{"id":3880,"date":"2021-04-19T16:53:24","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T20:53:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/?p=3880"},"modified":"2025-01-28T09:18:25","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T14:18:25","slug":"sharing-his-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/2021\/04\/sharing-his-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharing His Dream"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Tech entrepreneur\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Anthony Ciavaglia \u201977 started a scholarship to help business majors on their way to success.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/h6>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

By Jen A. Miller<\/span><\/p>\n

Anthony<\/span>\u00a0Ciavaglia \u201877 got his start in computing early. He took computer courses while a\u00a0<\/span>marketing student at Seton Hall, at a time\u00a0<\/span>when \u201cwe had to use the IBM punch cards,\u201d <\/span>he said, referring to how computers used to\u00a0<\/span>be programmed using thick cards with holes punched into them. The holes formed a binary\u00a0<\/span>code<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>that told the computer what to do.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Those cards had to be put in exactly the right order for the program to work. Heading to one class, he dropped them on the way to the computer lab. \u201cThe order got all messed up and I got a D on that particular project.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But he didn\u2019t give up. In fact, Ciavaglia\u00a0<\/span>turned<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>knowledge of a then nascent industry into his own\u00a0<\/span>business and a lifelong career. Now he\u2019s giving back to the Seton Hall community through the endowed Ciavaglia Scholarship to be given to one sophomore, junior or senior business student a year.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of people with the same dreams I had. I want to help them,\u201d said Ciavaglia, who, along with his wife, Linda, has three children and three grandchildren. In non-pandemic times, the Emerson, New Jersey,\u00a0<\/span>resident attends Seton Hall basketball games.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing like helping a local university that also happens to be my alma mater. It\u2019s an <\/span>investment<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in those students, and our community.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After graduating, Ciavaglia took his marketing degree and turned it into sales jobs for a few different companies in the computer industry. That gave him a sightline to the potential future of personal computers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But instead of selling products for someone else, he and a partner decided to sell their own. His experiences as a student and as a four-year member of the Pirates\u00a0<\/span>football team, which he joined as a walk-on, showed him that it was worth it to take risks. \u201cI was always considered a person with a \u2018go get \u2018<\/span>em<\/span>\u2019 attitude,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1993, they founded RTP Technology, an information technology software provider and data storage company. \u201cWe hit the sweet spot of the IT industry,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Ciavaglia<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>said<\/span>. \u201cPersonal computers weren\u2019t a popular\u00a0<\/span>thing<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>then, but they\u2019re certainly a major part of everyday life now.\u201d In 2019, the company was acquired by Mainline Information Systems.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ciavaglia decided to endow a scholarship to make sure that it would be available to\u00a0<\/span>students<\/span>\u00a0decades from now versus a one- or two-time thing. He also directed the scholarship be given to students who were in their second, third or fourth years in order to give a\u00a0<\/span>boost<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>to someone who didn\u2019t necessarily excel in high school, but who is blossoming at Seton Hall.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of students may not be superstars early on,\u00a0<\/span>but they show great promise once they start working towards their degree, and in the Seton Hall environment,\u201d he said. \u201cI want to make sure that they can stay\u00a0<\/span>here<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and maybe ease a financial burden, so they can do something great next without worrying as much about student loans.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kyle Penny \u201920 was the first recipient of the scholarship. He graduated with an economics degree and is now in his first year of graduate school, working towards a master\u2019s degree in business analytics, also at the University.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs a current student, receiving this\u00a0<\/span>scholarship<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>validated the work I have been doing at Seton Hall,\u201d <\/span>he\u00a0<\/span>said<\/span>. \u201cMost scholarships given to first-year students recognize high school<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>achievements. Having <\/span>received<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>this scholarship during my college studies\u00a0<\/span>made<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>me proud of my work as an undergraduate and now graduate student.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Penny hopes to turn both degrees into a career in\u00a0<\/span>advisory services, focusing on economic consulting. <\/span>\u201cNot only did the scholarships help provide the financial\u00a0<\/span>stability I needed to start my investment in higher learning, but it also boosted my confidence in my ability to\u00a0<\/span>perform as a student and continue my academic journey.\u201d <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Jen A. Miller is the author of\u00a0<\/i>Running: A Love Story.<\/i>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tech entrepreneur\u00a0Anthony Ciavaglia \u201977 started a scholarship to help business majors on their way to success.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Continue ReadingSharing His Dream<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":4972,"featured_media":3955,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,259,14,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-articles-2020-2024","category-campus","category-scholarship","entry"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4972"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3880"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3921,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3880\/revisions\/3921"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}