US students love Italy but wary after Knox case

FLORENCE, ITALY – Most of the American students are attracted by Italian food, arts and fashion. So, they love Italy but… wary after Knox case.

According to the poll conducted by the Italy-USA Foundation and Loyola University in Chicago, 99.03% of students polled who had never travelled to Italy said they would like to visit. Almost one-third said they were drawn because of Italian food. Fashion and arts were also major attractions, but poll also found that more than 84% of the students surveyed said they were aware of the case of Amanda Knox and cited it as a reason why they would think twice before spending a semester in Italy.

The conference to present the survey “American Students’ Thoughts on Italy” was held in Rome, Sala del Cenacolo of Vicolo Valdina, Chamber of Deputies, April 10, 2014. Among the participants senator Lucio D’Ubaldo, President Italy-USA Foundation, Emilio Iodice, Director John Felice Rome Center – Loyola University Chicago, the journalists Gaetano Barresi, Giornale Radio Rai, Ennio Caretto, Corriere della Sera, Federico Leoni, SkyTg24, Philip Pullella, Reuters, Enzo Quaratino, Ansa, chairman Giampiero Gramaglia, Istituto Affari Internazionali.

Amanda Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were found guilty in a Florence court last January 30, for the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia. American student Knox was sentenced to 28 years and Sollecito to 25 years.

In the survey “American Students’ Thoughts on Italy”, the students were also asked what they thought about the merger of automakers Fiat and Chrysler and 55% said it would benefit the US while 76% thought Italy would gain the most from the deal. A large majority said the deal should improve relations between the two countries and as many as 96% thought the new merged group’s headquarters should be in the United States.