DePaulia
The Volume #110 Issue #2
DePaul's student-run newspaper since 1923
depauliaonline.com
September 29, 2025
DePaul professor cleans dog poop in Wicker Park, urges others to ‘Scoop the Poop’
DePaul professor Kevin Sofen and his son stand next to “Shit Fountain” in Chicago’s East Village on Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. The fountain was made in 2005 by artist Jerzy S. Kenar.
By Sabrina Castle Asst. Digital Editor
Kevin Sofen never expected to be the “dog poop guy” of his neighborhood. But as the founder of Scoop the Poop — an initiative aiming to clean dog poop off the streets of Wicker Park — he said his selfless and sometimes smelly work is worth it to “make our community somewhere that we like to live.” Sofen, an instructor in DePaul’s business school, started Scoop the Poop in March, having grown angry about seeing “dog poop everywhere.”
Looking to raise awareness of the issue, Sofen centered his initiative around installing poop bag dispensers and signs with tag lines like “There’s no such thing as the dog poop fairy” on residential properties. “In the world, there’s a lot of unsolvable issues with a lot of different political strife on both sides,” Sofen said. “I look at this as a very solvable issue in our community.” Though he has now installed 28 dispensers and 50 signs around the Wicker Park area, Sofen said his success started with one sim-
DePaul alum Ryan Jamison takes the helm as men’s golf coach By Laura Casey Contributing Writer
Ryan Jamison has spent the last five years working as a PGA Tour caddie. Now he’s making a return to his alma mater, DePaul, as the head coach of the men’s golf team. “I wanted to get back to DePaul, and I have accumulated knowledge over the past 20 years that I feel can help grow the program,” he said,
RECYCLE ME
noting that this felt like the right time to return to the team. Jamison, originally from Garland, Texas, completed both his undergraduate and graduate degrees at DePaul. He earned a bachelor’s degree in commerce in 2005 and an MBA in sports management in 2013.
JEREMY BATTLE/THE DEPAULIA
ple video. After stepping in a pile of dog poop, Sofen said he spent hours one day cleaning his entire street — an act which he filmed and posted to social media, where it went “mini viral,” gathering thousands of views, likes and comments. “I was like, ‘This kind of struck a chord — there’s something here that’s bigger than me,’” Sofen said. Realizing his efforts weren’t “sustainable,” Sofen sought a soluJEREMY BATTLE/THE DEPAULIA tion that allowed him to “tap into Kevin Sofen puts up signs next to his poop bag dispensers in East Village on the community” of fellow resi-
See SCOOPER, page 12
Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. Sofen’s signs have funny taglines like “There’s no such thing as the dog poop fairy.”
PHOTO PROVIDED BY DEPAUL ATHLETICS
Ryan Jamison coaches a player on the men’s golf team at the Highlands Invitational in Westchester, Illinois.
See GOLF, page 16 NEWS 3 |OPINIONS 8 | LA DEPAULIA 10 | ARTS/LIFE 12 | SPORTS 14