An August 14, 2023 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article stated,
“Debates about funding for Pennsylvania’s state-related universities have sparked renewed questions over accountability and transparency at these schools. Though universities like the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State are educational behemoths that receive millions of dollars in government funds, they are only required to report minimal information about their finances every year. In July, a majority of House Republicans voted down the state-related universities’ 2023-24 appropriations, citing minimal transparency as one of the reasons they were wary to provide these universities with their state funding. The state-related universities — including Pitt, Penn State, Temple University and Lincoln University — are exempt from large portions of Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law. Despite voting in favor of the universities’ funding, some Democrats have also signaled willingness to reexamine these universities’ public records requirements. Citizens and journalists have also pushed for more openness…”
Given the state of Black affairs at Pitt, notwithstanding a plethora of “diversity dashboards” and proclamations regarding “diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice, there is a considerable amount of information regarding Blacks for which Pitt needs to be forthcoming.
For starters, the public needs to know why Black senior academic administrators have such a difficult time surviving at Pitt. As my September 9, 2022 University Times Letter to the Editor indicated, “…in 1969 Pitt had one Black dean (Lawrence Howard of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs) and, in 2022, Pitt has only one Black dean (Valerie Kinloch of the School of Education). Between 1969 and 2022, Pitt had other Blacks serve as deans for the College of General Studies, Education, Engineering, Law, Social Work and Student Affairs…” After Dean Kinloch left Pitt a few weeks ago, a Black woman now serves as the Interim Dean. In the interest of transparency, we need to know why Black deans are on the verge of extinction at Pitt.
Now comes the news that, as of August 15, 2023, Pitt’s first Black Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Douglass Browning, has resigned as Chair as well as from the Board itself. During his administration, the Pitt Board completed what some deem to be the Board’s most important task, i.e., the April 3, 2023 appointment of Pitt’s new Chancellor Joan Gabel. At that time, a Pittwire statement by Browning read as follows: “I believe Pitt stands on the threshold of even greater accomplishments and achievements in the future under her guidance. She clearly reflects the vision, drive, experience and understanding of the issues and complexities of leading a major research university.”
I have known Browning since he was an outstanding Pitt student and, from a distance, observed his distinguished professional career as well as his unwavering service to Pitt. So committed has Browning been to Pitt that, during the 2021 Pitt Homecoming, he stated, “I recognize that had it not been for the financial support that I received at the University of Pittsburgh, obtaining that degree might not have been possible. …As long as I’m breathing air I’m going to continue to contribute to that fund, and when I stop breathing air the University of Pittsburgh is going to get a generous gift from my estate.” Obviously, then, transparency is needed regarding the sudden resignation of Browning, a mere 4 months after Gabel’s appointment and Browning having been nominated for a second term as Board Chair in June 2023.
The sudden and oddly timed disappearance of Blacks from Pitt positions is not new. For example, after serving as Dean of Engineering since 2018, mere days before the start of classes, an August 5, 2022 Pitt article indicated, “Swanson School of Engineering Dean James R. Martin has stepped down from that role to become vice chancellor for STEM research and innovation in the Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Research, according to an announcement posted Aug. 4 on the provost’s website.”
College Presidents do not resign a day or two before the start of a new fiscal year. Yet, there was the very abrupt June 29, 2021 resignation of former Pitt-Bradford President, Catherine Koverola, effective July 1, 2021. Days later, the Black Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs, Emily Allen Williams resigned. Whereas the White woman, Koverola, emerged with subsequent senior positions on the Pittsburgh Campus, nothing analogous happened with Williams at Pitt. Again, transparency is needed regarding both the abrupt resignations and differential outcomes for the two Pitt-Bradford women.
When it comes to the Black community at Pitt, in addition to the foregoing, full transparency is needed regarding many other things. Some of the matters are as follows:
· Why, for years, have there been very disappointing retention and graduation rates for Black students on all of Pitt’s Campuses, in general, and Black student athletes in particular on the Pittsburgh Campus?
· What is the reason(s) for the continued paltry amounts of Pitt spends with Black-owned and operated companies?
· Why has Pitt been relatively stagnant in terms of hiring Black faculty in general as well as hiring Blacks with tenured faculty positions on all of its Campuses?
· Why is Pitt so quick to hire Black “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” type administrators to assist White administrators as opposed to hiring Black administrators with decision making authority regarding personnel and operating costs?
· Why is it the case that, at Pitt, for years Blacks have been sick and tired of being sick and tired of the snail-like pace related to the realization of equity and social justice?
If the Black community is to have respect for and work cooperatively with the Pitt administration, then there must be full transparency regarding facts such as the following: [1] since the positions were created, a Black person has never been selected to serve in positions such as Director of Athletics, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, President of the Pitt-Greensburg Campus, or Senior Vice Chancellor for the Health Sciences; and [2] although Harvard recently hired a Black woman to serve as its President, since 1787 and being one of the nation’s oldest institutions of higher education, Pitt has never hired a Black Chancellor.
May the “powers that be” shed a bright light on the state of Black affairs at Pitt! May the dawn of a new era begin by Chancellor Joan Gabel and her Senior Staff shining a bright light regarding their efforts to realize equity and social justice at Pitt.
Jack L. Daniel
Co-founder, Freed Panther Society
Contributor, Pittsburgh Urban Media
Author, Negotiating a Historically White University While Black
August 16, 2023