FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Gita Brown, 401-456-8465, gbrown@ric.edu
Laura Hart, 401-456-8977, lhart@ric.edu
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – RIC President Nancy Carriuolo accepted a gift of $100,000 from the John A. Lema, Jr. Charitable Trust for the Lema-Fernandes Portuguese Study Abroad Fund. The gift was presented on Sunday, Oct. 4, at a formal tribute to the late Mr. Lema at the Centro Comunitario Amigos da Terceira in Pawtucket and hosted by Rhode Island College’s Institute for Portuguese and Lusophone World Studies.
Trustees of the charitable trust, Judge Robert Silva of Middletown and Dr. Anthony Caputi, M.D., made the presentation in recognition of Lema’s generous support of Portuguese studies at the college.
Following Lema’s passing in 2014, Rhode Island College renamed its Portuguese Study Abroad Fund the Lema-Fernandes Portuguese Study Abroad Fund in his honor.
First established by the J.B. Fernandes Memorial Trust I, the fund honors Lema’s commitment to supporting the study of the Portuguese language and culture as well as his passion for sharing his love of Portugal through travel. The endowment fund will assist students planning studies and internships abroad in Portuguese-speaking countries.
The tribute included entertainment from the Portuguese-speaking world: “choro,” a Brazilian music genre; “morna,” a music and dance genre from Cape Verde; and “fado,” a music genre from Portugal. All proceeds from the event will be used to benefit RIC’s Portuguese Study Abroad Fund.
The Institute of Portuguese and Lusophone World Studies at Rhode Island College is designed to support and promote the Portuguese Studies academic program at Rhode Island College, to bridge the connection between Rhode Island College and the Lusophone community, and to pursue scholarly and cultural research in the areas of the Portuguese language and Lusophone culture.
