Twenty-five years ago the first promises, then sixteen waiting times from the first memorandum of understanding signed between universities and institutions. It took many years and a lot of patience but today it is finally inaugurated Scampia complex, the new headquarters of the Federico II University in Viale della Resistenza. The ribbon cutting is entrusted to the rector Matteo Lorito together with the godmother Zeudi Di Palma, Federician student and Miss Italy 2021, as well as engaged in volunteering. Never was a more appropriate choice, because this beautiful 21-year-old from Scampia embodies the solidarity of the many neighborhood committees. “We are not Gomorrah. We are honest people »repeat the inhabitants of the buildings in via Verbano and via Labriola. And from today, with the opening of the cylindrical building signed by the architect Vittorio Gregotti, financed by the Campania Region with 50 million euros and by the Municipality of Naples with about 7, a new course will be launched. With the rector there will be the Minister of University and Research Cristina Messa, the governor Vincenzo De Luca, and the mayor Gaetano Manfredi. In the 520-seat Aula magna there will be the first one hundred students of Health Professions (in total there will be over 600) who will start classes today, many students from the schools of Scampia, representatives of the Municipality, the Municipality, the Region and Federico II, and in the front row together with the rectors Tessitore, Marrelli, De Vivo, Trombetti also Antonio Bassolino who signed that document. But in the classroom there will also be representatives of associations and committees, those who have kept the neighborhood together when Gomorrah was not even a film but the reality of the feud. Among them also the Gridas, still under evacuation, which will post banners outside, reminding us of the danger that the cultural garrison may close.
The building is built on the area of the former Vela H demolished in 2003. 7 floors high (two underground), the campus has a large internal square with a glass and steel roof that will be the Agora of sociability, whose heart it is a Mediterranean garden with an olive tree that represents peace. Mayor Manfredi stressed that this is “a University not in Scampia but for Scampia” because the goal is “to change the narrative that, to date, we have suffered, of a neighborhood that was only the Camorra”. The first piece of an “ambitious and complex” project whose essence is the great plan of Restart Scampia and the great investment of the NRP. Meanwhile, there are already entrepreneurs ready to invest in student residences to be built in the area.
Mirella Secondulfo, former councilor of the Municipality and administration of Federico II, is certain in the “redemption of the neighborhood”. «I live here, I never thought of leaving Scampia, I believe in this neighborhood and we will finally show who we really are: honest, generous, welcoming. We are all subject to criticism, stereotypes and prejudices. We will take off the brand of “Gomorra” that has muddied us for too long. Even if unfortunately someone on social media still insults us, writing “the University of Crime, Faculty of Sciences of the Camorra opens” ». Gennaro Pisa is one of the campus security guards. «I lived in Scampia, coming back to finish my career (in 13 months I will retire) excites me a lot. Here I found an enormous solidarity, people can’t wait for the University to open, many young people will be able to study here to build a future in the health sector ».
Modestina Russo is 18 years old and one of the freshmen in Pediatric Nursing. «I am from Volla and I start the courses next week. I found a big problem: the lessons start at 8.20, but from Volla to Scampia (Circumvesuviana plus Metropolitana) it takes an hour and a half and the first train from Volla to Garibaldi leaves at 7. I would not arrive on time, so I will have to make do somehow to get to Garibaldi by other means. The institutions, however, should provide in some way, I think it is an inconvenience for many who use the Circumvesuviana ». Annamaria D’Urso is 22 years old and this year she starts Modern Literature.
«It took me a while but now I felt ready for university. Perhaps the opening of this new office has subconsciously encouraged me. The dream? Becoming a teacher of literature and history ». Giacomo Morford lives in the buildings and his wife is disabled following a stroke. Like everyone else, he too is anxious for the opening of the university but much more for clinics. “For all of us it will be an important point of reference, I feel safer if there is a health center under the house”.