2020 will be an exciting year for the many college student members, Garibaldi award winners, of the Silvio Laccetti Foundation. At its recent meeting, the foundation committed to two projects of public significance.
The first is the Venice Project, which seeks to increase public awareness of the catastrophic economic, ecological, environmental and preservationist problems confronting this city. The main thrust of the public campaign will highlight the damage behemoth cruise ships can inflict as they traverse and dock in Venice’s fragile waterways.
The foundation will have college classroom and club groups showings of ad new film which poignantly and starkly portrays the manifold crises facing Venice from toxic tourism, global warming and population exodus.
The plan is for each Garibaldi awardee to arrange the film showing on their respective campuses in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Thereafter, a petition, calling for the banning of cruise ships in the fragile waters of Venice will be circulated and sent to the Italian Consulates in NYC.and Philadelphia. The ‘Garibaldini’ will encourage friends at other schools to do similar showings. Local Garibaldi Awardees include: Tony Brach of Bridgewater, now at Muhlenberg College; and Julianna Russotti of Stirling, now at St. Joseph’s College in Philadelphia.
The second project is the release of a totally different prototype course, Italia di Lusso which may be given in either Italian or English with content flexibility for junior high, high school, college and adult education students. By studying Italy’s iconic brands — as in film, fashion, cuisine and automotives etc., Italy becomes an expression of humanism, elegance, beauty, passion and soul.
The concept originated with Prof. Silvio Laccetti; its content and a suggested syllabus was created by Mauro Raguseo, Italian teacher at Lyndhurst High. In this project, the foundation will cooperate with the Italian Consulate in New York City, the New Jersey Italian Heritage Commission and the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum of Staten Island. For more information, email slaccett@stevens.edu.