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DEI Articles

DEI Day @ PTC

March 2, 2023

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A group photo from DEI Day.
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I sincerely appreciate everyone who attended the Inaugural Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Day at Pittsburgh Technical College. February 15thmarked my second anniversary at the college, and I am grateful and humbled by the enormous showing of employer partners, friends, colleagues, and students. 

To our employer partners and individual sponsors, Vibrant Pittsburgh, JobAdvertising.com, Range Resources, NAACP Branch #26AB-B, BAYADA Home Health Care, Astor Business Centers, Gretchen Gardner, Dr. Angelica Perez, MA, DPA, Cymone Bronaugh, your support in this critical initiative truly means a lot. Addressing disruptive behavior around DEI is crucial in creating a safe and inclusive work environment. By sponsoring DEI day, you are sending a clear message that you value all your employees’ diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. Your commitment benefits our students, faculty, and staff. It contributes to our ability to provide diversity, equity, and inclusion training to be an institution and employer of choice recognized for its authentic, not aspirational, culture. 

Thank you, Adrienne Woodard, for an insightful and pointed discussion on Hiding in Plain Sight: Disrupters of DEI Efforts. To those who participated, Shawn Fellner, Brenda Psotka, Michael Russell, Shane McGarvey, Stephanie Svilar, Ed.D., LPC, NCC ,Jaclyn Smith, Crystal Wamalwa, Alicia B. Harvey-Smith, Ph.D., and to Pamela Collier, Special Assistant, Office of the Mayor, we appreciate the proclamation on behalf of @Mayor Ed Gainey recognizing February 15th as Pittsburgh Technical College Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Day.

Special thanks to Lindsay Seal, SPHR, Sherry Bufalini for assisting with food set up. Shout out to CobblerWorld for the delicious cookies. I hope before guests ate them; they saw the Black History Month acknowledgement.

We look forward to hosting more events at our beautiful campus. To learn more about PTC’s commitment to DEI: https://lnkd.in/e-6UB378

#ptcdeiday2023 #celebratingdiversity #inclusionmatters #educationmatters #knowledgeispower #buildingcommunity #themoreyouknowthemoreyougrow #culturematters

A photo of Marsha Lindsay

Marsha Lindsay

CHIEF DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION OFFICER

    Ibram X. Kendi Livestream

    February 7, 2023

    The library is sponsoring an event the evening of March 9th, 6:00 pm in the gallery.  We have paid to have Ibram X. Kendi, livestreamed, to discuss his latest book which is a children’s book based on an African folk tale.  If you are unfamiliar with Dr. Kendi, this is a recording from an appearance on CBS This Morning, earlier this week:

    Click here to see the news segment
    Click here to learn more about the lecture
    A photo of Mary Fistler, Librarian.

    Mary Fistler

    PTC Librarian

      Kwanzaa

      December 7, 2022

      A festive photo for Kwanzaa.

      Official Kwanzaa Website

      Kwanzaa is a weeklong celebration held in the United States that honors African heritage in African American culture. Kwanzaa is observed from December 26th to January 1st and culminates in gift giving and a big feast.

      1. Unity:Umoja (oo–MO–jah)
      2. Self-determination: Kujichagulia (koo–gee–cha–goo–LEE–yah)
      3. Collective Work and Responsibility: Ujima (oo–GEE–mah)
      4. Cooperative Economics: Ujamaa (oo–JAH–mah)
      5. Purpose: Nia (nee–YAH)
      6. Creativity: Kuumba (koo–OOM–bah)
      7. Faith: Imani (ee–MAH–nee)

      Kwanzaa – HISTORY

      Kwanzaa has seven core principles, or Nguzo Saba:

      A photo of the seven core principles of Kwanzaa.

      1. Umoja: Unity – To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.

      2. Kujichagulia: Self-Determination – To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves.

      3. Ujima: Collective Work and Responsibility – To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers’ and sisters’ problems our problems and solve them together.

      4. Ujamaa: Cooperative Economics – To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.

      5. Nia: Purpose – To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

      6. Kuumba: Creativity – To always do as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

      7. Imani: Faith – To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

      Michael Russell

      Mike Russell

      Academic Chair – School of Information Systems and Technology & School of Design

        World AIDS Day

        December 7, 2022

        One of my favorite groups is TLC.  The song “Waterfalls” was released in 1995.  I remember hearing the song and listening to the lyrics.  It was in 1996, I recall listening to an interview, and they discussed the lyrics to the song and its relevance. The song brought attention to the issues of illegal drug sales, promiscuity, and HIV/AIDS.  The video was a poignant visual statement to help bring awareness to the illness initially considered the disease of those living alternative lifestyles. 

        HIV/AIDS, or human immunodeficiency virus, is considered by some authors a global pandemic. However, the WHO currently uses the term ‘global epidemic’ to describe HIV. As of 2018, approximately 37.9 million people are infected with HIV globally. There were about 770,000 deaths from AIDS in 2018.

        Today, we have celebrities who are open about being HIV positive, which significantly increased awareness and improved education surrounding the virus.

        Famous celebrities
        Charlie Sheen, Jonathan Van Ness, Magic Johnson, Billie Porter, Javier Munoz, and Danny Pintauro

        Deceased
        Rock Hudson, Freddie Mercury, Eazy-E

        “I’m not saying this because I’m looking for a soft cushion wherever I’m heading. I just feel that I’ve got thousands and thousands of young fans that have to learn about what’s real when it comes to aids.”  Eazy-E

        To learn more about HIV prevention and general education:  Prevention | HIV Basics | HIV/AIDS | CDC

        A photo of Marsha Lindsay

        Marsha N. Lindsay

        Chief Diversity Equity And Inclusion Officer – Presidents Office

          It’s the Holiday Season

          December 7, 2022

          An

          So, as the Andy Williams song goes, Whoop de do. The Holiday Season means different things to everyone reading this. Each of us has a solid idea of what this means to us. We are probably sure in your belief and your faith in our holiday season. And I, respect your beliefs. Your faith is correct, and right.

          What I propose, is that we examine what this means to others in our lives. You should learn about another person’s faith and rituals. They are as important to them, as yours are to you. Ignorance of other’s belies and traditions, along with religious doctrine fuel intolerance. To combat this ignorance, I will spend a little time describing several popular December holiday celebrations.

          Our current calendar lists December as the month that holds the Winter Solstice, December 21st. For those in the Northern Hemisphere, it is the longest night of the year. For those in the Southern Hemisphere, it is the longest day of the year. Northern Hemisphere Pagan culture and religions continue to celebrate the Winter Solstice. Many of the ancient Pagan rituals were adopted by the Christian celebrations for Christmas. These include the Yule log, evergreen wreaths, and exchanging of gifts. Many scholars link the modern Santa Claus to the Pagan god Odin.

          The Japanese celebrate Ōmisoka, or New Year’s Eve. This is the second most important day in the year. Families will gather to eat a bowl of toshikoshi-soba or udon noodles. These long noodles are symbolic of crossing from one year to the next. Families will cook enough food to last for three days into the New Year, as it is considered bad luck to cook in the first three days of the year.

          Those of Jewish faith celebrate Hanukkah, or the Festival of Lights. This is an eight-day celebration that commemorates the re-dedication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. The celebration centers around the lighting of the eight candles on the Menorah while reciting traditional blessings. Children will play with a dreidel, a four-sided top bearing four Hebrew letters.

          For Christians, Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Christ. Traditions for Christmas vary around the world. Americans decorate a tree and give gifts. Australians, often go camping and may decorate a Christmas Bush. My favorite set of traditions comes from Iceland. The Icelandic people celebrate 26 days of Christmas and have 13 Santa Clauses that deliver gifts to shoes on windowsills.

          New holidays have been established. Bodhi Day is not a traditional Hindu holiday. It was created in 1985 by Sivaya Subramuniyaswami. Likewise, the secular Kwanzaa was developed in 1966 by Maulana Karenga. Both holidays were developed to provide an alternative to the mainstream holidays of Christmas and Hanukkah. Both holidays provide a way to celebrate Hindu or African American history and peoples.

          Humanity in general is not good at accepting other’s faiths. Our history is full of examples of faith and religious intolerance. Every major religion has historic, and current examples. Some of the examples were deadly, like the Spanish Inquisition, Crusades, and the civil war in Syria, fueled in part by Islam’s Sunni vs Shia division. Other examples were less bloody but led to major shifts in religious thought. For Christians the Protestant Reformation split the Christian world into several branches with different doctrines. For Muslims the Islamic Schism was a difference in opinion about who should lead the Muslim faith after the death of Muhammed. The two sides initially fought over the successor, but eventually resulted in the two faiths, Sunni, and Shia. Despite differences in doctrine, the two groups have, until recently, lived together in harmony for centuries. Viewed from the outside, the differences between branches in the same religion, are minimal. Christians are as baffled at the Sunni vs Shia division as Muslims are at the difference between Baptists and Catholics.

          As mentioned above, I believe that your faith is correct. I cannot tell you that your faith is incorrect. What I can suggest, is to respect and accept other’s faith as valid. You may not believe what your neighbor believes, but you should respect it. Likewise, your neighbor should respect your faith.

          Can you imagine a world where everyone respected each other’s opinions? Wow. That is a dream worth pursuing.

          Lee Cottrell

          Lee Cottrell

          Faculty – School of Information Systems & Technology, DEI Taskforce Co-Chair

            PCHE BIPOC

            November 7, 2022

            Jaclyn Smith and I attended the PCHE BIPOC New Faculty & Staff Welcome & Reception at Chatham University.  It was a great opportunity to network with other colleges and universities.  Thank you, Karina Chavez, Dr. David Finegold, President and all the participants for making it a memorable event. 

            DEI values: SAFETY

            November 7, 2022

            Safety is one of the five values of the DEI office. I was told that despite communication regarding the importance of wearing badges, employees perceive they are exempt and give some of our officer’s problems when asked to wear their badges or have them visible. We cannot have certain freedoms without the responsibility that comes with them. There is a reason public safety communicates the importance of wearing and displaying an ID.  

            We must lead by example and demonstrate to our students that we adhere to policies and procedures to protect our physical safety. When an officer asks you to wear your badge, apologize and comply with the request. Signage is all over the campus, reminding us to wear them, so a gentle reminder should not offend or agitate you. Let’s show a little grace and humility and allow the safety officers to do their jobs.  

            Do your part to keep PTC safe. Wear your badge!

            Q4 Pittsburgh Diversity Council Chapter Meeting

            November 7, 2022

            PTC hosted the Q4 Pittsburgh Diversity Council Chapter meeting, Tuesday, October 18th.  The topic was Allyship: “I’d like to solve the puzzle”:  Allyship presented by Dr. Paul Spradley, VP of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (Dollar Bank).  Thank you, Haleigh McDonald, Business Development and Event Programmer (National Diversity Council) for coordinating the event.  Special thanks to the students, faculty, and staff for attending the event and supporting DEI at PTC.

            We look forward to hosting future events.

            Thanks to our students, staff, and faculty for supporting the DEI event.

            Cultural Competence & Workplace Diversity Training

            October 11, 2022

            Cultural Competence & Workplace Diversity Training Shout out!!

            Congratulations to the Graphic Design students who completed the Cultural Competence & Workplace Diversity training.  Thank you, Alicia Cerullo for your commitment to expanding access to our students as they prepare to enter the workforce. 

            From left to right:
            Nathan Lambert, Emma Kuzminsky, Rohmen Alford, Bobby Walker, Chad Pollock
            Instructor Alicia Cerullo

            Thank you Mark Bellemare for allowing me the opportunity to complete the training with Troy Cook, Hannah Easterday, Justin Gaines, Mary Glaze, Arrianna Guitierrez, Brett Jarnagin, Logan McCarthy, Tyler Myers, Jason Rutter Cassandra Vaughn, and Justin, Wenger.

            Kudos to Dave Becker, and Chance Georgetti for welcoming me to visit your Step classes to introduce myself and share information on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. 

            Faculty: If you are interested in your classes completing the course, please email me at Lindsay.marsha@ptcolletge.edu

            Testing Center is open

            October 11, 2022

            Hello PTC Community,

            We are pleased to announce that the Testing Center in Room 604B will be open to students who are approved for testing accommodations beginning in the October quarter!  Currently, the Testing Center is used for Accuplacer Testing.  This will continue, but now students who are approved for a quiet testing area may report to the Testing Center for exams. 

            Students will report to the classroom and receive directions from the instructor before reporting to the Testing Center.  The Testing Center is open Monday through Thursday from 9am until 4pm and on Friday from 9am until 3pm. 

            Updated information about students approved for accommodations will be coming out prior to the start of classes.  Please let us know if you have any questions.

            Testing center staff:

            Sloan Spinks – Director: spinks.sloan@ptcollege.edu
            Lisa Michaux – Proctor: michaux.lisa@ptcollege.edu

            A flyer advertising the testing center.
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            With more than 30 programs, Pittsburgh Technical College, a nonprofit institution, prepares students for career success. Degree-seeking students experience internships, clinical rotations, or employer partnerships in capstone projects before they graduate.

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