SD District Attorney cancels controversial campus visit
San Diego District Attorney and mayoral candidate Bonnie Dumanis canceled her lecture in the Saville Theatre for Sept. 21. The lecture was to be a part of City College’s Constitution Week.
“She can no longer keep that commitment, and that’s all I can say,” said Steve Walker, communications director for the District Attorney’s office.
News of Dumanis’ lecture had sparked controversy among students and faculty.
Larissa Dorman, political science professor, said that during an Academic Senate meeting on Sept. 12 members of the campus community asked City College to support any protests that may occur during the event.
Controversy over the lecture stems from the District Attorney’s office’s handling of the slaying of City College student Diana Gonzalez last October.
Gonzalez was found slain at City College the night of Oct. 12. Authorities believed that Armando Perez, Gonzalez’s estranged husband, was responsible.
According to police reports, three weeks before Gonzalez was killed she accused her husband of kidnapping her from Inspiration Point in Balboa Park and held her for two days, releasing her on Sept. 23.
The police report concluded that Gonzalez had been kidnapped, assaulted, raped, and falsely imprisoned.
As a result, Perez was jailed for a few days but was released when the San Diego County District Attorney’s office declined to file charges.
Perez is now believed to be in Mexico. Students and faculty close to the event believed a protest was being planned outside of the Seville Theatre the day of the Dumanis’ lecture, as well as question her directly about the Gonzalez case during the lecture.
Dumanis’ lecture was to be on Constitutional issues.
Following Dumanis’ cancellation, BEAT (Bringing Education and Activism Together) and Visionary Feminists held “Diana’s Story” in the Saville Theatre the same day the lecture would have been held.
The event aimed to inform people of Gonzalez’s death and increase the awareness of domestic abuse.
