August 22, 2023

lose sight of what made you apply to Penn’: Advice for the Class of 2027

The DP spoke with upperclassmen to see what insight they would offer to incoming first years

JONAH MILLER AND SNEHA PARTHASARATHY Senior Reporters

The Daily Pennsylvanian spoke to upperclassmen to glean words of advice for Penn’s Class of 2027.

1. Explore your interests College sophomore Asher Zemmel said that incoming first years should explore topics that genuinely interest them and worry about fulfilling graduation requirements later.

“Don’t lose sight of what made you apply to Penn in the first place,” Zemmel said, adding that classes often end up fulfilling one requirement or another. College junior Maya Harpaz advised first years to explore events they see posted around campus and try a wide range of activities to determine what they are passionate about.

"Don’t feel overwhelmed by the amount of clubs and extracurriculars at Penn," College junior Mishael Majeed said. "Just find some topics that you are interested in, and try out different clubs until you find a few that really appeal to you."

2. Meet new people

“If you’re sitting there wondering whether or not you should approach someone and introduce yourself, just do it,” College junior Elan Roth said, adding that everyone is feeling just as awkward and open to new friendships.

Roth, who took a gap year after high school,

suggested that incoming first years who took a gap year should remember that “once you get to Penn, everyone is on the same playing field.”

"If meeting people in large group events is overwhelming, use the dining halls as a social opportunity. Particularly in your first month, students welcome meeting others since everyone is searching for friends," College sophomore Tristen Brisky said.

3. Don’t lose sight of who you are Zemmel said that first years should strive to maintain their sense of individuality and not get lost in the Penn bubble.

“That bubble has room for everyone,” Zemmel said. “It’s just a question of finding your place.” Harpaz said that she connected with her Jewish identity after joining Penn Hillel’s First Year Leadership Board “just as a way to meet people,” where she “fell down a rabbit hole."

4. Remember to take care of yourself

College junior Ella Blank said that she recommends recognizing when you need a break.

“I had to unlearn my FOMO [fear of missing out] that I used to get in high school by just remembering that it’s important to listen to your body and your mind when you need to rest,” Blank said. College junior and Speaker of the Undergraduate Assembly Ria Ellendula advised students to take advantage of Penn Student Health and Counseling.

"Don't try to take on too much at once. It is okay to drop a class or two if the workload is overbearing," College junior Hena Ansari said. College junior Naseebullah Andar emphasized the importance of exploring Philadelphia as well.

5. The college transition takes time Expect to be overwhelmed on the first day, or even the first week of classes, but "give yourself time to adjust," Harpaz said. It is also important to stay organized to balance both academic and social commitments.

“Find time to chill, whatever that may be,” College junior and former Class Board 2025 president Will Krasnow said. “That probably doesn’t mean joining some consulting club and calling that a way to chill, but doing something that’s genuinely personally replenishing – whether that be going for a run or hanging out with friends without talking about banking.”

From Convocation to Hey Day: Here are the Penn traditions you need to know

Many iconic traditions occur in the fall semester and focus on welcoming firstyear students

DIAMY WANG Staff Reporter

Throughout their four years at Penn, students can expect to take part in several annual traditions, many of which are geared toward first years. Here’s an overview of events that have cemented themselves as Quaker traditions.

Class photo

During New Student Orientation, first years gather on Franklin Field to form the numbers of their class year while wearing their class T-shirts.

Normally taken during the daytime, the class photo for the Class of 2027 will be taken on Aug. 25 from 8 to 10 p.m. with a new “Friday Night Lights” theme.

Philadelphia Museum of Art gala

This annual tradition gives new students exclusive and free after-hours access to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Shuttle buses transport students to the venue, where they can explore the collections of international art, enjoy catered dinner, and dance with classmates.

Convocation

As the first major event of the year, Convocation is a formal welcome ceremony for first-year and transfer students. Typically held on College Green the evening before the first day of classes, Convocation for the Class of 2027 will be held at Franklin Field on Aug. 28 due to ongoing campus construction.

Student Performing Arts Night

Student performing arts groups — with performances including a cappella, spoken word, and dance — host their own shows throughout the year, but come together for a large performance at the start of the year.

More than 50 groups will perform at Student Performing Arts Night on Aug. 31 at 7 p.m. in a joint showcase held at the Zellerbach Theatre in the Annenberg Center. Each group will perform for five to seven minutes, and students have the opportunity to chat with performers afterward.

Econ Scream

On the night before the first ECON 0100 midterm exam, students gather in the Quad to let out a scream at midnight. The event, typically organized by the Class

Board for the first-year class, invites students to eat snacks and dance to release exam anxiety.

Homecoming and tree planting

Arguably the biggest Penn football game of the year, Homecoming is an opportunity for both alumni and current students to express their school spirit. Prior to the game — this year, against Cornell on Nov. 4 — the Penn Band marches through campus, and a tree planting ceremony is held on College Green with a tree chosen by the first-year class.

It’s never too early to start thinking about graduate education. Join Penn GSE for lunch on Friday, October 6 at 12:00 PM and learn more about the Accelerated Program, an amazing opportunity for undergraduates to apply up to four Penn GSE course units dually to your Penn undergraduate degree and a Penn GSE master’s degree.

Throwing toast

One of Penn’s most well-known traditions, the act of throwing pieces of toast originated after the University banned alcohol at Franklin Field in the 1970s. Prior to this, students toasted and downed drinks after the third quarter of the Homecoming football game, when the band traditionally performs “Drink a Highball.” Today, when the band gets to the line “Here’s a toast to dear old Penn,” students throw pieces of toast onto the playing field.

Spring Fling

Since the 1970s, Penn has held a music festival for students with performing acts, plenty of food, and other attractions. Traditionally held in the Quad, Spring Fling was moved to Penn Park in 2018. Last spring, students had the opportunity to see Lauv as the headliner and Lil Tjay as the opening act.

U-Night

One of Penn’s newest traditions, U-Night was started in 2019 to celebrate the end of sophomore year and to mark students’ halfway point of college. Its signature lantern ceremony intends to spark a sense of unity among students.

Hey Day

Dating back to 1916, Hey Day marks students’ transition from junior to senior year. Students march down Locust Walk with red shirts, mahogany canes, and boater hats. Traditionally made of styrofoam — which allowed students to take bites out of the hats — a manufacturing change forced a shift to plastic hats in 2022.

‘Don’t

PHOTO BY BENJAMIN MCAVOY-BICKFORD

Penn welcomed newly admitted students to the Class of 2027 during Quaker Days in April.

PHOTO BY SAMANTHA TURNER

Penn students march down Locust Walk to College Hall during Hey Day on April 28.

Here’s what to know about changes to oncampus housing this year

This summer marked the start of the three-year project to renovate the Quad, beginning with the closure of Riepe College House until August 2024

Renovations, whether recently completed or just begun, have altered the campus housing scene for undergraduate and graduate students. Here is an overview of the changes to Penn student housing this year.

Riepe College House closed until August

2024

This summer marked the start of the threeyear project to renovate the Quad, beginning with the closure of Riepe College House until August 2024. To accommodate first years who would otherwise have lived in the Quad, Lauder College House and Van Pelt Manor in Gregory College House — previously four-year dorms — are now exclusively first-year housing.

Lauder transitioned to a first-year house to compensate for the loss of 432 bed spaces in Riepe, Director of Residential Services Pat Killilee told The Daily Pennsylvanian in a written statement. The reopening of Stouffer after renovations and the addition of first-year beds to Van Pelt Manor also helped accommodate for the decrease in the Quad's housing capacity.

Killilee added that students affected by the changes to Lauder and Gregory were given "relocation points" to weight their time slots during the spring room selection process.

College sophomore Chino Anyadiegwu, who lived in Lauder last year, said that the change will likely create a stronger social environment than when Lauder was a four-year house.

“It has a lot of potential to become the most social dorm,” Anyadiegwu said.

Avia Weber, a College sophomore who lived in a first-year Lauder program community, said that she formed close bonds with the other residents and would have stayed another year if possible. She advised incoming students “not to take anything for granted” about their housing assignment.

“Take on all the opportunities for community-building that Lauder offers,” Weber said.

Radian lease begins

To ensure that rooms would be available for upperclassmen, Penn decided in September 2022 to enter a three-year lease with The Radian, an off-campus apartment complex. The Radian will function as a college house for upperclassmen during the Quad renovations.

Barbara Lea-Kruger, director of communications and external relations, said in a written statement to the DP that the academic year lease begins Aug. 25. Previous Radian residents were able to stay in their rooms over the summer, with leases ending July 28.

The Radian will have the same security measures as other college houses. A PennCard is necessary to access the building, and turnstiles and an Information Center desk have been added to the lobby. The Radian will also have designated staff and residential advisors.

“College Houses & Academic Services faculty, staff, and RAs will live in the building and serve as resources and support for the undergraduate students that live in the building,” Lea-Kruger wrote.

Students leasing from The Radian before its transition to campus housing had the option to retain their rooms as part of Penn’s housing application process. Rising second years were able to select The Radian during the room selection process in the spring.

College sophomore Aashish Codada, who is living in The Radian this year, said that he was already considering it as an eventual off-campus housing option before the University announced the lease.

“When I heard it would be available to sophomores, I was pretty interested,” Codada said.

457 students are assigned to The Radian for this year, according to Lea-Kruger. Although class years are fairly evenly distributed, second years are the most well-represented at 35.7% of the residents. All Radian rooms will cost $15,958 for the 2023-2024 academic year.

Graduate student housing option reopens

Sansom Place East has reopened as The Accolade on Chestnut after over a year of renovations. The Accolade is currently the only on-campus housing option for graduate students, following the closure of Sansom Place West at the end of the 2022-2023 academic year.

The renovation to Sansom Place East, first announced in July 2021, came after graduate students criticized the building’s living conditions. Penn partnered with Greystar Real Estate Partners for a $94.5 million project to update amenities to meet students’ needs. The renovations included new HVAC systems, windows, and concrete restoration.

According to the announcement posted Aug. 15 to Penn President Liz Magill’s Instagram, The Accolade has studio and two-bedroom apartments, for a total of 471 units and 588 beds.

Some projects will continue into the school year, but the Graduate School of Education expansion will be ready when classes begin

After undergraduate students left campus at the end of the spring semester, construction projects to build and renovate several locations on campus kicked into high gear.

The Daily Pennsylvanian spoke to Chris Kern, Penn's executive director of design and construction, and Mark Kocent, the University architect, about some of the numerous changes made on campus since spring 2023.

Stouffer College House

Renovations to Stouffer College House – which cost $35.3 million, up from an earlier reported cost of $29.8 million – began in May 2022 and were completed in August.

The renovations include improvements such as compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, new elevators, new windows, and updated rooms and common spaces, according to a report from Facilities and Real Estates Services. Additionally, the entrance of the building was moved from Woodland Walk to the

corner of 38th and Spruce streets, providing increased accessibility to a new elevator that was installed.

“I think everyone will be really pleased with the outcome of the transformation of that building,” Kern said.

Amy Gutmann Hall

The topping-off ceremony for Amy Gutmann Hall –whose construction is expected to cost $137.5 million, up from the previously reported $117 million – occurred in July. Exterior window installation and mass timber erection is scheduled for September, according to Kern.

Amy Gutmann Hall is expected to be occupied in August 2024 and will house a data science research center and academic learning spaces such as a student lounge, a grab-and-go cafe, a reading room, classrooms, laboratories, and an auditorium. The building will be the tallest new mass timber structure in Philadelphia.

“[N]ow there’s a building at the corner of 34th and Chestnut where there wasn't one; it was just a big pit when students left," Kern said.

College Hall West Wing

Renovations to the West Wing of College Hall will cost $87.4 million and include new HVAC systems, upgraded windows and roofing, all-gender restrooms, updates to office suites and classrooms, and new elevators. The improvements continued over the summer with internal work and demolition to install new elevators and air handling units, Kern said. Window replacement to the center and east wings is scheduled to start in December.

The Daily Pennsylvanian previously reported that the fencing in front of College Hall will remain in place during the construction period and will be removed toward the end of the two-year renovation period, with expected occupancy in January 2025.

Graduate School of Education

The Graduate School of Education underwent an expansion and renovation at 37th and Walnut streets that will be ready for the start of classes.

PHOTO BY ABHIRAM JUVVADI

Amy Gutmann Hall, expected to be opened in August 2024, will house classrooms, laboratories, and an auditorium.

While you were away... here's what you missed in Philadelphia

DIAMY WANG, ELEA CASTIGLIONE, ELLA SOHN, KATIE BARTLETT, AND SOPHIA LIU Summer News Editors and Summer News Reporter

Philadelphia Pride March celebrates 51 years of Pride

Thousands headed to the streets on June 4 to celebrate the 51st annual Philadelphia Pride March and Festival, which saw leadership changes for the second year in a row.

This year’s festivities were led by the social justice organization Galaei and had the theme “Love, Light, and Liberation.” The parade started at approximately 10:30 a.m. at Washington Square in Center City and ended at noon in the Gayborhood, where the festival took place until 7 p.m.

The march began with speeches that emphasized the need for solidarity and political action.

“We have to unapologetically tell folks in power that our rights are worth it,” Democratic nominee for Philadelphia City Council Rue Landau said in a speech. “That we are here, we are not going back, and that we are here to stay, and we are getting louder and stronger.”

Landau is projected to be Philadelphia’s first openly LGBTQ councilmember.

The parade also featured the largest rainbow flag in Philadelphia history, measuring 200 feet long.

The march then dispersed into the festival, which featured hundreds of booths representing artists, food trucks, health care services, and other community organizations.

This year’s Pride took place amid rising anti-LGBTQ legislation and sentiment across the country. The American Civil Liberties Union is currently tracking 491 anti-LGBTQ bills in the United States in the 2023 legislative session. Locally, the Philadelphia Free Library is preparing for protests against its Pride Month programming from the right-wing activist group Moms For Liberty, which has advocated for book bans, The Philadelphia Gay News reported.

Penn community concerned after overturn of affirmative action

As the first school year since the Supreme Court's rejection of affirmative action begins, many Penn community members told The Daily Pennsylvanian that they felt unsurprised by the court's ruling but uncertain about the future of college admissions.

On June 29, the Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action — the race-conscious admissions practices used by universities across the country — overturning decades of legal precedent.

In a statement released soon after the decision, Penn's Asian Pacific Student Coalition wrote that affirmative action was an attempt to fix “barriers to education — both historical and continuous" which prevented "marginalized communities from accessing higher educational opportunities crucial for socioeconomic mobility.”

Protesters march against proposed 76ers stadium near Chinatown

Marchers rallied against the proposed construction of a 76ers arena on the edge of Chinatown on June 10.

Attendees marched for about four hours in protest of the $1.3 billion project, which has raised concerns about gentrification from students and residents. Organizers estimated that more than 3,500 people were in attendance, while the Philadelphia Police Department claimed the number was around 500 to 700.

Organized by Asian Americans United and the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance, the demonstration began with a march at 10th and Vine streets and ended at City Hall. Many local activist and student-led organizations — including the Students for the Preservation of Chinatown, Juntos, and POWER Interfaith — were in attendance.

Various community members and leaders spoke at the event, including rising College junior and SPOC co-founder Taryn Flaherty, Pennsylvania state Rep. and 2022 School of Nursing Ph.D. graduate Tarik Khan, and Asian Americans United co-founder Debbie Wei. Interpreters were available to translate speeches from English to Chinese.

“This arena would be horrible for the city,” Khan said at the rally. “It would destroy Chinatown. This would cause traffic congestion and parking nightmares for years even before it's completed. This would be six years of demolition and chaos for our city.”

Biden promotes 'Bidenomics' in visit to Philadelphia

President Joe Biden visited Philadelphia on July 20 to pro -

mote his economic agenda, his vision for a clean energy future, and the importance of unions.

In his remarks at the Navy Yard, Biden connected rebuilding the middle class with working toward a renewable energy future. He expressed support for the shipyard’s ongoing construction of the Acadia, a rock installation vessel that will help build offshore wind turbines.

Shipyard workers, union representatives, and other stakeholders in the offshore wind and manufacturing industry were present to hear Biden’s remarks. President and CEO of Philly Shipyard Steinar Nerbøvik began the event by welcoming Biden to the Navy Yard and celebrating his company's apprenticeship program, which will graduate more than 200 shipbuilding apprentices within the next few years.

The White House adopted the term “Bidenomics” in recent weeks to refer to its economic agenda of making public

investments, lowering costs, and growing the middle class. At the event, Biden described Bidenomics as a plan for “building the economy from the middle out and the bottom up.”

He began by discussing how his economic policies have lowered inflation and unemployment while also growing manufacturing jobs in Pennsylvania. Biden then endorsed the intersection of union work with clean energy efforts.

“When I think climate, think jobs. I think union jobs,” he said.

Biden also praised the rapid reopening of Interstate 95 following its partial collapse earlier this summer. He commended the efforts of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and other state officials, as well as the local unions that worked on the materials for the highway reconstruction.

“Nobody thought we’d have it back open in less than two weeks,” Biden said. “But with American ingenuity, American workers, we proved everybody wrong.”

A statement from 76 Devcorp, the private development company behind the arena’s proposal, said that the arena will not be built in Chinatown, and that $50 million will go towards community development around the proposed site, which is one block away from the Chinatown Friendship Gate.

“As we continue to develop a meaningful plan to ensure the arena project can positively impact Philadelphia and its residents, it is disappointing to see some groups claiming to represent the broader interests of the city irresponsibly spreading misinformation about our proposed plans,” the statement on 76 Devcorp’s website said.

76 Devcorp declined The Daily Pennsylvanian’s request for comment and cited its website for all updates and information.

SPOC co-founders Flaherty and rising Bryn Mawr College senior Kaia Chau spoke at the rally about the connections that many developers have with universities across Philadelphia.

76 Devcorp Chair David Adelman is also CEO of Campus Apartments, which provides off-campus housing to Penn students, and a member of the Penn Board of Trustees.

“Knowing all of the connections that the developers of this arena have to our universities, specifically to Penn, it's our responsibility and our duty as citizens of this city to let people know about the arena — about the connections — to protest the arena and to protest our universities,” Flaherty told the DP.

"We must ensure that the Supreme Court's decision does not undermine our progress in pursuing racial equity in higher education," Wharton senior and Undergraduate Assembly President Xavier Shankle wrote in a statement to the DP.

Virginia Richards, a second-year University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School student and co-advocacy chair of Penn's Black Law Students Association, said that affirmative action had not yet been able to achieve racial equity in higher education.

“It's kind of a slap in the face to say that even this bare minimum policy that helped increase numbers is too much,” she said.

Penn Carey Law professor Kermit Roosevelt attributed the ruling to the changing composition of the Court, which enabled its conservative supermajority to do something “they’ve been trying to do for 40 years.”

Richards echoed Roosevelt's sentiment: “There's a concerted effort to go back on many rights and privileges that marginalized people in this country have been enjoying and under legal precedent that has existed for decades.”

Graduate School of Education professor Jonathan Zimmerman said that while he was disappointed by the ruling, it could provide an opportunity for Penn to become more socioeconomically and ideologically diverse, which he says affirmative action has failed to do.

He cited the fact that students from families in the top 1% of the income bracket were 77 times more likely to be admitted to an Ivy League school than people whose families earned less than $30,000 a year.

The ambiguous wording of the decision, which prohibits admissions officers from using race as an explicit factor but allows them to consider an applicant’s "discussion of how race affected his or her life,” creates a potential loophole. Roosevelt said it opens the door to further litigation regarding what counts as a “race-neutral

measure.”

“The ambiguity in the language is going to lead to admissions offices across the country to err on the side of caution and try to underutilize race as a factor in admissions,” Richards said. Chioma Uba, a second-year student at Penn Carey Law and copresident of Penn BLSA, said the ambiguity would force students of color to "exploit their hardships for the sake of getting into these schools."

Historically, schools without race-conscious admissions policies have seen declines in the share of admitted and enrolled students belonging to underrepresented groups, a problem that alternative policies have been unable to remedy.

Roosevelt predicted that work-around solutions will be more expensive and require more individualized essays, meaning that Penn and other schools with large endowments may have more success at maintaining diversity.

In a statement to the University community on June 29, Penn President Liz Magill and Provost John Jackson Jr. indicated that Penn would find ways to uphold its commitment to diversity.

"As you know, the ruling earlier this summer meant that we needed to review and revise our practices to ensure that we are fully compliant with the law," Dean of Admissions Whitney Soule wrote in a statement to the DP. "However, what will not change is our commitment to creating a diverse community as central to the educational experience at Penn."

Many universities included new essay prompts for the 2023-24 application cycle, which range from direct references to the decision to questions about an applicant’s “cultural background” or “lived experiences.”

Since before the ruling, Penn’s application has included a question asking how a student’s identity and perspective will shape the University. Changes to this year’s application include a new school-specific essay prompt.

"We believe this year’s questions will give us a strong sense of the applicant’s experiences while adhering to the requirements of the Supreme Court ruling," Soule wrote, also emphasizing the school's efforts to remove barriers to applying.

Rising College sophomore and Social Chair of Natives at Penn Nikolai Jawiyuga Curtis said Penn needs to take a more aggressive approach to outreach — for example, attending tribal events like powwows or stomping grounds to attract Native American applicants.

"This [decision] will have major blowback, not just for individual students when it comes to admissions, but society as a whole,” Uba said.

Class of 2027 Convocation to take place on Franklin Field

Convocation for the Class of 2027 will happen on Franklin Field this fall, changing from its typical location on College Green.

An email sent to student leaders by Penn President Liz Magill and Provost John Jackson Jr. announced the change in location, citing ongoing campus construction. This year, the ceremony will take place on Aug. 28 at 7:15 p.m.

Convocation serves as a formal welcome for the incoming class and takes place the day before the first day of classes. The

tradition of Convocation in its modern form first began at the University around 1894. It serves as the first — and one of the only — times that an entire Penn class will gather in one place. Convocation has been held in different locations throughout Penn’s history, including Irvine Auditorium, the Palestra, and in recent years, on College Green.

The Class of 2027 will be the first class to have Convocation at Franklin Field in recent memory. The University has not announced if the ceremony will return to College Green in future years.

Penn administrators, professors testify in Fierceton lawsuit

Several Penn affiliates, including two senior administrators, gave depositions in 2021 School of Social Policy & Practice graduate and 2020 College graduate Mackenzie Fierceton’s lawsuit against the University in June and July.

The five Penn administrators and professors who testified include Deputy Provost Beth Winkelstein, who is named as a defendant in the case, and former interim President Wendell Pritchett. The depositions occurred between June 7 and July 17, according to a court order from May 3.

A request for comment from the University was left with spokesperson Ron Ozio.

In her initial lawsuit, Fierceton alleged a connection between her efforts to determine whether the 2018 death of Cameron Avant Driver, an SP2 graduate student, was the result of inadequate accessibility in campus buildings, and the University’s investigation into her background. The lawsuit also pushed back against the investigation, which focused on Fierceton’s first-generation, low-income status, and asserted that the University aimed to discredit her in an investigation led by the Rhodes Scholar

Foundation.

In an interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian, Fierceton described the deposition process as “exhausting but validating.”

“There have been moments that have felt very much like pieces of accountability and justice along the way,” she said. “This is a justice system that usually yields in the favor of powerful institutions like Penn, and I’m glad that I’m able to use it to get questions answered and things on the record in a way that can bring a lot of what’s happened behind closed doors into the light.”

Fierceton herself gave the first deposition on June 7. Pritchett testified on June 9, and Winkelstein gave the last deposition to date on July 17, according to the document.

Fierceton said that she hopes other institutions will come to see her case as a “warning.”

“I hope [my case] is seen as an act of resistance,” Fierceton said. “These institutions take so much from us and use us to their advantage for promotion and marketing to build their billion-dollar empires and endowments. They need to remember that we’re also human beings, and we fight back.”

PHOTO BY JESSE ZHANG

Administrators welcomed first year students at last year’s Convocation that took place on College Green on Aug. 29, 2022.

PHOTO BY KYLIE COOPER

Mackenzie Fierceton on April 13, 2022.

PHOTO BY MOLLIE BENN

President Joe Biden spoke about his economic agenda at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyards on July 20.

PHOTO BY MOLLIE BENN

Crowds gathered for a day-long celebration of music, speeches, and entertainment during Philadelphia’s Pride March and Festival on June 4.

PHOTO BY NATHANIEL BABITTS Philadelphia community members marched from Chinatown to City Hall, protesting the plans to build an arena in the district on June 10.

THIS YEAR’S BOARD

The Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard prohibits the continued consideration of race in college admissions.

The Supreme Court is wrong, race always matters

GUEST COLUMN | We cannot acquiesce to affirmative action being overturned

Join me in a game. Let’s pretend we live in a society without the remnants of unbalanced power, poor economic strength, and lacking resources. Virtually every component that once structured the experience of being Black in America is gone. Employment, wealth, education, housing accessibility, general mobility and health care services are available freely to everyone. There are no systemic barriers or disparities. Illegal firearms aren’t flooding certain neighborhoods. Children aren’t being killed after playing football. Moms aren’t shielding their children from the blasts of a semi-automatic rifle during a mass shooting in broad daylight. The term "first-gen" is used as a punchline to some of the funniest jokes. Every school is equipped with adequate resources to produce competent young people. We are living in bliss.

THIS ISSUE’S TEAM

Now, let’s stop playing that game and acknowledge that we do not live in a society that reflects any of those things. The Supreme Court’s majority opinion in Student’s for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which dismantled affirmative action, will set back countless Black students, because race in America always matters.

A few weeks ago, I was invited to a sit-down conversation with seven Philadelphia judges. At the event, each judge reflected on their unique road to the bench. Listening to them collectively articulate their histories was beautiful. One judge spoke of her experience being bussed to a school outside her neighborhood in the 1970s. The school was academically rigorous; she became a successful student. When she returned to her neighborhood school, the positive impact of the school she was bussed to was undeniable; her academic abilities were years beyond her peers.

Similarly, when I was a child, my family moved from the suburbs to northeast Philadelphia. I often pinpoint that change as being the hardest part of my childhood. It wasn’t because I had a hard time making friends or a lack of sleepover invites. The pain came from being thrown into an underserved education system. I went from receiving daily affirmations from my yellow school bus driver to joining the tiny kindergartners on my block on the 20-minute walk to and from our school in rain, snow, or shine. The scarcity of resources in low-income communities leaves most students from underserved and predominantly Black communities with little options. They’re conditioned from the outset of their education to expect less from the education system and ultimately themselves. When students exceed the expectations that are set for them, some going as far as graduating from one of the most prestigious and selective high schools in Philadelphia, they are punished and denied their diploma for expressing excitement during their well-earned moment to shine.

There is no running from the truth. Black

Affirmative action failed to act affirmatively

LEXI’S TAKE | Analyzing the goals and effectiveness of race-conscious college admissions

students do not have access to equality in America. They are treated differently in every setting from day one. Participating in a facade that denies the reality of being Black in America only serves to further the illusion of meritocracy and solidify discrimination. Access to higher education needs to be broadened for talented Black students, not choked. Education is a key tool in the fight to narrow the racial wealth gap. The court’s decision will impede on Black families’ ability to gain financial independence for decades to come.

I recently caught up with Kevin Harden Jr., a trial lawyer who has led significant civil rights litigation in Philadelphia and also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for Kutztown University, and asked him to share his thoughts about the Supreme Court’s recent opinion. He told me he was not surprised by the ruling but noted, “Affirmative action began as reparation for historical discrimination against, and the legal oppression of, Black Americans. The cases continue a trend of talking about antiBlack racism passively rather than confronting our country's history of racial apartheid.”

Harden’s points are valid. What will lead us to an authentic conversation about race in America? It won’t be collectively ignoring history and the impact of structural racism, and hoping for the best.

Looking forward, Harden advised that, “A strong response to Students for Fair Admissions would look like universities fairly assessing the remarkable talents and achievements of students of color, particularly those who descend from Freedmen, by accounting for their history, in a way that demonstrates the importance of explicitly remedying disadvantages cast on minorities by past legal and historical exploitation.”

Harden’s comments highlight something important. With this new chapter of history upon us, without the legal support in place, we must be affirmative in our steps to help one another. We must be conscious of how race negatively impacts Black Americans. Not because it makes us feel good, but because it is part of American life at every turn. It is unspeakably harmful to be dismissive of that reality. We must continue opening doors for people who’ve been historically locked out. My time at Penn enhanced my ability to think and completely transformed my life. It’s an experience I will cherish forever. I sincerely hope there will be a flow of people with backgrounds similar to mine who get to feel that way about their education.

JESSICA GOODING is a 2021 College graduate and a former staff columnist for The Daily Pennsylvanian. She was awarded columnist of the year in 2020. She currently works as a civil rights paralegal at a law firm in Philadelphia. Her email is jessicagooding14@gmail.com.

“He only got in because of affirmative action.” “There was no way I was going to be admitted. People who look like me don’t benefit from affirmative action!”

We’re all familiar with the way affirmative action has been invoked as a dismissal for a student’s acceptance to an Ivy League school, or a flippant excuse to explain away a rejection. Nevertheless, the mysterious and complicated policy underpinning uncomfortable college conversations has reached its final days. June’s Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard prohibited the continued consideration of race in college admissions. Though this practice has been in place since the civil rights movement, it has faced scrutiny given the 14th Amendment’s textual prohibition on racial discrimination.

The decision has been met with exhaustive cries from activists and college admissions offices, mourning the death of what they see as a pivotal racial justice policy. Despite this outrage, racial preferences in admissions have been standard practice at universities, without being required to legitimatize their efficacy.

In reality, affirmative action is arbitrary and lacks defined goals. The court acknowledged this in the 2003 Grutter v. Bollinger decision, holding that the University of Michigan Law School was permitted a “narrowly tailored use of race in admissions decisions.”

This, however, was with the caveat that the policy “further a compelling interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body.”

At face value, this seems to be reasonable. Diversity is, of course, a facet of any good liberal arts education — it is one of the things that attracted me to Penn, after all. But what does it mean to have substantive diversity?

Is increasing the ratio of people who identify as different races sufficient? Or should universities consider underrepresented socioeconomic, ethnic, geographic, religious, and ideological backgrounds preferentially in their quest to cultivate an environment of people with different perspectives derived from lived experiences?

If diversity truly is an end in and of itself, as the admissions data that universities tout in their brochures suggest, we need to be critical of the limited diversity that affirmative action offers, and expand this definition of diversity to consider more factors holistically. Some racial justice advocates are also critical of affirmative action as a tool for additional educational enrichment on the grounds that it instrumentalizes minority students to improve white students’ education. Both of these critiques make me question how effective the affirmative action approach is at fostering comprehensive and authentic diversity on college campuses.

This brings us to the second and more

commonplace understanding of affirmative action as a rectification for past injustices.

The American Civil Liberties Union defines the aims of affirmative action as “address[ing] racial discrimination by recognizing and responding to the structural barriers that have denied underrepresented students access to higher education.” This seems most consistent with the origins of the term “affirmative action,” which empowers the government to act affirmatively to correct unfairness.

Defining the practice this way begs the question: Are universities implementing affirmative action to serve the needs of the community and society at large? If they are truly seeking to respond to historical inequity, the goal of race-based consideration in university admissions logically should be to repair past injustices or to improve socioeconomic mobility for these groups.

The former goal, to repair past injustices, seems most consistent with calls for racial reparations by certain activists. However, the sweeping policy of race-conscious admissions fails to identify a specific class of people who are entitled to this redress. Arguably, the descendants of those who lived under slavery and Jim Crow should be the first to receive the benefits of these reparative practices. However, broad-based racial preferences employed in affirmative action fail to acknowledge the differences between descendants of slavery and Black immigrant groups.

At elite universities, 41% of Black students are first or second-generation Americans. An argument can be made that even Black immigrants will experience the systemic setbacks of racism in America, and therefore, they should also benefit from these policies. The nuances behind this distinction demonstrate the difficulties that arise in using affirmative action as a reparative measure.

The latter goal, to improve socioeconomic mobility, is very quantifiable. Since 1976, there has been a 185.5% increase, as a percentage of the total undergraduate population, in non-white student enrollment at universities. This growing non-white population has seen increases across races, particularly among Black students in the decades following the 1970s. Despite this increase, the gap in socioeconomic mobility between white and Black Americans has remained wide. Between 1974 and 2004, the gap in median family income between the two groups remained constant at roughly 40%. Recent numbers indicate that median Black family incomes are only about 15% that of white families. This problem applies to multigenerational wealth growth as well, with only 31% of Black children from medium-income households making more

See LEXI’S TAKE, page 7

Dear first years and beyond, kindly ignore bad faith protestors

THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE | Consider the intentions behind the protests with which you engage on campus

A month into my first year, I stepped out of Van Pelt Library and was greeted by a large crowd of students amassed around a self-proclaimed “confrontational evangelist” group that was yelling slurs and telling students they were going to hell.

I was in shock. I did not know how to respond and, like many, I thought it was a joke at first — so excessively insulting and ridiculous that it must have had ulterior motives.

So, as the crowd grew and students pulled down their pants, took selfies, and hurled back insults in response, I sat on a nearby bench, followed the link on their signs, and researched this body-camerawearing man with a megaphone, noting the Penn Police presence to ensure things did not get out of hand.

Here are the highlights: The man yelling at students is, allegedly by his own admission, more than $5 million in debt in part due to fines from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for fraud; he has sued several entities for undisclosed

and

recorded and then uploaded to various social media websites, such as YouTube and TikTok. Oh, and he knows how to toe the line in the legal sand, always staying within his rights for where he can stand, how he can behave, and what he can say.

I tell this story as a cautionary tale. These people will be back — if not them specifically, then others like them — just as they have returned in my following semesters here and have visited since before I arrived. As a result, you should know how to react: don’t. Don’t stand in a group around them and gawk; don’t yell back; don’t sit on a nearby bench and give them more views or more content for social media or the legal system. Do not give them the reactions that they so desperately try to provoke. Penn is an impressive, diverse place where ideas should be openly discussed and debated, but yelling at someone with a megaphone because they intentionally are trying to goad you into doing something you’ll regret is not how you change minds or defend your values.

I understand the appeal of wanting to

stand up and show that these types of agitators — who do nothing but spread hate — are not welcome on our campus, but some of the people who come to provoke students are only visiting specifically for the attention that comes from students responding. Be it due to twisted and dogmatic religious beliefs, a desire for views on social media, or something far more nefarious, these people may come to anger you, but to publicly engage back is to state the jeering is worthy of a response. Sometimes it just isn’t, which is why I have not found a need to mention a specific group name or link to specific social media.

As you walk down Locust Walk over the semesters, you will see plenty of protestors, like Fossil Free Penn, who are genuinely arguing for a cause and want to discuss issues with you. One of the important things to learn and recognize, though, is how to distinguish the motive behind the people speaking before deciding on how to best react. This includes, at times, not engaging with people at all.

Our attention as students with the privilege of being educated at an institution like

Penn is extremely limited and valuable, and it is important that we do not waste it. But perhaps even more important is that we also do not get cajoled into stereotyping all types of disagreement based upon the bad faith examples we may run across on Locust Walk.

If none of this is convincing to you, and you still want to yell at the crazies you will inevitably pass by just because it is fun, fine, but do so with consideration and intention. Know that they are trying to upset you; know that they are trying to embarrass you; know the limits of how you can respond.

And while you are at it, do keep in mind that if you were to, hypothetically, play copyrighted music on your phone next to the cameras that are always set up, the videos at the very least could not be posted on YouTube.

SPENCER GIBBS is a College and Engineering junior studying philosophy, politics, and economics and systems engineering from Tallahassee, Fla. His email is sgibb25@upenn.edu.

PHOTO BY JESSE ZHANG

money than their parents compared with 68% of white children achieving the same thing.

While it’s often difficult to attribute socioeconomic mobility to higher education alone, the stats seem to indicate that college degrees don’t substantially increase the income of graduates from underrepresented groups. Compared to their white counterparts, Black students earn 15% less, and almost 40% default on their college loans in the first 12 years after college (versus 12% of white students). This is a direct impact of the fact that Black students complete college owing 50% more than white graduates, further indicating that affirmative action and the education it promised, may not have been the great “equalizer” it was promised to be.

If the goal of universities is truly to act affirmatively and improve the lives of minority students, race-based affirmative action is not delivering. The reality is, elite universities are still greatly favoring the richest applicants, with a recent New York Times study showing that all else equal, students with parents in the top 1% were 34% more likely than their peers to be granted admission, and those of the even more select top 0.1% were 100% more likely to be admitted. Thus, with affirmative action now found unconstitutional, a reevaluation of familial wealth in admissions, as both Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Clarence Thomas note in their concurrences, could provide more underserved students with the opportunity to attend elite schools. You would be hard-pressed to find someone who does not see value in cultivating a well-roundedly diverse student body that helps one expand their horizons in college. That doesn’t mean that we should blindly rue the loss of our current admissions policies. This recent ruling may be the perfect opportunity to force elite universities to rethink their obligations to their students and the community at large.

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

The Supreme Court's decision to strike down race-conscious admissions in higher education has caused shockwaves across the country. Columnists at The Daily Pennsylvanian and Penn community members alike have shared their thoughts, reactions, and insights. Read more at thedp.com/article/2023/08/ affirmative-action

- Cathy Li, Opinion Columnist and Summer Deputy Opinion Editor

Grab lunch at Reading Terminal Market. Visit the historic Reading Terminal Market for a vast array of potential cuisines at a reasonable price! The market is just a few blocks away from City Hall — perfect for a nice walk into the heart of the city or only a short bus or trolley ride away. While you’re there, be sure to check out the fresh produce and seafood, too, and bring the food back with you (and skip the cafeteria) to throw a potluck with friends in one of the common area kitchens across campus.

Spencer Gibbs, Opinion Columnist

-

Get rowdy at a Philly sports game. If there’s one thing Philadelphia is known for, it’s the passionate sports fans. Whether you prefer football, hockey, baseball, or basketball, take advantage of your time as a Philly resident and show your support at a live game. The infectious camaraderie and zealous applause will not only put a smile on your face, but also connect you to the entire city.

- Emily Chang, Deputy Opinion Editor

Run, jog, or walk through the heart of Philly.

The Philadelphia Marathon Weekend in November features a variety of races, and many a Penn student will test their mettle against the 13.1mile half marathon course before they graduate.

Beginning at the steps of the PMA, you are bid farewell on your journey by the famous Rocky statue and cheered on throughout the cobblestoned streets of historic Old City, the towering skyscrapers of Center City, and the fall foliage of Fairmount Park. Having run the half every year I’ve been at Penn, I look forward to the electric atmosphere and beautiful course every fall semester.

- Vinay Khosla, Deputy Opinion Editor

Picnic at Cira Green. The rooftop park is accessible during most times of day and is just a few blocks from Hill College House. It has the best view of the Philly skyline located right on the Schuylkill River and is the perfect place to watch a sunrise or sunset over the city. During the spring, summer, and fall, events are hosted at the park and there is a food stand/bar open to the public. It is a great oasis to make you feel “away” from campus while you are right at home.

- Lexi Boccuzzi, Opinion Columnist

Watch a sunset (or sunrise!) from one of the high rise rooftop lounges. Nobody ever pays attention to the high rises, but the view of the city during twilight hours is pretty impressive from that spot. Of course, alternatively you can camp out at Cira Green or in Center City, but sometimes you just need a spot close by.

- Ace Dahyeon Choi, Opinion Columnist

Explore Philadelphia’s cultural scene. Venture beyond Locust Walk to indulge in the rich art and history the city has to offer. Stop at Old City in Philadelphia’s Historic District and stroll along cobblestone streets on your way to the Liberty Bell. Visit Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the arts hub of Philly, home to notable monuments and a collection of must-see museums. Go explore! It’s a great break from campus and really immerses you into the neighboring areas of your home the next four years.

- Riane Lumer, Opinion Columnist and Summer Deputy Opinion Editor

Catch glimpses of Philadelphia’s wildlife at the BioPond. Many a biology major has searched the James G. Kaskey Memorial Park for local flora and fauna as a part of lab assignments.

Compared to Penn’s lively, urban atmosphere, the BioPond is calm and quiet — it’s easy to forget that you’re in a city at all. I walk through every week to observe how the park’s wildlife changes with the seasons, but it’s also a great spot to picnic with friends, read a book, or sketch the surrounding scenery.

- Caroline Magdolen, Opinion Editor

Many members of Penn's Class of 2027 will arrive on campus with a number of questions on how to adapt to college life.

The Daily Pennsylvanian has prepared a guide on essential campus resources for physical and mental health, accessibility, and first-generation, low-income students.

Mental and physical health

Wellness at Penn’s Student Health and Counseling division offers professional primary care and psychological care resources for members of the Penn community.

Counseling offices are located at 3624 Market St., and during operating hours, those seeking urgent counseling support can drop in to see a provider without an appointment. Appointments can be scheduled at (215) 898-7021, and around-the-clock conversations with counseling providers are available at the same number.

Several student organizations also provide support, including Penn Benjamins and Penn Reflect.

Penn’s Reach-a-Peer Helpline offers free, anonymous, and confidential phone calls and texts to student volunteers. RAPLINE’s around-the-clock text line can be reached at (215) 515-7332, and its phone line is available from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. every night at (215) 573-2727.

Student Health and Counseling’s Sexual Trauma

Treatment Outreach and Prevention Team can be reached at (215) 898-7021 and offers confidential care,

support, and advocacy to students who have experienced an unsafe or confusing sexual situation.

Medical care offices are located at 3535 Market St.

Members of the Penn community can receive 24/7 support by dialing (215) 746-3535. Appointments can also be scheduled online.

The Division of Public Safety and the Medical Emergency Response Team's 24/7 hotline at (215) 573-3333 can be called for police, fires, or medical emergencies.

Walking escorts can be requested at (215) 898-9255, and the HELP Line – which can be used for assistance navigating Penn’s health and wellness resources – can be reached at (215) 898-4357.

Medical care includes gynecologic care, LGBTQ care, specialized care for sexual health, sports medicine services, and a dedicated travel team.

Wellness at Penn advises that all students bring a thermometer, fever-reducing medication such as Tylenol or Motrin, a first aid kit, sunscreen, and a refillable water bottle with them to campus.

Accessibility

Disability Services, housed in the Weingarten Center in Stouffer Commons at 3702 Spruce St., is the central resource for Penn’s disabled students. The Weingarten Center will host an event detailing resources for students with disabilities in Houston Hall’s Golkin Room on Aug. 23 at 10 a.m.

Disability Services works with students to coordinate academic accommodations and ensure access to housing, dining, and technological resources. During the fall and spring semesters, students can drop in and meet with Disability Services in the Weingarten Center or call (267) 788-0030, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays to discuss any questions.

Several student groups, including the Disabled Coalition, Disability Empowerment and Action League, and Disability Advocacy @ Penn advocate for disabled students and provide spaces for students to form connections with each other.

FGLI resources

Penn First Plus is the center of community resources for FGLI students. P1P opened an office on the ground floor of College Hall in 2020 and has a second office in Hamilton Village at 220 S. 40th St.

P1P invited many students to join the Pre-First Year Program, through which students engaged in a fourweek academic-based summer program. P1P also offers separate orientation activities, which begin on Aug. 21.

While enrolled, P1P’s College Achievement Program offers a range of academic and personal support programs to FGLI students. This assistance includes consulting and advocacy, and each student is assigned a professional academic counselor, academic advising and support, workshops and information sessions, individual peer mentoring, and cultural enrichment activities.

PennCAP also includes Faculty Friday events with professors, a graduate school mentoring program, a laptop lending program, and summer grants.

Many student groups offer resources for FGLI students and spaces for students to connect and share common experiences with each other. These include Collective Success @ Penn, FGLIQ, and Wharton FGLI.

Center, Pan-Asian American Community House, La Casa Latina, Greenfield Intercultural Center, Makuu: The Black Cultural Center, Penn Women’s Center, and the Spiritual and Religious Life Center — offer students a place to find a community for support and growth.

Building and dedicated it as the home to the University’s main minority coalition groups and cultural centers. Stu dents and administrators spoke about the significance of the ARCH building in a grand reopening event last fall, but some added that the University could be doing more to amplify the voices of marginalized students. as a sociopolitical center for individuals and student groups. With mentorship programs, catered events, and open spaces, students are free to explore and discuss their identities. There will be a first-year welcome reception on Aug. 24 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Center.

PAACH celebrates Asian, East Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander cultures. Since its founding in 2000, PAACH has hosted hundreds of performances, events, and service opportunities. PAACH will hold its open house on Sept. 21 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Suite G22 of the ARCH building.

La Casa Latina seeks to raise awareness of Latinx topics, culture, and selfhood across campus through events such as the March of Flags and Lightning Talks. La Casa Latina will host its open house on Sept. 15 from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the ARCH Building.

The GIC focuses on fostering intercultural understanding among students and developing leadership skills in an interconnected world. The Center — located at 3708 Chestnut St. — will hold its open house on Aug. 31 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Makuu is dedicated to fostering initiatives, concepts, and engagement for Black students on campus. Makuu’s professional and student staff also provides academic, social, and cultural support for members and organizations. The open house for Makuu is scheduled for Sept. 14 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the ARCH building.

Penn has experienced a number of administration changes in the past year. As the new school year starts, here are five of Penn’s leaders whose names you will hear often:

Liz Magill Magill, the ninth president of Penn, began her tenure in July 2022. During the first year of her tenure, she announced The Red and Blue Advisory Committee to develop a strategic plan for the University, filled several high-level administration positions, and introduced herself to students, staff, and faculty across Penn's 12 schools.

College Houses and Academic Services, was appointed Penn's vice provost for University Life beginning May 1. He previously served as the associate vice provost for university life and executive director of student affairs.

As vice provost for University Life, Kozuma will focus on offering support to academic and career resources for students while working closely with Penn's many cultural groups.

Deans for Penn Carey Law School and the Graduate School of Education are among the new administrators who started this summer

With the wide array of programs offered by Penn, it can be hard to keep up with who’s in charge. The Daily Pennsylvanian has gathered a list of five administrators who recently assumed, or will soon be assuming, new roles within the University.

Sophia Lee

Lee was recently appointed dean of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, starting her tenure as the school’s first female dean on July 1. She has since held a variety of service and leadership positions at Penn Carey Law, including a term as deputy dean from 2015 to 2017.

Katharine Strunk

Whitney Soule Soule began her tenure as vice provost and dean of admissions in July 2021. She most recently welcomed the Class of 2027 after the University saw a record-breaking 59,465 applications.

Soule has placed emphasis on increasing equity in Penn's application process. She has eliminated the enrollment deposit, introduced a new essay prompt based on gratitude, and subtly refined Penn's legacy admissions policy.

Craig Carnaroli

Carnaroli has served as Penn’s senior executive vice president since 2004. His responsibilities include overseeing the finances and daily operations of the University. During his tenure, he has enhanced the school's credit ratings, overseen an increase in financial aid, developed new campus amenities, and implemented the school's net carbon-zero plan.

John Jackson Jr.

John Jackson Jr. was appointed as the University’s provost in early 2023 and began his tenure on June 1, succeeding Wendell Pritchett.

Jackson is the first administrator to have served as dean of two schools: the School of Social Policy & Practice from June 2014 to June 2019 and the Annenberg School for Communication from July 2019 to this June.

As Penn’s 31st provost, he oversees aspects of student life across the University, such as teaching, research, admissions, recreation, libraries, online learning, and global initiatives.

Karu Kozuma Kozuma, formerly the executive director of

Shrunk was appointed dean of the Graduate School of

Education in April, and assumed the position on July 1. She came to Penn from Michigan State University, where she was a professor focused on educational policy and economics as well as the inaugural director of Michigan State’s Education Policy Innovation Collaborative.

Malik Muhammad Muhammad, who was formerly the LGBT Center’s associate director, transitioned into a new role as the inaugural director of inclusion initiatives and social justice education within the Office of University Life on July 1. Throughout his five years as associate director, he moderated several events, including SPEC events with “Everywhere Everywhere All at Once” star Stephanie Hsu and “Euphoria” actress Hunter Schafer.

Rand Quinn

Quinn became the next faculty director of the Civic House and Civic Scholars Program on Aug. 1. An associate professor in GSE, his appointment was announced by Provost John Jackson Jr. on July 27. Quinn has held several roles over the course of his 11 years at Penn, including senior faculty mentor for the Penn Graduate Community-Engaged Research Mentor program at the Netter Center for Community Partnerships.

Sigal Ben-Porath

Ben-Porath will become the next faculty director of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Program, which offers civil dialogue programming for Penn undergraduates, on Sept. 1. She has taught in GSE since 2004 and is currently the MRMJJ Presidential Professor of Education.

PHOTO BY ALINA ZAIDI Vice Provost and Dean of Admissions Whitney Soule welcomes admitted students and their families to Penn

PHOTO BY JESSE ZHANG Annenberg School for Communication Dean John L. Jackson Jr. spoke at Penn’s Commencement ceremony on May 16, 2022.

PHOTO BY ANNA VAZHAEPARAMBIL

Penn president Liz Magill speaks at the naming ceremony of Gutmann College House on Feb. 2.

Here’s the latest on the ever-changing University City food scene

New acai bowl and bubble tea shops have opened in the area since students left campus in the spring

the fourth in Philadelphia and the first in West Philadelphia. New Jersey-based acai bowl chain Playa Bowls opened at 4043 Walnut St. on June 17. The chain primarily offers acai bowls and smoothies, alongside juices and cold brew. The location is also the fourth in Philadelphia and the first in West Philadelphia.

Playa Bowls replaces Wishbone Chicken, which closed in February after 10 years of operation.

Tropical Smoothie Cafe will open a second Philadelphia location at 3737 Chestnut St. on Sept. 8, serving smoothies, salads, wraps, and more.

Stephen Starr-owned Japanese restaurant Pod recently returned to University City following a brief stint as a Korean fusion restaurant known as Kpod. The restaurant is now back to serving Japanese food, primarily sushi. Pod opened in 2000 as a Japanese restaurant and converted to Kpod in early 2022 following almost two years of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Closed restaurants

Acai bowl chain SoBol closed its University City location in June, following the opening of competitor Playa Bowls. It was located at 3736 Spruce St., next to the Quad.

Coming soon

square feet of the Bulletin Building at 3025 Market St. Vendors and an official opening date are yet to be announced.

RENOVATION, from page 3

The new expansion includes a new connector building between 3700 Walnut St. and Stiteler Hall that will provide full access to both buildings as well as additional student collaboration spaces, classrooms, offices, and teaching labs.

Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology

The laboratory, which will be located on 32nd and Walnut streets next to David Rittenhouse Laboratory, began construction in January 2022 and is expected to be occupied in January 2025.

When completed, the building will include wet chemistry research labs and optics research labs for energy and sustainability-focused researchers in the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

McDonald’s redevelopment

part of The Radian apartment and retail complex. The chain serves specialty bubble tea drinks and coffee. The location is

A new food hall is scheduled to open this fall in University City, featuring 16 food and beverage vendors. The food hall, developed by Urbanspace and Brandywine Realty Trust, will occupy over 14,000

Northern Liberties-based fried chicken takeout restaurant Love & Honey Fried Chicken plans to open a new location in University City in early 2024. The new location will offer seating for dine-in customers, while the original location does not. A location for the new restaurant has not yet been announced.

Excavation work to replace the former one-story McDonald’s at 40th and Walnut streets with a six-story mixed-use building continued over the summer, according to Kocent.

Expected to be occupied in January 2025, the building will include five floors of office space for student services overseen by the vice provost for University Life, with the McDonald’s returning to the first floor of the building after it closed in January 2023.

JASPER TAYLOR

Senior Reporter

PHOTO BY MOLLIE BENN

Gong Cha, a Taiwanese boba tea shop located at The Radian apartment retail complex, opened on June 13.

Five must-watch matchups coming up in Penn sports in

Fall 2023

From Ivy League foes to reigning national champions, the Quakers have plenty of big opponents on the docket

WALKER CARNATHAN

Summer Sports Editor

With just under a month before Penn students return to campus, the Quakers’ sports teams are counting down the days before their return to action. Let’s take a look at five big games to watch out for in the athletic year ahead, and see how their outcomes could shape the seasons of the Red and Blue.

1. Men’s soccer vs. Cornell

Last season, Penn men’s soccer captured their first Ivy League title since 2013 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. But the unsung turning point of that run was their thrilling 3-2 road victory over Cornell, knocking off the nationally ranked Big Red and announcing the Quakers’ presence as the favorite for the Ancient Eight crown. This season, Penn will host Cornell on Oct. 7 at Penn Park — an opportunity for the Quakers to make a bold statement about their championship intentions this year.

2. Football vs. Brown

It’s easy to glance at Penn football’s 2023 schedule and immediately circle its season finale matchup with Princeton as the game to watch. While a tilt with the Tigers will undoubtedly be titanic in terms of title ramifications, the Red and Blue’s clash with Brown is set to be just as crucial. Last season, the Quakers suffered an unexpected loss against the Bears that ended their 6-0 start and ultimately cost them the Ivy title. With such a short conference season, Penn need to be at its best week in and week out, and that includes the team’s date with Brown. Additionally, the game will take place at 7 p.m. on Oct. 27 — the Friday night of “Halloweekend” — providing an opportunity for the most student enthusiasm the team has generated in years.

3. Field hockey vs. North Carolina

The beginning of any season is always a challenge, but is there a greater test than facing off against the reigning national champion in the opener? This is the task at hand for Penn field hockey, who will take on North Carolina on Sept. 1 at Ellen Vagelos Field. The Tar Heels downed the Quakers 4-0 in their 2022 meeting, part of an 0-7 start for the Red and Blue. But after winning seven of its final 10 games, Penn has the chance to build on the momentum acquired at the end of last season with a massive upset to ring in 2023.

4. Men’s basketball vs. Villanova

The Big 5 underwent a significant shakeup over the college basketball offseason. Though there will be significant changes to look forward to, fans should not overlook a classic Quakers on Wildcats matchup. Penn will host Villanova at the Palestra on Nov. 13 — just its second game of the season, and a huge test for a Red and Blue team now entering its post-Jordan Dingle era. Though the game will not contribute to their Ivy League title aspirations, a win over the nationally relevant Wildcats would go a long way toward bolstering the Quakers’ case as contenders after the departure of the nation’s second-leading scorer.

5. Volleyball vs. Princeton

Following a difficult 2022 season, Penn volleyball will have the chance to wipe the slate clean when the team goes toe-to-toe with Princeton on Sept. 22 at the Palestra — the Quakers’ first Ivy League match of the year. After falling 0-3 to the Tigers last season, a victory for the Red and Blue would not only score revenge, but set the stage for a radically different 2023 campaign.

The sports scene: Will attending Penn’s sports games ever be cool?

Carnathan | The Red and Blue lack the raucous sports culture of other universities, but why?

WALKER CARNATHAN Summer Sports Editor

On college campuses across the nation, there is one tradition as sacred as any Hey Day or Econ Scream. But instead of occurring only once a year, this tradition comes around every weekend of the fall: game day.

From early morning wakeup calls to schoolcolored body paint, from Virginia Tech’s Enter Sandman to Penn State’s White Out, football games are a social staple throughout many of the nation’s Division I schools. An average student’s Saturday plans converge entirely around the event, because on those days, the stadium is the place to be. The only place to be.

This widespread practice could not be further from the reality that exists at Penn. While Penn still competes at the NCAA Division I level, and has a case as one of the best teams in the Football Championship Subdivision, the corresponding student spirit is distinctly lacking in comparison to the Quakers’ counterparts.

resource to this point.

Even if there was a push toward greater athletic enthusiasm, such a change would require ubiquity. A single group or organization planning an event around a game is not enough to turn the social tide, for it is the universal popularity of sports that make them so appealing at other universities.

One of the most common explanations for our campus’s athletic apathy is that Penn students, or Ivy League students in general, do not care about sports. And while there is some evidence to suggest this is not true (Harvard ranked 12th in FCS attendance last season) it is also not the critical link. Students don’t need to care about sports, they just need to care about the social scene that surrounds them.

That is the ingredient that Penn lacks, and it is the ingredient it must find if it aspires to replicate the raucous sports culture that exists elsewhere. Party life at the “Social Ivy” is certainly robust enough to support an active sports culture, it is just a matter of where social emphasis is placed. At other schools, sports are cool. At Penn, they are not.

will be just as crucial this year.

After an unexpected loss last season, the Quakers’

This issue does not end at Franklin Field. It extends to all of Penn’s sports, most notably men’s and women’s basketball. Tradition is not the problem — Penn’s sports teams and venues are some of the most historic in the nation. Success is not the problem, either; Quaker football started 6-0 last season and finished one win shy of an Ivy League title, while both men’s and women’s basketball qualified for their respective conference tournaments.

The problem is a social culture that views athletics with an apathetic lens. The driving force behind the dogged support that other DI programs enjoy is not just that their teams are superior, it is that their student life orbits around sports as a means of campus connection. Everything revolves around the game, so everyone goes to the game.

Penn is undoubtedly capable of this sort of campus-wide collaboration — look no further than the yearly St. Patrick’s Day festivities. Weekend football and basketball games provide a similar opportunity for coordinated parties and gatherings, but they remain an untapped

Check back next week for answers to today’s puzzle!

Penn’s student athletes have done their part. Nearly every Quaker team is competitive within the Ivy League, with some, like this year’s baseball team, reaching the level of national contention. Now, the burden falls on campus culture to give them the recognition they deserve.

There may never be a Saturday night “Red Out” at Franklin Field, and it is unlikely that South Street ever becomes the nation’s tailgate capital. But Penn has the potential to cultivate a much richer sports culture than currently exists — it is just a matter of what’s cool.

PHOTO BY MICHAEL PALACIOS

matchup against Brown on Halloweekend

PHOTO BY JESSE ZHANG

Penn’s student section during the homecoming football game against Yale on Oct. 22, 2022.

WALKER CARNATHAN is a rising sophomore and current Daily Pennsylvanian summer sports editor studying English from Harrisburg, Pa.

For most athletes, balancing career aspirations with a love for their sport is challenging and often impossible. However, Penn softball alumna Jennifer Brann has found a way to make things work.

While at Penn, Brann had nothing short of an illustrious career. As just a sophomore, she was one of just two pitchers who earned multiple Ivy League Pitcher of the Week recognitions, and as a team captain in her junior year, she was once again named Ivy League Pitcher of the Week multiple times in addition to being honored as first-team All-Ivy. It was also during this season where Brann had one of her most memorable moments as a player: throwing a perfect game against Brown on Easter with her entire family present.

“It was the first time my two [older] brothers had ever seen me play collegiately,” recalled Brann. “It was just a very cool moment that I got to share with the people that mean the most to me on Easter, which is a really big deal in my family.”

Even though her senior season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Brann ended her career at Penn ninth for all-time strikeouts and tied for 10th in wins. After graduating from the Wharton School in 2020 with concentrations in statistics and marketing, Brann effectively closed the chapter of her athletic career at Penn, but she has made it clear that part of her has never left the school.

When her current job has brought her back to the City of Brotherly Love, Brann has made it a point to come and visit the team, including joining in on practices to pitch. And to this day, a staple in her everyday wear is a necklace with Penn’s stylized P attached, which she received as a Christmas gift during her senior year. On the back of the P, her number, the date of her perfect game, and “UPenn Softball 2020” are engraved. Despite all the assumptions of the P standing for Penn State or even Penn’s biggest rival — Princeton — Brann enjoys the grounding presence of carrying a memory of her time spent in Red and Blue with her at all times.

“It reminds me of where I came from,” noted Brann. “Because I’m a big fan of remembering where you came from. And that you’re never too big for anything else.”

That is a particularly good mantra to have, especially for someone who has had the success she has had in her current professional field.

In her sophomore year at Penn, Brann got into contact with professor Abraham Wyner, who was doing research in baseball analytics. From there, she became a teaching assistant for the Wharton Global Youth Program’s Moneyball Academy. This was an opportunity for her to see what life could be like in a career that combined her lifelong love for baseball with her educational interests in analytics.

“Staying part of the game, staying part of a team, continuing that drive to win was ultimately what made me want to do baseball,” said Brann. “And then being able to blend my love of analytics and statistics to the game that I love was the perfect world for me.”

Leveraging the connections she had made during her time as both a student at Wharton and a member of the Penn Sports Analytics Group, Brann was able to land herself a job in the

analytics department for the Miami Marlins.

For the first one-and-a half years, Brann’s work was mainly with the Marlins’ minor league affiliates, figuring out how analytics could be leveraged to develop prospects into successful big-league players. This past March, Brann transitioned onto the staff for the major league team where she has continued her work, helping out with the team’s hitting as well as performing analyses on opposing pitchers.

Some of the coolest moments she has gotten the chance to experience have been getting her name announced on Opening Day, doing special handshakes with players before games, shagging balls for the team during batting practice, and even teaching a few of the players how to pitch, softball style.

Currently, Brann is the only female baseball analyst working for the Miami Marlins. Working in a male-dominated environment comes with its challenges, but Brann has taken it all in stride, and is confident that the opportunities are there and becoming more plentiful for girls who aspire to enter the baseball world.

On this front, Miami was the perfect fit for Brann. The current general manager of the Marlins, Kim Ng, is the first woman to serve as the general manager of a team in the major four leagues in North America. Ng’s influential role in breaking down traditional gender barriers that permeate throughout all aspects of baseball has paved the path for capable women like Brann to get their foot in the door.

“Everybody treats me as an equal and everyone has since I’ve been here,” said Brann. “I think things are trending in a direction that if [women] want to get into the baseball industry as a whole, there’s definitely opportunities and there’s openness among coaches, front office members, and players [to make that happen].”

When those opportunities do arise, Brann will be more than eager to pounce. Moving forward in her career, she will be looking to one day become the director of player development. One of her favorite parts of her job, currently, has been being able to see the minor league players she’s worked with making their major league debuts. As such, Brann sees her biggest impacts to the organization being on the personnel management front.

“An impactful part of my career was the people that made my career happen,” reflects Brann.

“And I want to be able to do the same for these guys that really put their heart and souls into becoming a major league baseball player.”

Much like her favorite player growing up, Craig Biggio, Brann is set on “playing the game” the right way, leading with actions rather than words. And thus far, this mindset has served her well, as she is simultaneously helping baseball players achieve their dreams while serving as a role model for women and collegiate athletes looking to continue being involved in their beloved sport beyond college.

When asked if there was anything she would have done differently, Brann emphatically responded, “I’m a big believer and everything happens for a reason and … I wouldn’t change anything because [everything that happened] got me here.”

PHOTO BY SON NGUYEN

Penn softball alum Jennifer Brann now works as the only female baseball analyst for the Miami Marlins.

CALEB CRAIN Sports Editor

8 : SCHOOLS IN THE IVY LEAGUE

With a few exceptions, Penn teams compete in the Ivy League, sometimes referred to as the Ancient Eight. Apart from Penn, the conference is made up of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Brown, Cornell, and Dartmouth — a collection of academically formidable institutions. Many of these schools had competed against each other in numerous sports going back to the 1800s, but the conference was officially formed in 1954. There are certain quirks that come with competing in the Ivy League which are important to know. Most importantly, Ivy League schools do not give out athletic scholarships. But also, graduate students aren’t allowed to compete, and the conference doesn’t participate in certain forms of postseason play, most notably the football FCS playoffs.

5 (SORT OF): TEAMS IN THE BIG 5

One of the most important intercollegiate organizations Penn participates in is the Big 5. This group has historically included five Philadelphia Division I schools — Penn, Drexel, Villanova, Temple, and St. Joe’s — which would compete in a round-robin men’s basketball tournament during the regular season. Big 5 games often bring extra pageantry and bragging rights, and can serve as a key indicator of a team’s strengths and weaknesses before conference play begins. But starting this year, the Big 5 tournament is undergoing a shake-up. First, Drexel will now take part as the sixth school (everything is still called the Big 5). Additionally, schools will now only have two set opponents, before a triple-header in early December at the the Wells Fargo Center will determine a champion.

8,722: SEATS IN THE PALESTRA

One of the most historic venues in all of college basketball is on 33rd Street: the Palestra. Affectionately known as the Cathedral of College Basketball, the venue opened in 1927, and has hosted more visiting teams, regular season and postseason games, and NCAA Tournament games than any other. Beyond being the home arena for Penn’s men’s and women’s basketball teams, the Palestra regularly hosts other games, such as Penn State vs. Purdue last season. Additionally, many NBA stars have graced its hallowed hardwood, including LeBron James (twice), Chris Paul, and Carmelo Anthony. Beyond just basketball, other Penn programs call the Palestra home, including wrestling, volleyball, and gymnastics.

39: MILES BETWEEN PENN AND PRINCETON

Penn’s biggest rival wears orange and black, is from central New Jersey, and has a feline mascot: Pr***eton. The two schools share a fierce rivalry in many sports, but few are bigger than basketball. Currently, the men’s team has a 126-122 all-time record against That Team Up North, but the women are just 29-68 all-time versus the Tigers. Last season, the two teams went a combined 0-6 — including a pair of losses in the Ivy League Tournament — which ended the Quaker squads’ conference seasons. But, other teams fared better last season. Football ended its season with a 20-19 win, which lost the Tigers an Ivy title, men’s soccer clinched its own conference title with a 3-0 win against them, and baseball pounded Princeton with a 16-3 vanquishing in the Ivy League Tournament.

127: RUNNINGS OF PENN RELAYS

One of the most world-famous events Penn hosts every year is Penn Relays, a three-day track & field meet that attracts thousands of fans and hundreds of elite professional, college, and high school athletes competing in dozens of events. The event is largely held at Franklin Field, and typically occurs during reading days in the spring semester — providing an ideal opportunity for a finals study break. The event was first conceived of in 1893, and the first running of the Relays took place in 1895. This first running featured high schools and colleges competing in just one event: the 4x440-yard relay. After a few years, more schools joined, and more events were added, such as sprints, hurdles, and throws. More recently, Olympians including Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, and Allyson Felix have competed at the Relays. Last year, Penn students received free admission to the first two days of events and discounted admission for the Relays conclusion.

315: RECEIVING YARDS FROM JUSTIN WATSON

Penn plays in the pros, everyone. Last season, Justin Watson played in 17 games for the Kansas City Chiefs, racking up 15 receptions and two touchdowns, en route to a Super Bowl win. In the Super Bowl, Watson had two catches for 18 yards. Watson was originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2018 following his record-setting career in Red and Blue. Watson isn’t the only Quaker in the NFL, either. Defensive lineman Prince Emili spent most of last year with the Buffalo Bills, and is currently in training camp with the New Orleans Saints. Offensive lineman Greg Van Roten — an eight-year NFL veteran — is currently with the Las Vegas Raiders. And Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski once donned the Red and Blue, before he traded in his cleats for a headset at the next level.

31: VARSITY TEAMS

All in all, 31 varsity programs represent Penn in Red and Blue. This includes plenty of traditional sports — such as football, basketball, baseball, and track & field — but also some that aren’t as common everywhere. For example, the Quakers are one of a handful of schools that still fields a sprint football team. The game’s rules are essentially the same as football, but all players must weigh under 178 pounds to compete. The sport has a rich history, dating back to before World War II, but the Quakers are currently just one of eight teams remaining in the Collegiate Sprint Football League, and one of two Ivy League schools, alongside Cornell.

12: SPORTS WITH NCAA COMPETITION LAST YEAR

During the 2022-23 season, the Quakers gained plenty of national recognition. After conquering the Ivy League, four teams — baseball, men’s soccer, women’s lacrosse, and women’s golf — proceeded to NCAA Tournament play. Of particular note, baseball nearly became the first Ivy school to advance to an NCAA Super-Regional. Beyond that, eight more teams had athletes competing in NCAA national competition: the men’s and women’s teams for cross country, fencing, and track and field, in addition to wrestling and women’s swimming. Quakers on many of these teams earned All-American honors while representing the Red and Blue.

PHOTO BY JESSE ZHANG

Penn fans at last year’s Homecoming game against Yale on Oct. 22, 2022.

With a new school year approaching, so too is a new season for Penn sports. The University fields dozens — exact number to come later — of varsity teams, with hundreds of athletes proudly donning Red and Blue. Whether you’re a freshman new to campus (in which case, welcome) or a senior looking to catch a few games before graduation, here’s most of what you need to know in order to get up to speed.