Beck Scholar Alexander Benanti making his mark at RIT

November 4, 2021

For Alexander Benanti of Clifton, the Elsie E. and Joseph W. Beck Scholarship has made the dream of a college education reality. The freshman at the Rochester Institute of Technology is majoring in Motion Picture Science with a minor in Business.

We at the Community Foundation of New Jersey got to know Alexander when he was a senior at St. Benedict’s Prep. There, Alexander leaned in to a multitude of sports and extracurricular activities, with the Dean of Seniors saying at the time, “The faculty members who have been involved with Alex’s leadership sing his praise.  They appreciate his willingness to take on the grittier tasks that do not always come with much recognition, and they never hear him complain.”

Alexander holds the value of an education quite high. As part of his scholarship application, he shared the struggles his mother, an immigrant from Sicily, endured and the number of jobs she held while working her way through school to obtain a college education. It was quickly obvious to the Scholarship Committee that Alexander shares that same drive, focus, and ability to multi-task and manage time.

Click to learn more about the Elsie E. and Joseph W. Beck Scholarship Fund, and how this one-time private foundation came to the Community Foundation of New Jersey.

Click to learn more about scholarship funds at the Community Foundation of New Jersey.