NJIT Honors Alumnus Vince Naimoli '62, '09 HON with Dedication of Lenda and Vince Naimoli Turf Room

As part of the 2022 Homecoming festivities, New Jersey Institute of Technology held a ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Lenda and Vince Naimoli ’62, ’09 HON Turf Room. 

Lenda Naimoli and her sister Glenda Young, President Teik C. Lim and First Lady Gina Lim, President Emeritus Joel S. Bloom and First Lady Emerita Diane Bloom, Athletic Director Leonard Kaplan, Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Ken Alexo, athletics staff and student-athletes were among the attendees. 

Vince Naimoli, who passed away in 2019, attended Notre Dame as an undergraduate on a Navy ROTC scholarship before earning double master’s degrees at NJIT and Fairleigh Dickinson University. 

During the dedication, Dr. Lim highlighted the sustained generosity of the Naimoli family, whether it was through scholarships or the Naimoli Family Athletic and Recreational Facility, home of NJIT’s men’s and women’s varsity tennis programs, since 2011. 

“Vince was always ready to help the university whenever he was asked,” said Mrs. Naimoli. “He served on the NJIT Board of Overseers for over a decade and attended and hosted countless alumni events in our home in Tampa, Florida.

“I know Vince would be profoundly humbled by having this place named for him. Vince and I shared a large portion of our lives with each other. One of the best things he shared with me was his great fondness for NJIT and New Jersey.”

Located on the third floor of the Wellness and Events Center (WEC), the Naimoli Turf Room is an indoor training facility for NJIT student-athletes, especially the men’s baseball team, men’s and women’s soccer teams, and men’s lacrosse team.

“Vince just loved his baseball, to be honest with you,” said Kaplan. “He founded the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, which are now Tampa Bay Rays. We built this facility so we can run an infield, have batting practice, have pitching practice and everything.”

Kaplan knew Mr. Naimoli for 15 years and highlighted his support for the university to move to Division I. Mr. Naimoli believed that you could be a smart academic school and be good at athletics. The combined average GPA of a Highlander student-athlete has been higher than a 3.0 for now 27 straight semesters. 

“There’s a term about giving time, talent, treasure,” said Kaplan. “It’s a fundraising term, treasure being money, time donating your time, and talent, you know, mentoring kids, and that's what he did. 

“So anytime he was on campus visiting, he would always sit with the student-athletes, anybody and tell them the story a little bit. He was a hard-working guy from Paterson, so [he would say] put in the time, get your degree and work hard.”