This week, Pitt faced backlash over a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Virtual Career Expo despite no University affiliation with the event.<\/p>\n
Some<\/a> Pitt students and community organizations<\/a> expressed concern over the presence of the Expo on Pitt\u2019s Career Central event<\/a> calendar. The virtual event, which took place nationwide on Feb. 18, was removed from the Career Central event page before it occurred.<\/p>\n A separate Feb. 26<\/a> CBP event, which some suspected<\/a> was a rescheduled date for the Feb. 18 Expo, was also removed from Pitt\u2019s Career Central<\/a> calendar.\u00a0<\/p>\n The recruitment events come in the wake of nationwide protests<\/a> against Immigration and Customs Enforcement<\/a>, a separate department under the Department of Homeland Security. Federal immigration agencies have drawn backlash due to increasing deportation<\/a> of immigrants with no criminal records<\/a> and violence<\/a> towards American citizens<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Expo originally appeared on Handshake<\/a>, a career-building platform site used by around 1,300 universities<\/a> in the U.S., which is how the event was advertised at universities nationwide, including Pitt.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jared Stonesifer, a University spokesperson, said that although the event was automatically placed on Pitt\u2019s own career page, the Expo was not affiliated with the University.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe presence of these third-party opportunities does not indicate endorsement or partnership by the University,\u201d Stonesifer said.<\/p>\n Marley Pinsky, president of the Student Government Board<\/a> and junior politics and philosophy major, said she and her fellow board members were concerned when they saw the event on Pitt\u2019s career page. They spoke with their adviser, Karin Asher, about the University\u2019s potential role in the event and discovered that Pitt never hosted or organized the expo or webinar.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were highly concerned that Pitt would host an organization that has been profiling and targeting<\/a> vulnerable people in our country,\u201d Pinsky said. \u201c[But] it was never hosted by Pitt. There was never a webinar that someone from Pitt was bringing someone from border patrol to speak.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Pinsky said CBP\u2019s recruitment webinars and advertising through Handshake rightfully caused alarm for students.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of cries across America<\/a> to abolish or defund ICE,\u201d Pinsky said. \u201c[So] when students see a message like that pop up from their Career Center \u2014 even if we step back and understand it\u2019s not Pitt \u2014 people have a right to be alarmed and worry, \u2018Is Pitt doing this?\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Stonesifer clarified that the University had a career fair<\/a> from February 17-19 but did not host CBP or ICE in-person or online.<\/p>\n \u201cThe University\u2019s career fair taking place this week does not include representatives from U.S. Customs and Border Protection or Immigration and Customs Enforcement,\u201d Stonesifer said.<\/p>\n