Office for
Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion

July 2023

Featured this month

• Celebrate Disability Pride
• Meet OEDI’s new assistant vice chancellor
• A look back at Juneteenth activities
• Mark your calendar for the Indigenous Cultural Festival

I trust this message finds you all well and taking advantage of what seems to be abundant warm weather. Midsummer offers the opportunity for reflection. This is a time for us to recharge, think about the future, and, in some cases, reflect on areas where we each would like to engage (or re-engage) ourselves with the work to advance equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility.

Throughout the year, the OEDI team offers a variety of professional development and learning opportunities, and I encourage everyone to take advantage of at least one of them.

Our signature Diversity & Inclusion Certificate Program includes two required core workshops — “Fostering a Diverse and Inclusive Environment” and “Preventing Sexual Misconduct,” as well as four electives, covering topics such as respect in the workplace, digital accessibility, gender theory, avoiding microaggressions, supporting veterans, and preventing bullying.

These workshops can be personally challenging, even for those of us who work directly advancing equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility. While challenging, that’s what makes them so valuable and important. We understand that one of the commitments to this work is to prioritize ongoing learning. If you’ve never taken advantage of the DICP program, I invite you to consider signing up during the 2023-24 academic year.

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This summer, the University is marking a number of important passages, including the arrival of our new chancellor, Joan Gabel, who began work this week.

Chancellor Gabel brings to us a wealth of experience from her previous roles as past president of the University of Minnesota and provost of the University of South Carolina, where she has shown a strong commitment to the values of equity, diversity, and inclusion. I am looking forward to working closely with her in the months and years ahead, and I know you will join me in welcoming her and wishing her much success.

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With her arrival, we also salute Chancellor Patrick Gallagher, who has stepped down after nine years of service to return to teaching.

His tenure has been one of sustained growth for the University, including increased enrollment, record-high numbers of applicants, outstanding academic achievement, and more than $1 billion in sponsored research each year — a new record. I know he takes very seriously the University’s deep and abiding commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility, and I’ve enjoyed working with him and the members of the cabinet. I’m looking forward to his new role at Pitt and, of course, the opportunity to continue calling him a colleague.

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Last, but certainly not least, everyone in OEDI and across Pitt’s Inclusion Network is wishing Paula K. Davis well on her retirement as associate vice chancellor for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the Schools of the Health Sciences.

Paula has spent nearly four decades as a champion for inclusive and more equitable recruitment, training, and placement of under-represented groups across the health professions at Pitt.

From her first day at Pitt, her responsibilities — and her influence — increased steadily. Beginning in 2020, she co-chaired our highly successful Cluster Hire Initiative to recruit 50 new faculty members from diverse backgrounds by 2024; as of this writing, 46 hires have been completed, 43 in the health sciences.

We are all grateful that Paula will remain with the University in a support role for the Pre-Health Scholars Program. Her legacy at the University of Pittsburgh will resonate for generations to come.

Sincerely,
Clyde Wilson Pickett, Ed.D.
Chief Diversity Officer
Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion

July is Disability Pride Month

Partnerships are key to meeting rising demand

Up to one in four Americans has a recognized disability, making them the largest — and most diverse — minority group in the United States.

The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law with bipartisan support on July 26, 1990. In commemoration of that event, each July is celebrated as Disability Pride Month in the United States.

During the 2022-23 academic year, Pitt’s Disability Resources & Services provided accommodations for more than 2,600 students at the University, an all-time high, and more than 100 members of the faculty and staff.

DRS Director Leigh Culley says that so-called “hidden disabilities” — such as chronic health conditions and mental health diagnoses — are the fastest-growing segment of disabilities within the University community. In addition to individuals with limited mobility, DRS also serves individuals who are neurodivergent, have limited or no vision or hearing, have learning disabilities, or need other accommodations.

Culley says that as the University population increases — and awareness of disabilities grows — the need will keep growing as well. “Some of the more common requests include extending time for tests, exams and assessments,” Culley says.

“The complexity of the needs continues to evolve,” Culley says. “About 64 percent of the students we serve report managing two or more conditions.”

Although caseloads are high, Culley says DRS personnel partner with key academic departments and University stakeholders, including the Office of Human Resources, Student Affairs, Facilities Management, Public Safety, and others “to minimize barriers within the University environment.”

“Those partnerships play an essential role in promoting disability as an aspect of diversity, and fostering an inclusive environment for all,” she says.

During Disability Pride Month, Culley encourages members of the University community to share their own stories on social media with the hashtag #DisabilityPride, and to attend events in August when Pittsburgh celebrates Disability Pride Weekend at Schenley Plaza.

Veella Grooms is Pitt’s new assistant vice chancellor for equity and inclusion. Her first day at the University will be Aug. 1.

A two-time Pitt alumna, Grooms has an extensive background in mental health counseling and wellness, as well as two decades of experience in higher-education administration, including leadership in the areas of diversity, inclusion, student success and retention, and civility.

“We are lucky to have her, and our community will be a better place with her service to the University,” said Clyde Wilson Pickett, Pitt’s vice chancellor for equity, diversity, and inclusion and chief diversity officer. “I’m looking forward to working beside her to further advance our efforts to make Pitt more inclusive.”

Grooms comes to Pitt from Carnegie Mellon University, where she has served as assistant dean of student affairs for civility initiatives since 2021.

A native of Charleston, W.Va., Grooms earned a bachelor’s degree in counseling and rehabilitation at Marshall University in Huntington and began her career as a counselor, case manager, and family advocate, before transitioning into higher education as a counselor at Pitt, then as executive assistant to the president at West Virginia State University.

Grooms said that her background has shown that equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility are keys to ensuring mental health and wellness for students, faculty, and staff.

In 2003, Grooms completed her master’s degree in education at the University of Pittsburgh, going on to earn her doctorate in 2022.

“I tried attending another institution for my doctorate, but didn’t find it as challenging academically, so I returned to Pitt,” she said. “I wanted an opportunity to learn and grow, and I felt the University of Pittsburgh gave me that opportunity.”

Angie Bedford-Jack has been named interim director for strategic operations in the Office for Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion, effective immediately. The move was announced by Clyde Wilson Pickett, chief diversity officer and vice chancellor for equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Bedford-Jack came to Pitt in 2018 to work as digital accessibility coordinator and was later named director of digital equity and special projects in OEDI. She came to the University after working on digital accessibility and delivery of resources in the New York City Department of Education.

In this new position, Bedford-Jack will handle many of the tasks usually overseen by a chief of staff, Pickett said.

“Angie brings significant experience to this role, and has a proven track record of success in moving forward significant projects and strategic initiatives at the University,” Pickett said. “I’m looking forward to her service and support as we further advance an agenda of equity and inclusion at the University of Pittsburgh.”

More than three dozen volunteers fanned out to local community gardens on June 16 as the University celebrated Juneteenth with its first-ever “Rooted in the Community” event.

Despite some rainy weather, Pitt staff, faculty, and students helped pull weeds, build raised garden beds, repair greenhouses, and plant vegetables, fruits, and flowers in the Hill District, Homewood, Knoxville, and McKeesport.

Kent Bey of the Project Love Coalition, which is developing the Peace & Friendship Farm and Gardens in the Hill District, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the Pitt volunteers were “angels.”

The Peace & Friendship garden, a veteran-led urban farm, fell into disrepair during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Pitt volunteers gave the garden a new lease on life, Bey said.

“I just love when they take their time out of their busy schedules and come on out and give me a helping hand,” he said.

The event was organized by the Office for Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion and the Office of Engagement & Community Affairs.

More photos are available at the OEDI website.

Hip-hop panel celebrates music’s history, impact

A near-capacity crowd gathered June 15 at the Blaxk Box Theater on Melwood Avenue to hear some of Pittsburgh’s hip-hop and rising stars discuss the 50th anniversary of a unique American art form that has had a major influence on culture around the world.

“This Thing We Call Hip-Hop” was sponsored by the Office for Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion and 1HoodMedia, and was timed to coincide with both Juneteenth weekend and the anniversary of hip-hop’s debut during the summer of 1973.

The panel discussion featured Fedd the God, Hardo, Paradise Gray, SpeciàlK, and Dr. Starkes, the Rapping Principal. The discussion was moderated by Chantel Petersen, known better as “PopChanny.”

Petersen told Pittsburgh’s NPR station, WESA-FM (90.5), that although the music has evolved, it remains an important factor in building community, pride, and sense of place, especially for Black Americans.

“It wears different clothes now, it wears different jewelry now, but it is still the same hip-hop,” she said. “It is still music, it is still fashion, it is still art, it is still expression, It is still storytelling, all of those positive things.”

Find more photos on the OEDI website.

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