From St. Thomas Magazine - Winter 2009
Imagine this commute each morning: Walking 45 minutes to class and enjoying every minute of it as you stroll through the centuries-old Piazza del Popolo, smell the flowers lining the Spanish Steps, view the majestic colonnades of the Pantheon and dip your fingers into the gushing waters of Trevi Fountain.
This is the path that St. Thomas students on the Bernardi Campus in Rome take to their classes at the Angelicum, the Dominican Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas.
“Rome is a wonderful professor. It teaches about the history of our faith and culture,” said Cardinal Pio Laghi – now a member of the St. Thomas Board of Trustees – at the Bernardi Campus dedication in 2000.
St. Thomas juniors and seniors who are majoring in Catholic Studies spend either a semester or year living in Rome and use the Bernardi Campus as their home base. In addition to sleeping rooms, the campus houses a dining room, a computer lab, a rooftop terrace, a traditional Roman courtyard, study spaces, sitting rooms and a chapel.
“Many other American schools have a branch in Italy, but their students live in apartments,” said Thanos Zyngas, director of the Bernardi Campus since 2003. “We are very fortunate and privileged here because of our convenient location in the center of the historical district and close to Vatican City.”
At the Bernardi Campus, learning continues outside the formal classroom. Friendships are nurtured. About 30 students live “in community” eating meals, attending Mass and walking to class.
“Students who have never traveled in another country or lived in a community like this go home with an open mind, with another view of the world,” Zyngas said.
The Bernardi Campus building was constructed as a residential estate in 1923. It underwent more than $1 million in restoration and renovation after St. Thomas purchased it in 1999. The campus’ name honors the family of Antonio Bernardi, whose gift enabled the university to establish the campus. Bernardi, a real
Bernardi Campus: ‘Rome is a wonderful professor’ estate entrepreneur, was born in Treviso, Italy, in 1921, and immigrated to the United States in 1962. He and his wife, Maria Cecelia, live in Edina. They are parents and grandparents of St. Thomas alumni.
Capital-campaign gifts will defray the remaining debt on the campus, establish a maintenance endowment and improve interior rooms.
“It’s a beautiful building, and I take care of it because it’s my home,” Zyngas said. “I want to make sure that the students love it and take care of it like their own home so future groups of students can enjoy it.”