Aug. 22, 2008

PITTSBURGH—Pitt’s Executive Associate Athletic Director Donna Sanft will address close to 400 incoming freshmen and first-year transfer women, as they receive the “light of learning” from University of Pittsburgh alumni “flame-bearers” during the 88th annual Lantern Night Ceremony on Aug. 24, at 7:30 p.m., in Heinz Memorial Chapel.

Sanft joins Patti Mathay, Pitt Alumni Association Alumnae Council Lantern Night Chair, who will give the greeting and history of Lantern Night; Whitney Hawkins, president of Pitt's Panhellenic Association, who will provide the student welcome; Jack Smith, Pitt Alumni Association president-elect, who will deliver the alumni welcome; and Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg who will provide the University welcome.

The night’s events begin at 7 p.m. in the Cathedral of Learning Commons Room, where students will receive an unlit lantern and prepare for the 7:25 p.m. procession to the chapel. Afterwards, the women will walk through the Cathedral's Bellefield Avenue entrance and then onto Heinz Chapel for the 7:30 p.m. ceremony.

During the event, Pitt alumni known as “flame-bearers,” will light the lanterns, which will remain lit for the remainder of the program. Following Sanft’s address the new students will carry their burning lanterns back to the Commons Room for a reception.

In 2007, Sanft was named a recipient of the Chancellor's Awards for Staff Excellence in service to the University and holds one of the Pitt Athletic Department's most diverse and accomplished tenures. Her long association includes time as a student-athlete, head coach and, for the past two decades, administrator.

A 1974 graduate of Pitt with bachelor's and master's degrees in health and physical education, Sanft was a member and three-year captain of the gymnastics team. She was named Pitt's Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 1974.

While coaching the Pitt gymnastics team for 12 years (1974-1986), Sanft compiled an 82-50-1 record and was twice selected the Eastern Collegiate Coach of the Year. Most recently, Sanft has served as Pitt's senior associate athletic director for administration, student life, and compliance. In the fall of 2007, she was also named interim athletic director.

Lantern Night is one of the University's oldest traditions and it is cosponsored by the Alumnae Council of the Pitt Alumni Association and Pitt's Office of Student Life.