Dear Pitt students, faculty and staff,
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Education issued a letter calling on every postsecondary institution to describe its commitments on topics including admissions, academic rigor, free expression, institutional governance and the value colleges and universities provide to students and society. The Secretary has asked institutions to share information about these commitments on their websites before the end of the year. I encourage you to read the letter.
The questions themselves are not unfamiliar. At Pitt, we regularly demonstrate the impact of our mission, our work, and especially our people, to prospective students and their families, research sponsors, patients, alumni, legislators, community partners and the public. Much of that work is already reflected in the Plan for Pitt, which our community built together.
As we think about our approach to this letter, we'll continue to stay engaged with our national higher education associations, including the Association of American Universities (AAU) and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), both of which offered input and feedback to the Department as the letter was being developed. APLU has also released its own statement, which is available online for additional context.
I also want to hear directly from our own community. If you have perspectives, concerns or examples of work that you believe should inform how Pitt approaches this, please share them through the webform below.
Thank you for your engagement and for all you do on behalf of Pitt. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and will keep you informed as our thinking on this continues.
With warm regards,
Joan Gabel
Chancellor
