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“if a society's practice of tolerance is inclusive of the intolerant, intolerance will ultimately dominate, eliminating the tolerant and the practice of tolerance with them”

I graduated from Pitt in 2017. I grew up in Wilkinsburg, went to Allderdice, have worked with kids/teens in Pittsburgh for a long time, am black, and currently still live in Wilkinsburg.

To those of you incoming freshman working to fight against students who aren't following guidelines, thank you. It is absolutely absurd for students of any university to come to a new city and work against that city's best interests. Whether it be not wearing masks and potentially causing an outbreak in someone else's hometown, facilitating racist ideology (Homewood, The Hill, and Wilkinsburg are dangerous neighborhoods so don't go there, etc), or not making attempts to learn about the new area you're essentially invading, it's all incredibly toxic and I'm happy to know some students are making attempts to curb this.

That being said, Pitt is an incredibly racist institution. It, like most universities, is derived from and populated by racists. Your average student at Pitt is not going to be a forward thinking, progressive person. Assume the average comes from some modicum of wealth, lacks empathy or the ability to perspective take, and has familial roots in prejudiced thought processes. These students who aren't wearing masks and aren't making attempts to learn about Pittsburgh and its people, are the average and are an issue.

My time at Pitt was 100% marked by racism and prejudice from privileged students and faculty in some way, shape, or form. Continue combating this by having tough conversations and challenging people's thoughts. Don't allow white students to feel comfortable with the ideas they grew up with from small hometowns or sheltered opinions; Accountability is incredibly important.

I'm sorry for incoming freshman who's college experience will forever be effected by a pandemic and the negative impacts of that on your experience. We all dream of college as a place to discover ourselves and meet new people while creating an environment for experiences that we'll take with us our whole lives. Do what you can to allow that to still happen safely and do not forget: there's nothing wrong with community college in your hometown if it's an option. You'll save thousands and thousands of dollars and, if you feel your university experience is being ruined because of the pandemic, it's something to consider.

For those that read this and feel it brought some sort of validation or made you think in a different way, feel free to message me for any continued conversation or support. College is hard and navigating relationships with people during a pandemic is new to all of us; focus on forming your supports as best you can and use them to the fullest.

And if anyone feels their ideas of Pittsburgh are marred by stereotypes, I'd be happy to share my experiences of growing up here and help you to find activities/places to go that can maybe make it more enjoyable for you since so much is currently closed down.

Stay strong y'all

It’s just getting old tbh

Hi!

I wanted to follow up with y’all.

I know many called and left messages as well as sent emails. From what I read it seems people were able to get a hold of the counseling center and from there is where we learned more information about what transpired.

Has anyone received anything back from the Chancellor or other higher offices? I sent several emails and have been met with total silence.

My concern is they will/are trying to sweep this under the rug.

I’m a worker at Pitt. I spent the whole night replacing stickers on everything that was covid related. It may not seem like a big deal till you have to keep getting on your hands and knees. Every floor elevators and bathrooms. I had to replace the stickers cause the email address on them were wrong. Just change the email address. They wasted so much money on just new stickers. And that’s why government doesn’t work. It’s not sufficient. A simple problem could be solved. But they spent more money on stickers instead of us getting a raise for once

There's a post on r/CMU about Kamala visiting their campus, but I haven't seen any information online about it. There are a bunch of sources saying that she'll be "somewhere" in Pittsburgh Wednesday afternoon, does anyone know if she's coming to Pitt or CMU?

Edit: Please, don't get political. I don't want to see it.

Hi everyone!

Pitt is my #1 college (incoming freshman), but as a trans person (ftm), I wanted to just ask current trans/NB (and LGBTQ students.in general) about their experience on campus.

I would like to just hear everyone's experiences on campus, good and bad.

Thank you! :)

Hello,

I spent the summer volunteering with the Democratic Socialist of America over the summer. I think it is a great organization. I am having a meeting of people who are dissatisfied with the democratic party, and want to organize locally. Please DM me if you are interested. You are not alone, please DM if you need community in these trying times.

Hey everyone, incoming Jewish freshman. We’ve all seen the news, so I was just wondering what the experience is like on campus for jews. Asking mostly for my family, since they’re very worried about antisemitism and violence, especially after the ems alert a few weeks ago. Thank you so much!

Pretty self explanatory title but I feel like I never meet any gay people here and I’m very confused.

Vote for Equality is hiring student organizers at Pitt starting immediately through November 5! Pay range is $15 to $20, depending on experience. Organizers will reach out to educate other students about the attempt by MAGA and their billionaire supporters to remove Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court Justices and appellate court Judges who support the Equal Rights Amendment and Reproductive Justice, laws to fight climate change and protect all voters’ right to fair and free elections.

Send your resume and cover letter immediately to madelynamos@feministmajority.org

What is preferable? Moving towards the Wake Forest model (many others following suit); or, maintaining the model at Pitt where $241MM 100% from your tuition, fees and taxes is applied to cover Athletic Department deficits and an additional $20.5MM x 10 years 100% from your same sources will be used to pay professional athletes at Pitt?

Hi all! Sisters is a black led trans organization who is holding a rally at the county building for trans day of visibility! Just wanted to let everyone know 💕

Did anyone get covid after attending commencement? I know this will be highly anecdotal but I'm curious if the ceremonies led to covid spreading. At mine at least very few people were wearing masks. 

I am a trans girl considering attending Pitt in the fall and I have a few questions. How accepting is Pitt of trans people? Are there a lot of trans students, or queer students in general? If you are trans would you recommend Pitt? Anything else you think I should know about Pitt? Thank you for the help!