Annually, the night before Pitt’s classes begin, more than 500 freshman women partake in the tradition of Lantern Night, a ceremony that commences the educational experience for University of Pittsburgh women. The night of August 28th, 2011 was no different.
Lantern Night, initiated in 1920, is the annual candlelight ceremony in which freshman women are given the “light of learning.” Starting at 7:25 pm, the new women assembled together with unlit lanterns in Heinz Chapel to hear wisdom from their elders. Student leaders like Lauren Jentleson, president of the Pitt’s Panhellenic Conference, and Crystal Orr, treasurer of the National Pan-Hellenic Council provided a warm welcome to the new students and first year transfers. Susan M. Dunmire (MED ’85) delivered the Lantern Night address. Dunmire is a professor of emergency medicine in Pitt’s School of Medicine and an attending physician of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian Emergency Department. Dunmire, as the Executive Director of the Medical Alumni Association, always reaches out to older Pitt students, but in the ceremony, she connected with Pitt’s future students, successfully bridging the old with the new. After many heartfelt, and inspirational speeches, in one climactic moment, the lanterns were lit and the new students, alumni, and professors alike left the beautiful Heinz Chapel for the Cathedral Commons and a wonderful reception.
At the reception the girls formed some of their fist bonds of friendship in college, and enjoyed enthusiastic conversations with Pitt Men’s Glee Club. Undoubtedly, they were excited to start a new chapter in their lives and maybe a little anxious at imagining the possibilities of what their futures at Pitt holds. Thankfully, older female leaders (all sorority presidents) were there to reassure them about any doubts and lingering fears that may have cropped up from being on their own for the first time.
Lantern Night is the oldest continuous tradition still alive at University of Pittsburgh. It celebrates the power of the female, especially the fact that with so many females in present-day America attending universities. Lantern Night truly emphasizes that there are no limits to what the women of America can accomplish. I am sure that this year’s “flame-bearers” will not disappoint. As a freshman that missed out on Lantern Night myself (I forgot to send my RSVP in), I now wish I had participated in this enduring ceremony and started my Pitt career the same way as so many other Pitt women did before me. We can imagine all of Pitt’s influential alumni, including Susan Arnold, Jenna Morasca, Patricia Churchland, and Melissa Hart, who began their Pitt careers with a light. The Lantern Night tradition empowers each future generation of females to seek out lives overflowing with success and promise.