Pitt to Welcome Alumni, Friends for Homecoming 2009

With a wide range of events and activities for alumni, students, and friends, the University of Pittsburgh will celebrate Homecoming 2009 from Oct. 22 to 25. Festivities will include a Welcome Back Reception, a fireworks and laser show, Homecoming Extravaganza, theatrical performances, school and departmental reunions, and the noon Oct. 24 football game between the Pitt Panthers and the University of South Florida Bulls.

Homecoming festivities will commence with a Legacy Laureate Leadership Panel Discussion at 3 p.m. Oct. 22 in Posvar Hall. The panel comprises Pitt’s Legacy Laureates, a select group of alumni who have excelled personally or professionally, as well as alumni and student leaders. From 6 to 8 p.m., alumni will offer insights into their careers during Pathway to Professions: A Career Networking Event, to be held in Alumni Hall’s J.W. Connolly Ballroom.

Complete with hors d’oeuvres, drinks, and a festive autumn atmosphere, the Welcome Back Reception helps connect Pitt alumni from decades past. It will be held from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 23 in the Cathedral of Learning’s Commons Room. The Nationality Rooms also will be open for visitors. Following the Welcome Back event, a number of schools and departments will host their own alumni receptions.

Sure to inspire “ohhhs” and “ahhhs” from onlookers will be the Pitt Program Council’s fireworks and laser show at 9:30 p.m. Oct. 23 on Bigelow Boulevard between the Cathedral of Learning and the William Pitt Union. The evening’s festivities will continue with the Homecoming Extravaganza at 10 p.m. in the William Pitt Union with Casino Night, music, and light refreshments.

The Homecoming football pregame festivities will kick off Oct. 24 around 9 a.m. at Heinz Field with the Pitt Panthers World’s Largest Family Block Party on Art Rooney Avenue between Gates A and B. The opening events will feature live entertainment on the main stage, a giant video wall, inflatable games for kids, game-day food, and other family-oriented activities.

At 10 a.m. on game day, Pitt’s Panther Prowl will give fans the opportunity to meet and greet the football players as they arrive at Heinz Field outside Gate A. Immediately following will be the Pitt Marching Band’s Pregame Concert. The band will lead the March to Victory parade, following General Robinson Street and ending at the stage on Art Rooney Avenue. The Homecoming Court will ride in the parade, and the king and queen will be crowned during the halftime festivities.

To conclude the 2009 Homecoming weekend, Pitt’s newly renovated University Club, 123 University Place, Oakland, will host a Sunday Brunch from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 25. Reservations and prepayment are required by 5 p.m. today, Oct. 19.

Throughout Homecoming weekend, Pitt’s African American Alumni Council (AAAC) will celebrate its 40th anniversary. To commemorate the many strides in diversity the University has made over the past four decades, the AAAC will host numerous events for the entire University community. Activities will include the Sankofa Meet and Greet Business Networking Event at 8 p.m. Oct. 22 at Bossa Nova, 123 Seventh St., Downtown; A Tribute to Campus Civil Rights Pioneers at 3 p.m. Oct. 23 in the Assembly Room of the William Pitt Union; and the Distinguished African American Alumni Awards Banquet Gala at 6 p.m. Oct. 24 in Alumni Hall’s J.W. Connolly Ballroom.

Additional Homecoming events will include the School of Nursing’s 51+ Lucheon, which honors the school’s classes of 1944, 1949, 1954, and 1959; the School of Law’s Homecoming Reception; the School of Dental Medicine’s Alumni Reception and Student Mentoring Event; the Swanson School of Engineering’s Homecoming Celebration; and the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs’ Homecoming Celebration.

Pitt Repertory Theatre will be presenting through Nov. 1 Count Dracula, a comic retelling of the world’s most famous vampire tale, written by Ted Tiller and directed by W. Stephen Coleman.

General information about Homecoming is available by calling the Pitt Alumni Association at 412-624-8229 or by visiting www.alumni.pitt.edu. For information on Pitt’s AAAC Sankofa Homecoming Weekend, visit www.alumni.pitt.edu. For tickets to Count Dracula, call 412-624-7529 or visit www.play.pitt.edu. For ticket information for the Homecoming football game, call 1-800-643-7488 or visit www.pittsburghpanthers.com.