Moving carts rumbled across Pittsburgh on Monday as incoming college students began settling into town.
Joe Martin, of Uniontown, was working Monday morning with his wife to move their oldest child into Point Park University. He said he had mixed emotions about his son starting college, a major life transition for many.
“Sad, but I also understand the evolution of life,” Mr. Martin said of his feelings, while taking a break from loading gear into two red moving carts.
Don Green, the president of Point Park, said it was “awesome” to get incoming students moved in. He was walking laps around the university’s campus, greeting incoming families as they unloaded and headed to get checked into the dorms.
Point Park’s incoming class will be around 600 students, representing 42 states and territories, and 11 countries. A welcoming committee of older students stood at the corner of the Boulevard of the Allies and Wood Street, cheering as each new student’s moving cart clanked by.
Mr. Green said he was excited for the upcoming semester to bring more “vibrancy” back to Downtown, which has seen less foot traffic in recent months due to the widespread adoption of remote work.
“We continue to build this city back up,” he said.
Across town in Oakland, the University of Pittsburgh’s quad was buzzing with activity.
Eryn Cooper, of Seattle, was following in her grandfather’s footsteps while moving in. He went to Pitt in the 1960s and lived in Litchfield Towers soon after they were built — the same dorm where she will now live.
Ms. Cooper said that while she grew up talking about Pitt with her grandfather, she originally had her sights set on another school until going on a tour of Oakland.
“I really just fell in love with it,” she said.
Pitt will welcome about 5,000 new undergrads, hailing from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.
Both Pitt and Point Park also have new mask policies for the fall. It is not required to wear a mask indoors at Point Park, while Pitt is only requiring masks if Allegheny County’s COVID-19 community level is “high.” The CDC ranks a county’s COVID-19 community level as low, medium or high based on case counts, new virus-related hospital admissions and beds in hospitals used by COVID-19 patients.
As music blared from Pitt’s quad, the Bennett family was shifting around boxes in the back of their truck and stuffing a few last things into their moving cart.
Ava Bennett, of Buffalo, N.Y., said move-in was a “little stressful,” but she was “so excited” for the fall semester to begin.
Ms. Bennett said she was most looking forward to meeting new people at college, like those rolling their moving carts past her along University Place.
Jon Moss: mosspg412@gmail.com; Twitter @mossjon7.
First Published: August 22, 2022, 5:48 p.m.
Updated: August 22, 2022, 11:33 p.m.
