Letters to the editor

Clarification on the Chancellor’s Challenge

Upon agreeing to pledge 14 percent to… Clarification on the Chancellor’s Challenge

Upon agreeing to pledge 14 percent to Pitt Program Council Endowed Book Fund, I was unaware this challenge would turn into an attack on an individual and unaware the pledge would be conditional.

Students must recognize the vast improvements that Pitt has undergone since Chancellor Nordenberg’s appointment. Chancellor Nordenberg’s role in these improvements certainly warrants a raise. While the recent raise may appear excessive, we must also recognize the chancellor does not set it himself. This given, it is unfair to attack one individual.

A message needs to be sent not only to senior University administration, but also to the Board of Trustees and legislators in Harrisburg. When students themselves take steps to make education affordable for other students, such a message is sent across the state; one that higher education is a serious issue and needs stronger consideration. With this, the leaders and elected officials who make decisions just might recognize the need to increase funding and attempt to make higher education affordable for all students.

As a student leader, I make my pledge regardless of a matching pledge from the chancellor. Far from being conditional, my pledge is an attempt to lead by example. So, upon the receipt of my next paycheck, I will write a check to Pitt Program Council for the equivalence of my pledge. I can only hope that all other students signed on to the challenge will unconditionally do the same.

Jeffrey Alex

Former Student Government President

Pitt Program Council Lecture Director

Appreciating the Challenge

Thanks for telling it like it is. The chancellor sets a poor example for running a University where the kids who want an education see tuition raises like Pitt’s. He is doing something wrong to need that kind of money every year including his own raises. You are to be complimented for offering him your solution to make him think.

He would prove to be a better person if he agreed to give up his increase and look into the finance sheet to see what else he could cut so tuition could be cut. It has to start somewhere, and he could make headlines if he took the bull by the horns instead of going along with the mess the colleges are in. Hope he does, and my hat goes off to you.

Add this letter to a petition to make him see the problem.

Sincerely,

Lois Y. Deaton

Age 74, speaking for grandparents who help pay tuition that is going out of sight