News - October 16, 2009

Countdown to the Festa: SU Florence’s 50th Anniversary Celebration

Almost sixty SUF alumni from the 1960s, ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s are returning to Florence to participate in the 50th Anniversary Festa, a three-day celebration with an optional fourth-day trip to the Tuscan countryside. Numerous members of the Syracuse University, NY and SU Florence communities will also be joining in to celebrate the success of one of the oldest study abroad programs in Italy.

SUF has planned a remarkable series of events for the occasion, beginning with a reunion party at the Villa Rossa on Sunday, October 25th. On Monday and Tuesday, alumni can choose from a variety of site visits in the city center and classes at the Villa Rossa. Eminent art historians on the SUF faculty will lead site visits to the most celebrated Florentine museums and monuments, such as the Duomo and the Uffizi Gallery. “Alumni University,” a series of classes taught by SUF professors, includes a panel discussion on contemporary Italy, a lecture on the Mafia, and classes in the Italian language, painting, photography, and architecture.

On Tuesday evening, Florence mayor Matteo Renzi will welcome SUF alumni in the closing ceremony at Orsanmichele, followed by a farewell dinner at the US Consulate in a splendid palazzo overlooking the Arno River, hosted by US Consul General in Florence Mary Ellen Countryman. “SUF is the embodiment of what a study abroad program should be,” says Countryman. “It has been an important part of Florentine-American relations for fifty years. I am honored to host the SUF alumni at our consulate.”