It appeared that Senate President Frank Wilson has at least one regret as he leaves office: He will no longer have the opportunity to call someone out of order with his gavel.

“For three years, I’ve had this gavel, knowing in my head I could rule you out of order, the powers that be. The problem is I’ve never had the opportunity to do it, so that’s a little bit of a disappointment,” he joked while smiling at Chancellor Patrick Gallagher during the May 16 meeting of Senate Council.

Gallagher praised Wilson in his own report to the council and presented Wilson with a personalized gavel, traditionally given for an outgoing Senate president.

“The real pleasure for me has been Frank’s willingness to — in an incredibly collegial but insightful and pointed way — raise some of those tough questions and really celebrate and champion the role of shared governance at this University,” Gallagher said.

The chancellor also thanked Michael Spring, immediate past president of the Senate, who was serving as Senate president when Gallagher joined Pitt’s administration.

“Michael’s been a real colleague and conscience of the University and a pleasure to work with,” he said.

The Class of 2022 Forecast

Gallagher invited Marc Harding, vice provost for enrollment and chief enrollment officer, to share details about the Class of 2022.

In what he called the “enrollment weather report,” Harding said that about 4,100 students should enroll in the freshman class, exceeding the goal of about 4,035.

The average SAT score for this class was 1348 — a 14-point increase in Pitt’s average SAT score. According to Harding, this year marks the first time that Pitt’s average ACT score was more than 30.

He highlighted enrollment increases in various groups, including:

• 10 percent increase in non-resident students
• 16 percent increase in minority students
• 48 percent increase in Hispanic and Latino/Latina students
• About 40 percent increase in female engineering students
• About 12 percent increase in minority engineering students

University Senate Service Award

During his report, Wilson recognized Wesley Rohrer, a faculty member in the Graduate School of Public Health, with the University Senate Service Award.

Wilson described Rohrer as a fellow “product of Pitt.” Both Wilson and Rohrer have been not only employees of the University but also Pitt alumni. He highlighted Rohrer’s many years of service to Faculty Assembly and Senate Council, most recently as chair of the Senate budget policies committee.

“Paraphrasing a baseball player talking about his sport, the University has been very, very good to me, and it’s been a great privilege to be able to give back,” said Rohrer.

Members of Senate Council will next meet in September.