Pitt student’s trial set for late January

Pitt student Ethan Kozak will face a non-jury trial on Jan. 29, 2020, for three criminal counts, one each of ethnic intimidation, terroristic threats and harassment, following a Friday pre-trial conference.

Kozak, a junior political science major, admitted in late June to sending violent and derogatory messages to D.J. Matthews, a 20-year-old black Pittsburgh resident who does not attend Pitt, which led to the counts of ethnic intimidation and terroristic threats. Matthews posted screenshots of the messages on Twitter on June 26.

According to the criminal complaint filed by Mt. Lebanon police officer Ty Kegarise in July, the accusation of harassment is related to a series of threatening messages Kozak sent to Colin Welling, a student at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

The messages Kozak sent to Matthews circulated widely on social media and led to outrage on campus over the summer. A group of 27 student leaders sent a letter to top Pitt administrators on July 5 calling for Kozak’s expulsion. The letter also asserted the Student Code of Conduct does not properly address students who “incite violence” against other students on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, national origin, sexual orientation or certain other classifications, as none of the conduct’s 40 violations specifically mention them. To remedy this, the student letter called for the University to develop a “strict policy” for these types of situations.

Provost Ann Cudd and Vice Provost and Dean of Students Kenyon Bonner said in a response issued the following day, July 6, they were thankful for students writing to them and appreciated the calls to “continue creating a respectful, peaceful, diverse and safe learning environment.”

Student Government Board President Zechariah Brown and the three students who drafted the letter — Pitt seniors Jordan Fields, Edenis Augustin and Jenea Lyles — met with Cudd and Bonner on Sept. 30 to discuss ways to strengthen the Student Code of Conduct.

“Ultimately, we are thankful that Dean Bonner and Provost Cudd were willing to meet with us [on Sept. 30], and we look forward to drafting a stronger Student Code of Conduct in conjunction with the University in the next few months,” the students said in a letter posted on social media following the meeting.