Correspondent photo / Sean Barron Youngstown State University President Bill Johnson speaks during a news conference Tuesday at YSU regarding a $500,000 gift to continue supporting the university’s Centofanti Symposium. Seated are, from left, Kelly Centofanti, Carol Potter, Joe Centofanti and Mark Graham, all foundation trustees.

YOUNGSTOWN — The James and Coralie Centofanti Charitable Foundation has pledged an additional $500,000 gift to continue its support of the longtime Centofanti Symposium and lecture series at Youngstown State University.

“We are so fortunate to have this symposium in our Valley,” Jackie LeViseur, the university’s events director, said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon in the YSU Foundation’s board room in Melnick Hall.

The gift will allow the symposium to continue for the next 10 years at no charge to the public for events. That will give the university the opportunity to continue bringing in a variety of speakers who are experts and influential in the social justice arena and many others, LeViseur said.

“This gift will, without question, sustain the symposium for years to come,” Joe Mosca, a Centofanti Foundation trustee who served 31 years at YSU, said in his remarks.

Since 2013, the annual symposium has hosted well-known individuals such as Dr. Amy Acton, former director of the Ohio Department of Health who is running for governor in the Nov. 5 general election; Gloria Steinem, political activist, feminist organizer and author; Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, former professional boxer who held the World Boxing Association lightweight title from 1982 to 1984; Tim Wise, one of the country’s foremost experts and educators on anti-racism efforts; Tarana Burke, the woman behind the #MeToo Movement; Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon and CNN’s chief medical correspondent; W. Kamau Bell, sociopolitical comedian who hosted CNN’s docuseries “United Shades of America;” and Soledad O’Brien, award-winning journalist, documentarian, news anchor and producer.

“Because of the Centofanti Foundation’s continued generosity, Youngstown State University has built the Centofanti Symposium into one of the region’s premier forums for presenting serious ideas and conducting meaningful dialogue. With their support, YSU has brought nationally recognized scholars and influential voices to our campus to engage our students and our community on the issues shaping our world,” YSU President Bill Johnson said in a statement.

“Our job at YSU is to teach our students how to think critically, to ask probing questions, to look at issues — whether scientific or social — from all sides so they can emerge from our campus fully capable of addressing a wide range of potential solutions to the challenges of their generation.”

The gift also promises to further enhance community-engagement efforts, ideas, diverse voices, meaningful conversations and fresh perspectives to YSU students and the Mahoning Valley, Mark Graham, a foundation trustee, said.

With the announcement of the latest gift Tuesday, the James and Coralie Centofanti Foundation has donated more than $3.2 million to the university.

Major gifts have included $1 million to create the James and Coralie Centofanti Center for Health and Wellness, $100,000 to the Paula and Anthony Rich Center for Autism, $200,000 to support the Carl Nunziato Veterans Center and $500,000 to establish the symposium.

James Centofanti was a successful business owner, as well as a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who fought in World War II. In addition, he sat on Farmers National Bank’s board of directors in Canfield before retiring in 1997, and he was a longtime supporter of many educational and community-based events and activities in the Canfield area.

Centofanti also won numerous awards for his humanitarian efforts. Centofanti died March 23, 2010, at age 89. Coralie Centofanti died Dec. 28, 1999.