By MARTY LEVINE

The Black Alumni Collective (BAC) is bringing its 2026 National Conference to Pitt from May 28 to 31 in an effort to expand BAC’s reach further into northeastern universities, organizers say.

The annual event, begun among southeastern institutions in 2019, will draw hundreds of Black alumni leaders — alongside students, academic faculty and administrators as well as community advocates — from more than 50 colleges with the theme: “The Fierce Urgency of Now: Black Community Advocacy from Campus to Corporate to Congress.” 

“It literally convenes thoughts and minds — those of us who really feel the same way about making an impact, not only in our community but in our profession,” says Cindy Jones, BAC’s board co-chair. “I’m inspired by that: Expanding people’s spheres of influence. Making lifelong connections and relationships. They’re priceless.

“As an historian and an educator, I’m aware of the challenges and the obstacles that we have faced as a people, but I’m familiar with our resilience and our strengths,” she adds. “These gatherings are a reminder of our resilience and our strengths. What inspires me is we overcome and we rise above it. We are resilient and we are here to stay. We keep going, we keep going, we keep going.”

“Creating a vision for the future of Black alumni” was the founding mission, says an original BAC organizer, Allyson Reaves. “We felt how Black alumni organizations were isolated,” so they gathered an original group of 10 schools from five states to discuss “where are we now as Black alumni, and what have we overcome.” The goal was to bring these alumni together, to share what works for each group, to honor Black alumni pioneers and to plan for a stronger future.

“These conferences always bring a new sense of hope,” she says. The 2020 conference, for instance, which took place just before COVID hit, focused on civic engagement during a presidential election year. It gave people a guide path for what people can do in their communities, she recalls. “We’re focusing on hope at the end of the day.”

Since the first conference at Georgia Tech in 2019, BAC has even reached out to international Black alumni of U.S. universities, meeting with them in Ghana last year, with plans to add a trip to South Africa next year.

The Pitt conference follows one at Rutgers in 2024 as part of BAC’s northeastern expansion. Melissa Hagan, whose daughter is now at Rutgers, was part of that push — she is the head of the Northern New Jersey affiliate of the Pitt African American Alumni Council (AAAC) and a three-time Pitt alum, which includes her master’s degree and PhD (in epidemiology) from the School of Public Health.

“We really thought Pitt should host the next one,” Hagan says. “We thought it was aligned with our goals and thought that Pitt really should be a part of it.” At a Black alumni reunion here recently, she was also happy to hear Chancellor Joan Gabel’s welcome to the group and the support now among Pitt officials for next month’s event.

The 2026 conference, in Alumni Hall, is designed to help attendees in “navigating rapidly shifting expectations around equity, access and accountability,” according to organizers. Speakers include Pennsylvania State Rep. La’Tasha D. Mayes; Janet M. Stovall, a diversity and inclusion strategist; James Martin II, chancellor of North Carolina A&T State University and former dean of the Swanson School of Engineering; and Alyia Gaskins, mayor of Alexandria, Va.

Register for the conference and find more information on the BAC website.

The Corporate Track has a professional development focus on advancement and negotiating, navigating bias and building inclusive teams. The Congress Track emphasizes Black Political Advocacy toward shaping policy and protecting democracy, including grassroots mobilization, seeking office, lobbying and building coalitions across communities.

The event’s Campus Track is aimed at training student leaders, high school and undergraduate students, with workshops on everything from financial literacy and personal branding to activism and wellness. The conference will let them “see different fields that they can get into,” Hagan says. “There’s going to be so many successful alumni here from many fields,” she notes, who should be an inspiration to them. Students can register here.

The event includes an evening social at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center in downtown Pittsburgh.

Hagan is speaking at this year’s conference on advancing health equity in African American communities, while Jones and Reaves will be aiding various programs throughout. “Our hope is that Black alumni and any alumni will attend,” says Jones, to gain “connections and information and knowledge about the factors that try to divide us … and find solutions and remedies so we can all build together.”

“We hope to build really great community links” as well, Reaves says, adding: “When you see each other every year it becomes like family.”

Marty Levine is a staff writer for the University Times. Reach him at martyl@pitt.edu or 412-758-4859.

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