On Oct. 26, more than 500 people from different congregations around the region gathered in Epiphany Catholic Church to move forward with plans for social reform and to celebrate their past accomplishments.

Members of the Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network challenged elected officials to agree to a number of commitments on issues including community benefits agreements, immigration reform and health care reform. Although Black-on-Black violence was not among the main points on their list, PIIN believes the issues they addressed are the driving force behind street violence.

“The overarching concern for which we organize is metro equity. Violence in the Black community is a public health issue that is a result of a number of things eroding metro equity, e.g. sprawl, suburban development incentives given by cities, municipalities and states which dilutes the tax base in the city and further contributing to concentrated poverty,” PIIN President Rev. John Welch said. “Low wage jobs with no benefits contributes to the hopelessness in our communities that also plays a part in the violence we experience.”

Last year, New York City-based criminologist David Kennedy presented his model for reducing gang violence at the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work Center on Race and Social Problems Summer Institute on Race and Youth Violence. Soon after, Pittsburgh announced its plan to install Kennedy’s model, a method that relies heavily on law enforcement.

This year Pitt brought in sociologist Irving Spergel, who like Kennedy has seen his model for reducing gang violence installed in cities across the country and abroad. Unlike Kennedy, Spergel’s model views law enforcement as only one body in a coalition of several community institutions.

COMMUNITY-WIDE APPROACH—Irving Spergel answers audience questions about Pittsburgh’s youth gang problem.

“Most policy and programmatic responses to gang activity focus on either law enforcement or youth development. A major contribution of Spergel’s work, known as the “Spergel Model,” is its call for a coordinated approach that encompasses law enforcement, community groups, schools, social service agencies and governmental organizations,” said Richard Garland, One Vision One Life project director. “This inclusive gang prevention, intervention and suppression program is based on Mr. Spergel’s national assessment of youth gang policies and programs.”

During the University of Pittsburgh’s 2009 homecoming, the African American Alumni Council announced its fund-raising efforts toward a $3 million scholarship campaign.

With more than $1.4 million raised from 644 donors to date, the AAAC will use the next five years to reach their goal. The campaign will support students of diversity through the Bebe Moore Campbell Scholarship Fund, the Jack L. Daniel Endowed Book Fund and the AAAC Endowed Scholarship Fund.

The late Campbell, a 1971 Pitt graduate, was a nationally acclaimed best-selling author and Pitt trustee; Jack L. Daniel is a Distinguished Service Professor of Communication and former vice provost for undergraduate studies and dean of students at the university.