After most students leave for the summer, the campus is still alive.
According to Joyce Radovanic, Pitt-Johnstown Conference and Auxiliary Services director, there are conferences in May through the middle of August; a variety of people will fill the campus.
“It’s a great place in a wodded area. It’s tranquil, not a big city, so we have a lot of different religious groups that come here every year,” said Radovanic.
Radovanic said the campus is a host site for vegetarians, a Korean religious group and a martial arts group.
“They (the vegetarian group) have been coming for years, and they are heere for about five days. They return every year.
“We also have a Korean group, which has come here since 2000. Their group is probably the biggest group this summer; it will get to 1,000 people. They are here for about eight days,” said Radovanic.
A martial arts group also visits, she said.
Guests are to live all over campus, but the Living and Learning Center will be the main housing and will turn into a 24-hour operation, working as a hotel.
“For a lot of youth groups, they live in the residential halls. Last year, we even used College Park Apartments. We use every available spot on campus. And we house maybe 20 groups here, so we are very busy,” said Radovanic.
She also said there are wedding ceremonies and receptions.
“We do wedding receptions during the school year in Heritage Hall, and that’s only for alumni or employees. It’s a university service. Wedding ceremonies in the (Whalley) Chapel we do all year round and that also follows the guidelines on the website.”
According to UPJ’s website, the use of the Whalley Chapel for a wedding ceremony is available to those with a Pitt affiliation. The bride or groom or at least one of their parents or grandparents must be a graduate, a current full-time student or a University of Pittsburgh employee.
Radovanic said they always work and plan ahead for the next year.
“We have people return every year. We are already booking for 2014 or 2015 right now,” she said.
“We have a lot returning every year. We have very different groups and our job is to keep them happy and bring in more,” Radovanic said.