Greensburg's College Connect highlights area schools during September Night Market

Institutions of higher learning in and around Greensburg will be showcased Thursday during the third annual College Connect in the city.

Set for 5:30 to 9 p.m., the free event will coincide with September’s Greensburg Night Market, an array of vendors and musical entertainment stretching along South Pennsylvania Avenue between Otterman and Fourth streets.

College Connect is planned to help welcome college students to Greensburg and to encourage connections among students, local organizations and the community.

Representatives from Seton Hill University, Saint Vincent College, Westmoreland County Community College and the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg will be on hand at the Moore/Becker Parking Lot, next to the Pitt+Penn retail shops. A caricature artist and Steel City Mobile Mini Golf will be featured at the lot.

Dance groups from Seton Hill will perform there beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Downtown Greensburg Project, which organizes the Night Market, will have a tent where students with an ID from one of the participating colleges can receive a food voucher. Available while supplies last, the vouchers may be used to purchase ready-to-eat food from select vendors at the market.

The Downtown Greensburg Project is partnering with the city, the area educational institutions, the Greensburg Community Development Corporation and Greensburg Business and Professional Association to present College Connect.

“Students are a huge part of this community,” said Jeff Raykes, the city planning director. “We’re excited to celebrate and bring together the universities and colleges with the Greensburg community.”