No legacy perks for Pitt students, admissions says

A prospective Pitt student fills out an application. Question No. 7 reads “Family Members… A prospective Pitt student fills out an application. Question No. 7 reads “Family Members Who Are Pitt Alumni.” She wonders: If her parents were Pitt alumni, would she automatically be accepted?

For students applying to Texas A’M University, this was the case until Jan. 9, 2004. Students with alumni parents were guaranteed admission.

University President Robert Gates dropped the program because it was targeted as being a racially discriminative practice, as it granted admissions preference to family members of university alumni.

At a school that began integrating during the mid-40s, like Texas A’M, minority legacy students represent a small percentage.

While other public universities, such as the University of Georgia, have eliminated their legacy policies, a number of institutions still have similar programs. Most ask on their applications whether a family member of the applicant attended the University.

Pitt, Duquesne University and Carlow College all elicit that information from prospective students.

Admissions faculty from each school said that the schools do not have legacy policies, but they explained that there are other reasons — primarily, scholarships — for the question.

Carlow College includes on their admissions application the statement “The Alumnae Legacy Scholarship is available to those who qualify,” letting prospective students know why they are asked to list relationships to those who attend or are alumni of the college.

According to Betsy Porter, director of admissions at Pitt, a legacy policy has never been used. The question is used instead to reach out to prospective students, she said.

The University has “a strong recruitment program,” Porter said. The information enables the University to connect admitted students with alumni from their areas and to award scholarships from national alumni associations.

Porter explained that, although having an alumnus parent is not a significant factor, building on a family tradition is important to Pitt.

“There is an effort made to reach out and let [children of alumni] know that Pitt is very interested in them,” she said. Each year, between 250 and 300 students enrolling in the freshman class have Pitt alumni parents.

Having a family member who went to Pitt “could [only] play a role in a borderline situation.” Porter said. Her comment was an echo of that given by a Duquesne University admissions faculty member.

The deciding factors for admission into Pitt are a high school transcript — proving that student challenged himself or herself; high SAT and/or ACT scores; the written application; and the application fee.

“There is an element of presentation,” Porter said, indicating that supplemental information is encouraged.

“We are very sensitive to alumni whose children might not be accepted,” Porter said. Pitt tries to let these alumni know that they are appreciated and still a valuable part of the University, she explained.

The choice to ignore whether applicants have alumni family members has not affected University and alumni relationships, Porter said.

In the Office of Institutional Advancement, which raises money from alumni, Rita Momchilovich believes that a legacy policy makes no difference to alumni who want to donate.

These alumni have already made the decision to support Pitt, she explained — they support the University “because they’re interested in certain programs and they had a good experience.”