COVER STORY Donald M. Henderson First Black Pitt Provost, 1989 Page 24 Chancellor Mark A. NordenbergNordenberg ReportReportss on the Pitt African African American Experience Experience COVER STORY Donald M. Henderson First Black Pitt Provost, 1989 Page 24 2006 2004 2002 On the cover: Rose Afriyie graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2006 with a degree in English writing and political science. An E GOL Alpha Kappa Alpha sister, she was a Black BLU D Action Society member, BlackLine committee chair, Pitt News opinions editor, Pitt Chronicle contributor, and vice president of the African Amer - & BLACK ican Coalition for Advancement, Achievement, Suc - cess and Excellence. 2006 Along with Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg, Millersville University President Francine G. Mc - Nairy (CAS ’68, SOC WK ’70, FAS ’78), and Pitt Professor Emeritus and former Provost Donald M. Henderson (FAS ’67), Afriyie presented a tribute to Jack L. Daniel (see page 48) . UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Contents C H A P T E R 1 : A F R I C A N AM E R I C A N AL U M N I CO U N C I L . .4 C H A P T E R 2 : C O V E R ST O R Y : D O N A L D M. HE N D E R S O N . .2 4 C H A P T E R 3 : A W A R D S , HO N O R S , AN D SC H O L A R S H I P S . .3 0 C H A P T E R 4 : P R O F I L E S . .4 8 C H A P T E R 5 : P I T T AR T S ON DI S P L A Y . .7 8 C H A P T E R 6 : A R O U N D TO W N AN D GO W N . .8 2 C H A P T E R 7 : B O O K S . .1 1 2 C H A P T E R 8 : B L A C K TA L K I E S . .1 1 6 C H A P T E R 9 : A N N I V E R S A R I E S . .1 1 8 C H A P T E R 1 0 : W O M E N AN D ME N OF IN F L U E N C E . .1 6 2 C H A P T E R 1 1 : B L A C K HI S T O R Y MO N T H . .1 6 4 Western University of Pennsylvania (WUP) Students. The Class of 1888, pictured in 1884. Chancellor C H A P T E R 1 2 : A TI M E L I N E OF BL U E , GO L D , AN D BL A C K HI S T O R Y . .1 7 4 M.B. Goff is standing in the back, on the left, and Professor Rohrbacker is seated in the middle front. WUP changed its name to the University of Pittsburgh in 1908. Thomas Raymond Fisher (standing. C H A P T E R 1 3 : N O LO N G E R LI V I N G LE G E N D S . .1 8 6 fourth from left) is the first photographed Black student from the University. C R E D I T S . .2 1 0 BLUE GOLD & BLACK 2 2006 COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH ARCHIVES, ARCHIVES SERVICE CENTER C H A P T E R 1 : A F R I C A N AM E R I C A N AL U M N I CO U N C I L C H A P T E R 1 : A F R I C A N AM E R I C A N AL U M N I CO U N C I L U N I V E R S I T Y OF PI T T S B U R G H 5 2005 Homecoming Greetings AFRICAN AMERICANS GRADUATING IN THE TOP 20% OF HIGH SCHOOL CLASS 60% of Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg 50% 40% 30% Delivered at the African American Alumni Council Sankofa banquet, Shades of Excellence ... Hues of Distinction, on October 22, 2005 1998 1999 1997 2000 2005 2002 2003 2004 2001 Thank you, David [Garnett], and good evening everyone. I am both delighted and honored to welcome you back to the University of Pittsburgh—to our AFRICAN AMERICAN AVERAGE SAT SCORES 2005 Homecoming Weekend and to this very special African American 1200 Alumni Council awards banquet. Let me begin by expressing my deep appre- 1100 ciation to Linda Wharton-Boyd, to her hardworking executive committee, 1000 and to everyone who has supported them in making this event a reality. 900 800 Earlier in the week, I had a conversation with Stanley Battle, the president of 1998 1999 1997 2005 2000 2002 2003 2004 Coppin State University and one of our 2005 Legacy Laureates. He had not 2001 been on campus for some time and said he found it hard to believe that this was the same place. Though we have gathered in the Golden Triangle tonight, HONORS COLLEGE ELIGIBLE (ALL FRESHMEN) I hope that all of you who have traveled back to Pittsburgh for this event have 25% the chance to spend at least a little time in Oakland. 20% 15% 10% As a general matter, the campus is cleaner and prettier and better planted. 5% In recent years, we added such important—and physically dominating— structures as the Petersen Events Center, the Sennott Square academic 1998 1999 1997 2000 2005 2002 2003 2004 2001 center, the Bouquet Gardens apartments, and the Pennsylvania Hall residence Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg hall. Earlier this month, we dedicated our third biomedical science tower— a 300,000-square-foot, $200 million building that is the most advanced facility of its type in the world and that soon will be the new home to 50 different research groups. In the space between the Hillman Library and the Carnegie public library, a new town square park is emerging—replacing an ugly, open parking lot and adding immeasurably to the attractiveness of Oakland. But most of the truly important building we have done in recent years has involved the minds and hearts of talented people, as opposed to concrete and steel. In the last 10 years, for example, Pitt has become a “hot” school within the pool of potential undergraduate students, with applications doubling and then rising above that. Our average SAT score has shot up from 1110 to 1231; the percentage of freshmen who graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school classes has risen from 19 percent to 46 percent; and the percentage of freshmen who graduated in the top 20 percent of their high school classes has risen from 39 to 75 percent. I do not know of another university that can claim an equivalent increase. But we have done a lot more than just attract larger numbers of hardworking, talented students. Once they arrived, we gave each of them exceptional opportunities to learn and to grow. Many of them performed at levels that would be a source of pride at any university—among other things, claiming such honors as Goldwater and Truman and Udall and Marshall Scholarships in record numbers. In fact, as some of you know, only three universities—Yale, Cornell, and Pitt—had students compete successfully in all of this country’s major commemorative scholarship competitions in each of the last two years. BLUE GOLD & BLACK 4 2006 C H A P T E R 1 : A F R I C A N AM E R I C A N AL U M N I CO U N C I L U N I V E R S I T Y OF PI T T S B U R G H 7 2005 Homecoming Greetings of Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg continued Speaking more broadly, over the course of the But there are a lot of things you cannot measure by annual statistics or by final scores—the excitement in the air as new last decade, we awarded more than 71,000 students arrive on campus, the looks of satisfaction on the faces of parents as they see their kids moving through a process degrees. Each of them represents an individual that is helping them become happy and productive adults, the expressions of thanks from graduates who know that their Pitt opportunity to build a more productive and experiences have helped them successfully pursue their dreams, and the gratitude of employees, almost all of whom feel lucky satisfying life—whether the particular student to be a part of an institution with a mission, a tradition, and a trajectory like Pitt’s. was a major scholarship winner or not. And because I know that every institution of higher learning makes many of its most important contributions through the work In the last 10 years, we also boosted our annual of its graduates, events like tonight’s awards banquet are, as a general matter, always very special to me. They reinforce the research expenditures from $230 million to worth of our work—because we see in the inspiring examples of our honorees the good that can come from human talent more than $600 million. These are dollars that properly developed and directed to the advancement of noble ends. fuel pioneering work, are an accepted sign of academic strength, and support local jobs.