Frank Cannata, who is familiar with, and successful in establishing Studies 
Programs, is asking you to join him at NO COST in this Effort.There are no dues 
and each person who chooses to participate will only be asked to give his or 
her time and knowledge to the process.

I have long ADVOCATED this type of Project, and strongly ENDORSE it!!!
=======================================================
January 2002    Volume 1 Number 1
Managing Director: Frank G. Cannata <FCannata@compuserve.com>

FURTHERING ITALIAN STUDIES TOGETHER (F.I.S.T.)
Per la diffusione e promozione degli studi italiani

FIST was founded on the premise that there is a strong need to identify and
partner with Universities that are willing to create or expand Italian or
Italian-American curriculum. It is a proactive response to anti-bias. At the
same time the intent is to support existing Chairs, and Italian-American
Cultural Institutes.

Education is the equalizer or leveler of bigotry. In order for
Italian-Americans to gain the respect that we have earned requires an
intensified expansion effort in Italian and Italian-American Studies.

BACKGROUNDER:
Today, six major Universities have created a substantial focus in the areas
of Italian and I-A Studies. Four of them have Chairs dedicated to this area
of study. 

They are the: University of Connecticut, Seton Hall, StateUniversity of New 
York Stony Brook, and University of California Long Beach.

The other two are the University of Minnesota and Queens College/City
University of New York. 

UM has created an impressive European Immigration archives, with an extensive 
collection of documents that record the Italian experience in America. That 
University has launched an endowment program to support a curator¹s position 
to insure that the work done by Professor Rudy Vecoli continues after his 
retirement.

The Calandra Institute at City University of New York has fought
discrimination while enlightening the community on the real contributions of
Italy and Italian-Americans to our way of life. Joseph Scelsa, Director for
Research and Education at CUNY has fought a difficult and sometimes lonely
battle against the CUNY administration. After a lengthy and contentious
lawsuit, Dr. Scelsa and his associates were upheld. CUNY was found to have
engaged in discriminatory practices against Italian-Americans.
More recently Dr. Scelsa has been named President of the Italian American
Museum. The New York State Board of Regents granted a request to charter
this important collection on June 12, 2001.Donations should be sent to 
Italian American Museum c/o John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, 
Queens College/ CUNY, 25 West 43rd Street, 17th Floor, NY, NY 10036-7406.
The inspiration for the new Museum was the very successful exhibition
entitled, "The Italians of New York: Five Centuries of Struggle and
Achievement." It was hosted by the New York Historical Society.

TO THE NEXT PLATEAU:
These Universities have taken Italian and Italian-American Studies to a very
high level, on their respective campuses. At the University of Connecticut,
the Aldo DeDominicis Fellowship in Italian-American History will confer a
doctorate every three or four years. The current fellow, Annette Pontillo is
doing the research necessary for her doctoral thesis. FIST will insure that
the thesis is widely disseminated to Universities and interested parties
alike. If assistance is required, we will raise the necessary funds to
publish her work. 
UCONN is now seeking applicants for the next DeDominicis Fellow. Those
seeking a Doctorate in Italian-American History and would like to apply for
the Fellowship, should contact Professor John Davis at (860) 486 ‹ 6812.

BUILDING BLOCKS FOR THE FUTURE:
These institutions represent a nucleus for us to build on. Each one of the
Chairs, Noether, La Motta, Graziadio, and D'Amato, as well as Professors
Vecoli and Scelsa were asked to serve as advisers. As an academic advisory
board member they will provide the necessary counsel to determine where our
efforts can do the most good. At the same time we want to continue to
support their respective Universities as they expand their scholarship,
fellowship, and community outreach programs.

FIST IS DIFFERENT:
FIST is not "another" Italian-American organization, club, or fraternity.
There are no dues and each person who chooses to participate will only be
asked to give his or her time and knowledge to the process. FIST will
function as a facilitator and encourage those who are identified as
benefactors to give their money to these very worthy Universities. The money
raised goes directly to the institution that has been identified.
The intent is to seek out high-profile Italian-Americans to act as
benefactors in this essential endeavor. We have learned, through extensive
experience, that naming gift benefactors have a vested interested in the
viability of the Chairs that bear their name. The result is that the La
Motta, Graziadio and D¹Amato Chairs continue to enjoy the support of their
benefactors. In other words they continue to give, in silent fashion. They
also challenge the University by additional gifts to expand the curriculum
and broaden the international studies program. Once established, Chairs have
to be nurtured and the administrations must be made aware that we have a
vested interest in the well being of the Italian and I-A curriculum.

STARTED WITH NOETHER:
The Noether Chair was inspired by a gift from an educator, Emiliana Pasca
Noether. UNICO National provided challenge grants and played a leadership
role in completing the campaign. This Italian focus was expanded on the
Storr's Campus with the creation of the Aldo DeDomenicis Fellowship in
Italian-American History.
In 1986 when the Noether Chair campaign was launched under the leadership of
Lt. Governor Joseph Fauliso, we met with Bart Giamatti. As President of
Yale, he was a very well known Italian-American educator. He commended us
for our efforts but warned us, "Italian-Americans have not proven to be
great benefactors." It was as much a challenge as a condemnation. He was
sincere in his appraisal, as he was President of a University with an
endowment that reaches into the billions of dollars.
Our only regret is that Mr. Giamatti did not live long enough to see the
creation of five very impressive endowments. Essentially that work was done
by the members of UNICO National who were joined by the Sons of Italy in the
Graziadio and D¹Amato campaigns with substantial contributions. The
resources and capabilities of these two organizations are challenged to keep
up with the demand. It is obvious that we need to create an information
network that solicits people who are in a position to give, and at the same
time, make them aware of the importance of these endowments.

THE WORK STARTS WITH A DATABASE:
We are currently building a database of Italian-Americans that include the
most notable of our brethren. They are the Presidents, CEOs, senior
corporate executives, and political leaders of our country. There are many
highly successful privately held corporations and businesses that are owned
by Italian-Americans. That is where our members can help. We need to
identify these individuals and make the necessary entreaties.
We need to seek out universities that not only have prestigious names but
institutions that are willing to partner with us to create or expand Italian
and Italian-American curriculums.
We need members who can put us in contact with the appropriate university
officials to discuss a possible campaign.

FIGHTING BIGOTRY:
Some will question why we need to make this effort. All you have to do is
look at the current trends in television and motion pictures. To a lesser
extent you could also include some recent novels. Rarely are the
Italian-American accomplishments ever truthfully presented. The heroes or
protagonists seldom, if ever have a name that ends in a vowel. Instead we
have the legacy of the Untouchables, Godfather Trilogy, Goodfellas, Casino,
and more recently the infamous Soprano's.

INSPIRED BY ONE VOICE:
Manny Alfano and his One Voice Committee have done an incredible job of
fighting this constant barrage of negative stereotyping in our electronic
and print media. The response to this protest is that we lack of a sense of
humor, are too sensitive, and are not bright enough to understand that
cinema and television are art forms. We have detractors who profess to be
Italian-Americans criticize us and claim, "everybody knows it is only
fiction." The truth of the matter is that if you mention the subject of
Italian-American people to any citizen, in any walk of life somewhere in the
conversation you will hear about Mafia and other crime related activities.
We recall, vividly, the first time we met the Noether Chair, John Davis. He
came from the United Kingdom and we were interested in his views of how
Americans perceive Italy. He said, "I have encountered two (US) views about
Italy. The first is that everything up to the renaissance is the good Italy
and everything after is the bad Italy." Professor Davis is a world renowned
authority in Modern Italian History.
We leave to others like Italian American One Voice, Inc. to identify the
detractors and lead the battles. We have done our best to support their
truly wonderful and inspiring efforts. Ultimately, for our children,
grandchildren., and great grand children they need to learn about the real
Italian-American experience. This will require formalized study at our major
institutions of learning. We can not continue to merely defend ourselves, we
need to attack the root causes of bigotry, ignorance.

UNIVERSITY ATTITUDES HAVE CHANGED:
In the beginning when we met with university officials and discussed
creating Chairs in Italian Studies we were told a gift of $1 million to $1.5
million would be required. Often we were told there is no demand from the
students for courses in Italian language, history, art, and culture. We can
say with out fear of being boastful, that attitude has changed.

AN ITALIAN FOCUS:
Thanks to the early efforts of UNICO and the Sons of Italy the teaching of
Italian subject matter has become an intellectual focus on the four
universities that now have Chairs. We recently received a communication from
Professor Davis that UCONN is expanding its Masters Program in Italian
Studies, "due to a high demand from the student body."
At a Seton Hall University luncheon I met a student who is one of the first
to major in Italian Studies, on the South Orange, New Jersey Campus. Bear in
mind that the courses necessary and the teachers essential were not on that
campus prior to 1998. That is when the La Motta Chair was created. In three
short years Professor Connell has built a full major program in Italian
Studies. A campaign to create a Scholarship endowment is currently underway.
The purpose of these funds is to enable students to study in Italy. Those
interested in contributing should contact Helen Cunning at 973-378-2635.

ACADEMIC SUPER STARS:
Professor William Connell, La Motta Chair, has been quoted in the New York
Times regarding Columbus bashing and was contacted by a Clinton White House
researcher for a speech the President was to deliver at a NIAF dinner. The
other Chairs have also been called upon to address questions about
Italian-American bashing in the electronic and print media. They are
becoming the academic heroes of our Italian-American culture.

CHAIRS SERVE TO ILLUMINATE:
These Chairs and Italian-American Institutes are like bright lights
attracting students and lay people alike. Through their dedication they are
inculcating their charges with a true intellectual understanding of the real
contributions of Italy and Italian-Americans to our way of life. Our task is
to expand and intensify that illumination so that every young
Italian-American can become the beneficiary and ultimately become "the
keepers of the flame."

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE:
We need to build a network of Italian-Americans who feel as we do. If you
know of any university that would be ideal partners, we need that
information. We also need the names of potential benefactors. You can carry
our message to whatever organization that you belong to. We will make
presentations and bring educators to any meeting, convention, or conference
that would care to learn a little bit more about what we are doing. Once we
have an adequate electronic file, we can go forward and work with the
designated recipients of our efforts.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTING UNIVERSITY PARTNERS:
Universities will be selected on their willingness to partner with us and to
create an academic syllabus in Italian and I-A Studies. That means they have
to allocate resources from their development funds to raise money. We will
seek the contributions and commit to no specified amount. All we can say is
that we will raise as much as we can. In each previous endeavor the lead
donor contributed from $180,000 to $250,000. The naming gifts range from
$150,000 - $500,000. In the Seton Hall campaign for the La Motta Chair, we
had a benefactor who wanted to name the Chair after his deceased parent. The
University had already made a commitment and in fact had a contract in place
for that honor. Instead they offered the family an opportunity to name an
Italian Book Collection. Today, the Valente Collection is rapidly becoming
one of the best-endowed Italian and Italian-American book collections in the
country. Once a need is identified, many different fortuitous happenstance¹s
occur. 
 
THE NAME FIST
Some may question the name FIST as inappropriate for such an intellectual
endeavor. The name is an acronym that we have already explained. However, it
is symbolic in a couple of different ways. Think in terms of a single finger
and the force that he can project. Then think in terms of combining that
single finger with four others and forming a closed fist. Another stems from
the Old Italian saying, "You have to cloak an iron fist in a velvet glove."

A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE:
In the 16 years that we have been involved in partnering with universities
to create Chairs and Fellowships, we have learned that Italian-American
organizations are very territorial. Seldom, if ever, will they join another
organization that has started a particular charitable endeavor. The kindest
term we can use is provincialism. Most recently we encountered this in a
Chair campaign. A professor representing the university was invited to speak
at a local affiliate of an Italian-American organization. When he stated
that another group was already involved, the response was not very
enthusiastic. He reported, that one of the members intoned, "Why didn¹t you
come to us first?" That is what FIST wants to avoid. We carry no banner
other then that of our Italian-American Heritage. FIST is not affiliated
with any organization. It was created to bring all the disparate groups
together. 

A LITTLE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE:
Like our forefathers Italian-Americans are fractionalized. We have many
different groups that refuse to work together in any truly meaningful way.
The one exception has been One Voice.
The best term to describe the Italian-American experience is independence of
thought and action. That sense of independence comes from centuries of
oppression by foreign occupiers who dominated the peninsula. Italians
learned to endure the pains of occupation by ignoring the punitive laws laid
down by their oppressors.
The art of Bruno and the poetry of Tasso were brought to their brilliance at
a time when Italy was under the domination of the Spanish. In other
societies, cultures or countries, oppression stifles creativity. That never
happened in Italy.
The result was a lack of respect for the governing authority and the total
mistrust of strangers.
The regional structure of Italy and fear of others not from their own
provinces was carried to the New World. That is part of our legacy and it is
not a very good one. Our hope is that everyone will recognize the value of
supporting higher education as a single constituency.

TO JOIN:
To join us, all you have to do is email Frank Cannata at
fcannata@compuserve.com
We will ask you to fill out a simple form and will then place the information 
in our database. You will receive all of our communications and be asked to 
support, in any way that you can, the various campaigns that we identify.

WEB SITE:
This spring we will have a web site that will become a repository of 
information on Italian Chairs, Fellowships, Lecture Series, and endowment 
efforts. We will also "hot link" to universities and other groups who share 
our passion. 
 
SOME THOUGHTS TO PONDER:
We want everyone to understand that the creation of Chairs and Fellowships
is not like winning a football game. You do not go home after you have won.
The facts are, that is when the work really begins.
This task will only be complete when educators and universities tell us that
they do not need any more money. The chances of that happening are two, slim
and none. Chairs, Fellowships, book collections and archives are living
entities that must continue to be nurtured.
The universities we have identified are all worthy of your support. They are
not only friends of the Italian-American community but also true
intellectual resources. Do not hesitate to reach out to them. They may not
always be able to help but they can certainly advise you on how best to
obtain what information you are looking for. Look for our next newsletter in
April.

The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge. Our goal is to
advance the knowledge of Italian-American History, Literature and Art. 
The two are not only compatible they are inseparable.