The University Remembers Emma Pezemo, Three Years After Her Disappearance

A moment of reflection and gathering will take place at the red bench of the ER.GO Galvani Residence on Via De Nicola 52, and a public event at Palazzo Hercolani (Strada Maggiore, 45 - Bologna), where a study room will be named after Emma Pezemo, with the participation of the writer Silvia Avallone.

These are the two initiatives set up by the University on the third anniversary, in collaboration with ER.GO, to remember the University of Bologna student brutally killed by her boyfriend during the night between 2 and 3 May 2021.

On Thursday, 2 May, at 5:45 PM, at the red bench of the ER.GO Galvani Residence (Via De Nicola, 52 - Bologna), flowers will be laid in Emma’s memory. The ceremony will be attended by Patrizia Mondin, Director of ER.GO, Cristina Demaria, the University's Delegate for Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity, and Federico Condello, the University's Delegate for Students. The meeting will include a reflection led by Professor Rossella Ghigi (Department of Education Studies).

On Friday, 2 May, at 5 PM, a naming ceremony for a study room in honour of Emma Pezemo will take place on the ground floor of Palazzo Hercolani, in the presence of the Rector Giovanni Molari. The event will also feature Deputy Rector Simona Tondelli, ER.GO Director Patrizia Mondin, and Professors Claudia Golino and Paola Parmiggiani, who respectively served as outgoing and incoming Directors of the Department of Sociology and Business Law, the department where Emma studied.

Following this, at 6 PM, in the Poeti Hall of Palazzo Hercolani, a discussion on gender-based violence will take place, featuring as a guest of honour writer and Unibo alumna Silvia Avallone, in dialogue with university students engaged in various initiatives to combat gender violence. Among them will be representatives from the working group on gender violence at the Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, one of the students who initiated the WhatsApp group "Scriviquandoarrivi" for women who are alone at night on the streets, and a student from Sassi Masini Residence who recently held an artistic workshop on gender violence.

Silvia Avallone, long committed to defending education and the right to study as means of individual and collective emancipation, including against all forms of disparity, inequality, and gender violence, will respond to questions and prompts from all the students participating in the discussion.

Cristina Demaria and Federico Condello declare: “Emma’s murder was a deep wound for the entire community of the University of Bologna. This wound remains open and often becomes more painful, intensifying with every femicide, with every episode—loud or silent—that reminds us of the systemic and pervasive nature of gender-based violence in our society. For three years now, in agreement with ER.GO, we have decided to transform the anniversary of Emma’s horrific murder into an opportunity to reflect collectively on gender violence and ways to combat and prevent it, starting with education and public awareness. For Emma, in her name and of all the victims like her, we are committed to ensuring that the University remains at the forefront in promoting respect for diversity, gender equality, and combating every form of discrimination and visible or invisible violence.”