By SUSAN JONES

Pitt’s Board of Trustees meeting on Feb. 5 had plenty of shout-outs for accomplishments on campus, a report about the outreach activities of the Office of External Relations and three interruptions from protesters demanding the University disclose more information about the endowment.

Board Chair John Verbanac began the meeting by welcoming a new Commonwealth trustee, Michael Danovitz, who was appointed by Kim Ward, president pro temp of the state Senate, and by announcing that Art Rooney II, president of the Pittsburgh Steelers, has stepped down from the board to focus on the upcoming NFL Draft in Pittsburgh and his duties as chair of the St. Vincent College Board of Directors.

Chancellor Joan Gabel used her time to thank Pitt’s essential employees for their work during the recent winter storm and to make note of two recent transformational gifts to Pitt — $53.5 million from the Orland Bethel Family Foundation for musculoskeletal research and the $25 million Trivedi Institute for Space and Global Health, whose founding donor is the foundation was started by Ashok Trivedi, a Pittsburgh-based entrepreneur.

She also shared several other updates that Provost Joe McCarthy also had relayed to Senate Council the previous week.

Public impact

After Gabel’s presentation, Kevin Washo, senior vice chancellor for external relations, gave the board details of Pitt’s Public Impact portfolio and the “Pitt in 67” project, which aims to show the University’s impact in all 67 counties in Pennsylvania.

To highlight Pitt’s public impact, Washo said the Office of Engagement and Community Affairs is coordinating with the Economic Anchor Initiatives at Pitt and the University Center for Social and Urban Research.

Lina Dostilio, vice chancellor for external relations, said Pitt’s public impact in the region is “almost countless,” but can be categorized into four clear areas.

Engaged partner in public problem solving. “We mobilize our teaching and our research mission to work alongside communities, government agencies and industry on real world challenges, from our Pittsburgh based community engagement centers to Pitt–Bradford’s new center for rural engagement,” Dostilio said.

Economic anchor for the commonwealth. “The University generates $6.6 billion annually for the state’s economy. And when we add the $5.4 billion of Pitt alumni impact, that brings a total impact of $11 billion of annual economic impact to the commonwealth,” Washo said. Dostilio also pointed out the effort Pitt makes to buy, build and hire locally and to help develop almost 1,500 small and family-owned businesses every year. “We spur community and economic development adjacent to our campuses, and we innovatively grow new industry segments to ensure our state’s economic competitiveness,” she said.

Engine for lifelong learning and workforce development. “Even beyond the students who we enroll in our undergraduate and graduate programs, Pitt creates opportunities for Pennsylvanians to learn and grow through K-12 enrichment, workforce development and programs that foster personal and professional advancement,” Dostilio said.

Responsive and committed neighbor. Pitt has long-term, place-based commitments, “where we show up as a true neighbor every day, and we do this in communities across Pittsburgh and outlying counties and near our regional campuses.” she said.

The goal of the Office of External Relations is focused on making Pitt’s public impact more visible.

“We know that our impact is felt in the communities closest to our campuses, but in actuality, Pitt makes a tremendous difference across the entirety of Pennsylvania in all of the four ways I just described,” Dostilio said. “As part of the Plan for Pitt, we are documenting how our schools and campuses are improving the lives of our neighbors through partnership and action. By the end of 2028, the close for the plan, we will reach 500,000 Pennsylvanians.”

External relations has created multiple platforms to broadcast Pitt’s public impact, including a new public impact website. This will be a hub to “tell the stories of the work that Pitt is doing across our schools and campuses, all in one place for each of the four vital ways that Pitt contributes to the public good.”

The other key project is “Pitt in 67.” “There are 67 counties in Pennsylvania, and you will find our faculty, our researchers, our students, our alumni are making life better in every one of those counties and beyond,” Washo said.

He highlighted work in three counties — two nearby and one on the other side of the state.

In northeastern Pennsylvania’s Lackawanna County (and throughout the state), Pitt’s Child Welfare Resource Center trains and certifies new caseworkers and supervisors, while also providing hands-on technical support around risk, safety and critical thinking. The center, part of the School of Social Work, is headquartered in Mechanicsburg and has regional organizational effectiveness teams throughout the state.

“And this is not a generic training for the county,” Washo said. “It’s tailored to the county’s needs and embedded in daily practice. The result is a more prepared workforce making better decisions for children and families.”

Closer to Pittsburgh, the Pitt–Greensburg Center for Applied Research “is helping inform real health decisions while training the next generation of researchers,” he said. The center has partnered with Independence Health on the county’s Community Health Needs Assessment, with faculty and students conducting data collection analysis that shape local health priorities and investment decisions. “Students are learning by doing and the community benefits from rigorous evidence based planning.”

Washo cited work done in Beaver County to illustrate the impact of Pitt’s Small Business Development Center, part of the Institute of Entrepreneurial Excellence. He said the center served 39 clients in Beaver County with business planning, financial projections, growth strategies and international trade assistance, delivering more than 300 hours of consulting and helping local entrepreneurs secure $2.9 million in capital.

Find more stories about Pitt’s impact in the state on the Pitt Magazine website. 

Verbanac said the board is excited to see this enhanced communication about Pitt’s impact in Pennsylvania. “We’re an asset of the community, and we are dependent upon the community as an institution. And that value proposition, it has to be communicated to sustain who and what we are.”

Protesters’ interruptions

The chancellor was interrupted twice and Washo once by student protesters from the Sumud Coalition who want Pitt to disclose all the investments that make up the $6 billion endowment and to “divest from death and allow the community to control investment policy,” as one protester said.

Verbanac reminded the protesters that there are established procedures to bring matters before the board. When the protesters would not stop, they were escorted out of the William Pitt Union Assembly Room by Pitt Police. In an Instagram post, the group said it had formally requested to address the board but was denied.

Sumud is not a registered student group, but the protesters were Pitt students, according to a University spokesman. When asked if the students would face disciplinary action, the spokesman said, “The University follows the processes outlined in the Student Code of Conduct when students are referred for alleged violations.”

The call to disclose and divest has come to the forefront over the past few years, particularly since the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent Israeli war on Gaza. Students throughout the country have staged protests asking their schools to divest from any funds related to Israel or to the defense industry.

“Chancellor, apologies for the disruption with you,” Verbanac said. “As you know, we have been actively engaged in discussions with members of the campus community on issues of this nature. .... In fact, our chief investment officer, Jeffer Choudry, has had multiple meetings and offered multiple additional meetings on this topic consistently.”

Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.

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