Meet 2026 BHS Alumni & Friends Hall of Fame Member Vincent Pinti
By Julie Perine on August 03, 2026
.jpg)
From the Bridgeport High School graduating class of 2019, Vincent Pinti is a summer law clerk at the U.S. Prosecuting Attorney’s office in the Western District of Michigan.
“I work on cases dealing with regulating drug enforcement, helping address the opioid epidemic and its lasting effect on Michigan, West Virginia and Ohio, working directly with the drug enforcement division,” he said. “I also do civil rights investigative work and enforcement of our federal disability rights law, working with state and local partners making sure they are in full compliance with everything from state parks to municipal, state buildings and courthouses – that they are accessible to people with disabilities as well as the aging population.”
In August, Pinti will enter the final year of his graduate program – a dual juris doctoral and Master of Public Policy at Michigan State University.
Pinti, who as an infant was diagnosed with a genetic condition called spinal-muscular atrophy, has made it his life’s work to advocate for people with disabilities.
That passion became stronger when he arrived at the campus of the University of Michigan in the fall of 2019. He chose the university, in part, because of its handicap accessibility, but when he got there, it wasn’t as accessible as he thought. He needed assistance getting out of bed, getting to class, tending to hygiene and other aspects of day-to-day living.
“(The university) was under different leadership at the time, and they didn’t have much of a solution,” he said. “I love hanging out with my dad and mom but didn’t really want them running around to tailgate parties and the fun things of college with me.”
He took it upon himself to contact alumni who had maneuvered college life via a wheelchair. They, in turn, put him in touch with the non-profit Community Living Centers, which was working on a program to help Michigan U students with disabilities. Still, changes were needed on the state level before it could be fully successful.
“Another organization, Legal Aid of South-Central Michigan, working closely with the Michigan Elder Justice Initiative, was advocating in state court for me to have access to finding pay for care while going to college,” Pinti said.
With various officials working behind the scenes, Medicaid was able to cobble together funds for students with disabilities across the state and beyond to receive care while attending college.
The project tapped into a very underutilized resource – college students pursuing a medical career – who were contacted and ultimately became care providers on campus.
“We built a database of over 75 students to provide direct care to students who want to become engineers, lawyers, professors and other careers,” Pinti said. “There is not one single area that I haven’t seen wheelchair users able to pursue.”
That leads to the next phase of Pinti’s passion: To change the fact that in order for Medicaid to cover needed care for him and others with like disabilities, they cannot make more than $2,000 per year. The policies in place discourage young people with disabilities from working toward a professional goal, Pinti said.
He has declared it his life’s goal to convince members of Congress and the Michigan state legislature to reform Medicaid to allow people with disabilities to have meaningful lives and careers.
Pinti said he doesn’t want people to say they are sorry he has a disability. He wants them to say they are sorry the world does not have him and others with physical disabilities in mind. The reason for his challenges isn’t because of his body; it’s because policies are not set up to support people with disabilities to have careers and pursue their talents and passions.
“My goal is to do two things – first, approach congress to really challenge and question the laws of our healthcare system, for them to be aware of it and to do something about it,” Pinti said. “And second, my dream career is to work for the Federal Department of Justice, working in civil rights enforcement and on implementing what I think has been sort of the biggest piece of legislation in 30 years, the Americans with Disabilities Act. It’s a revolutionary law, but it has its limits and it’s not perfect. It’s a bipartisan measure that really took a strong look at every single American and said they want to make sure they can experience fully what it means to be an American and not leave anyone behind in that pursuit – to make sure that promise is fully realized.”
Pinti said he was grateful and surprised to be named a BHS Alumni & Friends Foundation Hall of Fame inductee for 2026.
“I’m excited that my big family in the (Bridgeport) area can get together to celebrate,” he said. “One thing I love about our hometown is how driven, hard-working and compassionate we are. I want people to act on things they dream of. A lot of people I know back home have big dreams but never act on them.”
Big ideas are not so unreasonable, especially if they make life better for us, he said.
Pinti is the son of Jon Pinti (pictured with Vincent, left) and Donna Booth (pictured with Vincent, above.)
Pinti and his fellow inductees, Jan Grisso and Annabel Timms, will be honored during the Aug. 28 BHS football game at Wayne Jamison Field and the Aug. 29 BHS Alumni & Friends Hall of Fame Banquet at The “O” by Oliverio’s. To purchase tickets, click HERE.
.jpg)
