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My Room at the Dorm for the Future of Bocconi Students

, by Andrea Celauro
Giuseppe Carocchi, who graduated from Bocconi in 1986, dedicated a room of the Bocconi dorm to the memory of his parents. He explains: It is crucial to enable younger generations to access knowledge

"On my first day at the Bocconi dorm, I was involved in an hour-long discussion around the cafeteria table over a book of industrial economics, with older students explaining it to freshmen like me. We played billiards for half an hour, then we dove deep into the study. To me, who came from a small town in Abruzzo, this was a revelation, a way of living and being together that I had not even imagined existed. I was entranced."

It was on a day in 1979 that Giuseppe Carocchi first crossed the threshold of the Bocconi Dorm in via Bocconi 12 and sat with those who would be his colleagues for the rest of his years at the University, until he was granted a Degree in Economics and Social Sciences in 1986. There he met Salvatore Grillo, "who taught me and many others how to side with the disadvantaged."

Today Carocchi, CEO and President of Febo Thermoplastics, is back in via Bocconi as a donor to the University. He decide to support students by giving a €10,000 donation in exchange for naming a room of the Bocconi Dorm in the memory of his parents. With his gesture, the number of sponsored rooms rises to fourteen.

The plaque at the room's entrance is meant to acknowledge the immense effort his parents made to send him to college: "There was only one income in the household, but they managed to put all their four children through college." His parents sent him 20,000 lire a month, equivalent to a value of about €30 today: "Each month, through that gesture, I realized how revolutionary their behavior was. It was as if they said: 'We do everything possible so that you, a young person of humble origins, can have access to knowlege. Bet on yourself and on your own intelligence.' My parents' view of life, combined with the self-discipline I learned at the University, have been the basis of my training for adulthood." Looking ahead, the alumnus has no doubts: "Among the things we should bequeath to future generations, there is removing the obstacles that prevent access to higher eductation."

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