Tributes

Basiliola Cascella-Cheney

Italy, Europe

In 1956, Italy was still struggling to recover from the effects of the war. My house had been bombed, our lives destroyed. I was focusing my energies on preparing for university when I met a wonderful American Fulbright student from Wellesley who introduced the idea of my possibly studying in the United States. My subsequent search led me to Brandeis University and the possibility of applying for a Wien scholarship. It was with great trepidation that I boarded the U.S.S. Constitution in Naples and landed in New York on July 28, 1958.

Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Wien, their vision, and that of Brandeis, this was to be the beginning of a transforming journey that would change my life forever. I was already dazzled by the energy and promise, and above all the generosity of this new world, when, on October 12 of that first year, I was privileged to meet my benefactor personally, along with President Sachar and John F. Kennedy and other dignitaries. It was truly a remarkable historic moment for our first group of Wien Fellows. What followed was a period of intense and challenging studies that I found rewarding beyond any expectation, the more so because of the joy I felt at being part of such a diverse group of talented students.

As I was completing my degree, I married a fellow Brandeis graduate and raised a family, first in London and then back in the United States in Concord, Massachusetts.  When my children were a little older, I found a career in publishing at Houghton Mifflin and later at Harvard Business School Publishing, from which I retired. And now I find myself married to a University of Massachusetts professor who was himself a Fulbright student in Rome in the mid-1950s!  So it seems that two “unofficial ambassadors” have decided to cement the bond between our countries.

Over the years, I have returned to Italy repeatedly, meeting young family members, friends, and strangers who challenged my American values. I have found myself defending the greatness of this country and the enormous opportunities permitted by a philanthropic system unequaled elsewhere. I hope I have helped to represent American values at times when they have not seemed clearly visible abroad. The world has shrunk -- “flattened” -- with the passage of time, and it is now possible and increasingly common for people like me to hold dual loyalties to the lands of their birth and their adoption.  This is a form of internationalism that seems consistent with Mr. Wien’s intent and that of Brandeis itself.

My gratitude to Mr. Wien has remained a constant in my life.