April 13, 2023

Recipients at the 2023 Italian Scholarship & Awards Ceremony pose for a group photo with donors and Profs. Enza Antenos & Gina Miele.

The Coccia Institute celebrated the achievements of deserving Italian majors and minors at our annual Italian Scholarships & Awards Ceremony, held on Wednesday, April 13th from 6:30-8:30pm in the Feliciano School of Business, Room 140. While this year’s ceremony was a celebratory occasion, it was also a somber evening as we honored the memory and legacy of Mrs. Elda M. Coccia, the co-founder of the Coccia Institute, who passed away on Wednesday, March 29.

The evening featured a slideshow of Mrs. Coccia’s contributions to MSU and the Italian American community, remarks by CHSS Dean Peter Kingstone, a presentation by MSU alumna, Adriana Morsella, employed by Ferrero, and a showcase of diverse Italian arias performed by talented students from the John J. Cali School of Music, under the direction of Professor Karen Driscoll. We would like to thank all who attended our event, including President Jonathan Koppell and our generous donors (Coccia Foundation, the Inserra Family, Passaic Valley UNICO, the Columbian Foundation, and the Italian American Club of Four Seasons at Great Notch). Many thanks to Profs. Gina Miele and Andrea Dini, co-chairs of the Scholarship Committee.

All applicants were deserving of support this year. If you did not receive an award, we encourage you to apply for the other scholarships offered both on and off campus (for details see the department webpage). The Italian Program is grateful to our generous donors for their support of the study of Italian language and culture, and we are pleased that these awards will be used toward tuition or study abroad experiences. Congratulations to the winners and best regards for all your future applications.

Congratulations to the winners and best of luck to all for your future applications. Bravissimi!

Please enjoy this web album from the 2023 Italian Scholarships and Award Ceremony.

In case you missed it, here is the 2023 Italian Scholarship Program.

April 14, 2022

Scholarship recipients pose in a group photo at the 2022 Italian Scholarships & Awards Ceremony.

The Coccia Institute was thrilled to resume our annual Italian Scholarships & Awards Ceremony and recognize this year’s deserving recipients on Wednesday, April 14th held in the Feliciano School of Business, Room 140. This was the first in-person ceremony since 2019, and we were honored to have Montclair State’s new President, Jonathan Koppell, share a few words with the recipients and donors!

Many thanks to our generous donors and to Profs. Gina Miele and David Del Principe, co-chairs of the Scholarship Committee. We would also like to thank Prof. Jeffrey Gall from the Cali School of Music, for organizing beautiful selections from Italian operas sung by current student, Courtney San Martin. The night concluded with a special announcement from Prof.ssa Enza Antenos where 4 deserving Italian majors and minors were awarded with full study abroad tuition coverage covered by The Angelo and Marie Cali Fund for Italian Studies!

Congratulations to the winners and best of luck to all for your future applications. Bravissime!

Please enjoy this web album from the 2022 Italian Scholarships and Award Ceremony.

In case you missed it, here is the Italian Scholarship Ceremony Program (PDF).

March 7, 2021

Announcing the 2021-2022 Italian Scholarship/Awards Recipients!

It is our pleasure to announce on behalf of the Co-Chairs of the Scholarship Committee — Prof.ssa Gina Miele and Prof. David Del Principe — the vincitori of the 2021-2022 Italian Scholarship/Awards recipients! A special thank you to our donors for your generous contributions, including: Coccia Foundation, the Inserra Family, Italian American Club of Four Seasons at Great Notch, the Italian Program, the LBC Program, and the Department of World Languages & Cultures.

The Cav. Joseph Coccia, Jr. Memorial Intermediate Italian Scholarships (2 for $500) Britney Kyeremey, Nicole Venditti

Coccia Foundation Award for Italian Major of High Achievement (1 for $1,000 or 2 for $500). Alessio Pruscino & Francesca Oliveri

Italian American Club of Four Seasons of Great Notch Student Achievement Award (2 for $500). Cristina Gerace, Mariadelmar Valencia

Coccia Foundation Merit Scholarship, including new Language, Business & Culture Majors. Deanna DeCorte, 1 $500 award and Jessica Pochek, 1 $250 award.

The Italian Program, in conjunction with the Joseph and Elda Coccia Institute for the Italian Experience in America, and the Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies is pleased to announce two Italian Internships for the 2021-22 academic year.

– Coccia-Inserra Italian Student Internship for Fall 2021 semester: 1 Internship, $1,000) – Gabriella Socio

– Inserra-Coccia International Italian Student Internship for Spring 2022 semester: 1 Internship, $1,000) Paula Godoy Barbosa

Congratulations to the winners and best of luck to all for your future applications. Bravi tutti!

April 1, 2020

Given the necessary cancellation of the 2020 Italian Scholarships and Awards Ceremony scheduled for April 1^st, the Coccia Institute and the Italian faculty would nonetheless like to announce and acknowledge the recipients of the 2019-2020 Italian Awards Program. Congratulazioni! And grazie, Prof.ssa Gina Miele and Prof. David Del Principe, for once again serving as Co-Chairs of the Scholarship Committee.

The Columbian Foundation Student Internship for Spring 2020 ($1250): Alexis Ventre

The Columbian Foundation Student Internship for Fall 2020 ($1250): Deanna DeCorte

The Cav. Joseph Coccia, Jr. Memorial Intermediate Italian Scholarships (2 $500 awards): Sergio Rivas, Jessica Pochek

Coccia Foundation Award for Italian Student of High Achievement ($1,000): Cristina Latino

Italian American Club of Four Seasons of Great Notch Student Achievement Award (2 $500 awards): Daniella Rodas, Nicole Venditti

Coccia Foundation Merit Scholarship for new Language, Business & Culture Majors ($750 award): Gloria LoPiccolo

Barbara Carbon Scholarship for Study Abroad in Italy ($1,000): Francesca Oliveri

Coccia-Inserra and Inserra-Coccia Italian Student Internships for Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 (2 $1000 awards): Francesca Oliveri, Britney Kyeremey

All applicants were deserving of support this year. If you did not receive an award, we invite you to consider applying for the other scholarships offered both on and off campus (for details see the department webpage). The Italian Program is grateful to our generous donors for their support of the study of Italian language and culture, and we are pleased that these awards will be used toward tuition or study abroad experiences. The Coccia Institute for the Italian Experience in America would like to thank Dr. David Del Principe & Dr. Gina Miele, Scholarship Committee Co-Chairs, for their hard work in selecting this year’s recipients.

For your reference, here is the Program PDF acknowledging the generosity of our donors!

Congratulations to the winners and best of luck to all for your future applications. Bravi tutti!

April 3, 2019

The Coccia Institute would like to congratulate all the awards recipients (and their proud families) from this year’s Scholarship Ceremony! Many thanks to our generous donors and to Profs. Gina Miele and David Del Principe, co-chairs of the Scholarship Committee. We would also like to thank Prof. Jeffrey Gall, for the splendid program to which your exceptional opera students treated our guests. Grazie ancora, Dirigente Scolastica Annavaleria Guazzieri, for joining us on this lovely occasion–and, last but not least, two wonderful presentations by Montclair State students Natalie Yavorski and Cristina Latino.

Please enjoy this web album from the 2019 Italian Scholarships and Award Ceremony.

In case you missed it, here is the 2019 Italian Scholarships and Awards Ceremony Program (PDF).