On Monday night, John Cabot University celebrated its 40th anniversary with a gala at the New York Athletic Club. Brooks Brothers CEO Claudio del Vecchio and Valerie Salembiier of Town and Country magazine were honored, and soprano Krista Adams sang arias. It was an evening of toasts to the American university in Rome, an evening that the university hoped might supplant the brutal and seemingly senseless stabbing of one student, allegedly by another, that dominated the headlines less than two weeks before.

After clubbing and drinking for hours on Halloween night, two John Cabot students returned with friends to their off-campus apartment overlooking the Colosseum. Then, in the early hours of the morning, while Fabio Malpeso slept, his friend and roommate Alessandro Skepys Reid allegedly stabbed him 25 times. Mr. Malpeso’s sister and her boyfriend, who were also staying in the apartment that night, came to his aid. Mr. Reid, an Italian-American with dual citizenship, said he cannot remember, or explain, why he may have stabbed his friend. Read More