The life of the University is comprehended in three epochs, the Pittsburgh Academy, 1787-1819; the Western University of Pennsylvania, 1819-1908; the University of Pittsburgh since the latter year. (44)
No one thing is to characterize teaching at the University of Pittsburgh more than that the student is to think. He is to think hard, to think justly, to think to a purpose with all his brain and with all his energy, to think until the world of his thought takes on a glow. This leaves no room in him for anything that is common or mean. (45)
Pitt is a name that is beginning to shine in athletic circles, and the fact that the warriors of the gridiron, the diamond or the track, are spreading the fame of the institution, is a gratifying testimonial to the spirit of healthy athletics which the institution fosters. (46)
The building is scarcely to me a building at all. It is a place where there will be a community of scholars and of students. Scholars and students are what make a university. And if the institution is distinguished, it is because its scholars are distinguished for thought, penetration, research. They will seek what is true and spiritually right. Being creative, they will inspire others to their way of life. They will welcome about them groups of students and, working together, both scholars and students will rise to heights which neither group could attain alone. The Cathedral, then, is not a building, but rather a symbol of a way of life. It is a symbol of a spirit for Pittsburgh. (47)
Towering above the Oakland skyline, the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning points the way to the city's largest employer and an entity that is arguably one of the region's greatest assets. (48)
