Pitt Homecoming 2001 Features Fireworks and Laser Show, Reunion Dinners, Tailgating Parties, Lectures, and a Big Game

October 3, 2001

PITTSBURGH—The University of Pittsburgh will begin its 2001 Homecoming and Panther Family Weekend with a "Blue and Gold" Kickoff Reception, its annual free public fireworks and laser show, and a free evening extravaganza and other festivities on the evening of Oct. 12; lectures, tours, parties, and a Panthers football game will follow on Oct. 13.

The "Blue and Gold" Kickoff Reception will take place from 7:30 to 8:45 p.m.

Oct. 12 in the Masonic Temple's J.W. Connolly Ballroom. The free fireworks and laser show, to be held on Bigelow Boulevard from 9 to 9:30 p.m., will feature beams of light shot across Bigelow and fireworks seen between the Cathedral of Learning and William Pitt Union (WPU). It has been organized by the Pitt Program Council.

Pitt's free annual Homecoming Extravaganza will be held in the WPU from 9:30 to 11:30 p.m. Of special interest this year is the "Jazz Coffeehouse" in the lower lounge, where students from Nathan Davis's Jazz Ensemble will perform. There also will be a DJ, balloon man, tarot card readers, a caricaturist, and an airbrush body artist, as well as video games.

Also on Oct. 12, the over-21 crowd can gather from 9:30 to 11:30 p.m. in the Pitt Club on Thackeray Street. In addition, the Black Action Society will present "Plug into Pitt" Network Night, a free downtown reception hosted by the African American Alumni Council, at 6 p.m. in Dowe's on Ninth jazz club.

On Oct. 13, a free lecture series, "Classes Without Quizzes," will include "Architecture of the University of Pittsburgh," "Making Your Pitt Education and Degree Work for You," "See China From Here," and "Non-Verbal Communication." Pre-registration is required for free tours of the 26 Nationality Rooms in the Cathedral of Learning, which will be held from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. At 8:30 that evening, the Black Action Society will host its first annual Mr. and Mrs. Black University of Pittsburgh Pageant Coronation Ball in the Pittsburgh Athletic Association, on Fifth Avenue in Oakland.

Sports fans can stop by the Pitt Alumni Association's "Pregame Tent Party," at

11 a.m. on Art Rooney Avenue across from Heinz Field, where the Pittsburgh Panthers will play the Syracuse University Orangemen. Kickoff is at 1:30 p.m.

For answers to questions about the weekend's events, directions, and general information, visit the Information Center on the First Floor Lobby of the Masonic Temple, 4227 Fifth Avenue, call 1-800-258-PITT, or visit the Web site, www.alumni.pitt.edu.

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