Romers Tour Marino and Meet Mayor Palozzi

On 14 February, over 40 Spring Romers took a seat in the Marino City Hall alongside Mayor Adriano Palozzi and the Marino City Council. They were there for an afternoon of conversation that covered such topics as the challenges facing the city of Marino, Italian and American politics, the ideas and needs of young citizens, and the benefits of intercultural communication.

Mayor Paolozzi remarked, "We are very pleased that we have once again been able to reconnect with the University of Dallas. We feel it is beneficial for UD students to be able to get to know the territory, traditions and people of the city of Marino, in addition to that of Rome. It is our hope that this experience will not be an isolated one, but rather one that will accompany UD students in future endeavors. We hope to be able to offer each group of students who come to study at the UD Campus in Marino the same opportunity."

Students were not bashful - they took the opportunity to ask the Mayor and the City Council questions about Italian politics, the Prodi government, cultural differences, complications regarding urban planning in historic centers and government budgets. Also under discussion were Italian views of the US primary elections.

Among those Marino City Officials in attendance at the meeting were the President of the City Council, Umberto Minotti; the Council Treasurer, Marco Ottaviani; and the City Council Executive Director, Paolo Cortesini. Ottaviani and Cortesini, along with Council Regional Administrator Stefano Cecchi, recently visited Irving, Texas for a Sister Cities meeting, and in the Fall 2007 visited the University of Dallas and met students in their Italian language class at UD with Prof.ssa Zocchi.

The visit with the Mayor and his delegation was accompanied by a full day of activities sponsored by the City of Marino: a guided bus tour of all the districts in the territory of Marino, walking tours on the Ancient Appian Way and in the historic center of Marino, and a private visit to the beautiful Marino Civic Museum, all led by archeologist and Director of Marino Civic Museum, Alessandro Bedetti.

At the end of this exciting day, UD students joined distinguished members of the City Council in a local Marino Restaurant ... and experienced their first 5 course Italian meal!

The day was organized by l Council Regional Administrator Stefano Cecchi in conjunction with Alison Lytle and Peter Hatlie, and marks one of the many successful Sister Cities initiatives between the University of Dallas and the City of Marino in the past two years. The cities of Irving and Marino have been Sister Cities since 1991.


Back to main news page.