On a late rainy Wednesday afternoon in the University of Arizona’s Integrated Learning Center, a group of 35 students savors some loaves of home-baked olive and tomato focaccia at the sound of soft music and frolicsome chatter. There are also cups of Italian-style cioccolata calda.      

With food being Italy’s main wealth and best-known symbol abroad, the UA’s Italian club cannot go one meeting without it. Even though almost 6,000 miles away, the sounds, colors and tastes of Italy are sincerely celebrated among a unique group of UA students known as Dolce Vita, “sweet life” in Italian. 

Born in 2022, Dolce Vita is a dynamic UA student-run cultural organization that honors Italian and Italian-American cultures in the timeless beauty of Tucson’s desert.

On Jan. 29, Dolce Vita held its first “Welcome to the Club” meeting of the year. The group spent an hour dedicated to savoring the texture of fresh focaccia, introducing the upcoming schedule of events and socializing. The meeting also featured a variety of games, including the Italian-American card contest Mele con Mele, traditional Italian card games scopa and briscola, an Italy-themed puzzle map and more.

At its core, UA’s Italian Club strives to create a welcoming and inclusive space for students of all majors and master’s programs who feel a connection to Italy, whether through family ties, the language or a deep appreciation for Italy’s history, architecture, cuisine and natural beauty.

“I am passionate about keeping this community alive because it offers students a sense of belonging,” Gaspar Borbala, Ph.D., UA’s lecturer in Italian and faculty advisor for Dolce Vita, said. “I’ve seen that this sense of belonging can also greatly influence students’ academic success.”

Borbala, affectionately known as “Borbi” among her students and colleagues, also believes that the Dolce Vita Italian Club provides student officers with valuable opportunities to develop leadership and teamwork skills.

“The club gives them a voice: they can make decisions, apply for grants, learn to manage and work with others,” Borbala said. The passion and dynamism of the Italian Club also provide great value in maintaining the vitality of the UA’s Italian department. “I remember a student who decided to declare a major in Italian because of the club’s joy and positivity,” Borbala said.  

“We want to make sure that the Italian culture and language is accessible to anyone who’s interested in it,” President of Dolce Vita Nicolas William Mazziotti said. “Through the growth of this community, we help grow the department, too.” Mazziotti is majoring in astronomy and physics and minoring in Italian.

With one faculty advisor and 11 student officers, Dolce Vita spreads its affection for everything Italian through 6-8 cultural activities and events each fall and spring semester. The club hosts faculty meet-and-greet events with Italian sweets and caffè affogato, karaoke and game nights, conversations at Viro’s Bakery, sunset hikes at Tumamoc Hill, book and poetry meetings, cooking events and bake sales. At Dolce Vita, every student’s heritage is cherished, whether Sicilian, North-Italian, Italo-American or otherwise.

When it comes to food, the club cooks and bakes dishes and desserts, from recipes that hold a special place in students’ hearts, passed down from their parents or nonni’s kitchens. Last semester, for example, students gathered to make pesto from raw ingredients.

Every semester, the club hosts a bake sale on the UA Mall. The foods are made by students, professors or other Tucsonans who hold a special connection to Italy.  “The bake sale, where we sell delicious home-made Italian goods, has become our tradition,” Mazziotti said. 

Dolce Vita also challenges other humanities clubs, such as the Spanish and German clubs, on the soccer field. “The German club has already reached out to re-plan the soccer tournament, so we’ll definitely do it again,” Mazziotti said. 

An exciting event taking place on Feb. 12 is the “Virtual Tour” of Italy, where students will have the opportunity to virtually explore some Italian cities using VR sets.  

For some, joining the Italian Club means preserving a connection to their family’s legacy of origins and affections.

“I want to make my grandpa, nonno, and mom proud by learning more of the Italian language and culture and that’s why I study Italian and joined the club,” UA economics major Aiden Joseph Murray said. 

For others, joining means preserving a family’s history. 

“My great grandparents emigrated from Italy here, but they stopped speaking Italian once they came because of discrimination, so there’s this sense of loss in my extended family, and that’s why Italian classes and the club help me reconnect with my past,” said Sadie Parent, treasurer of the club and student of women and gender Studies, philosophy, politics and Italian. 

Whether for belonging, heritage or histories, there’s one thing identical for everyone. 

“Dolce Vita gives students a family,” Borbala said.