THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2018 VOL. CXXXIV NO. 42
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
FOUNDED 1885
Sophomores must live on campus starting 2021 Student leaders were told in private meeting on Tuesday
IFC, Panhel: Policy places future of Greek housing at risk
REBECCA TAN & SARAH FORTINSKY Executive Editor & Senior News Editor
DEENA ELUL Staff Reporter
Penn will require all undergraduate sophomore students to live on campus in college houses starting with the Class of 2024 students, who will arrive on campus in 2020. The implementation will happen after the construction of New College House West, which is expected to open in the fall of 2021 and house around 450 students. The decision, which is part of an initiative to create a “Second Year Experience Program” for sophomore students, was released to student leaders on the Undergraduate Assembly Steering Committee at a meeting in Huntsman Hall on Tuesday, Sept. 25, said UA President Michael Krone. Four student leaders present independently confirmed this to The Daily Pennsylvanian. Administrators said at the meeting they planned to announce the news in an email on Thursday, but later sent a school-wide email confirming the decision 15 minutes after this story was first published at 2:05 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon. “We believe that a two-year College House system will measurably strengthen the sense of community among our first- and second-year students – promoting students’ achievement and well-being, enhancing support for students’ academic and social lives,” wrote the email, which was signed by Penn President Amy Gutmann and Provost Wendell Pritchett. Communications representatives from the President’s Office and the Provost’s Office did not respond to requests for more details on the decision on Wednesday. Until this point, only freshman students have been required to live on campus. According to
Leaders of on-campus Greek organizations are concerned that a future requirement for sophomores to live on campus will make it difficult for them to fill their chapter houses. Sophomores typically make up a large percentage of residents in on-campus Greek houses, but under the new policy, they will no longer be allowed to live in them. Greek leaders worry this could lead to increased dues and push students to join off-campus organizations. College junior George Costidis, who is the president of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, said the University requires each on-campus Greek house to fill a certain number of beds. Those that fail to do so face sanctions and could lose their leases. Without sophomores, Costidis said, organizations will have much more difficulty filling their housing quotas. College senior Kyler McVay, Penn Panhellenic’s vice president of community development, agreed. “One of the reasons we’re so concerned is that Greek houses are for sophomores,” she said, adding that it can be hard to incentivize juniors and seniors to live in them. McVay also said that for sororities, failure to fill houses could lead to an increase in dues, which are fixed by the national organizations. Leaders of Greek organizations are also concerned that the policy change could have a negative social impact. “Not having members around the house leads to decreased membership and a worsened brotherhood experience and unity between the sophomores and all the other classes,” Costidis said. In a guest column published in the DP, College junior and Interfraternity Council Vice
Most at the meeting reacted negatively to the idea, attendees said
SEE HOUSING PAGE 8
Sophomores make up large percentage of residents in chapter houses
In a school-wide email Wednesday afternoon, President Amy Gutmann wrote that the policy change would “eliminate a major source of stress and anxiety for first-year students.” Gutmann meets today with the University’s Board of Trustees.
PHOTO BY CARSON KAHOE | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
First-generation, low-income students weigh in on new housing mandate Issues of cost have been central to student backlash GIANNA FERRARIN Staff Reporter
Penn’s new “Second Year Experience Program,” which will require all sophomores to live in college housing starting 2021, received widespread criticism from student leaders upon its recent announcement. Amid the growing discussion, many have raised concerns about the potential negative implications for first-generation, low-income students. FGLI leaders however, say the issue is more complicated than it seems. College senior Melissa Janet Perez — who is a board member
for Penn First, a student group for first-generation low-incoming students at Penn — said her primary concern with the program is the impact it will have on FGLI students who do not receive full aid from the University. These students, Perez said, do not have their housing fully covered through financial aid and have “a huge incentive to go off campus.” She added that off-campus housing can often provide cheaper options for these students, who she said make up a significant portion of the FGLI community. “There is that portion of the population that is kind of being lost in this policy,” she said. But moving off campus has also presented financial challenges to FGLI students in the past. In the
2016-2017 school year, Student Financial Services offered up to $8,217 to students on financial aid looking to move off campus, which was more than $1,000 less than what was offered to those staying on campus. Moving off campus can also present logistical difficulties to FGLI students, who do not often have the disposable income to cover rent deposits and the fees around new furniture. Administrators announced the initiative to student leaders at an Undergraduate Assembly Steering Committee meeting on Tuesday. The plan’s purpose, Provost Wendell Pritchett said, is to “strengthen the sense of community” among first- and second-year students.
OPINION | Penning in sophomores
“New on-campus housing built with the intention of fostering a better sophomore community sounds like a great idea — if said sophomores are offered a choice about participation.” - Sophia DuRose PAGE 4
SPORTS | Jake Klaus: the engine
Penn sprint football lost its star quarterback last week. Luckily, its star running back is fueling the offense to victory anyway. BACKPAGE FOLLOW US @DAILYPENN FOR THE LATEST UPDATES ONLINE AT THEDP.COM
SEE FGLI PAGE 3
GRAPHICS BY CHRISTINE LAM | DESIGN EDITOR
SEE GREEK REACTIONS PAGE 8
EDITORIAL
Don’t make housing choices for students. Give them better options. THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN OPINION BOARD
The administration’s decision to bar sophomores from moving off campus is part of a series of restrictive solutions Penn has announced this semester to protect students from themselves. If the University’s goal is to increase the number of sophomores living in college housing, we believe it should focus on improving the quality of on-campus housing, making dormitories a more attractive option, while continuing to allow sophomores to determine their own living situations. Administrators’ decisions this
semester to close Huntsman Hall at 2 a.m., cap students’ academic programs at 7.5 course units, and now, make it mandatory for sophomores to live in college dormitories show that Penn is not afraid of taking decisive action when it comes to tackling the problems it perceives as pervasive. But this approach of addressing campus issues by restricting the ability of students to choose for themselves is patronizing, especially when students were largely left out of the decisionmaking process. Part of Penn’s justification for the decision is to improve the “sophomore experience.”
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However, instead of mandating that sophomore students live on campus, Penn should focus on making its on-campus experience a more attractive option to sophomores. If Penn believes on-campus living during sophomore year is the best option for students, make this a reality. Ensure that new constructions like New College House West are designed so sophomores feel compelled to stay on campus. Renovate the decades-old high rises, address the pest infestations that plague various college houses, and finally install air conditioning SEE EDITORIAL PAGE 5
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