The College of Staten Island has agreed to take in two displaced students from L’Aquila, Italy, after an earthquake rocked the city earlier this year.
On April 6, about 150 people were killed, at least 1,500 were injured and thousands were left homeless, according to a New York Times article earlier this year.
The University of L’Aquila was almost entirely destroyed and only two buildings of its out-of-town campus remain. According to Staten Island Real-Time News, more than 100 displaced students from the earthquake-torn region have applied for scholarships to continue their studies in the United States, and 28 are currently attending a university.
Rep. Michael E. McMahon, who serves on the U.S Department of State and National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) Public-Private Partnership Steering Committee, has asked CSI, St. John’s University and Wagner College to host some of the English-speaking L’Aquila students. So far CSI has agreed to accommodate two students as part of the initiative.
McMahon represents the 13th district of New York. “The district I represent is home to more Italian-Americans than any other Congressional District in the United States, and the devastation that followed the earthquake in April resonated firmly in households throughout Staten Island and Brooklyn," said McMahon in a press release.
The DOS and NIAF have formed a public-private steering committee, which will work to return the University of L’Aquila back to its previous conditions, so that it may provide the academic, social, and economic role it played in the area. McMahon has introduced a partnership that will provide NIAF-funded Scholarships for L’Aquila students, according to the U.S. Department of State.
“I will work to turn a tragedy for the students at the University of L’Aquila into an incredible, life-changing experience,” said McMahon.
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