UC Provost creates scholarship for first-generation students
Scholarship honors husband
On his way to work each day, University of Cincinnati Provost Valerio Ferme takes his three grandchildren — 5-year-old twins Lucy and Serenity and 3-year-old Dante — to UC’s Arlitt Child Development Center.
During one of their daily drives to campus, Lucy noticed a man holding a sign saying he was homeless.
“She said, ‘Grandpa, why aren’t we helping this man without a home? We should stop, pick him up, take him home and give him some quiet time, and then give him some food,’” Ferme says. “This is a 5-year-old girl thinking in these terms. It’s pretty remarkable.”
You could say Lucy’s instinct to help others is a family trait.
Valerio Ferme and granddaughter, Lucy.
Ferme, who was appointed provost in August after serving as dean of UC’s College of Arts and Sciences, and his husband, Giorgio Corda, are raising the children. On a recent family vacation in Arizona, Ferme arranged a surprise Zoom call with his former team to share with Corda that a scholarship had been created in his honor.
The Giorgio Corda First Generation Scholarship Endowment Fund will support first-generation students in the College of Arts and Sciences with a preference for students who are, or have been, in the foster care system.
“I was very surprised and very pleased,” Corda says. “It showed that Val really understands me and what is important to me.”
It was those similar interests and backgrounds that first brought the couple together.
Ferme and Corda are native Italians, raised by mothers who stressed the importance of education and the value of being generous. Taking these lessons seriously, each have pursued careers that lift others: Corda is a social worker with a focus on children, and Ferme is an educator.
While living in London, England, Corda considered adopting a child and found a blog detailing Ferme’s experience adopting sons Michael and Devin at ages 10 and 11, respectively. Ferme and Corda began corresponding.
“When I wanted to adopt, I started thinking about these older kids who sit in the foster care system,” Ferme shares. “These are the kids who have a history of feeling rejected, so don’t we have a duty to help them out?”
Ferme and Corda with Serenity, Lucy and Dante.
Corda and Ferme began communicating and eventually became a couple while Ferme was living in Colorado with his sons, then teenagers. Ferme’s gift recognizes Corda’s dedication to children in foster care and specifically, their own children and grandchildren.
“I wanted to honor both Giorgio’s persistence and dedication to education, and the time he spent doing the kind of work that I think we relate to,” he says. “He came in and helped out with my kids, and now we are doing the same work with the grandkids.”
As a former first-generation student himself, Corda was persistent in his pursuit of an education, earning both bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He often thinks about the difference a scholarship made for him, not only financially, but also emotionally.
“I remember the realization that came with my scholarship that someone cared for me,” Corda shares. “I want other students to feel that way. I want them to know that someone cares about them.”
The Corda First-Generation Scholarship connects them to their home where the family of five is flourishing. Ferme says they hope to meet future scholarship recipients and see them advance as well.
“Having been in education, I understand the value of helping others afford college,” adds Ferme. “Philanthropy is important to me because I’ve seen it modeled by my mother. I think we have a duty as people who have means to help kids that don’t.”
Featured image at top: Valerio Ferme, Lucy, Dante, Giorgio Corda, Serenity. Photo/Michael Keating for the UC Foundation.
Who will you empower NEXT?
Scholarships, fellowships and enrichment programs provide opportunities for students to attend, grow and graduate from UC. You can empower our next leaders through support for scholarships and signature programs in career-based education, co-op or professional development. Learn more at nextnow.uc.edu.
Related Stories
$2 million gift establishes John and Carrie Hayden Community...
May 12, 2025
Kitchen expands whole-person, integrative approach of the Osher Center, University of Cincinnati Cancer Center
Biologist unlocks mechanics of snake motion
May 9, 2025
Science Now, a program on WOR-TV, highlighted discoveries about snake locomotion by a University of Cincinnati biologist. UC College of Arts and Sciences Professor Bruce Jayne has described and categorized the unique ways snakes can move.
UC’s student newspaper names Hajra Munir as new editor-in-chief
May 9, 2025
As a young girl, Hajra Munir, a second-year law and society major, had a passion for writing. “I was always writing,” Munir said. “Whether it was in a journal, writing stories or writing poetry.” But Munir wasn’t sure how she could use her writing skills beyond her love for it, until she watched her brother join the student newspaper at Walnut Hills High School and decided to join him. Since then, journalism has become an integral part of her life. “I started news writing, and I absolutely loved it,” Munir said. “I felt like I could be who I wanted to be, and I felt like this is what I want to do, this is what I love. Journalism has made me such a more confident person, and I wouldn’t be where I am without writing, without starting my love for journalism.” Now, going into her third year at UC, Munir will serve as The News Record’s (TNR) next editor-in-chief for the 2025-2026 school year. TNR is UC’s student run news organization, where students themselves have opportunities to report on an array of topics, from breaking campus news to entertainment and lifestyle.