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THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2016

A DIVISIVE

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G E A T S

… Trump fails to represent the current Penn student body …” - Daily Pennsylvanian Opinion Board PAGE 4

The student play “Dry Land,” featuring an on-stage abortion, will be performed at the New College House

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REBECCA TAN Staff Reporter

F Open Expression Observers protect free speech at Penn

ew theatergoers have ever seen an abortion performed on stage. Come the weekend of Dec. 2, audiences at Penn will see exactly that when College junior Esther Cohen stages the drama “Dry Land” at the New College House. First performed in New York City in 2014, “Dry Land” was written by Yale graduate Ruby Rae Spiegel while she was still in college. Tickets will be free and available online. Cohen said she received the script from a friend in the fall of 2015 and knew immediately that she wanted to stage it on a college campus. Set largely in the locker room of a high school in Florida , the play explores the lives of two girls, Amy

and Ester, who are on the high school swim team together. In one climactic scene, an abortion occurs on stage. Notes in the script written by Spiegel indicate that this scene should be “shown head-on.” When Cohen started preparing to stage the play earlier this year, she anticipated she might face difficulties finding resources and venues for it because of this controversial scene. Over the summer, her application to produce the play through the Rodin Arts Collective was rejected via an email that stated, “As much as [we] believe that the play should be put on and that it has a very important message, because of the graphic nature of the content, we can’t justify putting it in Rodin.”

JACOB WINICK Staff Reporter

SEE SPEECH PAGE 3

performance space, Paxton reached out to colleagues in College Houses and Academic Services and received more than one offer of performance venues for Cohen to stage “Dry Land.” “For me, what this play does which is unique is shed a spotlight on a taboo topic,” Paxton said. “It challenges the audience to grapple with the issue of abortion which is too often shrouded in shame and secrecy.” Cohen agreed that abortion is rarely discussed frankly, but said this is also why the prospect of having to stage one is daunting. “The fact is: This is probably going SEE PLAY PAGE 7

Former Penn pres. was Clinton VP contender

The monitors attended recent protests against controversial preachers

Promoting free speech at a school of Penn’s size can be difficult when different student and community groups are constantly holding events and protests around campus. That’s where the Committee on Open Expression and the Open Expression Observers come in. The Committee on Open Expression was founded in the late 1960s in response to Vietnam War protests. The committee — which has included faculty, student, administration and staff representatives since its inception — created a set of guidelines to protect open expression on campus. The guidelines, according to Associate Vice Provost for Student Affairs Hikaru Kozuma, have remained almost the same in the last 50 years and aim to prevent students from “unreasonably interfering with activities of other persons,” among other things. This “interference” could include impeding free movement in or out of buildings, or

A representative of the Rodin Arts Collective did not respond to request for comment. Following this rejection, Cohen did not approach other theater collectives, but decided to stage this play independently and reach out to the Penn Women’s Center for assistance in finding a venue. Through the crowd-funding platform Indiegogo, Cohen and her production team raised $3,223, exceeding their 30-day goal of $2,500 in four days. Director of the Women’s Center Felicity Paxton said when Cohen approached the Center, they were impressed with how much thought she had invested in this project. When Cohen said that she was having difficulty securing rehearsal and

Judith Rodin was grouped with other philanthropists WALEY ZHANG Contributing Reporter

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

A leaked email from John Podesta revealed that Judith Rodin was considered as a VP pick.

As WikiLeaks continues to plague the Clinton campaign with leaked emails, the newest batch includes a shortlist of potential candidates for vice president. One particular name may ring a bell to the Penn community: Judith Rodin, president of the University of Pennsylvania from 1994 to 2004 and currently the president of Rockefeller Foundation. Rodin became the first permanent female president of an Ivy League university when she succeeded Claire M. Fagin, the

first female interim president. Rodin is also an alumna from Penn — she received a degree in psychology from the University’s College for Women in 1966. She was president of the Women’s Student Government and contributed to the organization’s merge with the Men’s Student Government. The email was apparently sent by Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta in mid-March of this year, right in the middle of a restless Democratic primary season. The list is divided into various “food groups,” and Rodin’s name is grouped with notable business magnates and philanthropists including Michael Bloomberg, Tim Cook, Bill Gates, Melinda Gates,

Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent, Xerox CEO Ursula Burns, GM CEO Mary Barra, and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. Other “food groups” included Latinos, women, white male politicians, African-Americans and military men. Former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders also found himself in his own food group in the list. In an election season irrevocably tied to Penn due to the GOP nomination process, Judith Rodin has also found herself linked to an investigation of a former Clinton aide. The authenticity of the leaked email still remains to be confirmed. C a m p u s Ne ws E d itor Caroline Simon contributed reporting.

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