Lt. Charles Margiotta Memorial Scholarship

Brown honors fallen firefighter with scholarship, Hall of Fame induction

Brown parent and trustee Martin Granoff and his wife Perry, of Saddle River, N.J., have given $1.4 million to the University to establish the Lt. Charles Margiotta Memorial Scholarship Fund. Margiotta, a member of the Brown Class of 1979, was among the firefighters who perished Sept. 11 in the World Trade Center. He was posthumously inducted into Brown’s Hall of Fame along with all other members of the Ivy League champion football team of 1976.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Brown Trustee and parent Martin Granoff and his wife, Perry, have given $1.4 million to Brown University to establish a scholarship fund to honor the memory of Lt. Charles Margiotta, a New York City firefighter who perished when the World Trade Center collapsed during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.

The Lt. Charles Margiotta Memorial Scholarship Fund will provide scholarship aid to the descendants of any firefighter, police officer or rescue worker killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Any such student who is accepted to Brown and qualifies for financial aid will be eligible for the scholarship.

Margiotta, a member of the Class of 1979 and Brown’s 1976 Ivy League champion football team, was returning to his Staten Island home after a 24-hour tour of duty when he spotted the fires at the World Trade Center. He rushed to the nearest fire station, Rescue Company 5, to join its rescue efforts. He and 10 other members of that 12-man crew were trapped and lost when the towers collapsed a short time later.

The Granoffs’ gift was announced Nov. 10 during the University’s annual Hall of Fame banquet, which was attended by Margiotta’s widow Norma, his parents, his brother and his two children, 13-year-old Norma Jean and 11-year-old Charles. Margiotta was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame, along with his fellow members of the 1976 football team. The announcement of the scholarship received a standing ovation of several minutes duration.

“I recruited Charlie Margiotta to come to Brown because he was a good student and a good football player,” Director of Admissions Michael Goldberger said during the ceremony. “But Lt. Charles Margiotta fulfilled the Charter of Brown University to the utmost degree ... for no Brown man has ever demonstrated more clearly that his life was one of ‘usefulness and reputation.’ ”

The scholarship fund will be administered in perpetuity by the University’s Financial Aid Office and will be made available to qualified applicants who have demonstrated financial need. Descendants of other victims of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks will also be considered, along with the sons and daughters of other firefighters, police officers and rescue personnel.

The University intends to select the first scholarship recipient from among next fall’s entering Class of 2006.

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