‘Positive progress for all’ was the result of 1969 Cathedral sit-in

The following first appeared in the Fall 2026 issue of Pitt Magazine as part of a collection of anecdotes, fun facts, figures and more - 42 of them in all, one for each of the Cathedral of Learning's 42 floors. The issue celebrated the centennial of the Cathedral's 1926 groundbreaking.

It was cold the night of Jan. 15, 1969, when dozens of African American students marched up hundreds of stone stairs inside the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning. On the eighth floor, they entered the computer center, a vital Pitt hub that housed records on administration, admissions, finance and more. Once inside, the students chained the doors.

As they huddled in the chilly space, they played cards, looked out the windows at the crowd gathered below and wondered what was next. In an era of change, it was a bold but nonviolent sit-in. The students held firm for about seven hours.

The transformative direct action once again showcased the Cathedral as an origin site for campus and community good.

When the students left at 3 a.m. after tense but cordial negotiations, then Chancellor Wesley Posvar agreed to launch groundbreaking research and recruitment initiatives, programming tied to community development in African American neighborhoods and what eventually became the Department of Africana Studies in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences.

"The sit-in," said Curtiss Porter (A&S '69, EDUC '84G), "forever changed the University, opening the doors for greater recognition of the Black experience at Pitt but also, more importantly, signifying the importance of values that propel positive progress for all."