MISINFORMATION – Cruise captain Schettino's lecture on panic management – Bufale.net

On August 6th, 2014, former Costa Crociere cruise captain Francesco Schettino was supposedly invited at “La Sapienza” University of Rome. The reason behind the invitation was the opportunity to “lecture” about panic management.
For those who don’t know who Francesco Schettino is, here is a brief history. His name is bound to a tragic naval disaster occured on January 12th, 2012 near Isola del Giglio, on the Tyrrhenian Sea. The accident involved 32 victims, namely 27 passengers and 5 crew members. As of October 24th, 2014, Francesco Schettino is under trial for manslaughter and

for violations of the Italian Penal Code and Code of Navigation on three specifications: of his having caused the shipwreck “owing to … imprudence, negligence and incompetence” resulting in deaths; having abandoned about 300 people “unable to fend for themselves”; and “not having been the last to leave” a shipwreck “abandoning incapacitated passengers and failing to inform maritime authorities” (Wiki)

As you might have guessed, the invitation caused quite a stir on August in Italy. However, this has been proven largely untrue.
First of all, yes – Schettino has been invited for a lesson, but not for a lecture at La Sapienza. Although bearing the University crest, the building in which the speech took place is not actually related to the University in itself.
Schettino was invited for a small speech to be featured in a seminary entitled “DALLA SCENA DEL CRIMINE AL PROFILING” (“From the crime scene to criminal profiling”). The seminary was held by criminologist Vincenzo Mastrolonardi, (then) chair of Forensic Psychopathology at La Sapienza. According to a source, as reported by the Italian edition of Wired, Mastronardi wasn’t looking forward to seeing him.
His speech lasted no more than a brief period of time and was delivered to a relatively small crowd of only 80 attendants. It was intended to be a personal commentary about a 3D model reenacting the final moments of the Costa Concordia cruise ship – not a lesson.