By SUSAN JONES
Kenyon Bonner, who has been involved in student affairs at Pitt since coming here in 2004, is leaving early next year to become vice president and chief student affairs officer at the University of Virginia as of Jan. 16.
Bonner joined Pitt’s Division of Student Affairs in 2004 as assistant director of residence life. He served 11 years as director of student life, and during seven of those years, he also was associate dean of students. In January 2015, he was appointed interim vice provost and dean of students (he gained permanent appointment in March 2016).
Then in August 2021, he was named to his current position — vice provost for student affairs, which included appointment to the chancellor’s senior leadership team and oversight of student affairs at all of Pitt’s campuses. Carla Panzella currently serves as associate vice provost and dean of students for the Oakland campus.
Chancellor Joan Gabel said at the Nov. 9 Senate Council meeting that Bonner’s departure is bittersweet. “We're very happy for him, and he'll be here through the rest of the semester and a little bit into 2024 so that we can have a really smooth transition,” she said, “and we are working on the details of the way we will handle the interim appointment.”
Senate President Robin Kear said at the meeting that she was “sad that Kenyon will be leaving us. I’ve enjoyed working with Kenyon for 10 years now in shared governance, … on different committees, and then, of course, through the leadership roles. He always has had the best interests of students at heart and he will be missed, but I wish him the best.”
Those sentiments were echoed by Ryan Young, Student Government Board president, who said Bonner has been “such a huge supporter of students on this board, and he’s just an amazing person to work with.”
In his announcement about Bonner’s departure, interim Provost Joe McCarthy said, “Over the years, and above all, Kenyon has demonstrated a focused commitment to incorporating well-being and belongingness, as well as principles of diversity, equity and inclusion, into both classroom and social settings to help all students make the most of their college experience.”
Bonner’s impact has been felt in many areas — from walking South Oakland on Saturday nights during the height of the pandemic to make sure students weren’t gathering and spreading the disease to championing the now-under-construction Student Recreation and Wellness Center, which will open in 2025.
Bonner established the Office of New Student Programs, the Office of Inclusion and Belonging, PittServes, commuter and transfer student programs, and the Center for Financial Education and Wellness. He also helped to form the Provost Academy summer bridge program to bolster the new student experience on campus.
He led the effort to establish a monument in Schenley Quad to the National Pan-Hellenic Council — comprised of five historically Black fraternities and four historically Black sororities — in 2021. He also was instrumental in developing the University’s Reaching Inside Your Soul for Excellence (RISE) Mentoring Program, designed to increase the retention and graduation rates of Pitt students.
He currently co-chairs the Year of Discourse & Dialogue, which he said forms “a critical piece of what our role is as a university, providing opportunities for us to practice” what may not be an innate skill.
Bonner earned bachelor’s degree in psychology and philosophy at Washington and Jefferson College, which also awarded him Waltersdorf Award for Innovation Leadership in 2017. He has a master of education degree in rehabilitation counseling from Kent State University and a doctor of education in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania.
He also was honored at Pitt with the Chancellor’s Award for Staff Excellence in Service to the University in 2013.
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
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