Forgoing sleeping late and staying warm, around 2,000 University of Pittsburgh students awoke early Saturday morning to participate in the university’s inaugural Make-A-Difference Day.

On one of fall’s chilliest mornings, they convened around 8:30 on the lawn of the William Pitt Union in Oakland, where they boarded buses and headed to more than 40 different sites, from West Homestead to North Park to Penn Hills.

Shawn Ahearn, the spokesman for Pitt’s Division of Student Affairs, said he was surprised at the turnout, but very pleased.

“It was pretty special to see the student sacrifice on a Saturday morning,” he said.

Senior Ryan Haddad, a member of the student government board, said the event grew out of a smaller cleanup project in Oakland, where many students already do community service. He said he wanted to get students out of their home turf.

[ Full story available at: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08294/921351-85.stm ]