<p>My D received an invitation to Lantern Night, a ceremony for freshman girls with RSVP required to participate. Has anyone participated in the ceremony and what it is like?</p>
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<p>My friend went to it this past year (I never bothered). She said basically a bunch of freshman girls meet female alumni in Heinz Chapel one night during Orientation I think. They each get a wrought iron lantern that the alumni lights for them. It’s supposed to symbolically show the flame of learning or something to that effect.</p>
<p>Based on some pictures I found once it doesn’t look like a LOT of people go to it, and it certainly isn’t something that you’ll feel guilty/bad about missing if you don’t go (I don’t regret not going). </p>
<p>So, if she seems like she’d be interested in it, she can go. But if she couldn’t really care, then don’t bother. </p>
<p>link: [Pitt</a> to Hold 90th Annual Lantern Night Ceremony Aug. 29 | University of Pittsburgh News](<a href=“http://www.news.pitt.edu/news/pitt-hold-90th-annual-lantern-night-ceremony-aug-29]Pitt”>Pitt to Hold 90th Annual Lantern Night Ceremony Aug. 29 | University of Pittsburgh News)</p>
<p>Sorry I couldn’t find photos.</p>
<p>It’s just a welcoming ceremony for freshman women. Although she’ll be a alumnae for life, she’ll only get one chance to go through it. It might not matter, it could be boring, but then, you’ll never know otherwise. Like other university and college traditions across the country, my recommendation would be to embrace the ones you can, when you can, because you don’t want to look back 40 years from now and go, “I should have done that”. These things tend to be more meaningful when you look back at them with nostalgia than during the moment.</p>
<p>I went freshman year, and I enjoyed it. The women’s basketball coach gave a really great speech that night. And a I got a cool lantern thingie…haha. Definitely not a required event, but a lot of girls did end up going. I say might as well.</p>
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<p>I forgot to mention that you do, infact, keep the lantern that you use for the ceremony. Which is a nice memorabilia from the event. </p>
<p>(I should add that I did mean to go my freshman year, but it turns out none of my friends planned on going, and I didn’t really want to go alone, so I didn’t. Oh well. :P)</p>