For of Those to Whom Much Is Given, Much Is Required

“There are not enough scholarships for all the people who need them to afford college,” says Deborah (“Deb”) Mancini Morrocco ’81, P’10, ’14.

For more than three decades, the Mancini family has invested generously in financial aid at Boston College, supporting students with demonstrated need from 22 cities and towns in their native Rhode Island through more than 170 scholarships. Last year, the family expanded its commitment by creating the Mancini Family Rhode Island Scholars Program, funded through a collection of current-use and endowed gifts, all in support of financial aid—the first of its kind at BC—with preference for students hailing from the Ocean State. The family’s decision to create this scholarship program stems from their motivation to both reduce the financial burden of Rhode Islanders seeking higher education, and also to build a community for this group of BC scholars.

The Mancinis have cherished the opportunity to engage with students at events on campus, such as last fall’s BC vs. North Carolina State football game, the annual Scholarship Dinner, and the beloved Pops on the Heights: The Barbara and Jim Cleary Scholarship Gala, to which they are also generous benefactors. Deb’s father, Raymond Mancini Sr. ’60, MBA’11, P’81, ’83, ’84, says their experiences meeting the students they support was an important inspiration to further augment their philanthropy. “It’s an emotional thing when you meet these young people, so bright and promising, and they tell you that they don’t know how they would have been able to go to college if it hadn’t been for a scholarship from BC,” he reflects. “It makes you want to do all that you can.”

Now Ray and Ann, along with their children, Deb, Kenneth “Ken” J. Mancini ’83, P’10, ’13, ’15; Raymond “Ray” T. Mancini, Jr. ’84, P’19; and Ronald (Ron) Mancini, are expanding their family’s legacy of philanthropy at BC, with the goal of giving back to the people who supported their grandfather’s growing businesses and helped their family succeed. This investment in BC—the family’s largest philanthropic commitment to date, to any institution—reflects the Mancinis’ love for both Boston College and Rhode Island, recognizing the significant financial need of many students from their home state. The Mancinis’ Ocean State roots run deep, says Deb. “We grew up here, we live here, and our goal is to give back to the communities that have given us so much.”

As the Mancini family knows, one of the best ways to do so is to provide access to education. “My family believes that we effect change by planting a seed of education, sowing knowledge and empathy by growing with the communities we are a part of, and giving back to make the world a better place,” says Deb, who is also a member of BC’s Board of Regents. “I can’t help but imagine what my grandfather might have been able to accomplish had he been afforded an education like I had,” she continues. “What he made, and the legacy he built—not just here at BC, but in my family—is nothing short of extraordinary. What might he have become if only he’d been given that opportunity.”