Pitt’s director of undergraduate recruitment steps down

Pitt’s Office of Admissions and Financial Aid is saying goodbye to its director of undergraduate recruitment, Lauren Wright (BUS ’12, EDUC ’14G, ’21G).

Since she stepped into the role five years ago, Pitt’s incoming classes have been the most diverse in the University’s history, and while Wright was quick to credit her team, her leadership helped shape the winning strategy. Wright is guided by the maxim that diversity is everyone’s responsibility, and her tenure was characterized by her drive to address disparities in educational attainment for low-income, minority students.

“Lauren reshaped the way the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid seeks out opportunities for Pitt to become a more inclusive community,” said Molly Swagler, executive director of enrollment outreach in the office.

Wright spent 10 years in Pitt Admissions, first working as an admission and financial aid counselor and rising through the ranks to the director of undergraduate recruitment. Since 2012, the number of new first-year undergraduate students of color enrolling on the Pittsburgh campus increased by 147 percent, or 1,157 students.

“Through her leadership, Lauren created spaces for authentic, intentional recruitment efforts designed to increase the enrollment of all students, and she had a passion for supporting underrepresented and underserved undergraduate students on the Pittsburgh campus. She was very systematic about her approach to recruiting students and also did a great job of sharing this work with the community,” Swagler said.

In 2017, Wright helped found the Pittsburgh Admissions Collaboration, a partnership between Pitt, the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) and Pittsburgh Public Schools to create a pathway to higher education. The program is designed to increase matriculation, retention and degree attainment by addressing affordability issues.

“When starting the coalition, I learned a lot about opening doors for opportunities. Students need to see that attending Pitt can be a reality,” Wright said, explaining that the program is, by design, a pipeline that helps students transition from high school to CCAC and later to Pitt.

This summer, Wright will become vice president of people strategy at the Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting families of children with special needs.

“Throughout my time at Pitt, I have learned the value of my relationships,” she said, “and I will take those relationships with me as I leave the University.”

— Nichole Faina