Pgh’s ‘Hollywood’ Sign, College Admissions & a New Food Fund

It’s the Friday news roundup! The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling to end affirmative action has universities all over our region re-evaluating how they handle legacy admissions; the city has a new $3 million fund to help folks and institutions feed their neighbors; and an old hillside novelty got a humongous glow-up, but we bet you don’t know the real history behind Pittsburgh’s “Hollywood” sign.

We love to cite our sources:

• Most of the details around the Food Justice Fund were ironed out at a Council meeting last week, and WESA covered it well
• The Post-Gazette followed up when the Fund finally passed
• Advocates of the Food Justice Fund have a nifty website, including a cool timeline explaining their victories along the way 
• Check out the Food Justice Fund’s full list of goals here
• Take the city’s Food Justice Fund survey to weigh in on how the money gets spent or indicate whether you might like to apply for an upcoming grant
• The USDA publishes annual reports on our nation’s food insecurity levels
• Just Harvest advocates on behalf of programs and policies that they feel will help lawmakers make better political choices, end poverty, and abolish hunger
• After the Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action in college admissions, more colleges ended legacy admissions
• Some colleges nationally started reconsidering their legacy admissions after the Supreme Court decision. 
• In Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon and Pitt had already ended legacy admissions, as first reported in the Tribune Review
• Pro-tip: If you know someone applying to college, google the college’s name and “common data set.” On the common data set, you can find how important each college considers everything from class rank to extracurriculars when making admissions decisions.
• Read about the history of the Iron City Beer sign from the Hey Pittsburgh newsletter.

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