University of Pittsburgh Denies PA Shooter's Bequest
Cross-posted at The (not so) Little Things.
Evidently, the misogynist, creepy, a-hole responsible for the Pennsylvania fitness club shooting didn't have any friends, not just women. He left his entire estate ($225,000 worth) to the University of Pittsburgh.
Rightly so, the school declined the bequest:
"The university community continues to grieve about the tragic loss of lives. And we believe that any available funds should benefit Mr. Sodini's victims and members of their families. Our thoughts and prayers remain with them. We at Pitt will do what we can to assist them in receiving any funds that have been bequeathed to Pitt."
Is it just me, or does anyone else think it would have been kind of awesome for the school to accept the money and give it all to the Women's Studies Department?
A little final "fuck you" might have been nice.
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I actually thought the same thing -- they should accept it and give it to Women's Studies or set up a fund for programs to fight sexual assault or something.
I think they did the right thing. Either give it to the families or a woman's organization not associated with the university.
I was going to post the same thing with the same point when the story first came out, but didn't because of something the article you linked unfortunately failed to mention: Two of the survivors are suing his estate for damages. The money might do more good overall in the hands of a women's center, but it would be hard to deny they have legit cause to want it themselves. And in any case, I'm pretty sure if someone sues and wins, they get dibs on it.
The article with this actual bit of extra reporting is here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090818/ap_on_re_us/us_health_club_shooting;_ylt=AurYrnHVFOY0cPNkWuV41I10fNdF
You'd think this would be a detail everyone would include...
Ah ok, those women should definitely get priority over the University. Thanks for the info.
Agreed.
"Is it just me, or does anyone else think it would have been kind of awesome for the school to accept the money and give it all to the Women's Studies Department?"
I wouldve loved that!
Yeah, that's interesting, to give it to the Women's Studies department. Though I can still see anyone's discomfort (probably also the WS department's) at taking money with blood on it.
At least universities are some of the few entities left who may think twice about taking such money. God knows our multinational corporations - and, really, our own government - haven't thought twice about profiting off misery and injustice throughout their histories.