Raymond Geraci Endowed Scholarship for Italian Language and Culture

Objective

Raymond Geraci is a retired electrical engineer who studied Italian at Rowan University and earned the Certificate of Undergraduate Studies in Italian. In his travel to Italy, he used the Italian he learned at Rowan University to locate his family living in Casteltermini and Villalba Sicily, and it allowed him to engage a deeper connection with the country and the Italian culture as a whole. With this scholarship, he intends to support students who are interested in establishing their own deeper connection with Italy’s language and culture. These interests and his philanthropic desire to support students in need led to the creation of the Raymond Geraci Endowed Scholarship for Italian Language and Culture.

Scholarship funds may be used for a student’s tuition and fees, housing costs, books, or a University-sponsored study abroad program in Italy.

Eligibility

1. The student must be a full-time matriculated undergraduate student at Rowan University who has declared one of the three Italian programs available at Rowan:

• Certificate of Undergraduate Study (CUGS) in Italian
• Major in Modern Languages and Linguistics (MLL) with Concentration in Italian
• Minor in Italian Studies

2. The student must have completed at least Elementary Italian II, or be enrolled in Elementary Italian II at the time of application.

3. The student must have an overall minimum cumulative GPA of 3.2. The student’s GPA in Italian courses will also be considered as a criterium of selection.

4. If the scholarship is used towards a Rowan study abroad program to Italy, the scholarship recipient commits to write a short paper and give a talk about the travel abroad experience to the students studying Italian within the World Languages department.

5. Preference will be given to a student with demonstrated financial need.

Application Deadline

Type the information requested below and submit via e-mail to Prof. Lorena Santos Quiñones (santos-quinones@rowan.edu) by March 31, 2024. Please include “Raymond Geraci Scholarship” in the subject line of the e-mail.

One Scholarship Recipient Chosen

Student awarded: $1,240 for Summer 2024, Fall 2024, and/or Spring 2025