Class Note Up Close: Di Stefanos

Turns out there are six Di Stefanos with 11 Binghamton degrees among them. Besides Dante, there is:

• mother Donna Di Stefano ’01, MA ’05, both degrees in human development
  
• late father Dominic Di Stefano Jr. ’79, MA ’85, both in accounting
  
• brother Daeman Di Stefano ’01, philosophy
  
• sister-in-law Billie (Seisser) Di Stefano ’02, English
  
• wife Christina (Rizzo) Di Stefano, MAT ’11, English adolescent education

“My father started to go to Binghamton University after he got married as a way to advance his career at the post office. He worked the night shift on the letter-sorting machine and went to school during the day. My mother waited until we were teenagers to go back to school,” says Dante, who was familiar with campus at a young age.

“Being in the library and at the fountain near the Library Tower are some of my earliest memories. I also remember seeing the bust of Dante Alighieri in the library and having my parents explain that this was the poet I was named for.”

Dante, Daeman and Donna earned undergraduate degrees in the same year.

“My brother and I took many classes together, and we worked for physical facilities in the summer, painting rooms. We had a great time and we got to know the campus from every vantage point — from the boiler rooms and rooftops to the lecture and dining halls.”

Donna is a senior academic advisor in admissions. Dante teaches high school English and is a Binghamton adjunct.

“Over the years I have so many great memories from Binghamton,” he says. “The thing I’m most grateful for is that I met my wife here. We are expecting our first child in January, and we hope the baby might grow up to be a Bearcat.”