University Times

With nary a raindrop in sight, a reported 3,524 Pitt freshmen gathered on the lawn of the Petersen Events Center last week to try to shatter the Guinness World Record for the “Greatest Number of People Simultaneously Performing an Umbrella Dance at a Single Venue.” The old record of 1,461 was set last year in Bucharest. The attempt at a new world record has become a Pitt tradition: Freshmen set new Guinness World Records at the last two new student orientations, in 2010 for the “World’s Largest Torch-lit Logo” and in 2011 for the “World’s Largest Glow Stick Design.”

This year’s record attempt also marks the 100th anniversary of the birth in Pittsburgh of “Singin’ in the Rain” star Gene Kelly, a Pitt alumnus. Pitt also will honor Kelly Oct. 25 with “Pitt’s Gene Kelly Centennial Celebration.”