Up ahead in the distance on Fifth Avenue, Pitt students may soon look up and see a shimmering light — a University-owed hotel and conference center may soon come to sit across from Litchfield Towers.

Charles Dent, a former U.S. congressman and career politician, shared 28 years worth of stories from the heart of America’s highest ranking political circles to the nearly 200 people who packed Ballroom B of the University Club Monday night.