April 3, 2017

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MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

PENN BRACKET SEE PAGE 6 Meet some of your future classmates

The Class of 2021 reacts to their acceptance letters REBECCA LIEBERMAN Staff Reporter

Penn released its regular decision results at 5 p.m. on March 30, and for 9.15 percent of applicants, Thursday was a dream come true. Spanish River Community High

School senior Sydney Balfan was brought to tears by the news of her acceptance. “My mom went to Penn. A lot of her family died, she was on welfare and she was living alone, so it was a really big deal for her,” Balfan said. “And then now when I got in, I started hysterically crying.” Balfan said she ran to her mom’s room, and her mom began to cry

as well. Balfan has visited Penn three times throughout her life, and she made sure to tour the school once without her mom. “I didn’t want her bias to get in the way,” she said. “But every single time I visited, I loved it so, so much, and I loved the people there. It really changed my mom’s life, and ever since she told me

all about Penn, I just always did research about it and just fell in love.” Millburn High School senior Victoria Mak, like most applicants, experienced a good deal of stress in the moments leading up to the decisions release. “I kind of cloistered myself

SEE REACTIONS PAGE 2

INSIDE IVANKA’S V VANKA’S

TIME AT PENN Ivanka was generally described as polished and hardworking CAROLINE SIMON Senior Reporter

O

n Sunday, May 16, 2004, hundreds of newly minted Wharton graduates received their degrees at a ceremony on Franklin Field, about to start prestigious first jobs throughout the business world. Those graduates, now in their thirties, have risen to top positions at investment banks, earned Ph.D.s and founded their own companies. One of them is about to become the most powerful first daughter in American history. Ivanka Trump played a major role in her father’s campaign and recently announced she would stay on as an unpaid White House employee in a West Wing office, protected by the Secret Service. She’s painted herself as a polished, professional woman, balancing her high-powered career with her family responsibilities. Her advocacy for women in the workforce — which she has continued during her father’s presidency — has often stood at odds with President Donald Trump himself, who has been lambasted for making offensive comments about women. According to interviews with several of Ivanka Trump’s classmates, her professional demeanor dates back to her time as a Penn undergraduate, where she kept a low profile but worked hard in class and appeared ambitious. Over 600 Wharton graduates from the Class of 2004 were contacted for this article.

Members of that class who remembered Trump generally described her as polished, hardworking and nice. She transferred to Penn from Georgetown University before her junior year, and she wasn’t particularly involved in Penn’s social scene. On campus, she lived in the Left Bank apartments, located near 31st and Walnut streets. “I think she was always a good student — well prepared, poised, et cetera,” Jared Work, a 2004 Wharton graduate said. “My sense was that she was a little removed from the typical bar scene in college, but I feel like she always handled herself with a lot of class and dignity.” Roland Oliver, a 2004 Wharton graduate, recalled his first encounter with Trump, a former model who had already graced the cover of Seventeen. SEE IVANKA PAGE 9

ILANA WURMAN | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Everybody dance now: Penn’s first dance marathon

Support for Israel transcends politics.” - Taylor Becker on support for a stronger U.S.-Israel relationship PAGE 4

Charity event lasted seven hours, raised nearly $4000 ZIHAN XIONG Contributing Reporter

THE PIPELINE TO PENN: TOP ATHLETIC FEEDERS BACK PAGE

ZIHAN XIONG | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The Penn Dance Marathon raised $3814.96 for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dance marathons are hosted at over 300 schools nationwide.

SEE DANCE PAGE 3

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Amateur dancers and polished student performers moved to booming pop music on Sunday afternoon, but it wasn’t just a dance party — the participants were helping raise money for children’s health care. Following in the footsteps of college dance marathons across the nation, the first-ever Penn Dance Marathon raised money for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Their efforts, culminating in seven hours of dancing, singing, games and entertainment, raised a total of $3,814.96. After participating in many smaller dance marathons during h igh school, Pen n’s Da nce

Marathon Executive Director and College and Engineering sophomore Marcello Chang came to Penn excited to experience a collegiate marathon. He said he was surprised when he found out that although Penn boasts more than 450 student-run clubs, there were none dedicated to organizing a dance marathon. Inspired by CHOP’s work and the potential to make an impact, Chang seized the opportunity to start a club to bring the fundraising event to Penn, strengthening the relationship between Penn’s student body and CHOP. Some of the largest benefactors of dance marathons are the 170 member hospitals within the Children’s Miracle Network, including nearby CHOP. According to the organization’s website, millions

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