The University of Pittsburgh is dedicated to changing internal practices, structures and attitudes in pursuit of a truly more equitable and just Pitt. This is a comprehensive and crosscutting effort, requiring action from all areas of the University.
We are committed to sustaining this transformation over time. As a way to ensure transparency and accountability, this website will provide information about our actions, track our progress and serve as a place for community members to find resources.
We will continue to update this information as our work progresses.
"To the University of Pittsburgh’s African American students, faculty, staff and alumni: We stand with you in demanding better and are committed to working with you to make meaningful changes."
— Chancellor Patrick Gallagher
In a message to the Pitt community in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, Chancellor Gallagher announced that the University would reevaluate the 2025 strategic plan to ensure that issues of race and equity would be appropriately addressed. We are gathering input to ensure that these initiatives are incorporated.
Over the summer, students engaged with leaders across the University to forge new ways to improve and enhance the Black student experience at Pitt. After a series of discussions, Vice Provost and Dean of Students Kenyon Bonner responded to the students on behalf of the University in August. Actions resulting from this ongoing dialogue include the following:
After listening to concerns from medical school students and faculty, Pitt's senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and dean of the School of Medicine, Anantha Shekhar, made racial equity a top priority. Some of the resulting actions include the following:
Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor Ann E. Cudd appointed John Wallace, the David E. Epperson Endowed Chair of the School of Social Work, as vice provost for faculty diversity and development.
Wallace and Paula Davis, assistant vice chancellor for health science diversity, are spearheading the development of a major initiative focused on the recruitment of Black faculty members and faculty who focus on issues of race and anti-racism. A proposal, with input from deans and faculty members across campus, will be finalized soon. Comprehensive faculty diversity data is available on this website.
In the coming weeks, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion will become the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. This change, spearheaded by newly appointed Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion Clyde Pickett, reflects new supportive programming that implements and advances equity and inclusion strategies.
This year, Pitt’s annual Diversity Forum event was re-invented as a fully online gathering. Participation exceeded expectations, with more than 12,000 Pitt faculty and staff members, students, alumni and interested stakeholders from all over the world participating. Feedback from this forum has been incredibly positive. We intend to keep this a virtual conference next year. You can view all of the forum sessions here.
The Office of Diversity and Inclusion is also working to ensure that all students, particularly Black students, are aware of how to report acts of racism.
The University's Office of Financial Operations is providing all Pitt responsibility centers with tools to increase their diversity spending. A diversity spending dashboard is included in this site.
Pitt has set a goal of increasing the Black undergraduate population on the Pittsburgh campus within five years. We are also committed to closing retention and graduation gaps between Black and white students. A dashboard of student diversity data is available on this site.
Early work to refine our holistic admissions process is also underway. We will align with school and program goals and reduce or eliminate reliance on SAT/ACT or GRE tests as a factor in determining admissions.
Chancellor Gallagher and other senior leaders have met with multiple student groups, faculty and staff to learn more about the Black experience at Pitt.
Senior Pitt leaders met over two days to explore ways the University can become a truly anti-racist institution. This retreat provided an invaluable opportunity to hear from Black faculty, staff and students and to more fully understand perspectives, challenges and lived experiences at Pitt to better inform the actions necessary to achieve our goals. Several new initiatives and ideas from this retreat are captured on this website and others will be announced in the future.
Pitt's 2020 virtual Diversity Forum, "Advancing Social Justice: A Call To Action," held July 28-30, focused on outlining the key concepts for social justice education and implementation of inclusive policies and practices.
