April 7, 2022

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA • FOUNDED 1885

PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022

VOL. CXXXVIII

NO. 11

PHOTO BY CHASE SUTTON

Wendell Pritchett

The Philadelphia-born scholar’s trajectory to the Penn presidency The DP spoke with Pritchett and 12 Penn leaders and community members to follow his path to the president’s office JARED MITOVICH Senior Reporter

Interim Penn President Wendell Pritchett comes “full circle” each morning as he climbs the steps of

College Hall — the same building where he earned his Ph.D. in history almost 30 years ago.

Pritchett — a longtime legal scholar, administrator, and tennis player who assumed his current position on Feb. 9 — is already approaching the halfway point of his presidential tenure, as Liz Magill will assume the role on July 1. The Daily Pennsylvanian sat down with Pritchett himself and spoke with 12 Penn community members and University leaders about the personal trajectory that led him to take the helm of the University.

Koreana to close this month after 15 years The restaurant block is expected to be rebuilt into a new high-tech office and lab space in early 2023 KEVIN BRYAN Senior Reporter

PHOTO BY ISABELLA COSSU

Koreana to close on April 17.

Koreana, a campus restaurant staple with a 15-year legacy, will close its doors on April 17.

The family-owned restaurant, located on 38th and Chestnut streets, is known for its traditional Korean dishes. The restaurant block, which also houses Abner’s Cheesesteaks, was purchased by Chicago-based companies Sterling Bay and Harrison Street and New York City-based company Botanic Properties. The block is expected to be rebuilt into a new high-tech office and lab space in early 2023.

Mike Choi and Emma Aing, the married couple who own the restaurant, said they discovered in December 2021 that Koreana’s lease would not be renewed. The couple is now actively searching for a new location for the restaurant in University City.

“It’s very sad, but hey, you know, things go on. My wife and I are dealing with it,” Choi told The Daily Pennsylvanian. “We actually love having business here because we have so many good students and good customers.”

This is not the first time that the restaurant’s property was being considered to be purchased. Choi told the DP that Penn was interested in buying the property around 10 years ago, but ultimately, the purchase did not come to fruition. Penn’s lingering interest in the restaurant block kept the building’s landlord from renewing a lease longer than a year for the past seven years, according to Choi.

Ted Pagano, the block’s former owner, also told the DP in 2018 that he conducted several conversations with parties that were interested in buying the property.

According to Choi, the process to find a new location has not been easy, as prices for retail spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic have increased. Choi said he has been exploring a number of relocation options — including reopening near Drexel and finding a space at a food court.

The restaurant has been a go-to eatery for many Penn students over the years.

Pritchett is Penn’s first Black president, an accomplishment that he said was “very meaningful” but not something he thinks about on a daily basis in his position. He mentioned his scholarship in African American history and his biography of Robert Weaver, the first Black United States cabinet secretary.

“I certainly think a lot about the question about the first Black person to do something. At the same time, the most important thing is to do a good job whatever your race,” Pritchett said.

After hearing about Koreana’s imminent closure, a recent Engineering graduate offered the owners a personal loan of $40,000 to aid in developing the restaurant’s new location. The Penn graduate, who requested anonymity in fear of judgement from his peers, said he has enjoyed eating at the restaurant since his first year at Penn. He said he became acquainted with the owners over the course of his undergraduate career at the University.

“The thing about these restaurants is the initial investment is a lot. I wanted to see if I could help out in some way, and I had some cash laying around from my bonus,” he said.

Aing said she cried upon hearing about the Penn graduate’s offer. According to the former Penn student, however, Choi and Aing did not accept his loan offer.

Andrew Yoon, a junior in the College, said he has loved eating at Koreana ever since his first visit to Penn when he was in high school.

“I was really grateful for it to be there because it was kind of like the only source of authentic Korean cuisine within walking distance,” Yoon said. “I’m honestly scared about senior year because I feel like I’ve never had to worry about not having Korean cuisine in my life until now.”

Several Koreana customers also sent emails to University City District’s Small Business Services, a free program for local small businesses, upon hearing of the news of Koreana’s terminating lease. They requested SBS to help Koreana find a new home, UCD Project Manager Ryan Spak said.

Spak and Koreana’s owners have had several meetings to date, assessing the owner’s goals during the transition and what kind of assets would be needed to restart the business. Spak has also introduced the owners to several landlords and will form connections with attorneys or commercial leasing agents.

The Penn graduate who offered Koreana’s owners a loan said he hopes to eat at Koreana again prior to the restaurant’s closure.

He added that, as an international student, he likes Koreana because it reminds him of home.

“It is a family business, and the food reflects it,” he said. “I like [Koreana] because it resembles the restaurants that I used to go to in India. It is a familyfeeling kind of shop.”

Beyond the historic nature of his presidency, Pritchett’s academic record and administrative experience have been tested by challenges that the University continues to face. Pritchett’s presidency comes as Penn expands deeper into its surrounding neighborhood, navigates its way out of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis stage, and prepares to welcome its first new president in 18 years.

See PRITCHETT, page 3

Penn releases Class of 2026 regular decision results The University is not publicly highlighting its acceptance rate for the first time in recent memory JARED MITOVICH Senior Reporter

Penn announced regular decision admission results for the Class of 2026, but declined for the first time in recent memory to share its acceptance rate.

This year’s regular decision admissions cycle marks a shift from past years, given that the University is not publicly highlighting its acceptance rate for its incoming class. Two of the University’s peer institutions — Princeton University and Cornell University — shared in Penn’s decision to withhold detailed admissions figures after regular decision applicants were notified last Thursday evening.

“We’re focusing not on how hard we are to get into, but on who these young people are that we chose,” Associate Vice Provost and Dean of Admissions Whitney Soule told The Wall Street Journal.

Roughly 55,000 students applied to Penn across both Early and Regular decision — a decrease from last year’s 56,333, which marked the largest application pool in history. The first-year class is expected to number approximately 2,400 students.

Penn accepted 15.63% of applicants under the Early Decision Program in December 2021 — 1,218 students from a pool of 7,795.

The last time Penn’s acceptance rate increased was for the Class of 2024, when 8.07% of applicants were admitted, up slightly from the 7.44% of applicants admitted to the Class of 2023. Penn accepted 8.39% of applicants to the Class of 2022.

See 2026, page 3

Live in University City

Starting from $899 month Fully furnished, Cleaning included, Full amenity building 3701 Chestnut str. Philadelphia

masonchestnut.com

SEND STORY IDEAS TO NEWSTIP@THEDP.COM

ONLINE AT THEDP.COM

CONTACT US: 215-422-4640

2 NEWS

THURSDAY, ARPIL 7, 2022

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

Penn’s COVID-19 case count nearly doubles Undergraduates comprised nearly 70% of new cases, with 187 total positive results JONAH MILLER Senior Reporter

LIL YACHTY (ANTON MAK | CC BY 2.0)

The rapper will perform on campus this Friday.

Lil Yachty to perform at Spring Fling as surprise guest The rapper is known for popular songs such as “iSpy” and “Magic In The Hamptons” KEVIN BRYAN Senior Reporter

The Social Planning and Events Committee announced on Instagram that Lil Yachty will be the third performer at Penn’s Spring Fling concert on Friday.

Lil Yachty — a rapper from Atlanta — first gained popularity in 2015 with singles “One Night” and “Minnesota.” All of his albums have charted in the top 20 of the Billboard 200 list, and he has been nominated for two Grammy Awards. He is now known for popular songs such as “iSpy” and “Magic In The Hamptons.”

Cheat Codes and Flo Milli will headline the concert, which will take place in Penn Park at 8 p.m.

This year’s concert will be the first to be held in person since 2019.

SPEC announced the first two performers of the concert lineup — along with the logo and theme for the April 9 Daytime Fling event — at a launch party event in the ARCH building. SPEC also hinted at a “surprise guest” in the original announcement.

Daytime Fling will have a carnival theme, with the title “Revival of the Fling.” The event will feature food vendors, giveaways, inflatables, games, and live performances by student groups and bands in Penn Park.

SPEC traditionally hosts the Spring Fling event each spring — recently in Penn Park, and previously in the Quad — but the event was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19 and held online in 2021. The virtual, two-weekend 2021 Fling featured seven total artists, including Louis the Child and Chloe x Halle.

In its 47 in-person iterations, Spring Fling has hosted a number of big names, including Chance the Rapper, Kesha, Kygo, and Tiësto. In the most recent in-person event, in 2019, Miguel and J.I.D performed.

Tickets are available online for $45 to this year’s Fling concert.

Penn’s COVID-19 case count nearly doubled in the last week, reaching the highest number of positive tests in eight weeks.

A total of 273 community members tested positive for COVID-19 during the week from March 27 to April 4 — up 131 from the week before. Undergraduates comprised nearly 70% of new cases, with 187 total positive results. Graduate students made up only 42 of the new cases on campus.

Chief Wellness Officer Benoit Dubé told The Daily Pennsylvanian on March 31 that contact tracing efforts show that transmission remains heavily associated with social gatherings, such as formals, galas, and parties.

“Now that we are back to lower case counts, our contact tracing team can go back to doing its really important work of drilling down on the information that they are seeing from positives,” Dubé said.

Dubé added that data from the contact tracing team demonstrates that while the virus continues to evolve, its modes of transmission have remained the same throughout the pandemic.

“The dominant mode of transmission is when people attend large unmasked indoor gatherings when food and drink are being shared or consumed,” Dubé said. “The mutated virus does the same thing, and we’ve heard this story before.”

The campuswide positivity rate spiked, reaching 6.69%, up from 3.71% last week, continuing a sevenweek increasing trend. This week marks the highest positivity rate since the week of Jan. 30 to Feb. 5. The undergraduate positivity rate saw the sharpest oneweek increase in percentage and the second-highest number since the beginning of the semester at 12.77%, nearly doubling from 6.48% last week.

The rise in case count mirrors rising trends across the City of Philadelphia, which could potentially move the city into a stricter response level. Philadelphia is currently operating under the “All Clear” precautions tier, the lowest of four, which reversed the requirement for all individuals to wear a mask indoors on March 2.

“All Clear” requires that at least three of the four following conditions must be met before masking can end: citywide average new cases per day is fewer than 100, hospitalizations are under 50, positivity rate has dropped below 2%, and cases have not risen by more than 50% in the past 10 days.

The city reported on April 4 an average of 94 new reported cases each day, 48 hospitalizations, 3.1% positivity, and a case increase of more than 50% in the previous 10 days. If average cases increase by six or hospitalizations rise by two, the change would automatically trigger a change in response level to “Mask Precautions,” which would implement mask-wearing in public indoor spaces.

“Once masks come off, they might have to come back on again,” Dubé told the DP on March 3. “We have to brace for that possibility as well.”

The University recently moved to exempt fully vaccinated community members — who also received their booster shots — from weekly COVID-19 testing.

PHOTO BY EMILY XU

Dubé added that this move means that the individuals most protected against the virus no longer have to participate in testing, which creates the environment for a higher positivity rate.

The increase in the campuswide positivity rate comes as community members get tested less, although the number of tests last week rose to 4,078 from 3,830 the previous week. During the fall semester, community members took over 10,000 tests through Penn Cares each week for 13 out of the 16 weeks between Aug. 29 and Dec. 18.

Dubé told the DP on March 17 that community

members need to “unlearn bad habits” when it comes to understanding an increase in positivity rate.

Since fewer community members are required to take COVID-19 tests, the denominator is a smaller number, so the positivity rate mathematically increases.

Community members who have either not yet uploaded their COVID-19 booster vaccine information or are not yet booster-eligible are still required to undergo screening testing twice each week. Students must upload their booster information into their Student Health Portal if they have not done so already.

Penn students, alumni celebrate 50th anniversary of Du Bois College House The “family reunion” event was attended by both former and current residents of Du Bois MATTEO BUSTERNA Staff Reporter

Roughly 60 students, Penn alumni, and Penn community members — including Interim President Wendell Pritchett — gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Du Bois College House last Friday.

The “family reunion” event was attended by both former and current residents of Du Bois, which is located at 39th and Walnut streets. The attendees congregated outside of the college house to reflect on their living experiences there. Student groups performed a cappella songs and recited poetry in honor of the anniversary.

Penn appointed W. E. B. Du Bois as an assistant instructor in 1896. The University tasked Du Bois to conduct a sociological study which developed into “The Philadelphia Negro,” a book describing and studying the lives of African Americans in Philadelphia’s Seventh Ward. The college house that would come to bear Du Bois’ namesake was established in 1972 in response to student demands for a Black-centered space on campus.

Charles Howard, Penn’s chaplain and a 2000 College graduate, spoke at the event about his experiences living in Du Bois as an undergraduate student. Howard recounted being a part of The Inspiration, a co-ed a cappella group whose mission is to “celebrate the legacy of the African Diaspora.”

“When I was in The Inspiration, we rehearsed downstairs. I got hugged and yelled at by my house dean. This is home. It’s not a dorm. It’s a home. It’s a home that I and hundreds — if not thousands — of students were raised in,” Howard said.

The Inspiration performed two songs at the 50th anniversary celebration, including their rendition of “As” by Stevie Wonder. Members of the spoken poetry group, The Excelano Project, also recited poems about their Black identity.

Du Bois resident and College first year Sarah Oburu

PHOTO BY JESSE ZHANG

said she was glad to have participated in the event.

“Since we are the smallest college house, it’s really lovely to see everybody in one collective space at one time, in one entity. The whole preface behind this was a family reunion and [the event] definitely gave off that vibe and energy,” Oburu said.

Du Bois Faculty Fellow Audrey Mbeje, who spoke at the event, emphasized the importance of honoring and remembering the legacy of Du Bois for whom the

college house is named.

“I am deeply honored to be a faculty fellow in Du Bois College House that holds and keeps the legacy of a very decent human being, a very decent scholar, a very decent person who respected people, who saw people for who they are. We have a privilege as Du Bois College House to keep that legacy going,” Mbeje said.

The interim president also spoke at the anniversary

reunion event. Pritchett, who became interim president after former Penn President Amy Gutmann was confirmed as the United States ambassador to Germany, is the first Black individual in Penn’s history to serve as president.

“For five decades, the Du Bois College House [is] for students and alumni [who] have used their talents to advance the cause of equity and social justice. I think Dr. Du Bois would be very proud,” Pritchett said.

THEDP.COM | THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN

THURSDAY, ARPIL 7, 2022

NEWS 3

PRITCHETT, from front page

Penn’s expansion into West Philadelphia “[West Philadelphia] is my community,” Pritchett — who resided in the area for 24 years — told the DP in an interview on Feb. 24.

Both of Pritchett’s parents were public school teachers who grew up heavily involved in the neighborhood, where many of his relatives also lived. His father, Wendell Pritchett Sr., was a music teacher who also served as director of the School District of Philadelphia’s music department.

His mother, Carolyn Pritchett, taught high school english.

Pritchett’s Ph.D. thesis advisor Walter Licht, the Penn Civic Scholars faculty director and a longtime friend of Pritchett’s family, said that both Philadelphia and his parents influenced Pritchett’s lifelong passions for urban policy and civic engagement.

“I really got a sense that he absorbed their passions, their commitments, their great intellects as well,” Licht said. “And that sense that whatever you’re doing, you’re doing it to better people, relations among people, and the life of the city.”

Pritchett earned his Ph.D. in history from Penn in 1997 and went on to teach history at Baruch College in New York until 2002. Cornell professor and 1997 Penn history Ph.D. alumnus Edward Baptist said he looked up to Pritchett as a role model because he already had a family and a career outside of the graduate program.

Penn Law School professor Sarah Gordon, who encouraged the school to give Pritchett a full-time tenure track offer in 2002, said that he was aware of the changes happening throughout West Philadelphia from a young age. She noted that the house where Pritchett’s grandmother was born was condemned as a result of eminent domain by Penn and is now the Domus Apartments building at 34th and Chestnut streets.

“He not only saw West Philadelphia for a long time, but he saw that changes were happening,” Gordon said. “He has been in the Penn orbit since he was a kid.”

Throughout his academic and administrative career, Pritchett has always emphasized that civic responsibility should be a primary focus for anyone working in higher education.

Ira Harkavy, the founding director of the Netter Center for Community Partnerships, said that Pritchett is respected in international higher education circles for prioritizing both “Penn traditions of [Ben Franklin’s] emphasis on service and [W. E. B. Du Bois’] emphasis on working with communities.”

Harkavy has known Pritchett since 1995, when he was a teaching assistant for an Academically Based Community Service course.

By holding meetings with the faculty and national advisory boards of the Netter Center, Harkavy said that Pritchett helped form several current initiatives as provost, including the Provost’s Graduate Academic Engagement Fellows, the Provost’s Faculty-Community Partnership Award, the Provost’s Faculty Fellows, and the Community Engaged Scholarship Committee.

“He has advanced community engagement significantly throughout Penn, and he has done it by advancing the ABCS community, community-engaged scholarship and research, and doing programs like the Provost’s Academic Theme of Civic Engagement [beginning in 2020],” Harkavy said.

Pritchett has also worked with the School District of Philadelphia, which serves over 200,000 children. He was appointed to the School Reform Commission when the city’s schools were facing a multitude of issues — including a cheating scandal

and the closures of dozens of buildings. He resigned from the position in 2014, citing frustration with the lack of government participation and funding.

In 2018, however, Pritchett went on to advise the School District after Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf returned control of Philadelphia schools to the city government through a mayor-appointed board of education.

1995 Wharton and 2006 Fels Institute of Government graduate Lee Huang, one of the first board members, said Pritchett was on a “shortlist” of people who volunteered to prepare the board members to respond to parental and staff concerns.

“Hearing this advice from Pritchett, to let us know that people are invested enough to be angry, to be emotional, and that we should lean into that and we should affirm that and we should figure out how to be responsive in an empathetic way and in a way that is action-oriented — as we were nervously thinking about being about to take over as the governance board, we all found that advice incredibly insightful,” Huang said.

Huang and Harkavy both said that Pritchett leads in a democratic, cooperative manner that makes people feel heard. His leadership style was tested just two weeks into his term as interim president when nearly 100 students and West Philadelphia residents protested Penn’s role in the eviction of residents from University City Townhomes.

The landlord of the townhomes — a housing development near Penn primarily occupied by Black and low-income Philadelphians — had declined to renew the unit’s affordable housing contract and announced its plan to sell the property prior to the protests. The sale is set to displace 69 households in July.

“President Pritchett knows what displacement looks like. He is a scholar of affordable housing law,” College sophomore and Police Free Penn member Jack Starobin said to the University Council, which Pritchett sits on, at their Feb. 23 meet-

ing. “[Pritchett] and others here know what will happen this summer.”

In an interview on Feb. 24, Pritchett did not mention the townhomes explicitly in his response to a question about his plans to engage with the West Philadelphia community. However, he said that Penn is “in conversations with” city leaders about how to help deal with the scarcity of affordable housing throughout University City.

“I’m excited to see those conversations move to fruition,” Pritchett said.

Navigating the evolving COVID-19 pandemic on campus Many of the administrators and students that the DP spoke with commended Pritchett’s leadership as provost during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Penn Law Dean Ted Ruger has been a colleague and friend of Pritchett’s since they worked as law professors together in 2004. Ruger discussed the “almost daily decisions” that Pritchett had to make during the first year of the pandemic. He said that he believes making these choices prepared Pritchett to successfully oversee the University while COVID-19 continues to present new challenges.

“He was extremely helpful to the law school and our ability to innovate and have classes during the pandemic,” Ruger said.

Harkavy said that Pritchett played a key role in increasing the number of ABCS courses provided by the Netter Center throughout the pandemic — which initially dipped, but soon rose again.

When Pritchett took office as interim president in February, the highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19 was finally beginning to recede at Penn after infecting over 5,500 students and staff from Dec. 19 to Feb. 12. The variant led the University to implement remote instruction for the first two weeks of the spring semester.

Penn

went on to lift its indoor mask mandate for most settings on March 15, but it has since paused its initial plan to lift the classroom mask mandate.

Pritchett and Interim Provost Beth Winkelstein met with the Graduate and Professional Students Association on March 18 to discuss improvements to in-person life for graduate students and changes with Penn’s masking policy.

GAPSA President Paradorn Rummaneethorn said that Pritchett asked attendees to share their feedback on the masking policy so that he could share it with the relevant parties. He added that the meeting was “more productive than average” compared to other meetings with administrators, crediting Pritchett’s approach to the masking policy and his attempts to “accommodate and compromise.”

“Sometimes when we interact with administration, it’s like a dance, and you can tell whether they actually care once you commensurate with the ideas you’re bringing forth,” Rummaneethorn said. “[Pritchett] really shows that he cares, from my impression, and wants to make a difference with however much time he has as interim president.”

Preparing to welcome a new president Pritchett’s term as interim president will end in less than three months, when legal scholar and University of Virginia Provost Liz Magill takes office as the University’s ninth president on July 1.

Pritchett said that until then, two of his central responsibilities are to “keep the trains running” and “make as few mistakes as possible.”

“I really do consider my job to be to help the incoming president be as prepared as possible,” he said.

He added that he talks with Magill twice a week to help prepare her for the transition and address specific agenda items such as student wellness, support for first-generation, low-income students, and the City of Philadelphia.

This is not the first time Pritchett has served in an interim position at the University. Pritchett served as Penn Law’s interim dean before Ruger took office in July 2015.

“He made my job much easier, because so many of the parts of the law school were in good shape that it was a very smooth transition,” Ruger said.

Both Ruger and Winkelstein praised Pritchett as a mentor. When Pritchett took a medical leave of absence from the provostship in May 2021, Winkelstein was elevated from deputy to interim provost. Before Pritchett became interim president, he served as a senior advisor to Amy Gutmann until she was confirmed as U.S. ambassador to Germany.

Rummaneethorn said that Pritchett is responsible for relaying to Magill what he has heard in recent months so that students’ concerns are not lost “into a vacuum.” Rummaneethorn, who was a member of the presidential search committee that nominated Magill, declined to comment on whether Pritchett was at any point considered for the permanent presidential position.

Once Magill takes office, Pritchett expects to take a sabbatical for one year and then return to Penn Law. Ruger said Pritchett then plans to teach a class on local government law.

Pritchett, an avid tennis player, also plans to continue to be a presence on Penn’s tennis courts. Penn graduate student and women’s tennis player Marija Curnic, who first bonded with Pritchett when he played with the team during her first year, said the interim president is “very competitive.”

“Sometimes [my coach] would let me warm up with him before we started doing drills,” Curnic said.

“He would always run me around pretty badly, so I would get really tired, but it would be super helpful.”

Curnic added that Pritchett has visited the women’s team on the court three times this semester.

Pritchett talked to her about his law school experience when she considered studying law.

“I’ve been blessed to be the interim dean and be provost and now interim president, but to be honest, the job that I love the most is being a professor,” Pritchett said. “And that’s what I get to go back to do, and that will make me happy every day.”

2026, from front page

In the announcement, Soule wrote that Penn had admitted the most diverse group of students and the highest proportion of students from Philadelphia in its history. She also shared that nearly one-third of admitted students did research during high school, 40% of admitted students worked during high school, and 80% engaged in community service activities.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Penn is still expected to post detailed admissions figures publicly in reports to the United States Department of Education and through the Common Data Set online, which are typically available later in the year. Soule wrote in the Penn Admissions announcement that more details about who is enrolling will be shared after the incoming class is settled in May. “We wish to celebrate the students we have invited to the Penn community as individuals and in the ways that we got to know them, through their unique combinations of identity, accomplishment, and talent,” Soule said in the announcement from Penn Admissions.

For the 2021-2022 admissions cycle, Penn Admissions continued a number of notable policy changes to the application process made in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as making SAT and ACT scores optional beginning with the Class of 2025.

The test-optional policy will continue through the 2022-2023 admissions cycle.

The 2021-2022 application cycle was the first where applicants could choose to submit a recommendation from someone other than a teacher. The change was part of an effort to better suit students’ non-traditional high school experiences amid the pandemic. Penn previously required students to submit two letters of recommendation, both written by teachers. The other letter of recommendation can now come from anyone who is able to comment on the student’s character, according to Penn Admissions.

This was also the first early decision application cycle led by Soule, who began her new post at Penn on July 1, 2021. She replaced former Dean of Admissions Eric Furda, who left at the end of 2020 after a 12-year tenure leading the office.

“We celebrate their intellect, character, integrity, and persistence to achieve their goals amidst the very

PHOTO BY SON NGUYEN

many challenges of our world right now. We’re looking forward to welcoming these students to the Penn community as they enrich our campus with their unique voices,” Soule wrote in the press release.

The Class of 2026 will be the third class to

enter Penn with a high school experience partially disrupted by the pandemic. Penn released its admissions decisions on March 31 at 7 p.m. — returning to a more typical notification date along with the rest of the Ivy League as opposed to last year, when Penn

and its peer institutions saw a collective spike in applications and postponed their notification date to allow for more time to review applications. Admitted students will have until May 2 to declare their enrollment.

4 OPINION

THURSDAY, ARPIL 7, 2022

Opinion

138th Year of Publication

THIS YEAR’S BOARD ALESSANDRA PINTADO-URBANC President PIA SINGH Executive Editor JONAH CHARLTON DP Editor-in-Chief TYLER KLIEM Design Editor TORI SOUSA News Editor EMI TUYẾTNHI TRẦN News Editor DELANEY PARKS Assignments Editor SOPHIE APFEL Copy Editor JESSE ZHANG Photo Editor ASAAD MANZAR Opinion Editor PHOEBE LEUNG Social Media Editor MATTHEW FRANK Sports Editor ESTHER LIM Sports Editor KAVEEN HAROHALLI Video Editor NICOLE ZHAO Podcast Editor GREG FERREY Business Manager RAUNAQ SINGH Technology Manager ANVIT RAO Analytics Manager BAILEY CAMPBELL Marketing Manager SUNNY JANG Product Manager

THIS ISSUE’S TEAM BECKY LEE Deputy Design Editor CALEB CRAIN Deputy Design Editor ALICE CHOI Deputy Design Editor ALLYSON NELSON Deputy Copy Editor DEREK WONG Opinion Photo Editor ANNA VAZHAEPARAMBIL Sports Photo Editor LILIANN ZOU News Photo Editor TAJA MAZAJ Deputy Opinion Editor ANDREW YOON Deputy Opinion Editor VALERIE WANG Deputy Opinion Editor LEXI BOCCUZZI Deputy Opinion Editor CAROLINE MAGDOLEN Deputy Opinion Editor BRITTANY DARROW Copy Associate CAROLINE DONNELLY MORAN Copy Associate JENNIFER FRANK Copy Associate TIFFANY PARK Copy Associate JORDAN WACHSMAN Copy Associate

LETTER SUBMISSION Have your own opinion? Send your letter to the editor or guest column to letters@thedp.com.

Editorials represent the majority view of members of The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc. Editorial Board, which meets regularly to discuss issues relevant to Penn’s campus. Participants in these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on related topics.

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

We believe you, Mackenzie, and Penn’s administration should, too JOINT COLUMN | The University of Pennsylvania and Rhodes Trust have failed Mackenzie Fierceton

W

e are both empowered by the strength of Mackenzie Fierceton and sickened by the incomprehensible treatment she has received from Penn administration and the Rhodes Trust.

Fierceton’s story is immensely powerful: She has gracefully risen above people and systems that have continued to victimize her unfairly, especially the ones that had the responsibility to protect her.

Coming to Penn and escaping a life with her abuser was supposed to be a new beginning. Yet, the administration of the University of Pennsylvania, a world-renowned institution that has a duty to empower its students to feel protected and secure, retraumatized and isolated one of its very own.

Last week, The New Yorker published a powerful piece revealing in detail the suffering of former Penn student Mackenzie Fierceton both at her home and subsequently at Penn. Penn’s administration called Fierceton’s experiences of prior abuse and her status as a first-generation student into question, putting her through a grueling investigative process that ultimately resulted in the revocation of her Rhodes Scholarship and withholding of her master’s degree.

After eight months of thorough investigation, thanks to journalist Rachel Aviv, Fierceton’s story is finally starting to be heard.

We stand with you, Mackenzie. We believe you and your story.

What happened to Fierceton was by no means a simple bureaucratic accident. Thus, it is vital to call attention to the following actors: former Penn President Amy Gutmann, Interim President Wendell Pritchett, Interim Provost Beth Winkelstein, general counsel Wendy White, and the Rhodes Trust. Whether by negligence or malicious intent, the aforementioned played very active roles in contributing to the revocation of Fierceton’s scholarship and isolation from the Penn community.

Professor Anne Norton, Fierceton’s recommender for the Rhodes Scholarship and the one who eventually took Fierceton in for nearly a year, agreed to a conversation with us in which she spoke on Fierceton’s unjust treatment and the University’s wrongdoing.

Norton revealed that she had read the letter Winkelstein sent to the Rhodes Trust expressing her concern that Fierceton falsely characterized herself as a first-generation, low-income student: “It was immediately evident to me that Winkelstein had made false charges. Winkelstein said Fierceton had misrepresented herself to her recommenders.

I am a recommender, and I knew that was untrue. It is unacceptable for an administrator to bring false charges against a student, or fail to check her facts.”

Furthermore, it is unfathomable to us that White contacted and maintained contact

DESIGN BY TYLER KLIEM

with Fierceton’s abuser, but never spoke to Fierceton herself, according to Norton. The mere existence of this line of communication is both bizarre and unusual — especially given the fact that Fierceton was in foster care at the time of her enrollment at Penn. University officials rarely, if ever, communicate with parents of students, especially when the parent in question has no relationship with the student, legal or otherwise.

This grim reality leads us students to question whether the Penn administration genuinely cares about our well-being. Or, do they solely care about using students, especially FGLI students, to aggrandize the University’s prestige?

Gutmann, an FGLI college student herself, identified that one of her key priorities as president of the University was to increase access for FGLI students and to establish a community in which resources were made available for the improvement of their mental, emotional, and academic health. However, this does not seem to be actualized. It is evident through Fierceton’s case that students at Penn are still vulnerable.

In reaching out to several senior administrators at Penn, specifically Pritchett, Gutmann, Winkelstein, and White, we relayed our disappointment in the treatment of Fierceton’s situation and called on them to make a comment addressing the recent article in The New Yorker to the Penn community.

In his response, Pritchett began by stating that The New Yorker did not accurately portray the University’s “thorough, careful, and

sensitive” investigation into the handling of Fierceton’s case.

Yet, as Norton stated, Aviv and The New Yorker went through a thorough fact-checking process in their communications with Fierceton: “They fact-checked every claim … date … quote … and statement. They would ask us questions such as, ‘Do you agree with this? Do you think this is accurate? Does this represent [the story] correctly?’”

Simply asserting that The New Yorker piece was inaccurate does not render Pritchett’s claim true, especially when it is at odds with the reputation of The New Yorker as a diligent publication and Norton’s personal experience with Aviv’s thoroughness.

Pritchett went on to speak about the University’s mission to support all students including “under-sourced students,” who, through Penn, have access to world-class educational opportunities. Finally, he stated that “as an institution, we cannot overlook the importance of integrity in our University community or ignore clear violations of our principles and ethical code because we have a responsibility to ensure that all members of our community, most especially other young people, have fair and honest access to opportunities.”

Penn administrators, if this is true, then why haven’t you been transparent about your dealings with Fierceton? Show the Penn community that you have ethically and responsibly followed principles to protect your students by emphasizing transparency, student agency, and dignity in disciplinary hearings. Apologize to Fierceton and members of the Penn

community to ensure that this case does not set a precedent for the future.

It is important that we remember that Penn is not solely its administration: Administrators are a mere piece within a large community of students, faculty, and alumni who are dedicated to bettering their community.

In accordance with Norton’s recommendation for how the University could support Fierceton going forward, we believe that students need to “press for some real reforms in disciplinary and investigatory hearings.” Furthermore, we firmly believe that Winkelstein and White should be thoroughly investigated by the University for their conduct in Fierceton’s case.

This case is largely related to the failure of the University to acknowledge its students’ dignity enough to let them defend themselves.

Thus, administrators need to be investigated and right their wrongs accordingly. Give Fierceton her degree. If feasible, restore her Rhodes Scholarship. In time, more procedural details of this case will become public, and justice will surely prevail.

ALLISON SANTA-CRUZ is a College first year studying communications from Jackson, Miss. Her email address is allisant@sas.upenn.edu.

LIALA SOFI is a College first year studying health and societies from Roanoke, Va. Her email address is lsofi@sas.upenn.edu.

Mackenzie Fierceton and how we define identity JOINT COLUMN | Penn’s treatment of Mackenzie Fierceton reflects the University’s priorities in protecting its image before its students

M

ackenzie Fierceton, a 2020 College graduate who had been pursuing her clinical master’s in social work at Penn, received widespread acclamation in 2020 after being awarded the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship.

Fierceton has been at the center of a scandal that was documented in a widely shared New Yorker article entitled “How an Ivy League School Turned Against a Student.” The article chronicles how Fierceton arrived at Penn as a first-generation, low-income student, the work that led to earning and then losing her Rhodes Scholarship, and everything in between. It tells her story from her perspective, shedding light on an array of horrifying details previously unknown to the public, from her experiences of parental abuse to the intensity with which Penn attempted to rescind Fierceton’s degree.

We are not trying to dispute any facts or arguments of the case — that is not our place. Instead, we want to analyze Penn’s response and what it reveals about this school and institutions like it. Without focusing on the basis on which Fierceton received the Rhodes Scholarship, what this situation has made abundantly clear is the way in which Penn truly views the students in whom it appears to take so much pride.

Regardless of your opinion on Fierceton’s categorization as an FGLI student, the central question remains: Why has Penn chosen this to be its hill to die on?

The answer is unclear. Could it be in anticipation of potential retaliation against Fierceton’s complaints about the Caster Building? Maybe. Does Penn simply want to avoid bad press? Probably. Is it because Penn’s administration genuinely believes that Mackenzie Fierceton is a bad person who attempted to deceive the University and manufacture a fraudulent past for personal gain? We seriously doubt it. Fierceton is a student who suffered — at the hands of her mother, at the hands of a broken system, and at the hands of a university that refused to acknowledge that suffering.

“I’m worried,” said Wharton junior Derek Nhieu, the Class of 2023 president,

DESIGN BY TYLER KLIEM

who also identifies as FGLI. “Being someone that the University loves to basically showcase … we can be in photos for admissions, come speak to admitted students, be a tour guide, but it also seems like the University can turn on you, just like that, and it makes me feel super uncomfortable. This is something that could happen to any of us in the community.”

Much of the contention in this case revolves around the definition of FGLI and what qualifies those who supposedly deserve this label. Wharton senior Jadah Dahley stated, “If you were to ask anyone who goes to Penn what the definition of first-generation was, they would probably all give you different answers.” The questions then arise: How are we meant to define these terms? Is it even our place to do so?

“Not everyone fits into a nice pretty box for us to write,” continued Dahley. We can’t really quantify someone’s hardships and emotional struggles through objective criteria. It’s evident that Penn had a certain image of who constituted being FGLI — an image that, at first glance, Fierceton

didn’t necessarily resemble. Yet, instead of exploring that complexity and asking questions about how we define identity, about what it means to be FGLI, and about how Fierceton’s past informs her work now, Penn abandoned her and sought to completely discredit her, causing her unimaginable anguish in the process.

We can’t change how Penn will deal with Fierceton’s situation. But if there’s something you should take away from her plight, it is this: You cannot rely on Penn to support you if you directly challenge its reputation. To put it frankly, Penn’s ultimate goal is to sell a service and a product: education and academic prestige. Penn’s administration isn’t necessarily obligated to defend its students when their place in the Penn community or broader academic world is complicated, and from Fierceton’s story, it’s evident that it won’t.

In many ways, Penn is a great place to be — we gladly admit that being here has given us opportunities that we likely would not have gotten elsewhere, and we are grateful for these opportunities. But

we hesitate to agree that Penn cares about us more than transactionally; it seems instead that Penn only values us for what we provide to it: tuition, intellectual property, and diversity. To Penn students and alumni, recently admitted high school students, and parents who glorify the Ivy League — take Penn’s treatment of Mackenzie Fierceton (regardless of the basis of the case itself) as a testament to the caveats that come with Penn’s prestige and the attitude that fuels its oftentimes disingenuous image.

VALERIE WANG is a Wharton sophomore from Bethesda, Md. studying business analytics and cinema and media studies. Her email address is valwang@wharton.upenn.edu.

VARUN SAR ASWATHUL A is a College junior from Herndon, Va. studying the biological basis of behavior and healthcare management. His email address is vsaras@sas.upenn. edu.

THEDP.COM | THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN

OPINION 5

THURSDAY, ARPIL 7, 2022

What happened to ‘follow the science?’

LEXI’S TAKE | Deconstructing the University’s latest decision to uphold the classroom mask mandate

I

f you read the latest six-line University Notification email in your inbox and were confused, upset, or frustrated, you are not alone. In a poll conducted in the Penn Class of 2024 GroupMe Thursday after the email was sent, 400 out of 543 student respondents said that they did not believe we should have a mask mandate. However, the fact that this is the only empirical indication we have of opinions on the mandate among the student body is indicative of Penn’s undemocratic decision-making process throughout the duration of this pandemic.

In the first line of the email, after citing its desire to extend the mask mandate in classrooms, Penn claims to have made this decision “following consultations with students and faculty across campus.” Despite this, no broad public opinion poll was conducted on students or faculty about their thoughts on the mandate. Institutions like the Undergraduate Assembly become blatantly performative if their representatives are not consulted on issues that pertain to the entirety of the student body.

College sophomore and UA representative Cody Eskandarian said, “Regardless of the choice the administration makes, they should at least be receptive to student input. I think that a big reason so many students are dissatisfied is that neither the student body nor student government groups were asked for feedback prior to the decision.”

Penn’s public health stance seems to be contradictory with the reality at universities around the country, including others in the Ivy League.

At Harvard, Princeton, and Brown, for example, professors have autonomy over their own classrooms to choose whether or not they would like to require masks for their students. There are even more lax universal mask-optional policies at Columbia and Dartmouth. Many other universities that still have a classroom masking requirement have set end dates, like UChicago’s on April 4.

Notably absent from the email are any updates on transmission or positivity rates on campus, or public health information of any kind to justify this decision (despite this information being included in all prior COVID-19-related University communications). From my standpoint, this is likely because public health guidance simply does not support their decision. The mandate is at odds with both Pennsylvania statewide and Philadelphia citywide guidelines, which hold that masks remain optional in all public spaces. In Philadelphia specifically, mandates for schools were lifted on March 9.

Hannah Victor, 2017 Nursing and 2018 Penn Law School graduate and a current teaching assistant for “Public Policy Process” expressed her

issue with the University’s dismissive decision.

“By extending the classroom mask mandate indefinitely, the University is disregarding current CDC guidance,” she said. “In their March 24 email, Penn administrators pointed to the actions of ‘peer universities,’ evincing a pack mentality rather than making an evidence-based decision.”

The latest research on masking is also inconsistent with this decision on the part of Penn. A recent New York Times piece titled “Do Covid

and returning to normal life.” This is especially true in highly vaccinated and boosted communities like Penn, where 99% of people are fully vaccinated and 60% are boosted (as of March 1).

Vaccines save lives and are by far the most effective way to combat COVID-19.

My argument is also sympathetic to the plight of the immunocompromised and others who are at higher risk of being symptomatic from COVID19 than others on Penn’s campus. The science,

PHOTO BY SUKHMANI KAUR

Precautions Work?” compared deaths in red and blue states since December (where there were clear disparities in the extent of COVID-19 precautions put in place). They saw very similar mortality rates across all the states they analyzed, and differences were not necessarily attributable to regulation.

The article also advocates that mask mandates have not made a substantial difference in stopping the spread of the Omicron variant and that “there is a strong argument for continuing to remove other restrictions [mask mandates],

however, shows that if you are vaccinated and boosted, wearing an N95 mask will protect you from COVID-19 even if no one else is masked.

The beauty of optional mask policies is that they allow for people to make accommodations and choices based on their own needs.

The reality is, COVID-19 will become endemic. This virus, in its different variants, is here with us to stay. But unlike at the beginning of the pandemic, we have a wealth of scientific research and information about how to best combat the spread and symptoms of the virus. The most

recent Omicron variant was also significantly milder than those in the past, a trend that seems consistent in possible new variants. Even with increases in cases, both at Penn and nationwide, a mandate seems unjustified if people are minimally or asymptomatic altogether. Our approach can no longer be one-size-fits-all, and at the very least, the University needs to consider the impacts of universal masking requirements on building classroom community, the difficulties that come from teaching in a mask, and the overall efficacy of its COVID-19 response.

Victor further emphasized the ways in which the current guidelines fail to take into consideration our current reality. “As a Penn alum who served as a nurse on the United States Air Force COVID-19 missions during some of the worst of the pandemic, I am no stranger to the realities of coronavirus,” she said. “Now a TA for an undergraduate PPE course, I hold in-person classes with young people in their 20s. The continued mask mandate stymies interaction and limits participation. I would like for Penn to execute a proportionate response that relies on the latest research. I am disappointed to see that this has not been the case.”

While it is unlikely that the University will altogether lift the mandate before the semester is out (indicative in their evasive email lacking any timeline for changes), greater opportunity for accommodations to a universal requirement would be very feasible. If Penn’s goal is to protect high-risk students and faculty: Require masks in classes where someone is in danger, and do so while protecting this person’s anonymity. If there is concern surrounding the windowless, close quarters that classes often occupy: Allow professors who lecture significantly more than six feet away from their students to remove their masks, or only require masks in tightly packed seminars and recitations.

Penn’s failures to take stock of student and faculty opinions through official polling, have flexibility in the mandate, or provide justification for the change in its decision highlights the larger problem with both Penn’s and the country’s COVID-19 response. Often disjointed (see the random PennOpen Pass checks on campus), and arguably performative and politicized, Penn needs to re-evaluate the intentions behind its COVID-19 restrictions.

LEXI BOCCUZZI is a College sophomore studying philosophy, politics, and economics from Stamford, Conn. Her email is boccuzzi@ thedp.com.

WEDNESDAYS 1/2 PRICE BURGERS 11:30AM - 4PM

SATURDAY & SUNDAY BRUNCH | 11:30AM - 3PM BLOODY MARYS & MIMOSAS 11:30AM - 2PM 40th & Spruce St., University City • 215-382-1330 • copauc.com

Calling. All. Quakers.

Quaker Nation is the Daily Pennsylvanian’s weekly sports newsletter that keeps you up-to-date on all things Penn sports. Get it in your inbox

every Monday.

SUBSCRIBE Catering · Delivery · Takeout 4040 Locust St. pattayarestaurant.com

6 SPORTS

THURSDAY, ARPIL 7, 2022

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

‘A player perspective’: Penn alum Doug Glanville on his move from MLB to analyst

PHOTO BY JAMIE SQUIRE

Penn alumnus and former MLB player Doug Glanville.

NEWYORKTIMESCROSSWORDPUZZLE Edited by Will Shortz ACROSS ACROSS 1 Parties with 1 smokers Offers a fist, in a way 7 “In what 5 universe?!”

Speak like Clint Eastwood 11 Positive 9 consideration Irritated 14 available 14 Make Fort ___ (Peace Bridge 15 “Holy cannoli!” terminus) 16 Spreadsheet part 15 Middle range 17 Wight, e.g.?

16 Can’t get 19 ___ Productions enough of (company behind 17 the Mental goof James Bond 19 films) Sophia of “Two Women” as a 20 Deployed, officer 20 naval Deep-fried Japanese 21 Rum drum pork cutletmates, for 22 Soul 21 short They come in waffle and 23 Experienced sugar varieties certain growing 22 pains Faint theatrically 25 Emulate the Goatherd 23 Lonely General on a menu bar and 28 Crunch Creme 25 Cadbury A.T.M. maker Egg, e.g.?

27 ___Kosh B’gosh 32 Give it a twirl!

30

Recruits

Crossword rossword C

35 Tennis’s Nadal,

familiarly 33 Hamilton

and forcoll. two 36 Burr, Test for seniors 36 Pool class 37 Steamy Word after gay or 37 period fashion pieces 38 Pans Thingamajigs 38 40 Common One observing 39 the holiday of way to Arba‘een communicate Gallaudet 41 at Common University, Thanksgivingin brief activity 40 42 Equinox Home formo. the Himalayas 41 Latest gossip, modern 43 in When somelingo local news comes on 43 Restraint 44 1995’s “Johnny 48 Not *quite* a Mnemonic,” e.g.? failure 48 With the heels 51 It’s bald on its elevated face 49 Smash success 54 Green features 53 Landlocked 55 It’s hardly African country Châteauneuf55 du-Pape Go yachting 57 Dana Medieval club 56 Elaine a.k.a.away 58 ___, Squirreled Queen Latifah 59 Sloth, e.g.?

57 Torpid

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE B G I A G L K L I D C H S A O R B M A M A E W N E

I A D C U A N I N O L A I T N E U E N S I F DI E B

B S I E T N I T N G A M G O U N M R L A I N R E N S A

L P O L F A T T I M N A U N M S P E L N A M I I N T S Y

E T A E I L H S A L P F I T Y T O N I K E

E K E E T S L O C R U R R Y C W A O R K A

D W E I L S I D N O T M R S O R I I D R R A A GI E D

A A C C I T D I

M F I L N A D P S E L Y A E B

E T G A G R P A K L E I L M A

H A A H D U I F D E F L E M O A R I C A O S E T E R N S R Z EE Y S S E

U T F E Y I F L I A P W O D C C B E S D S

U A R D B O A R N E C R A V R E A R T H F O R L EA ST

C L H I E U R O L K I E B E I D A O M O N E I LB A E

L F O U N R G

A A S S T S O

M E E R A R N E T R A M D A O R V EI

R S O E Y E D E Y V O S K T EE D P

62 & 63 Test for

58 Cared pupils

for, as

64 some Beat injuries 59 Belgian overwhelmingly 65 Expressionist It may be James revolutionary 60 What might 66 Monocle, have ___ basically 61 ___?”

67 “Any Apartment building V.I.P.s

DOWN

DOWN Credit card 1 charges, What most essentially clarinets are tuned to 2 Keyboard 2 symbol Became apparent 3 Soft ___ Montgomery, 43 Japanese watch retired W.N.B.A. brand star 5 Host 4 Shameless fund6 Lead-in to raising drive, some regrets informally 75 Walk Who isaround this in France like you own the place 6 See 31-Down 87 Dank Handled sharp objects? song 9 Beyoncé with the line 8 Deliberately “I got my angel amateurish now” filming technique 109 Thick noodle Particle with a superscript 11 Field that 10 involves Flavor of blood, the sweat month and 11 tears?

When pilots go throughworks their by 12 Some checklists Goya 12 Deep Feature of Arthur 13 desire Ashe Stadium 18 Small-scale since 2016 study, for short 13 Has 21 Some pinball 18 machines, Youth healthe.g. and safety org.

24 Tibetan ethnic 22 group Resting place 24 I.C.U. Chinese dynasty 26 figures from 206 B.C. to 28 Most of the A.D. 220 alphabet, in 26 Washington, Keystone Kops, e.g.

D.C. 1

No. 0224 No. 0218

Edited by Will Shortz 1

1 14

2

2

3

3

4

4

14 17

18

20 20 23 22

37 41 37

6

28 33

34 33

27

34

36

7

7 15

38

29

39

29

35 35

54 48

25 24

21

26

30

62 56

63

65 59

66

PUZZLE BY JAKE HALPERIN PUZZLE BY AIMEE LUCIDO

27 What makes you

29 Something unique

drawn by an

42

55

50

59

12

12

13

13

19 22 25 32

30

26

31

36

43

41 49

11

11 16

40

46 39

58 54

10

27 31

42

48

10

9

19

23 28

9

16

21

45

40

8

8

18

24

44 38

53

6

5

15

17

32

5

60

56 51

47

49

52

43

60

group to

51 46

52 47

61 64 67

32 Donation

37 First K-pop receptacles

50 45

57

53

55 57

44

33perform Source ofata the invisible horse 29 outside Band with the purple purée Disney’s first platinumGrammys Haunted 34 Washing selling double Mansion 42 Terminal type machine that album opens upward 31 Was revolting?

44 Buzz Aldrin’s 30 Northernmost 38given Analogy words 32 Mideast ruler name county of 39 Window, of a sort 33 Corrupting Pennsylvania 45 Children’s sorts 40character Gets foggywho 31 “Affirmative” With 6-Down, 34 42asks Leaf-cutter, herselfe.g. former White is 35 Popular gear House press 43“And 2008what bailout retailer the use of a secretary recipient portrayed by book without 36 Nagged and 45 Abolish Melissa McCarthy pictures or nagged and 46conversations?”

Leave out on “S.N.L.” nagged

58 61

47 Both consonants

46 Tendon in “geek,” phonetically 47 Obeys

50One Celerity 49 side

of a late51classic Less sympathetic night feud 52 Is prone 50 Red states, 53once, Mull (over) in brief 52 unit, at 54Toll “Greetings!” times 56 Goes (for) 53 Sharp 59 Animation frame 54 It might turn up 60aEliminate plot 61Diner’s “Rugrats” 55 grandpa neckwear

Online subscriptions: subscriptions:Today’s Today’spuzzle puzzleand andmore morethan than7,000 7,000past past Online puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords nytimes.com/crosswords($39.95 ($39.95aayear). year). puzzles, Read about aboutand andcomment commenton oneach eachpuzzle: puzzle:nytimes.com/wordplay. nytimes.com/wordplay.

Read

Cape Cod League for a summer. Surrounded by future major leaguers and MLB scouts, he won the Outstanding Pro Prospect award.

“The moment I had the validation that I could hang with those guys [from top baseball programs] and the scouts, everything else started falling in line after that,” he said.

In 1991, Glanville hit .414 as one of the top prospects heading into the MLB Draft. He opted to skip his senior year and go straight to the draft, a move that was rewarded with a 12th overall pick by the Chicago Cubs, ahead of future MLB all-stars Manny Ramirez and Shawn Greene.

Despite his status as a first-round pick, Glanville had to play in every level of the minors before getting his shot in the big leagues. Finally, in 1996, he was called up for the last 50 games for the Cubs. Glanville was at long last living the dream. “[Playing in the Majors] lived up to the hype.

Going in, putting on the uniform, not believing this was your name in the lineup, seeing your name in the box score the next day,” he said.

Glanville’s career spanned 1996-2004 with three different teams, but his most successful year was 1999 when he hit .325 and stole 34 bases for the Phillies.

Glanville’s career began amid the MLB’s struggle following a player strike and a canceled 1994 season. The great home run chase of 1998, led by Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, helped reinvigorate the game. In the following years, baseball saw a home run explosion like never before, successfully re-engaging many of the fans it had lost after 1994.

This all came crashing down in 2007 with the release of the Mitchell Report. The 409-page report written by George Mitchell, a former United States Senator, named 89 players for illegally using performance-enhancing drugs to gain an edge. For Glanville, being raised with the value of equality, it was frustrating to sit and watch the media so poorly cover the report.

“I found myself underwhelmed by the commentary. It wasn’t that they weren’t great writers, it was just that it was all about namecalling,” he said. “There wasn’t a player perspective. I kind of waited and then said ‘Maybe I need to write it.’”

Glanville decided to write a piece and pitch it to ESPN, where it was ultimately published.

With the positive reception, Alan Schwarz, a New York Times columnist and 1990 College graduate, encouraged Glanville to pitch a weekly column to The New York Times. Glanville flew out to New York and before even finishing the pitch received a weekly column.

Writing the column helped him focus on a career post-baseball and connect with his father, a lover of writing and poetry who had passed away only a few years prior.

After several years of writing his column, he received a book deal and wrote “The Game from Where I Stand: From Batting Practice to the Clubhouse to the Best Breakfast on the Road, an Inside View of a Ballplayer’s Life,” a book reliving his career.

ESPN then began recruiting Glanville to work at the network, and despite wanting to remain a writer, he eventually decided to interview as an analyst. ESPN hired Glanville, where he’s been working for 12 years since.

Some of Glanville’s most prolific work in the past decade has called out cheaters within the game, from a scathing New York Times piece on the Astros cheating scandal to a recent article written for ESPN on Barry Bonds not being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Now one of the most respected voices in baseball, Glanville credits his media success to both his childhood and time at Penn. As baseball continues to move forward and grapple with questions such as youth engagement and the collective bargaining agreement, Glanville’s voice stands ahead of the many modes of commentary on today’s game.

SUDOKUPUZZLE

6 3 5 7 4 7 8

2 1 5

Skill Level:

9 4

Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit 1 to 9.

1 4 5 5 6 9 1 8 3 4 5 9 3 2 4 4 2 7

Solution to Previous Puzzle:

© Puzzles provided by sudokusolver.com

led Glanville to choose Penn over Princeton, his other Ivy choice.

Glanville played in college from 1989 to 1991, joining the Quakers in the middle of a threeyear streak of league championships. He wasn’t EZRA TROY an immediate starter, and it wasn’t until a few Sports Associate older players were benched for breaking curfew that he got his chance to play. Given the option by coach Bob Seddon, Glanville chose to play As one of the most respected voices in baseball center field and was the starting centerfielder today, former MLB player and Penn alum Doug for the University of Pennsylvania for the next Glanville provides a valuable player perspective two-and-a-half years. on some of the largest issues in today’s game.

Glanville’s first two seasons were some of During his childhood in Teaneck, N.J., his par- the most successful in Penn baseball history, ents, a math teacher and a professor, emphasized with the Quakers winning the Eastern Intercoltwo things: education and equality. Teaneck had legiate Baseball League (the precursor to the voluntarily desegregated in the early 1960s, Ivy League Baseball League) in both 1989 and leading to a childhood with early exposure to di- 1990, while Glanville hit .328 and .338 in both versity, especially on the sports field. seasons, respectively.

“When you have a town that is so diverse and Despite his great athletic success, Glanville the players look like the United Nations,” he remained focused on an engineering career said, “[you learn] two good lessons — unity and post-college. equity.”

“I always wanted a career in the Majors, but The New York Times Syndication Sales Corporation Glanville prioritized playing at a school with was pragmatic about it,” he said.

The New York Times Syndication Sales 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y.Corporation 10018 Eighth Avenue, New1-800-972-3550 York, a great education, leading to a620 decision to playCall: That N.Y. all 10018 changed following the 1990 season For Information ForRelease Information Call: when 1-800-972-3550 For Thursday, March 31, 2022 was invited to Massachusetts to in the Ivy League. Ultimately, the engineering Glanville For Release Friday, March 25, 2022 program and the appeal of big-city Philadelphia join the top college players in the nation in the

Glanville played in the MLB for nine years on three different teams

Create and solve your Sudoku puzzles for FREE.

Play Sudoku and win prizes

at:

prizesudoku.com

The Sudoku Source of

“Daily Pennsylvanian”.

THEDP.COM | THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN

SPORTS 7

THURSDAY, ARPIL 7, 2022

From second-hand sticks to Ivy League play, Kaitlyn Cumiskey credits value of family Even as a sophomore, Cumiskey currently sits third on women’s lacrosse in points this season ANIKA GURURAJ Sports Associate

Kaitlyn Cumiskey didn’t grow up in a lacrossefirst house. Nobody in her family had ever played before, and she had never even heard of the sport growing up.

Now, though, the sophomore midfielder has become a vital piece of Penn women’s lacrosse, as she currently sits tied for second on the team in goals scored this season with 12, and third on the team in total points with 15.

In the second grade, Cumiskey’s neighbor gave her a couple of used lacrosse sticks. Shortly after that, Cumiskey’s father signed her and her brother up for a clinic. From there, Cumiskey fell in love with the sport that now makes up one of the biggest parts of her life.

Once the Cumiskey siblings were introduced to lacrosse, the sport became a family affair. While Cumiskey’s brother and sister eventually moved on to other sports, the New Providence, N.J. native’s love for lacrosse persisted. When Cumiskey decided she wanted to play the sport at the next level, her family became instrumental in helping her navigate the complex recruiting process.

“They are the best support system out there,” Cumiskey said. “I have three younger siblings who all do their own sports, so that’s a lot for my parents to deal with. But they give us all so much attention and have really supported me. They knew it was so important for me to find the right school for me when committing, and [they] were really helpful then.”

When Cumiskey chose Penn, family was once again a driving theme.

“The team was very welcoming and nice, answering any questions I had,” Cumiskey said. “At such a young age, this decision is confusing, and I liked that the team was very much a family and that I would have another home here. That was a big part of why I committed to Penn.”

The team itself was eager to welcome Cumiskey into that family, with coach Karin Corbett recognizing her intelligence on the field.

“I think she has a ton of game sense,” Corbett said. “She understands the game situation and reads her player well. She can play both ends of the field and gets to her side. In high school, she stepped up on her team and was the kid they used to go to. That stood out to me.”

Coming into Penn brought with it an untraditional student-athlete experience for Cumiskey, who, along with the rest of the Ivy League, was sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Last year was definitely difficult considering the fact that other teams got the chance to play,” Cumiskey said. “We had many good team captains and leaders that really focused on us and helped us practice and [made] sure we kept improving for when we compete again.”

Cumiskey’s decision to pick Penn for the team’s camaraderie was rewarded, as the upperclassmen helped make the most of their situation.

“In the fall, we were not able to get on campus, but we were lucky enough to come off campus and meet with the team to get to know people,” Cumiskey said. “In [the] spring, there was no season and the captains really ingrained into us that we still get to be out here and that every day is an opportunity to grow and improve.”

Once the season was underway, the jump from high school was apparent to Cumiskey, who particularly felt the effects of not playing from last year.

“Since our team is fairly young, we are still growing,” Cumiskey said. “I would say that experience is what I need. I want to be able to play offense and defense well, and I see every game as a learning opportunity.”

This need for game experience is reiterated

by Corbett, who sees the potential for even more growth with game time.

“It’s a big jump — it is so much more physical,” Corbett said. “She has steadily improved and

PHOTO BY SAMANTHA TURNER

Sophomore Kaitlyn Cumiskey during the game against Northwestern at Penn Park on April 3.

made a big improvement from high school to now.

The improvement realistically will come this year, when she gets to actually play in matches as opposed to just practicing.”

Corbett sees Cumiskey’s ability to visualize the bigger picture during the pressure points of a

BRUNCH IS BET TER SEVEN DAYS A WEEK EVERY DAY 9 A M - 3 P M

game as her biggest asset, saying that she has an innate talent, for creating plays despite her quieter nature.

Because of that talent among a number of other factors, Corbett believes Cumiskey has the potential to grow into a truly special player as she

develops into a veteran on Penn women’s lacrosse.

“I think for her, the sky is the limit,” Corbett said. “It really depends on what her goals are and how much she is willing to put in. She has an innate sense and an ability on the field to be a very big player for us.”

Post finals

THIS IS THE pre game FLING YOU WON’T REMEMBER CALLS FOR A

We’ve got THE BEER FOR your holiday party!

We are the beer distributor you won’t forget beer springfield distributor

Studying WE DELIVER too hard?

2206 Washington ave, Philadelphia

3420 Sansom Street • 215.386.9224 • whitedog.com WDUC_Daily Penn 3.10.22_verison1.indd 1

3/10/2022 4:18:27 PM

(215) 546-7301

WE2206DELIVER Take a break Washington Ave us.

(215)with 546-7301

SPORTS

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA • FOUNDED 1885 VOL. CXXXVIII

PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022

NO. 11

The Young Quakers Program How Penn athletes engage with West Philadelphia

PHOTO BY SUKHMANI KAUR

The men’s basketball team poses for a photo with the Young Quakers after the game against Harvard at the Palestra on Feb. 12.

The program currently involves four varsity Penn teams ANDREA MENDOZA Sports Associate

In the 10 years since its founding, the Young Quakers Community Athletics program has expanded its reach within Penn Athletics and across West Philadelphia as a whole.

Young Quakers is a collaboration between the Netter Center for Community Partnerships and Penn Athletics that partners varsity Penn athletes — currently men’s and women’s lacrosse, men’s basketball, and track and field — with K-8 students at Penn’s University-Assisted Community Schools in West Philadelphia. “[It’s] a really cool opportunity for both the athletes at Penn involved and the athletes from the middle schools involved,” senior Jared Elters of track and field said. “For our middle school students, being able to get a glimpse of what it looks like to be a college athlete. And for our Penn students, giving them a glimpse of what it looks like to grow up in Philadelphia and [the] experiences and opportunities, or even lack thereof, some of the students we serve have.”

The program was founded in 2012 by men’s lacrosse coach Mike Murphy with the help of Paulette Branson, current UACS sports fitness and health director, and the Netter Center. According to Paige Lombard, current Young Quakers associate director, Murphy “was really interested and passionate about spreading the game of lacrosse, particularly to urban areas where it’s not as popular.”

Murphy and the Netter Center team first worked together on a soft pilot with the men’s lacrosse program and the Benjamin B. Comegys School.

The initiative proved successful, and attracted interest from Penn athletes and Philadelphia community schools. In 2013, the Young Quakers program expanded to women’s lacrosse and track and field with more University-Assisted Commnity Schools.

The COVID-19 pandemic took a major hit on Young Quakers at the height of its growth, but the program adapted by seeking alternative ways to interact with the students and keep them engaged.

“During the pandemic, because it was harder to see the kids, we started doing these kinds of challenges where some of them would send us a video, and they would get a prize,” senior Krissy Kowalski, a women’s lacrosse goalkeeper and DP sports associate, said. “It was just something to help keep them active during the pandemic.”

“We’re working our way, as COVID guidelines allow us, back to where every school is offered all three of our sports, which is lacrosse, basketball, and track for both boys and girls,” Lombard said.

Young Quakers most recently expanded its program to include men’s basketball as the fourth involved Penn varsity team.

For a varsity team to be added to the program, both players and coaches must commit to engaging with students in the community at least once a week. Each team has its own unique methods of engagement based on the sport and schedule, but everyone involved contributes the time to become involved with West Philadelphia youth.

Assistant men’s basketball coach Trey Montgomery immediately got behind the initiative when he first learned of it from the Netter Center.

“I come from a similar community to some of these kids,” Montgomery said. “They come from all different backgrounds and races and beliefs and colors and shapes and sizes and whatnot. And I was never told that I could attend a university like this.”

Senior men’s basketball guard Jelani Williams, who recently committed to Howard, has been involved with the Netter Center all through this season, helping mentor kids through Zoom calls during the pandemic.

“When I heard that they wanted to expand Young Quakers to basketball, I just switched my job at the Netter Center to being the Big Quaker captain for basketball,” Williams said.

Each varsity sports team designates leaders in the program, referred to as “Big Quaker Captains”, who help coordinate practices and sessions with the

Netter Center.

Current Big Quaker captains of men’s lacrosse are seniors Piper Bond and BJ Farrare. Women’s lacrosse Big Quaker captains are Kowalski and junior Niki Miles. Track and field’s Big Quaker captains are seniors Jared Elters and Tim Dolan, while Williams is the men’s basketball Big Quaker captain.

Each team runs weekly sessions with its mentees in similar structures, including mentoring time, practice drills, and team time.

“During team time, we gather everyone together and we talk about our day, what went well at practice, and people [give] shoutouts and [share] what they want to share,” Dolan said.

Age group participation due to NCAA compliance rules against recruiting creates some obstacles to who can participate in Young Quakers. While most athletes are able to work with students in the fifth through eighth grade, the basketball team can only work with fourth and fifth graders because their recruitable age is deemed earlier than the other sports.

NCAA compliance rules are also a barrier in being able to engage with these students after they graduate from the program into high school. The Netter Center continues to work to make sure those students stay involved with the sport or program if they wish. There are numerous opportunities available to them including an after-school program, internships with the Philadelphia Youth Network, and the Cross Grade Sports program.

Like Young Quakers , the Cross Grade Sports program was also created by Paulette Branson.

This program brings back Young Quakers alumni and essentially makes them Big Quakers — it teaches students how to coach, create practice plans, and manage a group, before taking them back to elementary and middle schools to coach.

“I really love just getting to know the students and talking to them,” Elters said. “I think that they come from a similar background as me, so just getting to look at them in a way that I hoped my mentors and coaches would look at me. I really appreciate the opportunity to kind of encourage

them.”

“I just think that it does a kid, especially at a young age, amazing wonders for them to be able to see a university like this institution, to be able to engage with some of the student-athletes that are here,” Montgomery said.

“Both groups keep coming back to the program because they build relationships with each other.

It’s less about becoming the best lacrosse athlete in the world, or the best track runner,” Lombard said.

“It’s more about having people that they can trust and connect with, and for the Big Quakers, it’s a really great opportunity for them to reconnect with the sport and find the joy in it again.”

In addition to normal Young Quakers sessions, the students are also given the opportunity to attend games as well as participate in events.

“The last time we had the Penn Relays, we actually did have a few of the schools put together relay teams with the kids that were coming to practice at the Penn Relays,” Dolan said. “It wasn’t really a session, but it was pretty cool to see. We [had] set a goal for a lot of the kids to maybe one day run at the Penn Relays, and seeing them actually get to run was pretty cool.”

Recently, the students have attended home basketball and lacrosse games. Some have also participated in the 100-meter dash at the Penn Challenge, the first track and field outdoor home meet of the season.

“The Young Quakers program is probably one of the most impactful programs that I’ve seen at Penn that seems to engage the community.” Elters said.

“The Netter Center does a good job of trying to make that initiative, and I appreciate how we are, in some ways, investing in the Philadelphia area youth and giving back to the community, which I think Penn could do more of.”

The Young Quakers program looks to expand over the next few years and make as much of an impact on the community as possible.

“If I were another program that was on the fence thinking about it, I would tell them to do [it] without hesitation because of the amount of reward that you get,” Montgomery said.

Men’s tennis sets sights on first Ivy title since 2007 The program currently involves four varsity Penn teams ANIKA GURURAJ Sports Associate

Over three-quarters of the way through the 2021-22 season for Penn men’s tennis, the Quakers have accumulated an overall win percentage of 77.8%, a perfect 8-0 home record, and the potential to secure the team’s first Ivy League title since 2007.

The team, which has won five straight competitions and is ranked No. 46 in the nation, looks to be catching fire at the right time, as it will close out its season with six Ivy League matchups over the course of the next three weeks. Penn won its first conference contest against No. 34 Princeton this past Saturday, sweeping the Tigers 7-0.

In the No. 1 singles slot against Princeton, junior Edoardo Graziani won in straight sets against Ryan Seggerman, and in the No. 1 doubles slot, Graziani and junior Kevin Zhu took down Seggerman and Justin Barki 6-1. These results follow a consistent trend for Graziani, who, during 2022, has gone 11-4 in singles matches, and in doubles, has gone 9-3 with three different teammates.

SEND STORY IDEAS TO DPSPORTS@THEDP.COM

Zhu has also been a stalwart for the men’s tennis team, going 8-4 in his 12 singles matches so far this year. Prior to this season, Zhu had a career 33-26 record in singles matches, so this year has so far been a steady improvement for the Pearland, Texas native.

Other impressive singles performances for Penn include juniors Aditya Gupta (11-2) and Harsh Parikh (13-3), as well as freshman Baylor Sai (8-4).

Similar to Zhu, these last few months have been standout ones for Parikh, who came into the 202122 season with a combined career 11-8 singles record. Gupta’s results, on the other hand, come as no surprise, as he held a career 21-6 singles record heading into the season and only looks to be adding onto the success.

In doubles, the one pair with a .500 record or above has been Graziani and Jason Hildebrandt, who have notched a 7-3 record over the course of the season.

The Quakers will next be in action at the Hamlin Tennis Center on Saturday and Sunday as they face off against Brown and Yale, respectively. The following week, they’ll compete against Dartmouth and Harvard, with the latter posing an exciting challenge for the Quakers, as two from the Crimson’s squad received Top 25 nods from the ITAs.

PHOTO BY SAMANTHA TURNER

Junior Harsh Parikh during the match against the United States Naval Academy at the Hecht Tennis Center on Feb. 5.

ONLINE AT THEDP.COM

CONTACT US: 215-422-4640