WARWICK, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 16, 2026--
The non-profit Corvias Foundation awarded Purple Tassel College Scholarships to 14 military-connected students heading to college this fall, marking the largest class of scholarship recipients in the Foundation's 20-year history. The students – all children of active-duty service members stationed at six Corvias-managed installations – represent the next generation of leaders carrying forward a legacy of service and achievement.
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Since 2006, Corvias Foundation has invested more than $20 million in helping military families pursue educational and career success. While scholarships remain central to its mission, the Foundation is expanding its reach through Opportunity Hubs, which connect families with educational resources, career opportunities, and community partnerships that support long-term achievement.
“We continue to invest in the potential of military families, and these students represent innovators, educators, and caregivers who will make an impact in their communities through their pursuit of higher education," said Julie Allen, executive director of Corvias Foundation. "Their determination and commitment to serving others inspire us. As we look ahead, the Foundation is expanding how we support military families, connecting them not only to scholarships, but also to the resources, relationships, and opportunities that help them thrive."
The Class of 2026: Purple Tassel Scholarship Recipients
This year's scholarship recipients join more than 500 military-connected families whose educational journeys have been supported by Corvias Foundation during the past two decades.
Fort Bragg
1. Megan Bell, a graduate of Pine Forest High School, is attending University of North Carolina to major in art with a concentration in digital media.
2. Graduating from Union Pines High School, Lani Klein will pursue a major in tourism and hospitality management at Belmont University.
3. Amira Mobarakzadeh, a Fayetteville Christian School graduate, is heading to the University of Oklahoma for early childhood education.
4. Daley Ottersbach is enrolling at North Carolina State University after homeschooling to study nuclear engineering.
Fort Meade
5. William Porter, a graduate of Michigan Online School, is enrolling at Michigan State University for electrical engineering.
6. Graduating from the Heritage Academy Home School, Damaris Smith will study communications at Regent University.
7. Ricki Walker, who is a Smyrna High School graduate, is heading to Morgan State University, majoring in psychology.
Fort Polk
8. Madelynn Flint graduated Leesville High School and will attend West Virginia University, as an aspiring forensic biologist.
9. Gabrielle Lopez, a graduate of Leesville High School, will pursue nursing at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Fort Riley
10. Aubrey Swanson, a graduate of Junction City High School, will major in advertising at the University of Oklahoma.
11. Graduating from Escriva Catholic Academy, Therese Librande is attending University of Mary to study nursing.
12. Irene Koo, a graduate of Junction City High School, will combine public health and pre-dental majors at the University of Pittsburgh.
Fort Rucker
13. Kayden Abazi graduated Enterprise High School and will attend Auburn University to pursue a major in civil engineering.
Fort Sill
14. Kenadie Redford is attending Cameron University, where she will major in nursing, after homeschooling in the Nenana City School District.
The Class of 2026 reflects the promise and potential that has inspired Corvias Foundation's work for the past two decades. As these students begin their next chapter, the Foundation remains focused on opening doors to opportunity for military families through scholarships, resources, and meaningful connections that support lifelong success. Corvias Foundation additional offerings include The Corvias Foundation Military Spouse Scholarship, with applications opening on July 20, 2026, and the Purple Tassel Vocational Achievement Scholarship, with applications opening on October 12, 2026.
About Corvias Foundation
Corvias Foundation empowers military families to achieve their educational and career goals. With its flagship program, Opportunity Hubs, the Foundation is connecting its community members with partners. The goal is to support educational achievements, create transformative connections, and prepare military-connected students for their life-enriching college and career decisions. Please visit CorviasFoundation.org to learn more.
Corvias Foundation has awarded a Purple Tassel Scholarship to 14 military-connected students. Not pictured: Daley Ottersbach, Ricki Walker
GENOA, Italy (AP) — An Italian court on Thursday convicted the former CEO of Italy's main highway operator and 31 others in the 2018 Genoa highway bridge collapse that sent vehicles plunging and killed 43 people, a disaster that exposed serious lapses in the maintenance of Italian infrastructure.
Dozens of family members of the victims packed the courtroom as Chief Judge Paolo Lepri read the verdicts against 57 defendants, including former executives and officials. Many relatives broke down in tears as the sentences were read.
The former chief executive of highway operator Autostrade per l'Italia, Giovanni Castellucci, was sentenced to 12 years in prison, the highest in the case after four years of trial and four hours of deliberations.
Castellucci’s lawyers said they would appeal, noting in a statement that as CEO, their client had relied on Italy’s leading engineers, and that a construction defect had not been detected by experts for over half a century.
“The suffering caused by the Genoa tragedy is immense and deserves respect. But the gravity of the event requires justice to remain based on individual responsibility, not the search for a scapegoat,” they said in a statement.
Also convicted were Autostrade’s former head of maintenance, Michele Donferri Mitelli, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison. The former CEO of the SPEA engineering company, Antonino Galatà, received five years and six months.
Defendants faced charges including negligence resulting in the collapse and manslaughter stemming from failures to maintain the bridge, which was part of a main route linking northern Italy with the French Riviera.
In all, 32 people were convicted and handed sentences ranging from 1 year and 11 months to 12 years. Others were either found not guilty, or lesser charges had expired under the statute of limitations.
“I think it is important that responsibility extends beyond those at the top. Autostrade, SPEA and the Transport Ministry all had roles to play. I hope the state’s responsibility also emerges clearly,” Egle Possetti, who heads a committee to preserve the memory of the bridge victims, told reporters outside the courthouse.
“I lost my sister, her two children, my brother-in-law and even their little dog. That’s where my determination comes from — to make sure they receive justice and that their deaths were not in vain,” she said.
Shortly before noon on Aug. 14, 2018, a 200-meter (650-foot) section of Genoa’s Morandi highway bridge gave way during a rainstorm, sending dozens of vehicles plunging to the ground.
Images of the collapsed bridge were seen around the world and shocked Italians on one of Italy’s busiest travel days, as millions headed out for the traditional Aug. 15 Ferragosto holiday that marks the peak summer vacation season.
Prosecutors argued that years of maintenance neglect led to the collapse, and demanded combined sentences totaling nearly 400 years for all of the defendants. The defendants denied wrongdoing and say the fault was caused by a construction defect.
Considered an engineering marvel when it opened in 1967, the Morandi featured three A-shaped concrete pylons and concrete-encased stay cables.
Caruso, who represents the family members of three victims, said that the trial showed that warning signs about defects in the pylon that collapsed had existed for decades. He cited maintenance on the other two starting in 1993 that was never extended to the third.
“From 1993 onward, the problem was known. We had three identical pylons. Two had already shown the same defect, and no one seriously asked whether the third one had it as well,” Caruso said.
The current Autostrade chief executive, Arrigo Giana, issued a public apology Thursday in an open letter published in major Italian dailies.
“The actions and decisions of some people left indelible scars,’’ said Giana, who joined Autostrade as CEO last year. “Offering today the apology that was not made then is, for us, a moral imperative that goes beyond establishing legal responsibility and the course of justice toward the truth.”
Autostrade and its subsidiary reached a deal on corporate liability earlier in the proceedings, paying roughly 30 million euros ($34 million) in financial penalties. The agreement spared the companies from a trial as corporate defendants and potentially much harsher sanctions, including exclusion from public contracts.
The settlements were reached after the companies adopted new compliance procedures aimed at preventing similar accidents, and after victims were compensated.
A new bridge designed by Genoa-born Italian architect Renzo Piano opened in 2020, spanning a memorial to the victims of the Morandi Bridge collapse.
Barry reported from Milan.
This story corrects the number of convictions to 32.
Giovanni Paolo Accinni, lawyer of Giovanni Castellucci, former CEO of Italian highway operator Autostrade per l’Italia, is interviewed after an Italian court convicts the former CEO of Italy’s main highway operator in a deadly bridge collapse in Genoa and hands down 12-year sentence, in Genoa, Italy, Thursday, July 16, 2026. (Valentina Carosini/LaPresse via AP)
FILE - A vehicle sits short of a section of the Morandi highway bridge that collapsed on Aug. 15, 2018, in Genoa, northern Italy. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni, File)
FILE - Cars are blocked on the Morandi highway bridge after a section of it collapsed, Aug. 14, 2018, in Genoa, northern Italy. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni, File)
