MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2016
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Pro-life group spars with PAGE
6,147 APPLICATIONS
22% ACCEPTANCE RATE
46 STATES 45 COUNTRIES
The two organizations exchanged dueling Facebook statuses
1,354 ACCEPTED
HALF
OF ADMITTED ENGINEERS WERE
FEMALE
DAN SPINELLI Executive Editor-elect
A pro-life protest outside College Hall last week was condemned on Friday as an attempt to “traumatize and shame” people who’ve had abortions, according to a statement released by the Penn Association for Gender Equity, a group that advocates for women’s rights. The group planted 600 flags on College Green to represent the abortions committed in Philadelphia in the two weeks before the Dec. 2 protest. In a statement posted to Facebook, PAGE blasted the protest, which was organized by Quakers for Life, a group founded by Wharton sophomore Eric Hoover. “This group was founded by a self-described (from our understanding) cisgendered man, which in and of itself is concerning,” the statement read. “Abortion rights respect the dignity
The early decision acceptance rate fell to 22 percent for the Class of 2021
SEE PRO-LIFE PAGE 7
JULIA BELL Staff Reporter
ZBT RAISES MONEY WITH NO SHAVE NOV.
Penn admitted 22 percent of its early decision applicants to the Class of 2021 this year, slightly lower than last year’s rate of 23.2 percent. For the first time in Penn’s history, half of students admitted to the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences through the Early Decision program were female, according to a press release from the Office of Admissions. The number of applications was also record-breaking. A total of 6,147 applications were submitted to Penn in the Early Decision round, more than Penn has ever
PAGE 7
received. Of that number, 1,354 were accepted. The number of early decision applications increased by 7 percent from last year, and has grown by 28 percent in the last four years since the Class of 2017 applied. “The continued growth in Penn’s Early Decision applicant pool is a reflection of a greater breadth of interest in Penn,” Dean of Admissions Eric Furda said in a statement. So far, Penn’s incoming class includes students from 46 states and 44 foreign countries. Penn also partnered with over 40 community-based organizations that represent underserved students, like the national nonprofit program QuestBridge and Philadelphia’s Steppingstone Scholars program. Penn typically admits around half of its total class in SEE EARLY DECISION PAGE 2
English Department creates post-election working group
Putting yourself out there is never as easy as it sounds.” - James Lee
The department discussed issues at a town hall meeting
PAGE 4
TOM NOWLAN News Editor-elect
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL IS ON THE REBOUND BACK PAGE
COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
In light of the controversial election results, the English Department plans to improve its mission statement by creating a cross-departmental working group.
The Penn Department of English announced Sunday that it will form a working group to “declare and defend [its] departmental mission in the current political climate” following the Nov. 8 presidential election. The announcement comes in the
wake of a Dec. 1 department-wide town hall meeting. In the week following that meeting, students removed a large portrait of William Shakespeare from the Fisher-Bennett Hall entryway and replaced it with a portrait of black and feminist writer Audre Lorde. An email from English Department Chair Jed Etsy on Dec. 8 expressed the department’s desire SEE POLICIES PAGE 7
Students remove Shakespeare portrait from English dept. They replaced it with a photo of Audre Lorde OLIVIA SYLVESTER Contributing Reporter
Penn English professor and Department Chair Jed Esty was surprised to find a large portrait of William Shakespeare waiting in his office late last
FOLLOW US @DAILYPENN FOR THE LATEST UPDATES
week. A group of students removed the iconic portrait from the walls of FisherBennett Hall and delivered it to Esty’s office last Thursday after an English Department town hall meeting discussing the election. They replaced it with a photo of Audre Lorde, a black female writer. The portrait has resided over the
main staircase of Fisher-Bennett — home to Penn’s English Department — for years. The English Department voted to relocate and replace the portrait a few years ago in order to represent a more diverse range of writers, according to an emailed statement from Esty, who declined to be interviewed. However, despite the vote, the portrait was left in the entranceway until
last week. “Students removed the Shakespeare portrait and delivered it to my office as a way of affirming their commitment to a more inclusive mission for the English department,” Esty wrote in the email. He added that the image of Lorde will remain until the department reaches a SEE SHAKESPEARE PAGE 5
ONLINE 7 DAYS A WEEK AT THEDP.COM