A man known as “the face” of St. John’s University has retired after 61 years – and he finally revealed a secret he shared with former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. Longtime Vice President Joseph Sciame, 82, helped educate generations of students including a high-profile bishop and Berlusconi’s daughter, whose presence on campus he kept...

TAPinto West Orange recently caught up with the Orange/WestOrange UNICO Chapter (O/WO) of UNICO National for an update on its activities since we last profiled them. According to the Chapter’s President, Frank Gonnella, “Fun was had by all at our Annual Bocce Tournament fundraiser at Montville Community Park, where we had good food, great bocce and...

Exciting news for Italian American students looking to study in Italy! The American Society of the Italian Legions of Merit (ASILM) is now offering the Leandro P. Rizzuto Scholarship to any at a U.S. accredited college or university in Italy for the 2024 academic year. The student selected by the ASILM Scholarship Committee will receive a scholarsh...

Dr. Pacchioni’s book The Image of the Puppet in Italian Theater, Literature, and Film (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) has received the Nancy Staub Award for Excellence in Publications on the Art of Puppetry from the Union Internationale de la Marionnette (UNIMA), USA. The award is meant to honor books, articles, or dissertations that are exempla...

Appalachian State University professor and former North Carolina Poet Laureate (2012-14) Joseph Bathanti has been named to this year's class of the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame (NCLHOF) — an honor reserved for five of the state's most beloved and accomplished writers. Established in 1996 under the leadership of Poet Laureate Sam Ragan, the...

The UNICO Kenilworth Chapter is currently accepting scholarship applications for the Class of 2024 graduates. The monetary support from these scholarships will make a tangible difference in a student’s post-high school graduation plans.  To apply for one of the scholarships and learn more, please go HERE. UNICO National, the largest Italian-America...

On March 19th, Consul General Raffaella Valentini, the Director of the Italian Cultural Institute Emanuele Amendola, and the Honorary Consul, Roberta Gentili-Purcell participated remotely in “Italian Career and Alumni Panel” organized by the Italian program of the Arizona State University on Tempe campus (Arizona). The event was focused on strength...

An archaeological site in Central Italy dating back more than 2,500 years is a special place for two Illinois State University researchers. For the past three years, Associate Professor of History Kathryn Jasper and Professor of Art History Lea Cline have been leading the Northwest Bolsena Archaeological Project at Valle Gianni.  The excavation is...

Requirements for $2,500 Scholarship (Due Monday, May 6, 2024): 1. Must be of at least twenty-five (25%) Italian-American descent, one parent at least ½ Italian.           2. Must be going to a post-secondary school/training/certification program and must be a senior at a Washington County School District (Avella, Bentworth, Beth-Center, Brownsville...