This article originally appeared in the Fall 2001 Talent Development Newsletter.
His Name will carry on…
TD Honors former director Leo F. DiMaio, Jr.
He is a man who made dreams come true. A man known to come to your door if you did not show up for class. A man who fought for equality and forever changed the face of the University of Rhode Island.
Leo F. DiMaio Jr. is that man. In 1968, Dr. Harold Langlois with Mr. D. and Rev. Arthur L. Hardge established the Talent Development program at URI, a program designed to give opportunity to people of color and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. In his 31 years at TD, Mr. D. influenced the lives of thousands. Although he retired from the program in November 1999, his presence and influence will remain a part of TD history.
In honor of his numerous accomplishments and devotion to TD and its students, the TD Family, University President Robert L. Carothers, former R.I. governor Bruce Sundlun, Judge Frank Caprio the Narragansett Indian Tribe delegation and several other dignitaries gathered outside Taft Hall to celebrate the dedication of the Leo F. DiMaio Student Conference Room on June 1.
Over 200 sat in attendance on the warm, sunny afternoon to celebrate and speak on behalf of Mr. D.
Describing Mr. D. as “a man who carries a big stick but carries it with love,” President Carothers said he was deeply moved and humbled by the stories of TD and by its commitment to students.
According to Mr. D., he is a man with three loves: his wife Ilene, to whom he has been married for 47 years; the ACI, where he worked for 13 years; and TD.
“It is my third love that is my most consuming and passionate,” Mr. D. explained. “It’s Talent Development, baby! It’s TD! It’s all of you sitting out there.”
Mr. D. shared stories of TD’s first years at URI when the program and its students fought to overcome barriers and struggled to make place for themselves on a campus dominated by white middle-class students.
He recalled TD being confronted by people who asked, “How do you expect these students to succeed? They are not college material.”
Infuriated by this kind of ignorance, Mr. D. looked these individuals in the eyes and told them to “go to hell.”
“Eleven of TD’s original 13 members graduated,” Mr. D. boasted. “Talent Development students have gone on to achieve various honors and accomplishments. They have gone on to become doctors, police officers and engineers. All of this the success of students who were not supposed to make it,” Mr. D. said.
“Members of TD are the rocks on which TD was built on,” Mr. D. said. “It’s you, TD students, that give me life, energy, and passion. TD students are remembered every day.”
Working as an aide for Lt. Gov. Charles Fogarty at the time of the dedication, TD alumnus, Jhomphy Ventura class of 2000, presented Mr. D. with a citation on the lieutenant governor’s behalf.
Ventura announced that he had insisted on presenting the citation to Mr. D. because of the special meaning it held for him. “As an alumni of TD,” Ventura said with tears in his eyes, “if I live to be half the man you are,” Ventura said to Mr. D., “then I will have lived a good life.”