From Samantha Davenport
Alumnus/a '11Father Pilarz was a wonderful man. I remember when my father, who was a painter at the University, took me to campus to see if this was where I definitely wanted to go for school. Father Pilarz was so nice and understanding about my concerns about being in a wheelchair back in 2005 when it wasn't very common for someone in a wheelchair to dorm. I lived in Gannon Hall first floor right next to his apartment and if he saw me he would take a minute to see how I was doing and if there was anything accessibility-wise that I found needed to be addressed. He was very down to earth and cared deeply for the students.
If it wasn't for all the accessibility improvements he made to campus, I would have never been able to go to the U. When I first started at the U, I brought up a concern about what happens if there was ever a fire or something and I was in a building on an upper floor where using the elevator wasn't an option. He worked with me and my father and we came up with a plan for in the event it happened. My father even told me he cared deeply for the University as a whole which made me feel more like I belonged at ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½.
