The Pitt News
T h e i n de p e n d e n t s t ude nt ne w spap e r of t he University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | february 25, 2019 | Volume 109 | Issue 112
LAURAY LEADS PITT AT ACC CHAMPIONSHIPS
DHIRANA 2019 NATIONAL DANCE COMPETITION
Trent Leonard Sports Editor
Several Panthers made it onto the podium at the ACC Indoor Championships in Blacksburg, Virginia, but none made it higher than sophomore Greg Lauray, who cleared the bar at 2.19 meters to take gold in the high jump and break his own school record. “Once I cleared it, I was like, ‘Finally,’” Lauray said. “Finally got the PR, finally broke the school record.” Lauray’s 7-foot-2-inch jump put him in coveted company — only three other Panthers had ever won an individual title at indoor championships, making Lauray the fourth. The first-place finish helped the men’s team avoid the ACC basement, but the Panthers still managed just 22 points to place 13th out of 15 teams. Pitt’s women, meanwhile, mustered 12 team points to finish 14th. Head coach Alonzo Webb put the teams’ finishes in perspective, noting it was a first for many of the young athletes and that he expects them to carry some momentum going forward. “With a team like ours … a lot of the people who came to this meet, it was their first experience in a championship setting,” he said. “So we have to be up to that challenge, and I think we’re going to be.” The meet kicked off Thursday with the women’s pentathlon and the first four parts of the men’s heptathlon. Pitt scored points in both grueling events, with sophomore Breanna Phillips placing sixth and sophomore
Natya from UC Berkeley took first place on Friday at Dhirana, the University of Pittsburgh’s annual Indian classical dance competition. Hannah Heisler| staff photographer
PITT TO MATCH FEDERAL PELL GRANTS, TUITION REMAINS UNCLEAR Jon Moss
Contributing Editor
After the Pitt Board of Trustees’ last meeting in September 2018, where it released a draft version of the campus master plan, the Board tackled issues facing the University at its Friday meeting in the William Pitt Union. The Board did not vote on any decisions, but Chancellor Patrick Gallagher provided updates on a wide array of issues facing Pitt such as financial aid increases, sustainability efforts and the need to fill key vacant positions in the administration. Starting this fall, Pitt will match any federal Pell Grant awarded to undergraduate students, Gallagher announced at the meeting. According to the University, more than 5,000 See Track on page 6 students currently benefit from Pell Grants, each
receiving an average of about $4,500 from the federal government. Pitt will spend about $25 million on the Pitt Success Pell Match Program, Gallagher said. “One of the metrics we have to start paying greater attention to is how well we are meeting, addressing, these financial barriers,” Gallagher said. “Those things interfere with the process of learning and education.” Alex Mathias, a Pell Grant awardee and junior nutrition and dietetics major, said the program would help him meet his unmet financial needs to pay for Pitt. He is currently employed through a work-study program at the Office of Admission and Financial Aid. “It’s really going to make a difference for everyone,” Mathias said. “Taking that burden off the back of the mind is going to be so helpful.”
Another Pell Grant recipient and OAFA employee, Ivie Odia, a junior psychology major, said she hopes the program will set an example and inspire other universities to provide more financial aid to students. “There are other schools that are just as great as Pitt, and other people are like … ‘I got in, but I can’t pay for it,’” Odia said. “If other schools see that Pitt is making these steps, they’re more likely to be, like, ‘they did that, we’ve got to do this, too.’” SGB President Maggie Kennedy said SGB was proud of the administration team’s work to introduce the program, and how it will affect the composition of the student body in coming years. “We’re looking forward to seeing how this See Trustees on page 2