Northeastern University Alumni Magazine, Fall 2006

A generous $1.25 million gift from the family of Anthony Manganaro, E ’67, has launched the Torch Scholars program, a bold and innovative effort that makes college possible for students who have overcome challenging life experiences and who exhibit and exceptional potential to succeed.

The program’s inaugural group of scholars, all first-generation college students, arrived at Northeastern in early summer to get a head start on campus life through a summer immersion period. They enrolled in three full-time courses, worked part-time, enjoyed team-building exercises, and also participated in social activities, including what was for some their first Red Sox game.

The eleven students were chosen from a pool of three hundred applicants for the scholarship, which fully covers tuition and room and board. Torch Scholars must demonstrate high achievement potential, leadership qualities, maturity, motivation, tenacity, and strong character.

According to senior vice president for enrollment management and student affairs Philomena Mantella, the program was born, in part, from successful alumni who remember Northeastern as a place where working-class kids got a chance to work hard and to open doors of opportunity. Several have now stepped up to fund the new program.

The gift of from the Manganaro family made ten of the program’s first eleven scholarships possible. An anonymous donor funded the eleventh scholarship. Now others have joined the effort to expand the Torch Scholars program.

“Thanks to alumni like Anthony, Northeastern can continue to adhere to its core value of helping people to better themselves through education and hard work,” says vice president for development Bill Bartolini. “It only makes sense for Northeastern to build upon this historic tradition.”