CITY HALL
TO COLLEGE HALL
‘The pressure for action is intensifying’: Phila. mayor opposed Penn’s pleas to address encampment
Documents obtained by the DP reveal a city initially resistant to days of pressure from the University to address pro-Palestinian demonstrations last spring
BEN BINDAY News Editor
This is the first part of a planned multi-part series about Penn’s Gaza Solidarity Encampment. Check back at thedp.com for more inside information about the discussions behind the encampment’s 16-day duration.
On May 2, Penn’s provost was striking a hopeful tone with pro-Palestinian organizers, offering concessions if they took down their encampment on College Green. But behind the scenes, Penn’s president was escalating the situation to the mayor of Philadelphia, pleading with City officials to help him “secure our campus” from criminal activity and prepare for arrests, according to private communications obtained exclusively by The Daily Pennsylvanian.
The trove of previously unseen emails and documents — which the DP acquired through a series of open records requests under Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know law — reveal a University that was gearing up to disband the encampment with assistance from the Philadelphia Police Department as early as eight days before it was ultimately removed at dawn on May 10. The city instead rebuffed
Interim Penn President Larry Jameson’s allegations of violence at the heart of campus, with Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker urging Penn to push for a peaceful resolution to the encampment.
The revelation of the city’s disagreements with Penn about how to handle the demonstration — and Jameson’s sense of defeat at the status of negotiations — show how the University was working on the fly to approach a wave of unrest against the war in Gaza that swept college campuses nationwide. The DP examined the communications to understand how, within a three-week stretch in April and May, Penn went from banning its largest pro-Palestinian student group to arresting 33 protesters on College Green — and how the University might approach similar protests more stringently in the fall.
A request for aid
As the semester approached its end, the University escalated its crackdown on campus’ largest pro-Palestinian student organization — only to be met with an even greater wave of resistance that eventually forced Penn to
Liz Magill’s post-Penn presidency shapes up
A source close to the former president told the DP that Magill will not be teaching and that her new appointments are temporary, unpaid and research-focused
VIVI SANKAR Staff Reporter
Nine months after resigning, former Penn President Liz Magill is taking on research positions at Harvard University and the London School of Economics.
Magill is a fall 2024 visiting senior fellow at Harvard Law School’s Center on the Legal Profession and will be a visiting professor at the London School of Economics through 2027, according to her updated CV. A source close to the former Penn president told The Daily Pennsylvanian that Magill will not be teaching, and both opportunities are temporary, unpaid, and research focused. Requests for comment were left with Magill and a University spokesperson. While she is not teaching any classes at Penn this semester, Magill is still a tenured professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, a position she has held since 2022.
See MAGILL , page 2
On April 19, Penn revoked the student group registration of Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine. A week later, on April 25, a protest organized by the Philly Palestine Coalition made its way to Penn’s campus and met with a faculty walkout before the group set up an encampment shortly after 4 p.m.
The next day, Jameson sent two emails to the Penn community. The first said that Penn was “closely monitoring the encampment” and pledged “follow-up action as appropriate.” In the second email, Jameson urged the encampment to disband immediately, citing “blatant violations of University policy” and listing instances of
See ENCAMPMENT, page 2
See more: HOW PENN IS PREPARING FOR FALL PROTESTS, page 4
Class of 2028 gets a big welcome at Convocation
Interim President Larry Jameson warned of rst years’ solemn responsibility address pro-Palestinian demonstrations last spring
EMILY SCOLNICK AND NICOLE MURAVSKY Senior Reporter and Staff Reporter
Interim Penn President Larry Jameson, in his first Convocation address since being appointed, spoke to first years about their “solemn responsibility” as newly minted members of the University community. Administrators sparingly acknowledged the year of demonstrations and turmoil that has faced Penn’s campus, but several stressed the need to embrace differing viewpoints and avoid polarization. Welcoming the Class of 2028, Jameson acknowledged that the University and the world were facing “divisive days” and urged students to embrace the pillars of “In Principle and Practice” — a University-wide strategic framework launched under Jameson’s predecessor, Liz Magill, which is now fueling several initiatives to promote climate, the arts, and public policy.
See CONVOCATION, page 2 lobby City officials for help over several days, emails show.
Interim President Larry Jameson
DESIGN BY SOPHIA LIU
ENCAMPMENT, from FRONT PAGE
harassment and vandalism.
On May 2, as the encampment entered its eighth day, Jameson drafted a letter to Parker asking for the Philadelphia Police Department to aid with Penn’s management of the encampment, citing “grave concerns for the safety of all in our community.”
Jameson wrote that Penn closely monitored the encampment for its first seven days, with himself and Provost John Jackson meeting with demonstrators to “hear their concerns, attempt to de-escalate, and offer alternative paths to protest within our policies.” According to the letter, Penn’s efforts to engage in negotiations with protesters were “rebuffed and met with additional demands.”
Jameson then alleged that, at the time of the letter’s writing, administrators and personnel in Penn’s Division of Public Safety “have encountered a steady decrease in cooperation and willingness to engage in dialog on behalf of the camp leadership and members.” He specifically cited “threats to kill our officers” on the night of May 1, adding that demonstrators’ conduct “poses an imminent threat to our campus community.”
While the DP reported at the time on chants critical of police, the DP could not independently confirm death threats made by organizers against Penn Police.
Much of Jameson’s letter to Parker focused on his concerns that many demonstrators were not Penn affiliates. He claimed that the University, due to its open campus, could not contain the “problem,” as he described the situation — or prevent non-affiliates from gaining access to Penn facilities if the situation escalates, in a nod to the many building occupations that were taking place at campuses across the country.
Jameson wrote that Penn was requesting that the PPD aid Penn Police in ensuring only individuals possessing valid PennCards are allowed on campus.
Citing demonstrators’ ignoring of written and verbal warnings and instructions to disperse, Jameson requested support from the PPD to disband the encampment “in the event that we deem it necessary for the health and safety of our community.” He stated that in such a situation, Penn would need additional resources “in light of possible arrests and to secure the previously occupied encampment area.”
“Finally, as we have watched other tense situations unfold on other college campuses around the country, we also see the potential for sudden escalation at any moment that could lead to violence or other criminal activity,” Jameson wrote.
Though Penn did not publicly acknowledge requesting PPD assistance at the time — despite the DP reporting that the University did make such a request — a University spokesperson said that Penn had reached out to the City “to ensure we have the necessary resources to keep our community safe.”
Jeffrey Cooper, Penn’s vice president for government
MAGILL , from FRONT PAGE
legal services. The center aims to analyze the changing landscape of law practice, legal education, and the role of lawyers in society, according to its website.
The Center on the Legal Profession and LSE did not respond to the DP’s requests for comment.
Penn named Magill the University’s ninth president in January 2022, coming to Penn from the University of Virginia, where she served as provost and executive vice president. She resigned in December 2023 after significant pushback from community members, major donors, and politicians related to her handling of the Palestine Writes Literature Festival and campus tensions related to the Israel-Hamas war.
Donors who led the campaign against Magill included 1984 Wharton graduate and Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan, who began publicly criticizing Magill and halted donations to the University in October 2023 after she allowed the Palestine Writes Literature Festival to proceed on Penn’s campus in September 2023. The donors cited a lack of “satisfactory measures to address antisemitism at the University” as they retaliated against the University.
The pushback increased after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, culminating in a congressional hearing in December 2023 where Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) asked Magill if a call for the genocide of Jewish people would violate Penn’s policies or code of conduct. Her response, which described the decision as “context dependent,”
CONVOCATION, from FRONT PAGE
"We share a responsibility to look out for each other in this community, to treat everyone, no matter their background or point of view, with the same courtesy and respect that we all expect," Jameson, flanked by administrators and student leaders, told the crowd of 2,400 first years. "These can be divisive days. No corner of the world is exempt, but here you join a community where what we share in common vastly outweighs what will divide us." Comparing Penn to the American elm tree on College Green, Jameson said that the University bears centuries of history and values but continues to "branch out" on its legacy. He also stressed the importance of civic engagement in an election year.
The University tradition of Convocation, held Monday night on Franklin Field for the second year in a row after it was interrupted by protests on College Green in 2022, proceeded this year without any disruption — except for the occasional buzzing of helicopters coming and going from Penn Medicine.
“If John Legend can do it, I can pull it off, too,” Jameson said, referring to when the Penn alumnus was able to continue his remarks over the same sound at a past Commencement ceremony.
Penn has previously cited the ongoing renovation of College Hall to explain Convocation's relocation to Franklin Field.
The hourlong Convocation event featured a performance by the South Asian a capella group Penn Masala, hopes for "good vibes" for the Class of 2028 from 2000 College graduate and University Chaplain Chaz Howard, and an extended boxing metaphor from Dean of Admissions Whitney Soule. Penn Glee Club also performed, along with the Penn Band, which led the traditional rendition of The Red and Blue to close out the ceremony.
Provost John Jackson was the most explicit of all the administrators in acknowledging the pro-Palestinian
and community affairs, sent Jameson’s letter to several members of Parker’s staff shortly before 10 a.m. on May 2.
“Timing is important as there is potential escalation this morning,” Cooper wrote in a follow-up email.
Later that day, police presence increased in the area of the encampment, including the formation of an increased barrier of barricades between protesters and counterprotesters. Philadelphia Police, including the Counterterrorism Unit, have also been monitoring activity on College Green — a change from PPD’s very limited activity in the earlier days of the protest.
Later in the morning, after a call between Cooper and representatives of the City of Philadelphia, City Solicitor Renee Garcia told Cooper that the University’s letter requesting assistance did not “contain sufficient details” for the City to “discern the type of assistance being sought from the Philadelphia Police Department.” Garcia requested an addendum with additional information.
“To be clear, as requested in the letter, should escalation occur resulting in violence or other criminal activity, the PPD will provide assistance,” Garcia wrote.
The addendum, which Cooper sent to Parker’s chief of staff that evening, formally requested PPD assistance with “removing individuals from the encampment who are creating an unsafe environment and trespassing on our campus.”
The addendum said that Penn Police will provide an initial notice to protesters within the encampment to vacate peacefully before arresting and citing those “who do not disperse voluntarily.” It then requested several “resources” from PPD in the case of arrests, including PPD assistance in forming an inner and outer perimeter around the encampment, controlling vehicular traffic around the encampment, and committing arrests “if the operation exceeds the capabilities” of Penn Police.
Parker’s rebuttal of Penn
At 11:53 p.m., Parker responded with a letter rebuffing Penn’s requests and claims.
Parker wrote that, earlier in the day, she met with the PPD, Office of Public Safety, District Attorney Larry Krasner, City Council President Kenyatta Johnson, City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, and more individuals to discuss Penn’s request. She wrote that “[w]e are united in our position that a peaceful resolution is the best solution.”
While Parker stressed that she would “take all necessary actions to protect the residents of this City and support the University to the best of our ability,” she wrote that “PPD has not seen any evidence of disruptive, criminal, or violent behavior.”
“It is our collective opinion … [that] it is in the best interest for all parties to continue to engage in dialogue to avoid escalation as we have seen in other college campuses across the country,” Parker wrote, specifically referencing agreements reached between university administrators and demonstrators at Rutgers, Brown, and Northwestern Universities.
Parker also praised “dialogue” about world events as “essential to our democracy” while opposing “unlawful behavior,” referencing a speech made at the White House by President Joe Biden earlier in the day, during which he said that the ongoing protests had put to test the “right to
free speech and for people to peacefully assemble” and “the rule of law” — and stated that both principles must be upheld.
At the conclusion of the letter, Parker wrote that the PPD would provide Penn Police officers with civil disorder training beginning on May 6 or May 7 — after which she requested that Penn provide a 48-hour notice period before “any planned enforcement action(s) that would reasonably agitate the protestors.”
The next day, Cooper sent Thurman various additional pieces of information requested by Parker. This included a list of student and faculty contacts within the encampment, documentation of written negotiations between the demonstrators and University administrators, and the encampment’s demands.
While Penn did not publicly comment on the status of its negotiations with encampment organizers while it was in place, encampment organizers provided occasional updates, largely alleging that negotiations stalled and that Penn were not meeting the protesters’ demands.
In a May 1 statement on Instagram, PAO addressed their most recent meeting with Jameson and Jackson, writing that they would not enter negotiations until Penn’s administration agreed to six stipulations — including the withdrawal of disciplinary letters against protesters, no police presence in the encampment, and no threats of eviction
During a May 5 rally, encampment organizers shared that Jameson said that he would enter negotiations only after half the tents at the encampment came down. At the time, a source familiar with the matter told the DP that the encampment organizers would not take down tents because the encampment serves as leverage for student organizers.
‘The pressure for action is intensifying’
The morning of Sunday, May 5, Jameson penned another letter to Parker taking a stronger tone against the encampment. He listed more than 20 incidents of alleged “disruptive, criminal, or violent behavior” — including the same morning as the letter — and stated that “despite our best efforts to deescalate, the pressure for action is intensifying.”
“Conditions on our campus are escalating,” Jameson wrote. “A large segment of our community feels unsafe, and we cannot continue to have a risk to public health and safety.”
While Jameson wrote that the encampment “has been described as a peaceful demonstration,” he stated that he was “disappointed” the demonstrators did not participate in the listening session which occurred at the same time as the protest began on April 25.
“Instead, they chose a path in direct violation of University policies designed to promote safety and open expression,” he wrote.
While Jameson acknowledged that “[i]t is possible that the encampment started out peacefully and attracted participants and followers based on those goals and ideals,” he stated that now — a week and a half later — “that is not what the encampment is about, or what it represents.”
“The encampment now represents a collection of
people from the Penn community and people from outside the Penn community who are harassing and threatening those around them, defacing Penn property, and fostering counter protests and other conditions that can escalate into dangerous physical confrontation,” he wrote. “Therefore, if we are to have any negotiations, they would need to focus on removing the dangers off the campus in a way that does not increase those dangers and result in injury.”
Jameson claimed that while himself and Provost John Jackson offered the demonstrators multiple opportunities to meet and engage in negotiations, the protesters declined to meet until student disciplinary charges were immediately withdrawn.
The next day, on May 6, Jameson sent his first message to the University community since the encampment’s second day. He wrote that Penn was working with City officials and law enforcement, who had recommended that Penn work to de-escalate tensions. He added that the encampment was making campus “less safe” and suggested organizers were more interested in “confrontation” and escalation than negotiating an end to their demonstration. On May 7, encampment organizers said in a press conference that the most recent round of negotiations that morning “felt in good faith.” A day later, encampment organizers held another meeting with administrators — after which PAO posted on Instagram that administrators “refus[ed] to meet a single demand.” As a result, the encampment expanded to the other side of College Green.
A resolution at dawn
On the morning of May 9, Vice President for Public Safety Kathleen Shields Anderson emailed Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel to formally request PPD assistance with removing the encampment and securing the area to “prevent recurrence,” citing the May 2 addendum. An hour later, she wrote that Penn Police intended to charge all those arrested with summary Defiant Trespass, “barring any other criminal actions.” At around 6 a.m. on May 10, Penn and Philadelphia Police officers disbanded the encampment and arrested 33 protesters. Those arrested — including at least nine students — were processed at the PPD’s 19th District station and released shortly thereafter. Six-foot barricades were erected on all sides of College Green, many of which remained present for the duration of the summer. After the arrests, Parker and several of her administration officials released a statement acknowledging the PPD and Mayor’s Office’s role in clearing the encampment. The release added that starting from May 1, the Parker administration had made clear that Penn should “explore every option to resolve this matter peacefully.”
“I’m writing to express my immense pride in all of you for the outstanding work you displayed … during this morning’s resolution of the protest encampment on UPenn’s campus,” Bethel wrote after the arrests in an email addressed to PPD officers. “The short notice you received posed a challenge, but as always, you rose to the occasion with professionalism and dedication.”
“I am incredibly proud of each and every one of you,” he added. “Your actions exemplify the very best of what it means to be a Philadelphia Police officer.”
demonstrations at Penn and other university campuses in recent months, which have opposed the war in Gaza and called on college leaders to divest from ties to Israel.
“People came together based on a call to express their closely held beliefs — and sometimes their frustrations,” he said. “I'm not here tonight to tell you how to think or how to feel about the complex issues that give rise to protest or about the protests themselves. Instead, I'm going to ask that you take a deep dive into what it means to convene here together at Penn … as an active participant in our community and our democracy.”
Jackson urged students to challenge their existing beliefs and be open to new views, noting that in a time of division, students should “find a way to be in this world that doesn’t fall victim to the polarizing tendencies that seem to infect every aspect of our society.”
“Take this time not just to champion, but to challenge
what you take for granted,” Jackson said. This year’s Convocation ceremony marked the start of a new school year following two semesters of continuous campus turmoil. Demonstrations included the 16-day Gaza Solidarity Encampment, which occurred on College Green in late spring. Over the summer, Penn passed new temporary open expression guidelines, which explicitly banned encampments and many other techniques used by activists in recent months — policies which went unmentioned by Jameson or other administrators at Convocation. In 2022, Magill's first-ever Convocation speech was interrupted by a group of protesters from the Coalition to Save the UC Townhomes. Class of 2025 President and College senior Amaan Omer presented the Class of 2028 with their official Penn flag. During the ceremony, the screen behind the podium featured messages and pictures posted on X, the platform
formerly known as Twitter. A dessert reception took place at Shoemaker Green following the conclusion of the event.
"It was a special experience to have, especially as a transfer student entering a new community," College sophomore Audrey Levenson told The Daily Pennsylvanian. “It was a great way to feel like we’re really members of the new Penn community.” College first year Katie Lam added that she was “very honored” to be at the event.
“I’m very excited to start the school year, even though I know the academics will not go easy on me,” she said. “It was a very memorable start to the semester,” College first year Lorelei Mohammadbhoy said. “It represented the coming together of the Penn community and … of all of the support that the Class of 2028 will have — not only with each other — but with the Penn faculty.”
ANNA VAZHAEPARAMBIL | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Former Penn president Liz Magill testified in front of Congress on Dec. 5, 2023.
ABHIRAM JUVVADI | PHOTO EDITOR Interim President Larry Jameson and Provost John Jackson at Convocation on Aug. 26. sparked national criticism and ultimately led her to her resignation on Dec. 9, 2023.
her CV. However, she continues to serve on the Board of Trustees for the National Constitution Center, a position she has held since 2023.
NCC is
Philadelphia-based institution dedicated to public education and debate on the United States Constitution. The center did not respond
How Penn is bracing for more protests this fall
The University has tightened demonstration policies, appointed an open expression review committee, and kept barriers around College Green
ETHAN YOUNG Staff Reporter
Three months after the pro-Palestinian encampment on College Green ended with a police sweep and the arrest of nine Penn students, Penn’s new policies, task forces, and security measures show a University eager to avoid future protests.
While the six-foot fences that surrounded College Hall no longer limit access to campus, the University is operating under a new set of temporary guidelines for campus demonstrations. Over the summer, the University also began a review of the Guidelines on Open Expression — which were last updated in 1993. New metal placards adjacent to College Green and the LOVE Statue state that “overnight occupation” is prohibited and that all events and demonstrations require “prior approval.”
A spokesperson for the University declined to comment on whether they are undertaking specific protest preparations. The Division of Public Safety did not respond to The Daily Pennsylvanian’s request for comment.
As the first week of class begins, activist groups have adopted new protest tactics. Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine and the Pennaffiliated Freedom School for Palestine announced they would share daily “Updates from Gaza” in front of the Ben Franklin Statue. PAO and the Freedom School for Palestine did not respond to requests for comment. The Pennaffiliated, pro-Palestinian group Faculty for Justice in Palestine declined to comment on plans for the semester.
In the announcement of new protest rules, University administrators wrote that the updated guidelines are in response to requests from members of the Penn community for University leadership to clarify and update their guidance and policies
related to campus events and demonstrations. The announcement included that “increased clarity” also was a “priority recommendation” in the final reports from both the University’s Task Force on Antisemitism and the Presidential Commission on Countering Hate and Building Community.
When Penn originally announced the guidelines, PAO condemned them, writing that “almost every stipulation in UPenn’s new ‘guidelines’ is a direct response to student-organized action.”
“The guidelines were published without prior input from the Committee on Open Expression,” the statement reads. “Instead, the dystopian restrictions have one goal in mind: stop protesting for Palestine.”
An in-depth analysis of the temporary guidelines this summer by the DP revealed several contradictions, potential loopholes, and ambiguities. The analysis found that the guidelines increase Penn’s vice provost for University Life’s power, redefine events on campus as inherently private to the University community, and specifically prohibit many of the tactics used by demonstrators on campus in recent years.
The guidelines require organizers of “non-academic” events looking to use outdoor spaces on campus to make a reservation two weeks in advance. Organizers are also prohibited from holding events during “stated business hours” without prior permission.
The task force reviewing the guidelines is charged with examining both the temporary and permanent guidelines and making recommendations to the University Council. The task force is chaired by professor of medicine and Chair of the Committee on Open Expression Lisa Bellini alongside Sigal BenPorath, a professor of education and faculty director
of the SNF Paideia Program.
The review calls for clarity on the guidelines. In a May statement, the Committee on Open Expression wrote that while it believes in defending the principles of open expression set forth in the Guidelines, it also “believes the infrastructure of open expression at Penn needs strengthening consistent with the law.”
A University spokesperson declined to comment on the Committee’s status.
Mentions of protest were also present during remarks by University administrators at the Convocation ceremony for the Class of 2028.
“I’m not here tonight to tell you how to think or how to feel about the complex issues that give rise to protest or about the protests themselves,” Provost John Jackson told the incoming students. “Instead, I’m going to ask that you take a deep dive into what it means to convene here together at Penn.”
Interim Penn President Larry Jameson addressed the events of the last semester more subtly, saying that “these can be divisive days.”
Faculty Senate Chair and law professor Eric Feldman, who succeeded Tulia Falleti following her resignation in protest of Penn’s decision to disband the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, also acknowledged the protests in a message to faculty.
In the message, Feldman wrote that this year, the Senate will focus on three priorities: open expression, academic freedom, and shared governance.
Political leaders are also attempting to exert control over how the University handles protests. Last week, two United States House of Representatives committees jointly requested information from Penn on how the institution plans to address antisemitism and campus disruptions in the upcoming academic year.
The committee chairs called on Penn to provide information on the “policies, procedures, and concrete measures” the University would be implementing to prevent a recurrence of alleged “antisemitic chaos” from the previous school year. It remains unclear how Penn will respond to these external investigations.
Former President Amy Gutmann returns to Penn as Annenberg professor
After resigning from her ambassadorship in May, Gutmann is returning to Penn as a professor of political science and communication
KATIE BARTLETT News Editor
MAX MESTER | DP FILE PHOTO
Gutmann told The Daily Pennsylvanian that she is currently on sabbatical.
Former Penn President Amy Gutmann has returned to Penn as a professor in the Annenberg School for Communication, according to a fall message from Annenberg Dean Sarah BanetWeiser.
Gutmann’s 18-year presidency — the longest in the University’s history — ended in 2022, when she stepped down to serve as the United States Ambassador to Germany. After resigning from her ambassadorship in May, Gutmann is returning to Penn as the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Professor of Communication, according to Banet-Weiser’s message.
Gutmann told The Daily Pennsylvanian that she is currently on sabbatical, working on a writing project and preparing to teach during the next academic year.
“I am excited at the prospect of being back in the classroom with wonderful Penn students,” she wrote to the DP.
An Annenberg spokesperson pointed the DP to Banet-Weiser’s message, which added that Gutmann’s “wealth of experience and fresh perspectives will undoubtedly enrich not only the scholarship but also the community in our school.”
Gutmann assumed the Penn presidency in 2004, coming from Princeton University, where she served as provost. Her leadership saw many changes to the University, including a reduction of Penn’s carbon footprint by 44.3% and an increase of $16.5 billion in endowment funds.
Gutmann announced in a May 13 memo that she would be returning to the United States, citing her husband’s “professional obligations.” Her husband, Michael Doyle, is a professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.
“Over the past two and a half years, Michael has moved heaven and earth to live with me in Berlin,” Gutmann wrote in the memo. “It is now my turn to plan the move back home to be with him.”
Penn Dental department chair departs position after being placed on leave
His departure follows the DP’s reporting on a lawsuit alleging that he violated policies by engaging in “sexually explicit and harassing conduct” ELLA SOHN Assignments Editor
A department chair at Penn’s School of Dental Medicine has left his position one month after he went on a leave of absence from the department for an “indeterminate time.”
Mark Wolff, the Morton Amsterdam dean of the Dental School, announced the departure of periodontics professor and department Chair Rodrigo Neiva in a schoolwide email on Aug. 20. His leave of absence and subsequent departure follow recent reporting by The Daily Pennsylvanian on a lawsuit originally filed in 2022, alleging that Neiva violated University policies by engaging in “sexually explicit and harassing conduct” toward two Dental School employees.
Neiva led the Dental School’s Periodontics Department, the school’s second-largest department, since September 2019. The DP was unable to reach Neiva for comment.
“We do not normally comment on personnel issues, but I will clearly state that Dr Nieva’s resignation had NOTHING to do with the 2022 lawsuit!” Wolff wrote in response to a request for comment.
In December 2022, a former Dental School administrator filed a lawsuit against the school and Wolff regarding events, including some related
to Neiva’s conduct, that took place in 2021. In the suit, the former administrator alleged that he was pressured to leave his job after he complained of “sexually explicit and harassing conduct” toward his assistant by Neiva.
The administrator’s complaint included allegations that Neiva sent nude and sexually explicit images to two subordinate employees. Proceedings in the lawsuit continued through 2023 and this year.
In its defense filing, Penn stated that an independent investigation into Neiva’s communications with the employees found no violation of the University’s sexual misconduct policy. In the lawsuit’s most recent development, on May 3, both parties filed a joint agreement dismissing all claims against the dean.
On July 24, Neiva’s name appeared in a DP article reporting on faculty criticism of the educational direction of the Dental School. Several faculty members referred to the lawsuit, and Neiva’s continued employment at Penn, in the context of broader concerns about the school’s working environment.
Two days later, Wolff sent an email announcing that Neiva was beginning a leave of absence starting the same day, for an “indeterminate time.” According
to Penn’s Faculty Handbook, faculty leave must be approved by the school dean and provost.
A month later — shortly before the start of classes for all Dental School students — Wolff notified school community members that Neiva was leaving Penn to “[begin] his next chapter.”
“Dr. Neiva has made significant contributions to the department during his time at the School,” Wolff wrote in the email. “As a master clinician and an opinion leader in implantology and periodontics, Dr.
Neiva has truly enjoyed sharing his knowledge with students both didactically and clinically. He also led the department successfully through the pandemic era operations.”
According to the email, the search for a new department chair will start within the coming weeks. Dana Graves, a periodontics professor and vice dean for scholarship and research who briefly served as the Dental School’s interim dean in 2018, is serving as interim department chair.
ETHAN YOUNG | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
security measures.
If an ancient Roman saw a potter, he could imagine buying his pots. He could also imagine buying the potter (hello, slavery). What he could have never imagined was the notion of buying the potter’s time. This is the paradox of our times (pun intended). Your time is no longer your own. It belongs to the company you intern at in the summer, the clubs you join, the greek chapter you are a part of, and any organization with which you identify (although, humans unattached to organizations exist too).
You also have no time. You are not supposed to read this because you are too busy. At Penn, we have scheduling fatigue and talk with friends via 30-minute Google Calendar blocks. Our Path@Penn is so crammed we lack time to digest and reflect on the very same material we are supposed to learn. Not only are we incapable of slowing down (we walk 10% faster in just the last decade) but if we do not make “productive” use of our time, we fear missing out, both on work (that internship) and socially (that party).
What we are missing out on is, in fact, ourselves. The notion that our time can demand something of us is illogical. What if we have it wrong? What if time is not something you can “use” nor consequently “waste?” What if time “just is”?
None of this is revolutionary. Seneca’s “De Brevitate Vitae” already taught us that we complain we do not have enough time in this world when, in fact, we do
because time is abundant; we spend the majority of it doing fundamentally useless things, unaligned with our values. I would add that we spend so much time “doing” that it has become too expensive in minutes to ask why we do it. Seneca argues that everyone lets their life rush by, thinking only of tomorrow and getting bored of today. Yet spending life by planning it means to postpone it; waiting as the biggest obstacle to living. Focused on tomorrow, we are bound to miss today. I cannot help but ask myself: How on earth did we get entangled in time, craving and extracting its utmost usefulness? I cannot presume to answer, but I can offer a profoundly simple observation: I was not like that as a child. What about you?
We live by mechanical time: Wake up at eight each morning, eat lunch at noon, exercise at five, and sleep at midnight. However, some live by body time, perhaps kids. They do not keep clocks. They eat when hunger tells them to eat, move when their body calls them to, and sleep when tired. Of course, kids have routines too, and my experience may not be universal. This is just a parable on two philosophies of time: chronos and kairos. The former is the time of clocks from seconds to years. It measures time. The latter is the time of living and experiencing. It measures moments. One is quantitative, the other is qualitative. Physicist Alan Lightman introduced me to the idea that both exist, and are
equally valuable philosophies in his profound book “In Praise of Wasting Time.” He, unsurprisingly, urges us to spend time doing absolutely nothing, free of a purpose, and to see this time in quiet reflection and mental replenishment not as what it is not, but what it is. We view it as time to consolidate our identity and values, restore our wellbeing, unleash our imaginations. Time to understand who we are and who we are becoming. When you see me sitting alone on a bench on Locust, I am not staring at the void: I am staring at myself, and it may well be the most important occupation of my mind.
Using your time productively may have gotten you into Penn, but I am not the first one to argue that because of how things work at elite colleges, once in, all you need to do (to a significant extent) is just show up. Therefore no, categorically no, before you counter, this is not slacking off or something for the privileged or the rich. Of course, you have circumstances and limitations. I cannot be naive (we are not children anymore, rough!), but is it not easy to use your ingenuity only when convenient? In other words, if you got into a prestigious university, do you seriously think you cannot find a way to explore or embrace this philosophy of ownership of time, whether fully breathing it or in your own way? I did, and I am far from special.
I unapologetically “wasted” my summer, if barely working or achieving
Cultural identities are not conditional
UNHINGED | Examining racist memes and political power in the 2024 presidential election
internship goals and spending my days
reading novels and thinking and staring at the ceiling counts as “wasting time.” I have no successful or sceney achievement that qualifies by Penn’s performance definitions. Only reflections. Just a reminder that some of us are not building our resumes or networks but our minds. What happens is you realize time is not scarce, insight is. Access to ideas that stimulate you, teach you, make you breathe life. So if you really must maximize something, maximize insight, not time. We went deaf. We lost silences. We lost the capacity to pay attention to others and to listen to our heartbeats. We are oblivious. We live by the rigidity of a clock rather than the simplicity of emotion. We are desperate for unscheduled time — free of a purpose — for a richer inner life, for a space that does not exist contingent on time. Thankfully we can do something about it, starting with letting time just be. This is how some of us see the world. I am open to being wrong. Wasting time is not a panacea, but it has made me breathe life again. It permanently broke my understanding of time, and I suspect and hope it will do that to you too, if you only let it …
FRANCESCO SALAMONE is a Wharton junior studying decision processes from Palermo, Italy. His email address is frasala@wharton. upenn.edu.
Content warning: This article contains mentions of racial discrimination against South Asians and racial slurs that can be disturbing and/or triggering for some readers. As heightened insecurity plagues our path to this year’s presidential election, two unfortunate realities are clear: Mafias are once again active in the mainstream, and some Americans fear losing their national identity. At least, this was one netizen’s verdict after a post on X, formerly Twitter, attempted to shed light on a network of wealthy South Asians operating in the backend of former President and 1968 Wharton graduate Donald Trump and running mate J.D. Vance’s campaign. “Vivek Ramaswamy” — a former candidate for the Republican nomination — “says JD Vance’s wife Usha is a family friend,” the post reads. Additionally, “Vance has a son named Vivek.” And so, the “Pajeet mafia” has risen the ranks of the deep state and allegedly exerts control over domestic institutions. For those not privy to the hellscapes that are internet forums, the name “Pajeet” — which later evolved into “Pajeet Kumar” and the short form “Jeet” — initially appeared on a 4chan board as a variant of the anti-Turkish “Mehmet, My Son” meme. This stereotypical, albeit nonexistent, name was used in a cartoon that had jokingly insinuated cases of open defecation in India, before it yielded to usage as a wide-ranging slur against South Asians. According to Jaskaran Sandhu, the
co-founder of media platform Baaz based in Edmonton, Alberta, “the main purveyors of ‘Pajeet’ remain right-wing actors in the West,” who seek to “disseminate hate and racism.”
Yet, these slurs are not the only means to convey the racist narrative of South Asian crime syndicates. For instance, on his podcast, far-right political commentator Nick Fuentes directly questioned aloud: “Who is [Vance] really? Do we really expect that the guy who has an Indian wife and named their kid Vivek is going to support white identity?” But of course, Fuentes is a caricature of the American right wing. He speaks of a “total Aryan victory” against Jews with ease — so much so that I sometimes wonder if he’s constructed a provocative persona for attention. Less overt but still existent is the comparable rhetoric within left-wing discourse. After Vance’s recent fame in the public domain, an online commenter concluded that Usha Vance belongs to a “laughable” cadre of “‘pick me’ Asian Republicans.” Another netizen urges caution against Indian-origin Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ “brahmin barbarism [sic],” which he characterizes as more “systemic” in the prison-industrial complex than “white brutality.” After all, Trump infamously asked during an interview at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention, “[Harris] happened to turn Black. … Is she Indian or is she Black?” How could South Asian Americans endorse conservative
policies when the current face of the GOP so openly dismisses the multicultural identities of those in his electorate? According to the more cynical of progressives, these politicians must have been bought out by donors if not acting on their own interests. As one commentator puts it, “Kamala [Harris] is one of the most pro-Israel members of the US government in history … she’s got the AIPAC receipts to prove it.”
I’ve lobbied on behalf of political action committees and won’t deny the influence of such organizations on legislation. However, speculations based on ethnic stereotypes unjustly question the ability of politicians to represent their diverse constituents. The American experience is multifaceted, and singling out the individual experiences of the South Asian diaspora does little to actually change the nature of the political culture in the United States. In fact, doing so is hypocritical.
As a testament to my point, consider the more literal mafias in American society.
In 1970, while Richard Nixon served as president of the United States and the Vietnam War continued to polarize university campuses, Italian Americans had gathered south of the Upper West Side to protest the use of the word “mafia” as a slur. Described by a reporter from The New York Times as “more American than the Americans,” these activists had garnered an unexpected “proclivity for group defensiveness, joining blacks, Puerto Ricans, Jews, Arabs,
Mexicans, Indians, welfare recipients, the aged,” and so forth. In retrospect, this Times account is glaringly at odds with our country’s founding ethos. How could second and third-generation Americans remain unAmerican in a population consisting almost entirely of immigrants and their descendants?
As expected, almost five decades after the protests at Columbus Circle, the Cosa Nostra (Sicilian Mafia) trope is an oddly haimish feature of The Sopranos, Frank Sinatra, and the questionable mob-wife fashion trends on TikTok.
The midcentury mafia became a staple of the United States. Now, racist tropes are being weaponized against South Asian politicians in an ineffective way.
When Americans are united by their principles rather than a shared history or ethnicity, their collective culture is a dynamic composite of immigration waves. Therefore, politicians certainly do deserve scrutiny — but not at the expense of claims to their ethnic heritages and American nationality. Cultural identities are not conditional, and by assuming so in the name of improving American politics, commentators ironically delegitimize themselves and our standard of equal opportunity.
MRITIKA SENTHIL is a sophomore from Columbia, S.C. Her email is mritikas@upenn.edu.
ROGER GE | STAFF PHOTOGRAHER
Columnist Francesco Salamone encourages us to consider wasting more time.
CHASE SUTTON | DP FILE PHOTO
Columnist Mritika Senthil comments on the usage of racist “mafia” tropes in American politics.
Max Annunziata | Shared governance is on the brink
MEMO FROM MAX | As classes begin anew, faculty have one last chance to save Penn from outside control
Faculty emerged from this past academic year sorely weakened. The new balance of power, which now favors powerful donors with the ear of a strong central administration, will hurt students. So we need our faculty to fight back, with a combination of boldness and pragmatism that they failed to summon last semester.
At least I didn’t bury the lede. But you might need some context; let’s wind back the clock to, say, December 2023.
On Tuesday, Dec. 5, former Penn President Liz Magill gives a creepily academic answer to Elise Stefanik’s (R-N.Y.) not-so-tough question: whether calling for genocide counts as “bullying or harassment.” On Saturday, Dec. 9, she resigns under immense pressure from donors and congresspeople, and without a peep from faculty.
The following Tuesday morning, Marc Rowan, billionaire donor and mastermind of Magill’s fall, types up a Penn equivalent to Trump’s “Project 2025” and sends it to Penn trustees under the übercorporate subject line “Moving Forward.” Ever the fat-trimming private equity bro, Rowan asks — quite innocently, he later insists — whether trustees should consider reviewing hiring practices and axing some departments.
Now, I’m guessing here, but I imagine the mood is bleak in the Fisher-Bennett Hall Faculty Lounge. Suddenly, Magill and her one-sided emails don’t look so bad. Suddenly, the months of AAUP-Penn
messages attacking her for buckling to donor pressure start to look a bit shortsighted. Harun Küçük, who had resigned his position as Director of the Middle East Center following Magill’s attempt to cancel Penn Chavurah’s November screening of “Israelism,” tells The Philadelphia Inquirer, “you wonder if she could have done any better, if anyone could have done better.”
Oopsies.
Fine, lesson learned: It’s time to show trustees and administrators who’s in charge. Küçük himself, characterizing Magill’s ouster as a “putsch,” calls for a “counter-putsch.” In December, the Faculty Senate circulates a petition opposing donor interference, and passes a January resolution affirming professors’ control over academics. And AAUP-Penn puts out an academic freedom-focused op-ed in The Nation, which ends with some fighting words: “We intend to see that Penn’s next president lives up to these responsibilities.”
Yes! Square up, Rowan! The faculty is back! Okay, we’re back in the present. Obviously, it didn’t quite work out that way. Rather than a “counter-putsch,” the spring term offered a series of embarrassing displays of faculty weakness.
As administrators massaged the Guidelines on Open Expression to accommodate their attempts to suppress the encampment, our faculty-composed Committee on Open Expression found itself unable
or unwilling to lift a finger. Later, COE member Eric Orts told The Daily Pennsylvanian that some members of the committee believed it should be not just advisory but “should be able to tell the VPUL what to do.” Administrators responded by rewriting the guidelines, apparently without faculty input, to make the COE irrelevant. A power play indeed.
There were some feeble attempts at resistance. AAUP-Penn led a single January protest in front of College Hall intended to “reassert” academic freedom and faculty governance, according to English professor David Kazanjian. The following day’s press release announced the start of a “campaign by faculty” — as far as I can tell, the next public installment in that “campaign” was a rain-soaked, dejected “press conference” the afternoon after the encampment was cleared.
Granted, throughout the past semester, AAUPPenn tried to counter Interim Penn President Jameson’s panicky, one-sided characteristics of the encampment; unfortunately, their rebuttals were equally one-sided, and were thus easy to attack or, worse, ignore. (Never did an AAUP-Penn post concede that Jewish students might feel a tad uncomfortable in the vicinity of an encampment which featured the chant, “You wanna know what we say about Israelis? They’re pigs.”)
Even more frustrating has been the complacency of the Faculty Senate — professors’ official
representative body, and a group with real weight. From February on, their contributions to the cause amounted to some “executive committee” meetings during which professors, though harboring deep concerns, sagely decided to do absolutely nothing. Now, a student might ask themselves why they should prefer a powerful, independent faculty to trustee or administration control. Our professors do, after all, occasionally fall short of perfect judgment and benevolence in the classroom.
I’d respond, broadly, that what matters to faculty — more than the opinions of donors and, yes, sometimes more than the immediate wellbeing of students — is the advancement and transmission of knowledge. When faculty are enabled in that pursuit, we students are the first to benefit. And as much as my Republican friends might scoff at this premise, academics at large universities will often fight for their independence against infringement from both the right and left. Just look at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Sally Kornbluth, president of the latter institution, survived the same hearing that felled Magill with broad faculty support. There, faculty had secured University of Chicago-esque neutrality principles after a scientist who had spoken out against affirmative action was disinvited from giving an astronomy lecture. Professors saw their president sticking to those principles on Dec. 5. Harvard professors, like their Penn counterparts, felt usurped after their president’s ouster. But Harvard professors, unlike ours, had organized to stick up for Claudine Gay (until the whole plagiarism thing). And Harvard professors, unlike ours, have since struck back in dramatic fashion.
After a board of Harvard administrators imposed a range of sanctions on pro-Palestinian protesters and prevented a number of them from receiving their diplomas, Arts and Sciences faculty voted to give those students diplomas anyway. The head of the “admin board,” Dean Rakesh Khurana, “was defensive and visibly upset” after the vote, according to The Harvard Crimson — the kind of picture I’m sure populates the dreams of AAUP-Penn members. Administrators sheepishly reduced the punishments they had previously meted out.
I’d be remiss to too closely analogize the situations at those institutions and dear old Penn. But I do think that the faculties at those schools might have some teaching for our professors: Harvard’s on the power of bold strokes, and MIT’s on building a winning coalition.
Read more at thedp.com
MAX ANNUNZIATA is a College junior studying economics from San Francisco. His email is annunziata@thedp.com.
DEREK WONG | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
The AAUP held a protest for free speech on campus in January.
Penn State, VCU matchups highlight Penn men’s basketball schedule release
The Quakers will open the season on the road against NJIT on November 4
WALKER CARNATHAN Sports Editor
Penn men’s basketball recently unveiled its 2024-25 schedule, including conference and nonconference opponents.
The Quakers, who finished last season with an 11-18 overall record, will open the campaign on the road against New Jersey Institute of Technology on Nov. 4, before returning to the Palestra for the home opener against University of Maryland Eastern Shore on Nov. 7.
The Red and Blue’s Big 5 slate this season will consist of a home matchup against Saint Joseph’s on Nov. 15 and a road game against Villanova on Nov. 19. Then, on Dec. 7, the Quakers will play in the annual Big 5 Classic at Wells Fargo Center, with their opponent determined by the standings in each Big 5 pod.
Penn will also play host to another edition of the Cathedral Classic Invitational, an annual set of games held at the Palestra each Thanksgiving weekend. This year, Penn will face off against Navy on Nov. 29, Maine on Nov. 30, and Elon on Dec. 1.
Rounding out the non-conference portion of the schedule, Penn will make trips to Virginia Commonwealth University on Dec. 9 and Penn State on Dec. 29. The Atlantic 10’s VCU Rams, who have
recorded 24 straight winning seasons, will pose one of the greatest challenges that the Quakers will face all season.
The Big Ten’s Nittany Lions, meanwhile, went 16-17 last season, but earned a trip to the second round of the NCAA tournament in the 2022-23 season. This year will mark just the seventh all-time meeting between the two Pennsylvania programs, with the most recent coming in 2013.
The Quakers’ Ivy League schedule will tip off at Dartmouth on Jan. 11 and run until their road matchup with Princeton on March 8, 2025. If the Red and Blue finish top four in the Ancient Eight during the regular season, they will earn a trip to Ivy Madness, which this year will be played at Brown — likely on March 15-16, 2025.
“I can’t wait to get started with the 2024-25 season,” coach Steve Donahue said of the schedule in a Penn Athletics statement. “I’m excited about the group of guys that will wear the Penn uniform this winter; they are energized and dedicated to bringing championship basketball back to the Palestra.”
The Quakers’ full 2024-25 schedule can be found on the Penn Athletics website.
Now-senior guard Reese McMullen
Meet Dylan Williams: Penn men’s basketball transfer point guard
Williams sat down with The Daily Pennsylvanian to discuss what he brings to the court, his multi-faceted athletic career, and his journey through JUCO to Penn
CONOR SMITH Sports Reporter
Following the transfer acquisitions of sophomore guards Michael Zanoni and Ethan Roberts, the next domino to fall in what turned out to be an uber-aggressive offseason for Penn men’s basketball was landing junior point guard Dylan Williams.
Transferring from Triton College, a two-year university in Illinois, Williams started every game for the Trojans. This past season, the 5-foot11 guard led his team in assists and averaged 15 points per game, shooting 40.3% from the three. Williams willed his team to an impressive 34-3 record and a National Junior College Athletic Association championship appearance, winning “Best Small Man” honors during championship weekend.
Although coming up short in the NJCAA championship, Williams’ “JUCO” tournament experience gave him invaluable knowledge that he intends to utilize at Penn: how to win in the postseason.
“What helped [Triton] in postseason play was trusting each other and just bonding,” Williams said. “We did everything outside of basketball together. We knew each other’s ins and outs, weaknesses and strengths.”
Williams’ journey to the Palestra, however, did not start at Triton.
At Irmo High School in South Carolina, Williams was a multi-sport star, lettering three times as a quarterback in football and four times in baseball. Williams went as far as stating that he was “better at baseball than basketball,” but his love for basketball was too strong.
While there has been a recent push for young athletes to focus on their main sport year-round as opposed to playing multiple sports, Williams rejected “sport specialization.” He pointed to the different skills he picked up in football and baseball as translating directly to his play in basketball.
“Football, especially the quarterback position, helped me with my awareness and agility. I’m aware of different things [because of football]. I’m not the biggest player, so kids are chasing me, and I have to be aware so I don’t get injured. And in baseball — hitting the ball, fielding the ball, and catching helped me with hand-eye coordination.”
Although excelling on his high school basketball team, Williams was not on the radar of major D-I programs coming out of high school. He chalked this up to the pandemic’s effect on recruitment nationwide.
After graduating, Williams would go on to play basketball at Mineral Area College in Missouri, another NJCAA program, leading his team in both points and assists before making his transfer to Triton.
Counting his senior year of high school, the Quakers will be Williams’ fourth team in as many years. Although thrown into a new situation again and again, Williams has been able to find consistency through his playstyle. He knows chemistry is crucial for team success. When push comes to shove, though, he feels he can put anyone in a position to score.
“It’s not a matter of who I’m playing with. It’s just playing the game of basketball.”
Williams referred to the academic opportunities as a major reason for choosing Penn over other universities, along with the atmosphere around Penn’s athletics. Williams visited campus for the first time during the Penn Relays, an experience he noted as “amazing.”
Additionally, like fellow transfer Zanoni noted to The Daily Pennsylvanian, recent success within the Ivy League conference during March Madness stuck out to Williams when choosing his next school.
“Watching Princeton take down Arizona and Yale take out Auburn,” Williams said, “that’s very attractive to someone that’s looking at the conference.”
In a statement released by Penn Athletics, coach Steve Donahue described Williams as a “true point guard.” Williams wholeheartedly agreed with his new coach’s designation, pointing to his leadership qualities and his ability to enlist the trust of his teammates. He has already begun to build chemistry with the other members of the team’s transfer class, Roberts and Zanoni, posing for workout pictures across social media.
One thing becomes clear about Dylan Williams upon hearing his story and meeting him: his grit.
Nothing has been handed to him. Throughout high school and two years playing at the JUCO level, he grinded for this payoff, but the work is not finished yet. He intends to fully capitalize on every opportunity playing D-I basketball at Penn has to offer him.
“I’ve been on a hunt to [play D-I] for two years now. So for me, to finally be here, I want to make the most of it. I want to win an Ivy League championship. I want to be able to play in March Madness. I want to be able to win the Philly Big 5. I want to get all the accolades that come with it.”
TUNA SAGDAN | DP FILE PHOTO
attempts a layup against Columbia on March 2. DESIGN BY
Women’s soccer loses second game of the season to Drexel
The Quakers were ultimately unable to overcome a two-goal de cit against the Dragons
PHOEBE WEINTRAUB
Sports Associate
Two days remain until the start of the Penn semester, and while other students have been furiously packing and reuniting with friends, Penn women’s soccer was busy shaking off its fresh loss against Villanova to prepare for a fierce match against neighborhood rival Drexel.
Though Penn has a history of beating Drexel, with a 9-2-1 record since 1994, the Quakers ultimately repeated their last performance in 2017, falling to the Dragons 2-1. Coming into the game, both teams were winless, with Penn (0-2) having lost to Villanova on Aug. 23, and Drexel (1-2) having lost to Saint Joseph’s and Fordham.
The game began with Penn maintaining early control of the ball, even sneaking in a shot on goal after just five minutes of play. Unfortunately, the Dragons quickly cleaned up their mistakes defensively while amping up their offensive attack, taking control of the game for the rest of the first half.
The Quakers seemed to be playing a game of catchup as Drexel not only dominated the field but also ultimately set the pace of the match. Possession bounced back and forth due to numerous messy turnovers on both sides. While the Red and Blue gained multiple opportunities to drive, Drexel’s defense remained steadfast, preventing Penn from penetrating too far into the box.
After slipping up at the net, Drexel seemed to lose momentum as Drexel forward Casey Touey missed a prime shot and Drexel defender Jess Castorina received a yellow card in another chance at the net. Sensing an opening, Penn charged up the field. The resulting corner kick provided a good opportunity to score, but the ball ultimately ended up with Drexel as the Quakers fumbled their possession.
Sixteen minutes into the game, the deadlock finally broke as Touey passed a swift assist to Drexel forward Liv Brocious, resulting in the first goal of the game and Brocious’ first goal of the season. From there, the half’s tone turned sour, as Drexel remained on top of the ball while Penn desperately tried to slow the game down. In the remaining 25 minutes in the half, Penn had to rely on several corner kicks for goals. Due to a lack
of connection and communication, the box remained too crowded for the Quakers to make clear attempts.
Drexel took two more shots in the half, one narrowly missing the goal, and the second escaping Penn junior goalkeeper Annabel Austen’s hands and flying into the net. A flag was thrown, however, disallowing the goal — much to the relief of the Red and Blue. As the clock ticked down, the pace followed suit.
The match’s second half saw the rejuvenated Quakers fight their hardest to tie the game. Though they came out strong, Drexel was ready for their energy, continuing to control possession. The Quakers struggled to maintain possession for a significant amount of time. As a result, the group struggled to move the
The team will start their season on Sept. 1.
Men’s soccer ranked first in Ivy League preseason poll
The team looks to rebound from an early playoff exit last season in the inaugural Ivy League Tournament
SEAN MCKEOWN
Deputy Sports Editor
With the 2024 season slowly kicking off, the Ivy League men’s soccer preseason polling favors the Red and Blue. After finishing the season at the top of the Ivy League with a record of 7-3-6 (4-1-2 Ivy) last season, Penn men’s soccer looks to top the board once again. In the poll Penn earned seven first place votes, one behind Yale, but was able to edge out the Bulldogs on aggregate votes. This comes after the Quakers were shockingly bounced out of the inaugural soccer Ivy League Tournament despite holding the first seed and home field advantage. This ranking comes behind a host of players returning to the team in hopes of improving upon its disappointing previous season. Returning All-Ivy honorees senior defender Leo Burney, senior forward Stas Korzeniowski, and senior defender Ben Do headline a strong cast of players, along with four other
returning starters. The United Soccer Coaches released their NCAA Division I Men’s Defenders-to-Watch list for the 2024 season, which prominently featured Burney as a player to watch during the upcoming season. On top of this, Korzeniowski saw himself get drafted to the MLS last winter after leading the Red and Blue in points and assists last season. Despite the allure of professional play, Korzeniowski decided to stay with Penn to see out one final season in an attempt to secure Ivy League glory and improve upon his previous campaigns. The team will start this upcoming season on Sept. 1 against Pitt in a cross-state rivalry match. The game will also signify the team’s return to Rhodes Field, which had been closed all of last year due to construction. As the season progresses, only time will tell if the Quakers can live up to their preseason expectations.
ball up the field with either passes to empty space or quick passes to unprepared teammates.
Touey was Drexel’s standout of the night, as she relentlessly put Penn’s defense to the test. She provided the second assist to Brocious’ second goal, certifying their connection on the field. This second goal was especially disheartening, as Austen had initially saved the attempt, only to have Brocious kick the ball out of her hands and into the net.
This goal jumpstarted the Quakers, and they battled even harder for every possession. Austen continued to protect the net and made several impressive saves. Then, when it was least expected, freshman forward Mila Maltby found the back of the net off of
a beautiful shot from over 20 feet out, scoring Penn’s first goal of the season and Maltby’s first goal of her collegiate career. The goal provided a spark for the Penn team as it chased to tie the game. Unfortunately, the Quakers were unable to put another shot away, and the game slowed down as both sides showed a decrease in energy. At the end of the day, Penn’s loss could be predicted from the stat sheet. Penn ended the game with just four shots on goal while Drexel managed ten. Penn women’s soccer will be looking to shake off the tight loss as the team makes the trip to the Grand Canyon State to face off against Northern Arizona on Aug. 29 at 10 p.m.
SYDNEY CURRAN | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Penn women’s soccer played Drexel on Aug. 25.
NATHANIEL SIRLIN | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Meet Penn’s 31 varsity teams
As the Quakers return to action, here’s a one-sentence introduction to each of Penn’s varsity athletics teams
While Penn may not be known for its athletic programs, that doesn’t mean that the Red and Blue doesn’t have some of the strongest programs in the nation. With 31 varsity teams competing at the Division I level, there’s plenty of talent — the Quakers saw 12 current and former athletes compete at the Paris Games.
If you’re currently suffering from Olympics withdrawal, fear not. Here’s a quick introduction to every single varsity team that could be your next team to cheer on as the 2024-25 academic year kicks off.
Baseball: Coming off two consecutive dominant seasons, this summer saw a massive roster shake-up as several Quakers signed Major League Baseball contracts, including star right-handed pitcher Ryan Dromboski to the hometown Phillies.
Basketball (Men’s): This year will be an interesting one for the Red and Blue, as the team comes off what can only be considered a disappointing season that culminated with Penn losing one of its sole bright spots on the roster, freshman guard Tyler Perkins, to the transfer portal.
Basketball (Women’s): The team was one missed referee call from an underdog Ivy Madness finals appearance, so expect nothing but energy and excitement from the women’s basketball team as the team sees the return of Ivy League Rookie of the Year and sophomore guard Mataya Gayle as well as second team All-Ivy and senior guard Stina Almqvist.
Cross country (Men’s): After finishing second at last year’s cross country Ivy Heptagonal Championships, first team All-Ivy senior Dylan Throop will be someone to keep an eye on as he chases a first-place finish to wrap up his time at Penn.
Cross country (Women’s): Major and consistent contributors to the women’s side of the program Liv Morganti and Maeve Stiles may be gone, but don’t count out junior Lily Murphy, who was named second team All-Ivy last season as a sophomore.
Fencing (Men’s): At the 2024 NCAA Fencing Championships, senior Bryce Louie claimed the program’s first individual foil title since 1997 over fellow teammate and recently graduated Blake Broszus — the duo was named The Daily Pennsylvanian’s Performance of the Year.
Fencing (Women’s): Like the men’s team, the women are also coming off one of their best seasons in recent history, winning a share of the Ivy League title for the first time in two decades.
VIVIAN YAO Sports Editor
Field hockey: Last year, Penn field hockey had an up-and-down season that ended with a one-goal loss to Harvard in the inaugural Ivy League Tournament — with stalwart Allison Kuzyk now graduated, there’s plenty of opportunity for someone else to step up and take the team’s play to the next level.
Football: Junior wide receiver Jared Richardson and sophomore running back Malachi Hosley will be looking to build upon their impressive 2023 campaigns to lead the Quakers; however, losing AllAmerican defensive lineman Joey Slackman and offensive coordinator Dan Swanstrom could have huge impacts on a team that was already on the end of too many close losses last year.
Golf (Men’s): Penn men’s golf has been mediocre at best in recent years, and the search for a team talisman to elevate this program will continue into this year — and most likely the future as well.
Golf (Women’s): The women’s team has tasted success in recent years, placing third at the Ivy championships last season and taking home the top prize the year before — led by second team All-Ivy selection sophomore Maggie Ni, the Quakers should continue to excel.
Gymnastics: Penn gymnastics is currently in the process of making itself a dynasty within the Gymnastics East Conference after winning its third straight GEC championship this past season.
Lacrosse (Men’s): Penn is a lacrosse school and last season, the men’s team did not disappoint, as it lit up the field with thriller after thriller, even in games where it wasn’t favored — this year should be more of the same, especially as sophomore Leo Hoffman grows into his role on the team.
Lacrosse (Women’s): Penn women’s lacrosse has been nothing short of dominant in recent memory, and that trend doesn’t seem like it will end any time soon — coming off a season that saw the team make a deep run into the NCAA Division I Tournament, senior Anna Brandt and sophomore Catherine Berkery will be the faces of this year’s group, who could contend for an NCAA championship title.
Rowing (Men’s Heavyweight): Not to be confused with its brother team, the lightweight rowing team, the heavyweight rowing team is coming off a season that saw the Quakers have their best finish at the EARC Sprints since 2001 — the member easiest to identify is senior Sam “The Beacon” Sullivan, nicknamed aptly for his wild mane.
Rowing (Men’s Lightweight): The lighter of the two men’s rowing teams has collected plenty of silverware under coach Colin Farrell, but the team peaked in relevance on campus after allegations regarding a culture of racism surfaced late in April of 2024.
Rowing (Women’s): The offseason saw some turnover in leadership as former coach Wesley Ng announced his resignation from the program, replaced by Bill Manning — after a stellar season that saw the team come in 10th at the NCAA Championships, it’ll be interesting to see where Manning takes the group.
Sprint Football: The lesser known of the football teams — where all players weigh less than 178 pounds — is commonly the butt of many Sidechat posts, and its performance in recent years hasn’t quite lived up to expectations. But if a career in football doesn’t work out, sophomore Michael West can always transition to a career in foosball.
Soccer (Men’s): Last season, the Quakers saw their season end in heartbreak as the team crashed out of the inaugural Ivy League tournament in the semifinals to a penalty shootout with Brown despite entering the tournament as the favorites — the Red and Blue will get its chance for revenge on Oct. 12.
Soccer (Women’s): In her second year at the helm and in the last game of the season, coach Krissy Turner finally secured her first Ivy League win in a 2-1 defeat of Cornell, which the team hopes to use as momentum for an even better season heading into this fall.
Softball: In her first year at the head of the program, coach Christie Novatin immediately got to work, improving from an 8-37 record to 11-29 — while there are still plenty of areas for the team to grow, sophomores Chloe Lesko and Megan Huang both shone in their rookie seasons, but only Huang will remain, as Lesko transferred to UCSD.
Squash (Men’s): Playing in one of the best squash centers in the nation, the men’s team is riding high after earning its first-ever national championship this past spring — a result that was preceded by several heartbreaks at the previous Potter Cup tournaments.
Squash (Women’s): Last year was one to forget for the women’s team as injuries plagued the group throughout the season en route to an unmemorable finish — led by junior Malak Taha, the Quakers will be looking to return to the top of the Ancient Eight.
Swimming and diving (Men’s): This team is headlined by senior Matt Fallon, Paris Olympian and American record holder in the 200-meter breaststroke,
and after missing out on the finals due to contracting COVID-19 at the Games, Fallon will be looking to produce yet another dominant season for the Red and Blue.
Swimming and diving (Women’s): The women’s group has been led by a solid pack of long-distance swimmers over the past few seasons, and all eyes will be on whether or not junior freestyle and individual medley specialist Anna Moehn can step into the shoes that recently graduated, first team All-American distance freestyler Anna Kalandadze has vacated.
Tennis (Men’s): Men’s tennis, led by junior Matt Rutter, had an up-and-down season last year, finishing a 2-5 record in Ivy League play — but this year’s team will be quite different from last year’s, as four new freshmen will be introduced to the squad.
Tennis (Women’s): Sophomore Esha Velaga had a stunning rookie campaign that rejuvenated a program that struggled in 2023, and the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year and unanimous first team All-Ivy selection will definitely be someone to watch as she gears up for her second year.
Track and field (Men’s): The men’s track and field team was headlined by sophomore sprints/ hurdler Ryan Matulonis and pole vaulting duo made up of senior Jimmy Rhoads and recently graduated Scott Toney last season, but only Matulonis will be returning, as Rhoads announced that he is entering the transfer portal and Toney is taking his fifth year of eligibility with him to Washington.
Track and field (Women’s): The women’s group is coming off of a historic season where the group secured a first-place finish at both the indoor and outdoor Ivy Heps and the program’s first individual title at the Penn Relays — it’ll be interesting to see how the team replaces the losses of key members of the group such as recent graduates Bella Whittaker and Liv Morganti.
Volleyball: It’s been quite some time since Penn volleyball has been good, but with a relatively young group of players on the roster, now is as good a time as any to see if the Quakers can make some progress in their rebuild.
Wrestling: This year marks the last one for which coach Roger Reina, the winningest coach in program history, will be at the helm of the program — and with five returners with NCAA Wrestling Championships experience, Penn wrestling should add yet another dominant season to its recent track record.
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