Fund honors alumni lost to terrorist attacksWhen terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, they also struck a nerve in University alumni who wanted to do something to show their support to families who lost loved ones.
The terrorist acts killed four URI alumni: Christine Barbuto, 32, ’90, of Brookline, Mass., who was a buyer for TJX Companies and a passenger aboard American Airlines Flight 11; Christian L. DeSimone, 23, ’00, of Ringwood, N.J., who was a forensic accountant for Marsh/Caps Group on the 100th floor of Tower One at the World Trade Center; Michael G. McGinty, 42, M.B.A. ’91, of Foxboro, Mass. who was a an insurance broker for Marsh U.S.A. of Boston; and Frank Schott of Massapequa Park, N.Y., ’83, who was assistant vice president for Marsh McLennan on the 96th floor of the World Trade Center.
With members of the Barbuto and DeSimone families in attendance, the alumni were remembered at a ceremony before the URI-Maine football game. (DeSimone earned a letter as a member of the URI football team.)
Anxious to do something, some URI alumni picked up their phones and called their alma mater, asking Robert Beagle, vice president for University Advancement, what could be done.
After discussing various options, Beagle and the Alumni Association decided to establish a permanent scholarship fund. The intent of the scholarship is to recognize members of the URI family (alumni or parents of enrolled students) who died as a result of the events on Sept. 11. While it may provide, scholarship assistance to deserving students directly connected to victims, aiding the families of victims is not the primary purpose of the scholarship endowment.
The Alumni Association Memorial Scholarship will be awarded annually and each scholarship recipient will be told of the scholarship significance.
URI students enrolled in John Pantalone’s URI 101 course are fundraising for the scholarship. “We talked about what kind of community service we could do,” said Pantalone, a lecturer in the Journalism Department. “The students unanimously voted to help raise money for the scholarship, setting their goal at $5,000.”
Anyone who would like to contribute to the memorial scholarship should send a check made out to the URI Alumni Association Memorial Scholarship, to P.O. Box 1820, Kingston, R.I. 02881-0499.
By Jan Wenzel
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