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Issue Date: 
February 1, 2016

The Genocide Relief and Awareness Club, a Pitt student organization, gathered donated items—and attracted about 110 student and community volunteers—to assemble welcome kits for 17 refugee families who have been resettled in Pittsburgh. The club received a $250 grant, which they used to spearhead the effort dubbed the Pitt Good Neighbor project. The donations of goods related to kitchen, school, infant-care, and hygiene needs were sorted and put into welcome kits on Jan. 22 at the William Pitt Union. Pitt student Shamanta Mostofa, founder of the Genocide Relief and Awareness Club, said the club coordinated the effort with the Northern Area Multi-Service Center of Allegheny County, a nonprofit that assists with refugee resettlement, and hopes to do the project annually. (Photo by Emily O'Donnell)

 

The School of Education’s Lindsay Page (left) and Jennifer Iriti participated in a Jan. 20 meeting of the White House Domestic Policy Council. The Pitt educators were part of an advisory group—comprising about 40 university academics and policy researchers from across the country—created to inform the Obama administration’s thinking on higher education policy. Page is an assistant professor of education and a research scientist at Pitt’s Learning Research and Development Center (LRDC); Iriti is an adjunct assistant professor of education and LRDC research associate. Both Page and Iriti have done extensive research on guaranteed college scholarship programs, such as The Pittsburgh Promise.