This Must Be the Place: Bocconi Donor Event 2026 The bright lights of the majestic Aula Magna that we all know and love slowly faded into darkness, as the piano melody of Professor Paolo Alderighi accompanied on stage the actor Gioele Dix. In the middle of the scene was a desk, with sheets of paper on it. Dix, in the part of our founder Ferdinando Bocconi, began reading the letter in a calm and expressive voice: the words of Ferdinando penetrated the silence with the sharp effect of timeless wisdom. The most striking and modern part of the letter, sent by Bocconi to an economics journal to announce the opening of our school almost 125 years ago, are those about donations. “I wish to establish that it is allowed for others to contribute to it [the institute], by assigning scholarships to worthy students to support them and encourage them.” With such fitting introduction the 2026 Donor Event began at Bocconi University, the annual occasion during which the faculty and the students have the chance of meeting some of the many people that contribute every year with their donation to our education. As Tra i Leoni Editor in Chief I had the pleasure to be invited by the student representative to the Board of Directors: our newspaper should do its part in letting as many students know the importance of donations for the University. Between 2021 and 2025, Bocconi raised 90 million euros thanks to more than 6700 donors (3/4 of which former students), using this sum to support students financially, faculty and their research. 1 in 3 students receive financial aid from the University, enabling thousands to afford our expensive education and city. Without donations, many of the fellow classmates that are now on this amazing voyage with us could never have dreamt of it. During the course of the event, presented by Head of Alumni and Fundraising division Erika Zancan, the speakers that came on the stage gave a clear image of donations for the University: among others, both President Sironi and Rector Billari gave their remarks, while we could also hear the stories of students directly supported by donors. Serious moments such as these were also followed by more lighthearted ones, such as the comic video on the beautiful brutalist building that is in Via Röntgen and Dix’s monologue, which rightfully characterized our Rector as Magnifico. All throughout, the music of Paolo Alderighi kept the many spectators engaged. The most touching moment was when Billari remembered the tragic episodes of some months, when one of our fellow students was brutally assaulted and gravely injured in the street of Milano. Thankfully the student himself was present at the event, and as I had hoped soon after the incident, the whole Bocconi Community present on that night gave its warm affection to him. The main event concluded slightly late, and audience quickly rushed out of Aula Magna towards the aperitif, which was prepared in the great hall outside of it. I could give you a precise and detailed discussion of the type of beverages and dishes that were present, a variety worthy of the occasion, but I feel that it would be shifting the focus of this article away from the main topic. Education, especially the good kind, is a scarce good in the modern world, and not every person is able to access what they would wish for. Every single euro that our university receives is put to use to improve this condition, through research and faculty support, and most obviously by directly helping so many of us students. No system is perfect, and no solution is either, but what Bocconi tries to do every year is allow people from all over the world to achieve what they dream of, through hard work and merit. I don’t know about you all, but I think that is something worthy of my future donations.