Letter to the
Dean of Students

By Carlino Giampolo
August 27, 2020

Dean of Students Kenyon Bonner
University of Pittsburgh

Mr. Bonner

Below is a policy communication from Vice Chancellor Paul Supowitz supporting students hosting parties of up to 25 students even while the university is in an "elevated risk posture." Your letter to students concerning their behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic has been referenced in major local media organizations yet the policy below has been ignored as if it were nonexistent. Although it is incongruent with your letter to students, by not renouncing the policy, you have chosen silence on this issue.

In 2004, during the tenure of Chancellor Mark Nordenberg, you began your employment at the university. Oakland was often referred to as the Wild West according to a leader of an Oakland organization. Students operated speakeasy-like operations at their off-campus residences, and binge drinking was wide-spread and rampant, causing problems in the community. You chose silence and offered no support to residents, especially elderly longtime residents, who don't deserve to suffer from all of those indignities.

Later on, the disgraceful Semple Fest celebrations took place. Students would take over a section of Semple Street for their yearly binge drinking party on the Friday before finals week. One year, students burned dumpsters at each end of the street, preventing longtime residents from entering or leaving their homes. The next day, residents were burdened with the massive cleanup of beer cans, whiskey bottles, and other debris. The residents' calls for help from the administrators were ignored. Once again, your voice was silent on these indignities.

Since 2007, the community has been requesting the implementation of a meaningful environmental program known as SOUL (South Oakland Urban Litter) to end the horrific trash and litter problems caused primarily by students who care very little about the community. Administrators have denied these requests. Although the request for funding was equivalent to only $4 dollars which would come from each student's sizable tuition fees, the administrators' dishonest excuses were that the "university has no money" and "the state is cutting back our funding." Today, longtime residents continue to suffer from the indignities of living under the filthiest conditions of any neighborhood in the city. Your voice, again, remains silent.

These sufferings could be occurring because 99.9% of administrators don't live in Oakland. Neither they nor their families have had to endure these indignities.

You have been a willing witness to and participant in the disgraceful decimation of our community for the sake of uncontrolled expansion of the university. That shameful destruction continues today as plans are being made to demolish Oakland's only gas station at Forbes and McKee, where more student housing will be built to support the university's never-ending increase in student enrollment. 

However, there are two fundamental pathways of change: the Path of Dignity or Path of Tragedy. In the past, you were instrumental in developing the University's Reaching Inside Your Soul for Excellence (RISE) mentoring program. Now is the time for everyone to connect with their souls and move on to the Path of Dignity. 

You can begin by finally breaking your silence and publicly denouncing the unconscionable policy set forth by Vice Chancellor Paul Supowitz of allowing students to host parties of up to 25 students during this life-threatening COVID-19 pandemic.

Note: Kenyon Bonner has not replied.

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