William Pitt Union third floor under renovation

When students return to Pitt for the fall semester, the third floor of the William Pitt Union will have undergone changes to repurpose the floor for students.

On Monday, the University began construction to convert the third floor of the William Pitt Union to a “Mind, Body and Soul Floor.” Different parts of the floor are designed for various purposes, including enriching the mental, physical and spiritual areas of student life. Student Affairs doesn’t have an exact date for construction completion, according to Director of Communication Shawn Ahearn, but is aiming for the start of fall semester.

The room will feature quiet study lounges, exercise facilities, including an aerobics room, and a reflection room. 

The floor will actualize more than a year of collaborative efforts to create a reflection room between Student Affairs and student religious organizations, including the Muslim Student Association, Hillel Jewish University Center and the Catholic Newman Club. 

Louie Al-Hashimi, a senior economics major and member of the Muslim Student Association, said he brought the idea up at a panel last year about religion and student life, and since then, he has worked alongside his organization and Student Affairs to pitch ideas and make the room possible. 

“The idea behind the reflection room is to have a space where students can go to either perform an act of worship, to reflect, to meditate, whatever it may be,” Al-Hashimi said.

Al-Hashimi said that Student Affairs has been “really receptive” and still hopes to work out a reservation system for the reflection room.

“We still haven’t come to a conclusion as far as who can reserve this room, what times can be reserved, since we want it to have the most availability possible to all kinds of students,” Al-Hashimi said.

The Muslim Student Association has reserved a room on the third floor on the William Pitt Union for several years daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. While the third floor is currently under construction, other than reserving a different room for group prayer Friday afternoons, members of the Muslim Student Association pray individually. 

Vice Provost and Dean of Students Kathy Humphrey has worked extensively with Al-Hashimi and with the student religious groups to create the reflection room.

Humphrey said Student Life originally encouraged  students to use Heinz Chapel, but received feedback that it was not an ideal place.

“A concern that was common to the students was the lack of space for students to reflect, meditate or have the opportunity to address their spiritual needs,” Humphrey said in an email. “After receiving feedback that [Heinz Chapel] was not the perfect place for all students to do this, we made the decision to create a reflection area.”

Humphrey said that improving the William Pitt Union with various renovations to different floors has been an ongoing process that began nine years ago. The University has made renovations to areas, including the Cross Cultural and Leadership Development Center on the third floor, the Career Center on the second floor and the Student Organization Resource Center annex on the fifth floor. 

“We started renovating the Union one floor at a time,” Humphrey said. 

She added that after she spoke with hundreds of students, their preference for how to use the space became clear.

“While I wanted to put in a skating rink and laser tag, the students wanted a cardio and aerobics area,” she said, “especially students who were not residential students.”

Student groups besides the Muslim Student Association helped with the process of creating a reflection room. The Hillel Jewish University Center has worked with Humphrey and other groups, and Senior Jewish Educator Danielle Kranjec said the group is happy to have a space for religious and spiritual use.

“Once it’s finished, I think it will be a great space for students to help give us another space for Jewish meditation and other spiritual practices,” Kranjec said. “Having a location that belongs to all the student groups has a lot of potential for collaboration because it is a neutral space.”

Kranjec said that while the third floor is renovated, students will use the Jewish University Center on Forbes Avenue, but added that they look forward to the floor being finished because it will be an improvement for Jewish services.

“It’s been a challenge for us this year. We have some spaces in the building that we try to use for yoga and other kinds of alternative Jewish services, but it has not been the best,” she said. “We don’t have a good space for Jewish meditation.”

Hillel has about 120 Pitt students who attend Shabbat, but has closer to 250 Pitt students who are involved in Hillel in some form.

Like the Muslim Student Association, Hillel has collaborated with Student Affairs to create the reflection room. Robyn Markowitz, Hillel director of student life, said there has been a lot of support from Humphrey and Student Life.

“We have been working with Dr. Humphrey to get kosher food on campus,” Markowitz said. “They have been nothing but supportive of us.”

The Muslim Student Association has about 30 to 40 active members and hosts several events, whether social or for outreach. March was Islamic Awareness Month, and the association held a hijab panel, which discussed and informed atendees about the female headscarf.

“The idea of the reflection room is to cater to students from all religious backgrounds,” Al-Hashimi said. “In that sense, we feel like the University isn’t catering only to Muslims, but to all students as well.”