Timeline
Timeline
The John Felice Rome Center is the oldest U.S. university program in Rome. For nearly 60 years, the Rome Center has provided a world-class education to students from across the U.S. and beyond.
1961: Loyola University Chicago theology Professor John Felice, S.J., conducts a trip abroad for students. While in Rome, Felice meets with the president of Italy and the U.S. ambassador, and the concept for a permanent American program in Rome is born.
1962: Loyola University Chicago Rome Center for Liberal Arts opens in the Casa Italiana Viaggi Internazionali Studenti (C.I.V.I.S.), a dormitory originally built to house athletes during the 1960 Olympics. The first class is made up of 92 students and eight faculty members.
1966: Having outgrown its quarters, the center moved to its second campus in the Villa Tre Colli on Via della Camilluccia, located on Monte Mario, the highest hill in Rome.
1972: The Rome Center moves to its third campus, the Villa Maria Theresa on Via Trionfale.
1975: Rinaldo and Nella Fiorini open Rinaldo's, an on-campus Italian coffee bar. They will manage the coffee bar until their retirement in 2009.
1979: The Rome Center moves to its current location, a spacious residential campus on Via Massimi, atop Monte Mario. The converted former convent is a large, U-shaped building, which houses classrooms, student dormitories, administrative offices, a cafeteria, a coffee bar, and more.
1987: The first all-class reunion takes place in Rome to celebrate the Rome Center’s 25th anniversary.
1997: The Forza Roma Travel Fund and the John P. and Mary K. Felice Endowed Scholarship are started by alumni.
1998: John Felice retires and becomes director emeritus.
2004: In December, the then-President of Loyola University Chicago, Michael J. Garanzini, S.J., renames the facility "the John Felice Rome Center" to recognize and honor the tireless efforts of its dynamic founder and Director Emeritus, John Paul Felice.
2008: John Felice passes away. The same year, Loyola purchases the Via Massimi campus.
2010: The first fundraising campaign benefiting the JFRC, Insieme per il Futuro, is launched.
2011: The state-of-the art library, or Information Commons (IC), is inaugurated.
2012: The JFRC celebrates its 50th anniversary.
2014: Following a generous gift from alumnus Tony Piazza in honor of his late wife, the library is renamed the Anthony and Susan Brazier Piazza Information Commons. Rinaldo's coffee bar, under new management, reopens in its current location.
2015: The new dining hall – known by students as the mensa – opens in the spring semester.
2020: After more than a decade of fundraising and planning, the JFRC inaugurates its new residential hall and chapel.
The Center continues to bring together students from universities and colleges throughout the United States to study in Europe for a unique living-learning experience.
The John Felice Rome Center is the oldest U.S. university program in Rome. For nearly 60 years, the Rome Center has provided a world-class education to students from across the U.S. and beyond.
1961: Loyola University Chicago theology Professor John Felice, S.J., conducts a trip abroad for students. While in Rome, Felice meets with the president of Italy and the U.S. ambassador, and the concept for a permanent American program in Rome is born.
1962: Loyola University Chicago Rome Center for Liberal Arts opens in the Casa Italiana Viaggi Internazionali Studenti (C.I.V.I.S.), a dormitory originally built to house athletes during the 1960 Olympics. The first class is made up of 92 students and eight faculty members.
1966: Having outgrown its quarters, the center moved to its second campus in the Villa Tre Colli on Via della Camilluccia, located on Monte Mario, the highest hill in Rome.
1972: The Rome Center moves to its third campus, the Villa Maria Theresa on Via Trionfale.
1975: Rinaldo and Nella Fiorini open Rinaldo's, an on-campus Italian coffee bar. They will manage the coffee bar until their retirement in 2009.
1979: The Rome Center moves to its current location, a spacious residential campus on Via Massimi, atop Monte Mario. The converted former convent is a large, U-shaped building, which houses classrooms, student dormitories, administrative offices, a cafeteria, a coffee bar, and more.
1987: The first all-class reunion takes place in Rome to celebrate the Rome Center’s 25th anniversary.
1997: The Forza Roma Travel Fund and the John P. and Mary K. Felice Endowed Scholarship are started by alumni.
1998: John Felice retires and becomes director emeritus.
2004: In December, the then-President of Loyola University Chicago, Michael J. Garanzini, S.J., renames the facility "the John Felice Rome Center" to recognize and honor the tireless efforts of its dynamic founder and Director Emeritus, John Paul Felice.
2008: John Felice passes away. The same year, Loyola purchases the Via Massimi campus.
2010: The first fundraising campaign benefiting the JFRC, Insieme per il Futuro, is launched.
2011: The state-of-the art library, or Information Commons (IC), is inaugurated.
2012: The JFRC celebrates its 50th anniversary.
2014: Following a generous gift from alumnus Tony Piazza in honor of his late wife, the library is renamed the Anthony and Susan Brazier Piazza Information Commons. Rinaldo's coffee bar, under new management, reopens in its current location.
2015: The new dining hall – known by students as the mensa – opens in the spring semester.
2020: After more than a decade of fundraising and planning, the JFRC inaugurates its new residential hall and chapel.
The Center continues to bring together students from universities and colleges throughout the United States to study in Europe for a unique living-learning experience.