensack River, with buildings in Hackensack and Teaneck.  I find the "Metropolitan" appellation funny because neither Teaneck nor Hackensack seem metropolitan to me, but what do I know.  I grew up in both towns so FDU was always a presence in my life as a kid.  

For example, my friend's father was a professor there.  Another friend's father went there for dental school.  In fact, many of the dentists in the area went to FDU but it closed in 1990.  Now they partner with Lecom School of Dental Medicine for a BS/DDS program.

Fairleigh also has a "Florham Campus" in Madison and Florham Park, towns that neighbor my current home.  Fairleigh is still a presence in my life.

For example, we had a babysitter who went there.  She was an education major so she needed access to elementary school kids for various homework assignments, which included helping said kids with their homework.  It was a win-win.  

Our babysitter also played third base for the Florham Campus softball team.  Oddly, the Florham and Metropolitan campuses have different teams.  More oddly, Florham is DIII while Metropolitan is DI.

The Metropolitan campus's mens hoops team takes on Florida Atlantic this evening.  People across northern New Jersey will watch with great rooting interest, including zfather, FDU class of 1969.

Wikipedia says FDU is the largest private school in New Jersey and that surprises me.  But it shouldn't.  Despite being called "FD Who?" or "Fairleigh Ridiculous," Fairleigh provides higher education for a lot of kids who wouldn't have access otherwise.  According to their website, "Last year, Fairleigh Dickinson offered more than $70 million in University-funded aid; more than 94% of full-time freshmen received some form of aid."  Many of these kids are the first in their families to attend college, or wound up in the NJ area through some crazy circumstance.

Much like zfather!  He and his parents fled Hungary when Russia invaded and confiscated the family farm.  They staggered around Czechoslovakia for a year, then wound up in Flushing, Queens.  zgrandparents were fortunately educated and spoke grammatically perfect, albeit heavily accented, English.  They got good jobs and worked for the FBI on the side, infiltrating communist meetings as make-believe fellow travelers.  This allowed them to naturalize quickly and easily.  Meanwhile, zfather went to Brooklyn Tech, a public magnet school like Bronx Science or Stuyvesant with a focus on engineering.  Upon graduation he got a scholarship that allowed him to go to Queens college for three years, then Columbia for two, earning a BS and MS in five years.  For free.  Gratis.  Nada.

At the same time, zgrandparents bought a house in Emerson, NJ after saving for almost a decade.  What a country!  Unfortunately, this meant my father had to forfeit his scholarship because it was only for NYC residents.  And my grandparents wouldn't let him use his aunt's address because they feared that if anyone found out, they would all be deported.  I guess it's hard to trust the government after living through WWII and the Russian invasion.

So zfather was left without a college.  Rutgers wouldn't take him--they thought he was faking his NJ residence, and he didn't help his case when he said "Why the hell would I go to Rutgers if I lived in NYC, I would have a full scholarship to Columbia!"  So he called Fairleigh, told them his story and his SAT score, and they found money for him.  He even played on the tennis team which won some state title.

Chances are some of those short FDU cagers have a similar story.  So join me in rooting for the literal and figurative little guy this evening.