February 17, 2022

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PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2022

Penn Nursing receives record $125 million donation

NO. 5

Penn junior Mia Bezar dies at 20 Bezar was passionate about climate change and environmental policy EMI TUYẾTNHI TRẦN Senior Reporter

College junior Mia Bezar died on Sunday, Feb. 13 at the age of 20.

Vice Provost for University Life Mamta Motwani Accapadi informed students of Bezar’s death in a Feb. 14 email sent on behalf of Interim President Wendell E. Pritchett and Interim Provost Beth A. Winkelstein.

Bezar was a Philadelphia native and she attended the William Penn Charter and Baldwin Schools before coming to Penn.

Accapadi wrote that “Mia’s family wishes for her to be remembered for her profound kindness and compassion.”

At Penn, Bezar studied political science in the College of Arts and Sciences with minors in urban studies and French and Francophone studies.

She was passionate about climate change and environmental policy, and she worked as a partnerships & public relations officer at the climate think tank Earth Refuge. While working at Earth Refuge, she started the Philadelphia Spotlight Series.

Bezar was involved in Model United Nations for almost eight years, and she served as Under-Secretary-General at Penn’s Model UN Economic and Social Council.

The University hosted a virtual support session for Bezar’s peers and the Penn community at 3 p.m. on Monday. The Let’s Talk program at Counseling and Psychological Services had staff available for confidential drop-in conversations on Feb. 14 at Education Commons 228 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Feb. 15 at Penn First Plus Room GF01F from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

CAMPUS RESOURCES The HELP Line: 215-898-HELP Counseling and Psychological Services: 215-8987021 (active 24/7) Student Health Service: 215-746-3535 Office of the Vice Provost for University Life: 215898-6081 University Chaplain’s Office: 215-898-8456 Reach-A-Peer Helpline: 215-573-2727 (every day from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.)

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2021 Nursing graduate Anthony Scarpone Lambert during a clinical simulation on Feb. 10, 2021.

The Leonard A. Lauder Community Care Nurse Practitioner Program will train nurse practitioners to work in underserved communities across the nation SARA FORASTIERI Staff Reporter

Penn announced on Monday it has received a record $125 million donation from Wharton graduate Leonard Lauder, which will be used to support a new tuition-free nursing program.

The Leonard A. Lauder Community Care Nurse Practitioner Program will recruit and prepare a group of nurse practitioners to work in underserved communities across the nation. The donation is the largest ever to an American nursing program, according to Penn Today, and aims to address the nation’s shortage of primary care providers and increase health care equity.

Lauder, who graduated from the University in 1954, serves as chair emeritus of the multibillion makeup and beauty conglomerate Estée Lauder Companies. Lauder and his family have given extensively to Penn in the past, including multimillion donations to create and renovate the Lauder Institute and large contributions to the construction of Lauder College House.

“Now more than ever, the country needs greater and more equitable access to quality primary care — and highly skilled nurse practitioners are the key to making that happen,” Lauder said in a Feb. 14 press release.

Working with underserved communities is part of the School of Nursing’s mission, Nursing School Dean Antonia Villarruel told The Daily Pennsylvanian. The donation will help the school further its goal, Villarruel said, adding it will provide an opportunity for nurse practitioners to get an education that is “debt-free.”

The program consists of a two-year, rigorous primary care nurse practitioner program at the Nursing School, which houses an undergraduate program that placed first on a 2021 U.S. News & World Report ranking. The Nursing School will select 10 program fellows who will begin taking classes this fall.

The school has an annual target enrollment of 40 fellows by 2026, and 140 nurse practitioner students will have been enrolled by 2027.

Penn will also appoint a Leonard A. Lauder Community Care Nurse Practitioner Professor who will oversee curriculum innovation, support of community sites, and implementation of the program.

Fellows must show a commitment to working in underserved communities and promoting health equity, according to the press release. Participants will complete at least half of their clinical educa-

tion at partner sites that provide direct patient care and will have to commit to serving in an underserved community for at least two years after graduation — when they will enter the workforce free of graduate school debt. Fellows who demonstrate financial need will still receive stipends that can help with living expenses.

“We’ll be preparing a mass number of people who individually and collectively can make a big impact in how healthcare is being delivered,” Villarruel said. She hopes the initiative will attract students who want to help underserved communities and have not had access to a Penn education.

Nurse practitioners are qualified to serve as primary healthcare providers and manage a patient’s overall care and conditions — a role amplified amid the shortage of physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic. They can supervise aspects of care ranging from patient diagnosis, to ordering and interpreting tests, to prescribing medication and providing preventative care.

“This is the most timely and consequential gift not only for our university but for our country,” former Penn President Amy Gutmann said in the press release. “Growing the number of nurse practitioners who are prepared and committed to working in underserved areas is the most practical and inspiring way to ensuring a healthier country.”

Over 150 Penn faculty rebuke U.S. government for alleged racial profiling of Chinese academics The China Initiative was unveiled in 2018 during the Trump administration EMI TUYẾTNHI TRẦN Senior Reporter

Over 150 Penn faculty members have signed onto an open letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, urging the U.S. Department of Justice to overturn the “China Initiative” which they allege disproportionately targets researchers of Chinese descent.

The China Initiative project was unveiled in 2018 during the Trump administration, with the stated purpose of preventing economic and technological espionage for the benefit of the Chinese government. The open letter, however, wrote that the China Initiative has unfairly targeted Chinese and Chinese See FACULTY, page 7

Penn announces return of indoor social gatherings as COVID-19 cases fall to semester low Penn’s overall COVID-19 positivity rate sharply decreased during the week of Feb. 6 to Feb. 12 to 1.81% JONAH MILLER Senior Reporter

The campus-wide COVID-19 case count and positivity rate plunged, enabling the University to resume indoor social gatherings and event registration.

Penn’s overall COVID-19 positivity rate sharply decreased during the week of Feb. 6 to Feb. 12 to 1.81% — down from 6.72% during the previous week of Jan. 30 to Feb. 5. Among undergraduate students, the positivity rate fell from 12.89% last week to a semester low of 2.99%.

In response to the favorable trends across all University communities, particularly undergraduates, the top University officials announced in a Feb. 15 email to all undergraduate students that indoor social gatherings and event registration can now resume in full.

“We are thrilled to be able to loosen our temporary restriction on indoor social gatherings and remain hopeful that this last week’s encouraging trends will continue,” Chief Wellness Officer Benoit Dubé told the Daily Pennsylvanian.

Overall case count followed the encouraging trend, with a total of 165 community members testing positive during the week from Feb. 6 to Feb. 12 — down from 751 the previous week. Although undergraduate students still composed the majority of positive cases among all SEND STORY IDEAS TO NEWSTIP@THEDP.COM

Penn communities with 101 positive tests, the number significantly decreased from 624 last week, which is over an 80% decline.

The number of students in isolation also decreased to a semester low of 359 — down from 532 the week before.

The on-campus isolation capacity has increased to 76.3% availability — up from 42.7% during the previous week.

The administrators wrote that the restrictions on social gatherings first implemented on Jan. 12 are now officially lifted, and that indoor gatherings — assuming they follow Penn’s current Public Health Guidance — may now include food and drink. Students may also resume social event registration for events at third-party venues.

“We are enormously grateful to every member of our community for your partnership, resilience, and flexibility,” Interim President Wendell Pritchett, Interim Provost Beth Winkelstein, Senior Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli, and Executive Vice President for the Health System J. Larry Jameson wrote in the email, adding that they will continue to monitor the COVID-19 data trends across Penn’s campus and the greater region.

On the COVID-19 Dashboard, the University wrote that it hopes these encouraging trends will continue and

PHOTO BY JULIA VAN LARE

Indoor social gatherings and events may resume now that Penn’s COVID-19 positivity rate has decreased.

that it expects more COVID-19 restrictions will be “slowly lifted” in the coming weeks.

“We will continue to rely on guidance from the Philadelphia Department of Public Health,” Dubé told the DP, adding that restrictions will be adjusted accordingly throughout the remainder of the semester.

The declining COVID-19 positivity rate and case count mirror trends across Philadelphia County, which has seen a 54% decrease in new reported cases in the last 14 days.

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As a part of Penn’s COVID-19 safety guidelines, all students are required to participate in the Penn Cares screening testing program. Fully vaccinated students are required to test once every other week, and unvaccinated community members are required to test twice each week.

Community members who have tested positive for COVID-19 within the past 90 days are exempt from screening testing but are required to continue reporting symptoms and exposures through PennOpen Pass.

CONTACT US: 215-422-4640

2 NEWS

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2022

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

Penn Libraries holds Douglass Day event to honor Frederick Douglass and Black women in history Activities included group songs, speakers, and a showcase of entries into the annual Douglass Day Bake Off MUNA UWANAMODO Contributing Reporter

The University held a hybrid event for Douglass Day on Feb. 14 to honor the life of Frederick Douglass and the contributions of Black women throughout history.

Hosted by a collaboration between the Penn Libraries’ Kislak Center and the Price Lab for digital humanities, the event featured a transcribe-a-thon — where participants converted images of historical materials such as letters and news releases into text — and aimed to be a teaching experience for Penn and the greater Philadelphia community.

Along with the transcribe-a-thon, the event included other activities like group songs, national broadcasts with live speakers, and a showcase of some of the entries into the second annual Douglass Day Bake Off. “The cool thing about the event is that you don’t have to transcribe for the entire three hours,” said the Kislak Center’s Curator for

PHOTO BY DEREK WONG

The Kislak Center is located in the Van Pelt Library.

Civic Engagement Samantha Hill, who helped host the event.

Hill hopes that the holiday helped educate and engage a diverse audience. “It’s open to everyone,” she added. “Everyone is welcome.”

In recent years, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the University’s Douglass Day celebrations were held on a smaller scale virtually. With restrictions loosening on indoor social gatherings, the Kislak Center hosted the event with a hybrid setup this year. Their goal was to open up the event to the greater Philadelphia community and create a safe and comfortable environment.

“One part of [doing Douglass Day hybrid] is being able to reach out to people who can’t

make it to Penn’s campus,” said Dr. Stewart Varner, the Managing Director of the Price Lab. Dr. Varner has helped organize Penn’s previous Douglass Day events. “This isn’t limited to people at just Penn.”

Despite the challenges involved in hosting the event during the pandemic, Varner believes that the work was necessary to make history more open to the public. “[We] are finding, organizing, and archiving the materials so that people have access to them. Digitizing them makes them much more accessible for the average person,” Varner said.

This event was one of the many annual Douglass Day celebrations that take place nationwide.

In honor of Frederick Douglass’ chosen birthday, the Black community traditionally uses the day to pay homage to Douglass and discuss the issues the community faces. The celebration gradually expanded from a single day to the entirety of February, evolving into the Black History Month observed in the United States today.

In 2017, Dr. P. Gabrielle Foreman, now an endowed professor at Penn State, came up with the idea to revive the holiday while teaching a graduate class at the University of Delaware.

Today, the day focuses on the “colored conventions” — a series of Black political conferences Douglass and other notable Black activists attended over four decades in the 1800s following the Civil War. Foreman’s Colored Conventions Project examines various historical records from these meetings.

“We want to expose not only the Penn community, but also our local communities to the availability of the Color Conventions Project, and to the impact that Douglass Day has had on the study of Black culture and Black history,” says Dr. Amanda Licastro, emerging and digital literacy designer for the University’s Library and one of the event’s co-hosts.

The official Douglass Day website describes it as a “moment for creating Black history together.” By combining elements of a research project with a typical birthday celebration, the holiday aims to celebrate Fredrick Douglass’ birthday in a fun and meaningful way while creating new resources to learn about Black history.

“When the students open up these digital archives, and they start doing the work of finding names and hidden references to — particularly this year, we’re looking for Black women — they are contributing to a greater understanding that women play an important role in the color conventions, and that they did play an important role in the history of Black activism in the United States,” says Licastro.

This year’s Douglass Day event acted as a pilot for future celebrations. The hosts said that they hope to see more people join the festivities as the community returns from COVID-19 restrictions.

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NEWS 3

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2022

Penn senior Erin Hayes awarded scholarship to study astronomy at University of Cambridge Hayes is the 33rd Gates Cambridge Scholar from Penn since the program’s inception in 2001 JASPER TAYLOR Staff Reporter

Erin Hayes, a senior studying astrophysics in the College, has been named the recipient of a Gates Cambridge Scholarship and will pursue a Ph.D. in astronomy at the University of Cambridge in England.

The Gates Cambridge Scholarship is an annual program granting around 80 fully funded scholarships to students who wish to pursue a postgraduate degree in any subject offered at Cambridge. The program provides funding for up to four years of study for Ph.D. students. Hayes joins the ranks of 32 previous Gates Cambridge Scholars from Penn since the program’s inception in 2001, according to Penn Today. She will begin her studies at Cambridge this October.

Hayes, who is from Phoenixville, Pa., is a student in the Roy and Diana Vagelos Scholars Program in Molecular Life Sciences majoring in astrophysics.

Through Penn’s submatriculation program, she will also receive a master’s degree in physics upon graduation in May. Hayes is one of the 23 Gates Cambridge Scholars from the United States this year. The American students will join about 60 more students — who have yet to be announced — from across the world.

At Cambridge, Hayes will continue her research at the Institute of Astronomy under Astrostatistics professor Kaisey Mandel. Hayes said her work will focus on “looking at different types of exploding stars and evaluating their characteristics” while “making more precise measurements of the accelerated expansion of the universe.”

Hayes said that she became interested in astronomy after taking an astrophysics class in high school.

She said she took an introductory physics course

PHOTO FROM ERIN HAYES

Senior Erin Hayes was awarded a 2022 Gates Cambridge Scholarship.

during her first-year fall semester at Penn, which propelled her to pursue the subject.

At Penn, Hayes has done research under Physics and Astronomy professor Maoso Sako.

“A few months after completing [his] class, I reached out to him, and asked if he would like to take me on as an undergraduate researcher,” Hayes said.

“The first project I worked on I was looking for black

holes based on the way they affected other stars in the sky.”

Hayes is also engaged within the Penn and West Philadelphia communities. She is the chair of Penn’s Dance Arts Council, a member of Penn Astronomical Student Association, and a tutor for the West Philadelphia Tutoring Project, according to Penn Today.

She added that mentorship is important to her. As

a member of Women in Physics, Hayes has had the chance to “show people their potential through being a mentor.” She further emphasized the importance of supporting other women in the STEM community.

“I wouldn’t be in this position without a bunch of wonderful people behind me, whether it be teachers, professors, friends, or family,” Hayes said about her accomplishments.

Wharton Behavioral Lab now running in-person studies from newly renovated lab space The WBL resumed in-person studies in its upgraded lab space in the fall 2021 semester JOANNA SHAN Contributing Reporter

PHOTO BY JESSE ZHANG

Steinberg-Dietrich Hall on Jan. 28, 2022.

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The Wharton Behavioral Lab is now running inperson studies in a newly renovated lab space in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall.

The WBL resumed in-person studies in its upgraded lab space in the fall 2021 semester, with sample sizes of 150 to 200 participants per study.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was forced to shift to online studies in 2020 and is continuing to conduct some studies virtually.

The space — which was part of a $14.86 million renovation to Steinberg-Dietrich Hall proposed in 2019 — features technologies such as screen-based eye tracking and heart rate and skin conductance sensors, according to its website.

“We have breakout rooms [and] two twentyseat labs here in our new location,” WBL Senior Research Coordinator Mary Spratt said. “We used to be separated every day, and now we’re all together, so we’ve been able to form a more collaborative team. We’re just really excited to be back on campus and to be running sessions in person.”

WBL’s main goal is to increase research productivity and lower operational costs for the experimenters — Wharton faculty members across

10 different academic departments, as well as those co-authoring their studies.

Participants include Penn students, staff, and other community members, who can sign up to participate in studies and will receive compensation in the form of cash or Amazon gift cards upon completion.

The WBL first began in spring 2005 with a single lab in Huntsman Hall, expanding to Steinberg-Dietrich Hall when the participant hours exceeded their expectations.

In 2020, the WBL published 30 articles with 70 active researchers across eight academic departments, and 1,126,793 participants completed online studies, according to the Annual Report.

“There’s been quite a variety of studies that we’ve handled even just in the past few months; no two studies really look the same. There’s been a lot of exciting opportunities to work in a handson manner with the researchers, with all of our team, and do some sort of creative problem solving with the different challenges that arise from study to study,” WBL Lab Coordinator Sophie Bartholomew said.

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4 OPINION

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2022

Opinion

138th Year of Publication

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

THIS ISSUE’S TEAM BECKY LEE Deputy Design Editor CALEB CRAIN Deputy Design Editor ALICE CHOI Deputy Design Editor ALLYSON NELSON Deputy Copy Editor DEREK WONG Opinion Photo Editor ANNA VAZHAEPARAMBIL Sports Photo Editor LILIANN ZOU News Photo Editor TAJA MAZAJ Deputy Opinion Editor ANDREW YOON Deputy Opinion Editor VALERIE WANG Deputy Opinion Editor LEXI BOCCUZZI Deputy Opinion Editor CAROLINE MAGDOLEN Deputy Opinion Editor ERIN MA Design Associate BRIAN LEE Design Associate KILAHRA LOTT Design Associate SOPHIA POWELL Design Associate

Is meeting Mr. Right at Penn all wrong?

Lexi’s Take |How hookup culture jeopardizes our romantic futures

F

or many of us, the decision to attend Penn is a choice which forces us to forgo easy access to a serious relationship in college. The “Social Ivy,’’ with all of its many charms, is known for building professional repertoires, not romantic ones. Its prolific hookup culture was covered in an all-encompassing exposé in The New York Times back in 2013, “Sex on Campus: She Can Play That Game, Too,” which, despite the nine years that have passed since its publication, could have been written yesterday. The piece focused on anecdotes from 60 interviews of female Penn students, offering a grim outlook on the prospects of long term relationships at Penn.

This is not necessarily a situation unique to Penn — 91% of college students reported their lives to be dominated by hookup culture. Nevertheless, our campus environment no doubt has slightly different reasons for why this culture persists to such a degree. Penn’s hyper-preprofessional environment often teaches people that careers and monetary success are paramount over everything else, an issue brought up by many of the girls interviewed in the New York Times piece. This drive, although it places us among the highest earners in the Ivy League post-graduation, leaves little room for what is often perceived as the time commitment or burden of dating.

The ambitious anti-relationship phenomenon can more heavily impact women, who are frequently reminded that they deserve to be equally as successful as their male peers and don’t “need a man” to be happy. Younger people are getting married less and less, and highly educated women, facing

Bridge the gap between upper and underclassmen Joint Column | Upperclassmen should reach out to

underclassmen, especially first years, to help ease their transition to Penn

I

sabella: In the summer of 2019, I was blissfully unaware of just how jarring my first fall semester at Penn would be. I had never heard of Penn Course Review, I did not know how to navigate the convoluted web of Penn’s social scene, and I had no clue what exactly finance was (although that one may still apply). Most importantly, however, I had no clue that other people felt the same way. Until I began meeting upperclassmen through Greek life during my second semester, I had wrongly resigned to the fact that I was the only person who felt completely disjointed from the University’s culture, lying to those around me that I was really loving it here. The adjustment from high school to college has historically been an unsettling one for many students. Now an upperclassman, I try to find sly ways of working my own experiences into conversations with underclassmen, ensuring that they feel validated in their experiences.

Vinay: Graduating from high school in 2021 meant that not only was I being

SARAH TRETLER Design Associate JENNIFER FRANK Copy Associate ALANA BESS Copy Associate LAURA SHIN Copy Associate EMMA SCHULTZ Copy Associate HADRIANA LOWENKRON Copy Associate CAROLINE DONNELLY MORAN Copy Associate

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

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

the declining number of men in higher education, often have more difficulty finding a male partner. It’s hard to know whether having a husband will be a beneficial addition to our illustrious career goals or not, making marriage an increasingly unlikely prospect for women.

All these factors are compounded by the traditional college pressures of hormone-filled binge-drinking party culture, a weekly occurrence which has been perfected at Penn. It’s no doubt that college and its accompanying social opportunities can be a great chance for students to explore themselves further through their newfound independence, but on the flip side it can quickly squash many students’ hopes of finding a steady partner in a new pool. While for some, hookups are lauded as “empowering,” this narrative often overlooks the role of alcohol and prevalence of sexual assault in these situations. For many women, especially those seeking to embrace their sexuality, hookup culture can also be a repetitive reinforcement of patriarchal sexual stereotypes. A piece in Indiana University Press even went so far as to say that the culture “undermines the freedom, equality, and

DESIGN BY SARAH TRETLER

thrust into the scary new world of college, but I was also reentering a physical classroom for the first time in nearly a year and a half. Before even arriving on campus, I felt nervous about whether I could succeed at such an academically rigorous institution, especially after forgetting what it even felt like to sit through a lecture or take an exam in person.

As I began to meet other first years, as well as upperclassmen, my worries about adjusting to Penn became real. While I internally fretted over my daunting workload, everyone around me talked about which three, four, or even five clubs they were planning on joining. It was easy to just attribute this craze to first-year enthusiasm until I met more and more upperclassmen who took five classes, had an internship, and held positions in multiple on-campus organizations.

Slowly I began to feel more and more out of my element in this environment where it seemed no one ever stopped moving.

Even though I focused on only joining the organizations that appealed to me and studied more than I ever had before, there persisted an overwhelming feeling

of inferiority. This was compounded by the persistent facade of the collective student body, often dubbed “Penn Face,” that never seemed to falter.

But despite all of this, I feel like I have come a long way since those first few months. I’ve realized that my path here at Penn, my goals after Penn, and my capacity to fit the Penn student stereotype are all different from those of the people around me. However, this realization was not immediate and only came after weeks of feeling as if I was lagging behind my peers.

To that end, if there were upperclassmen who were willing to let me see past their perfect exterior — even if only for a couple minutes — and tell me that it would get better, I might have been spared many episodes of imposter syndrome.

As seasoned experts who have all been first-year students at one point, upperclassmen have valuable insight and a deep understanding of the unique confluence of feelings that come with being a college first year. By sharing this wisdom with first years, upperclassmen can make a priceless and long-lasting impact on their lives at college.

Isabella: Penn in theory has a system in place to foster connection between underclassmen and upperclassmen; however, in my own personal experience I have found that informal connections carry less pressure and more weight.

Peer advising is intended to ease the transition, but not everyone may click with their advisors. Additionally, advisors can be matched with students based on something like their intended major.

For students who are undecided or switch their major, the academic advice an advisor has to offer may not align well with the student. It is also not a given that students with the same majors would have the same troubles in adjusting to college. Peer advisors will be overburdened if they are the only resource first years have to talk to upperclassmen.

So to all the upperclassmen reading this, sit next to that first year in class, talk to them in clubs, even reach out to ones you may know from high school. Upperclassmen should remember the struggles they once faced and instead of leaving them in the past, offer some advice to current first-year students. Even if it’s a bit unsolicited, take the initiative.

ISABELLA GLASSMAN is a College junior studying philosophy, politics, and economics from Suffern, N.Y. Her email is iglass@sas.upenn.edu.

VINAY KHOSLA is a College first year studying philosophy and political science from Baltimore. His email is vkhosla@sas.upenn.edu.

safety of women on campus.”

These problems are also matched by overall dissatisfaction among the participants in hookup culture. A study of 200 college students found that 72% of men and 78% of women regretted their last hookup. For many women in particular, their sexual experiences are often better in stable relationships as opposed to casual ones with strangers. Research also found that people who had engaged in casual sex in the last month reported lower levels of self esteem and had higher levels of anxiety and depression.

If the physical, emotional, and psychological impacts of hookup culture are so negative, then it begs the question: Why haven’t things changed?

Part of this issue is the perception that everyone in college is participating in hookup culture and that if you don’t then you are, in fact, the only one looking for something more serious.

This often leads young women especially to believe that subscribing to hookup culture is their only option. But in reality, more students are abstaining than you might expect. A poll of college seniors found that 3 in 10 had never “hooked up” with someone in college.

Harvard University’s annual survey of its outgoing class alludes to similar results, with one in four students saying they had DESIGN BY TYLER KLIEM

THIS YEAR’S BOARD

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

never had sex.

These students, who disengage romantically altogether, equally miss out on something very valuable about the college experience. Susan Patton, a Princeton University alumna, in her controversial letter to The Daily Princetonian (which has now since been unpublished) as well as her subsequent book, “Marry Smart: Advice for finding the one,” claims that students who simply hook up as well as those who completely refrain from romance face a missed opportunity. In her book, Patton argues that women in particular should not shy away from the fear of the “MRS. degree,” or graduating with a husband, but instead should seize the moment in college to find someone of comparable intellect and values who they may be interested in sharing their life with.

This does not mean that marriage right out of college is the answer. It does mean that we should take our opportunity to meet potential partners seriously.

If you do find hookups rewarding, more power to you! It’s important, however, to make sure that we don’t fall into the trap of accepting singleness or serial hookups as our only romantic options at Penn.

So, this Valentine’s week if you’re single and interested in a friend, ask them out. Chances are they might be looking for a good old-fashioned date and companionship as much as you are.

The hookup culture starts and ends with us.

LEXI BOCCUZZI is a College sophomore studying philosophy, politics, and economics from Stamford, Conn.

Her email is boccuzzi@thedp.com.

COVID-19: The Heideggerian dystopia Artur’s Dialectic | How COVID-19 has changed the way we

look at death

D

uring a 1961 lecture, Martin Heidegger was asked about how one might recover authenticity. He responded with modesty and concision — “spend more time in graveyards.”

In a column I wrote a few months ago, I explored various philosophical themes surrounding the importance of reflection and meditation on our own mortality in rder to achieve a more authentic life. Admittedly, in order to not oversimplify his intricate work, I left out arguably one of the most influential thinkers in the history of European continental philosophy — Martin Heidegger. In contemporary society, he thinks, we have indulged into a forgetfulness of the “question of the meaning of Being.” The majority of us may have the intuition to understand what is meant by “being.” However, upon closer inspection, we lack a satisfactory articulation.

What does it mean to be, really? Heidegger blames the tradition of Western metaphysics (from Socrates onward) for misguiding us in our approach to the question of what it means to be. An important component of

it by impersonalizing it. In contemporary society, we seem to be oscillating between a complete forgetfulness of death and its oversaturation (such as during COVID19) on the other. In the second year of the pandemic, we have grown all too accustomed to talking about death as indicated by colorful charts, quantified in numbers, and instrumentalized for political agendas.

Death has become an empirical inquiry for data collection — a phenomenon which we aim to measure and control. And as such, it has desensitized us.

Part of the reason Heidegger considers death to be authentic is because it has an exclusive non-relational character. In our everyday experience, he recognizes how all other possibilities, such as being a professor or friend, have meaning only in relation to a classroom, the educational system, or other students. His analysis of tools is analogous. A hammer is not a mere object.

It represents a tool that has meaning only in relation to the usefulness for the carpenter.

Death, however, uniquely does not follow the same referential structure. Death is not

PHOTO BY NORA YOUN

that question is death, as a marker of nonbeing. To exemplify our tendency to forget about death, we may think of cultural examples, such as the far-away placement of graveyards or hospitals.

To be authentic, then, in part means to recognize death as a possibility and to project our lives accordingly. Shouldn’t we have expected, by necessity, that the COVID-19 pandemic would have made us experience our lives more authentically?

The immense exposure to mortality should have awakened us from our everyday forgetfulness of death. In a peculiar fashion, I would argue that the pandemic has had quite the opposite effect.

In light of this remembrance of our own temporality on earth, instead of becoming more meditative, less conformist, we have become less motivated, more complicit and vulnerable, and more in touch with our individualistic ethos than our genuine concern for others. So was Heidegger wrong?

Let’s not get too carried away.

We are collectively facing death but not correctly. In order to truly recognize death as a possibility, we must not deter

for anything else and stands alone. If we compare this with the status quo, when we see death being discussed as relevant only for the next adjustment of public policy or for the daily statistical refinement of a news report, we can quickly see how dystopic the pandemic is in the Heideggerian sense.

I think that our cultural predicament can be best described by what in psychoanalysis is called a “fetishist disavowal.” The philosopher Slavoj Žižek summarizes, “I know, but I don’t want to know that I know, so I don’t know.” His sentiment represents a form of collective denial. We may know something like death is going to happen, or at least that it is a real possibility, but nonetheless find ourselves no degree less surprised when it actually happens to our particular selves.

It is not too late to be collectively reflective. However, when it comes to death, being on time is important.

ARTUR VLLAHIU is a College sophomore studying philosophy from Kosovo. His email is arturvhh@sas. upenn.edu.

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OPINION 5

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2022

Penn must do more to recognize Lunar New Year Toner’s Groaner | Penn should do more to recognize the minority of students celebrating cultural holidays like Lunar New Year

H

aving been an international student since high school, I celebrated Lunar New Year for the fifth consecutive time without my family. Just like all other Quakers who observe this holiday, I was trapped on campus, embraced by a bizarre and complicated feeling of jubilee, homesickness, and stress. Unlike Western holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving, which happen over extended breaks and provide ample time for people to go home to celebrate with their families, Lunar New Year can be a uniquely emotional experience for the Asian community at Penn.

Marking the turning point on the lunar calendar, Lunar New Year is a holiday that is widely celebrated in East and Southeast Asia. Although different families may have varying traditions, the underlying theme is the reunion with loved ones. Unlike most Western holidays where it is common, but not necessary, to celebrate with one’s entire extended family, the Lunar New Year’s most important aspect is for people to return home, united with their family. No matter where they are, millions of people travel in the bleak winter every year, sometimes across thousands of miles, so that they can see their family, even if only for one night. With Lunar New Year’s Eve being on a Monday this year, even most domestic students were unable to make travel plans to celebrate with their families. However, many students still managed to adapt to the situation.

College first year Nicole Zhao recalled her experience about the holiday, mentioning that “luckily, with video calls being available in the modern age, I was still able to talk with my family and see their faces.” For many Asian students, this experience of separation, along with other shared traditions, can be powerful bonding tools that bring the community closer. But just as the physical separation of close family members during the pandemic attests to the limit to which the internet can replace physical interaction, celebrating a cultural holiday remotely with family is always going to be different than that in person.

Nevertheless, students who celebrate Lunar New Year organize events with other members of their communities during this time of festivity. College first year Alan Zhang recalled his experience, describing how, “For the first time ever, I spent [Lunar New Year] with friends on campus away from my family members eating hotpot.” Self-organized celebrations like having a hot dinner were common on campus. And celebrating with people who come from different cultures is itself significant for the Asian community to recognize Lunar New Year as a holiday that is observed by many different communities instead of a homogeneous one.

DESIGN BY SARAH TRETLER

For many students, celebrating Lunar New Year on campus appears to be strange because it is only acknowledged by the few in the Asian community who celebrate it. It is surprising that the University itself never sent any message or announcement recognizing the holiday. College first year Joanna Xiang was underwhelmed by the University’s lack of recognition, stating that, “I’m pretty disappointed that the school really didn’t make a lot of effort to promote the cultural holiday.” While certain Asian-interest groups were promoting the holiday by hosting events like lion dance performances in multiple dining halls last week, Penn’s choice of staying silent during this holiday, or any other cultural holidays, undermines the mission of cultural inclusiveness and makes students of minorities feel more alienated.

Like any major holiday, celebrating Lunar New Year ideally means having fun and not thinking about the next midterm or project due the following week. Many students who celebrate the holiday struggle with completing their homework during the week of Lunar New Year, thereby making the experience stressful.

While some other universities have professors offering deadline extensions for students who observe Lunar New Year, most Penn students in the Asian community still had to grind through their work for the next school day, interfering with preparations for the holiday. In the wake of Rep. Grace Meng’s recent bill to make Lunar New Year a federal holiday, Penn should at least offer accommodations to students whose celebration come into conflict with their academic

work, and such an action can be the first step to show Penn’s respect to people’s observance of this holiday.

The Lunar New Year is a special occasion that is central to the identity of many Asian students at Penn. But it is important to recognize that many students had to celebrate this holiday while attending school, unlike traditional American holidays. Penn needs to be more responsible for promoting holidays like the Lunar New Year as part of its mission of inclusion.

TONY ZHOU is a College first year from Zhejiang, China. His email address is hyy0501@sas. upenn.edu .

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2022

NEWS 7

FACULTY, from front page

American researchers without evidence of espionage and is harming the United States’s technological progress and workforce.

The letter comes at a time of mounting pressure from academic and political institutions toward the DOJ to revoke the Trump era initiative.

Faculty co-sponsors said that they wrote the letter to support efforts by Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) to bring a review of the China Initiative to the U.S. Congress. In July 2021, Lieu — along with 90 members of Congress — wrote a letter to Garland, urging the DOJ to investigate the “repeated, wrongful” prosecution of Asian researchers and scholars.

Lieu also spoke at a Jan. 30 webinar organized by the Asian American Scholar Forum on the China Initiative and Chen’s case.

The letter was drafted and organized by six faculty members from three different schools at Penn, including two from the College of Arts and Sciences, two from the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and two from the Perelman School of Medicine. The co-sponsors said the letter will be sent to Garland at the end of February.

The majority of the 168 signatories are faculty members in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, but faculty from a diverse range of disciplines — including political science, theatre arts, and English — have signed onto the letter in support.

The Penn faculty wrote that the China Initiative suffers from three “fundamental flaws” which make it discriminatory, misguided, and antithetical to scientific progress.

Racial Profiling The first flaw in the logic of the China Initiative — according to the faculty members — is its targeting of researchers with ties to China without any evidence of wrongdoing. The faculty claim that the majority of prosecutions were based on racial profiling rather than any threat to national security.

Economics professor Hanming Fang — one of the letter’s co-sponsors — said that he was alarmed by the fact that the China Initiative singled out one country and ethnicity in its name.

“The very nature that China is being mentioned in the name of the initiative is actually unprecedented. The DOJ [has] never had any other initiative that singles out a particular country and ethnicity,” Fang said.

Computer and Information Science professor Boon Thau Loo — also a co-sponsor — added that the letter was written in solidarity with Chinese academics and for the benefit of the research community.

“The label China has caused a lot of discomfort.

Today, [it is] China; tomorrow, it could be another country,” Loo said. “I’m also worried about my own

DESIGN BY TYLER KLIEM

students in the future. When they enter the academic job market, are they going to be looked upon differently?”

A Disproportionate Response The letter wrote that the second failing of the China Initiative was that the majority of investigations brought against Chinese researchers are due to failures to disclose foreign appointments or funding rather than espionage or intellectual property theft. “[T]hese actions do not just affect the prosecuted faculty but affect the many more university researchers who are targeted, investigated, and feel threatened by inquiries initiated without prior evidence of significant wrongdoing,” the letter reads.

On Jan. 14, 2021, Gang Chen — a professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — was arrested by the FBI. He was charged by the U.S. government for allegedly failing to disclose affiliations with Chinese government institutions when he applied for grants from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2017. A year after his arrest, the U.S. government dropped all charges against Chen.

Fang said that Chen’s arrest has caused many Chinese and Chinese American academics to fear that they may be the next target of the China Initiative. He added that Chen’s alleged crimes

— reviewing overseas grant applications or writing recommendation letters for his students seeking overseas employment — are normal activities that most academics engage in.

“I just felt like this involves a tremendous amount of misunderstanding about what academics do,” Fang said.

Negative Effect on U.S. Research The third fundamental flaw of the China Initiative, according to the letter, is that it limits the progress of science and technology research and creates a hostile environment for Chinese and Chinese American researchers in the United States.

The faculty members wrote in the letter that the China Initiative — along with other actions by the U.S. government — has created an “increasingly hostile atmosphere” for Chinese scholars, visitors, and immigrants.

Faculty co-sponsor and Physics and Astronomy professor Andrea Liu compared the current hostility between China and the United States to the Cold War-era tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States. The current climate, she added, echoes the McCarthyist Red Scare of the 1950s, when scientists and scholars were accused of working for the communist USSR. “Which response paid off better for the U.S.?

McCarthyism, or the buildup of science and technology?” Liu asked. “I think that the historical answer is really clear. And I feel that what’s happening with these investigations is we face that choice again.”

The other faculty co-sponsors were Shu Yang, a professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Gary Wu, a professor of Gastroenterology at Penn Medicine, and James Gee, a professor of Radiology at Penn Medicine.

Several of Penn’s peer institutions have organized similar open letters to the DOJ. In December, nearly 100 faculty members at Yale University signed an open letter to Garland denouncing the China Initiative. At Princeton University, 198 professors signed a letter sent in October 2021 to the DOJ criticizing the China Initiative.

Liu emphasized that even when academics falsely accused of a crime under the China Initiative are not convicted or charged, these cases should never have occurred in the first place.

“Even when there’s a good outcome — when charges are dropped, cases are closed in investigations, such as what happened with Gang Chen at MIT — his life will still never be the same. His children still saw him led off in handcuffs from their house,” Liu said.

College and Wharton junior starts club providing swim lessons for special needs children The swim lessons focus on basic water safety since most of the children have little to no experience in the water ISABELLE LHUILIER Contributing Reporter

College and Wharton junior Kristen Sardis started a club that provides free swim lessons for special needs children in Philadelphia at Pottruck Health and Fitness Center.

Sardis, the president of Special Needs Undergraduate Swim Lessons at Penn, began the process of founding the Penn branch of the national nonprofit in fall 2019, with the goal of providing free lessons for local children ages 3-18. After COVID19-related delays, SNUGS was able to host its first in-person swim lessons during the fall 2021 semester.

SNUGS has branches at nine universities. According to its website, its mission is to combat drowning, which is a primary cause of death of children with disabilities.

Sardis said that she started SNUGS at Penn because she is a competitive swimmer who has worked children who have special needs from a young age.

“It was like a little piece of my life that was nice to bring to college,” she said.

Sardis added that SNUGS has had over 100 parents sign up for swim lessons, and the club was able to give lessons to over 30 children last semester.

Lessons are scheduled for Sunday afternoons, and run for 30 minutes each.

The swim lessons, Sardis said, focus less on form and more on basic water safety since most of the children have little to no experience in the water.

SNUGS currently has 20 active members, according to Sardis, and volunteers can sign up for as many or as few sessions as they prefer. There is no application needed to apply and members do not have to have to be lifeguard certified.

“All of our volunteers did such an amazing job last semester with the communication boundaries and being able to teach without words by leading by example,” Sardis said, adding that around 40% of the children the club worked with were nonverbal.

College junior and SNUGS Vice President Simone Fortin said that she joined the club because she has a brother with special needs who learned to swim through a similar program.

PHOTO FROM KRISTEN SARDIS

College and Wharton junior and Founder and President of Special Needs Undergraduate Swim Lessons Kristen Sardis at a recent swim lesson held in Pottruck Fitness Center.

“I saw how it changed people’s lives,” she said.

“I really wanted to help out and everything because it’s super close to home.”

Fortin said that her favorite part of the club is seeing how happy the parents are. Her favorite memory, she added, was when she was finally able to get one student to put her head under water during their final session.

“We got in the water, and she just immediately

dumped her head. We were jumping in and out of the pool. And her mom was just ecstatic, like ‘Oh my god, I’ve never seen my daughter like this before,’” she said.

Fortin said was glad to be part of a special moment for both the girl and her family.

“Coming from me personally, having a special needs brother, it is something that affects the whole family,” she said. “So when a milestone happens, it

really is something that’s super special for everyone in the family too.”

Looking forward, Fortin and Sardis said that one future goal for SNUGS is to continue expanding and recruiting new volunteers to meet the high demand for swim lessons.

“When these kids get in the pool, it’s so therapeutic for them. Swimming is just so good for a lot of these kids,” Fortin said.

8 SPORTS

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2022

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

Men’s squash’s Ivy title was 53 years in the making

PHOTO BY ANNA VAZHAEPARAMBIL

The men’s squash team was honored at the men’s basketball game on Feb. 12 after winning the Ivy League title outright for the first time since 1969.

carried ourselves throughout the season and stuck with each other.”

Beyond the players, this title holds such significance to the coaching staff. For head coach Gilly Lane, an alumnus of the team, having played from ANIKA GURURAJ 2003 to 2007, this victory was fulfilling not just Sports Associate his aspirations as a coach, but also as an athlete.

“As someone who played, we never got close The last time men’s squash won the Ivy League to a title so for me this is very special. I just feel title outright, Neil Armstrong was taking his first blessed to be around this group of student athsteps on the moon and the Beatles had just fin- letes,” Lane said. ished recording Abbey Road. Over 53 years in the While at the end of the season, a clean sheet making, the No. 1 men’s team in the nation added without a single loss paints a pretty picture, the another notch to its belt, storming to the title last team did not get here without some challenges.

Sunday with a win over Cornell.

“The hardest challenge I faced this season was “There are no words that can describe this feel- the match against Princeton,” Bhargava said.

The New York Times Syndication Sales Corporation ing. It still feels unreal and like620 a dream. did not want to lose against them because Eighth After Avenue, “We New York, N.Y. 10018 closing the Ivy League title Cornell, it Call: we would had to share the Ivy League title Information 1-800-972-3550 Theagainst NewFor York Times Syndication Saleshave Corporation was an emotional roller coaster,”620 graduate student with Harvard, which For Release Friday, February 2022 none of us wanted. We also Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y.11, 10018 Information 1-800-972-3550 Yash Bhargava said. “I felt relievedFor that all of ourCall:had one of our top three players out, so we knew For Releasefinally Thursday,that February 17, be 2022 hard work, dedication, and commitment it would a challenge to beat them on their paid off. [I] felt proud of my team for how we have home courts.”

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After going down 2-0 in the first shift, the courts were hotter than usual, and some Quakers began cramping and started to lose games.

“I could only think of how hard the team has worked and all the sacrifices made this year to be where we are right now,” Bhargava said. “Sometimes when your game is not at 100%, you want to push through for your teammates, and that’s what I did.”

The team rallied back from both physical and mental obstacles to prevail in that matchup, maintaining its perfect streak.

Another challenge that the team faced was the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to restrictions, many players could not gain access to courts during the time that classes were online. For many, preseason training was the first time they had played in months, and it took some adjusting to get into the rhythm again.

Lane credited the seniors and captains for leading the way, with their experience of falling just short of the title in 2020 motivating them to do better.

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what we have learned from our experiences in the last 3 years to help the younger guys reach their potential and achieve their goals.”

While this achievement is a milestone in the history of Penn squash, the team is hungry for more, with its eyes set on the CSA championships. Last year, it lost in the finals to Harvard, the 2020 Ivy League champions, on its home courts.

This year, the roles are reversed as the championship will be held at Penn, and the Quakers being crowned Ivy League champions.

“We understand that we are the No. 1 team in the country and we know we are going to get everyone’s best shot, but we are prepared for that challenge,” junior Dillon Huang said. “Everyone on the team is extremely excited to showcase the hard work that we have put in the whole season.”

The women’s team ended the Ivy League season strong, with a win over Cornell. Having suffered a string of losses, the last being to No. 3 Princeton, this win was the boost the Quakers needed going into CSA championships.

“We have been talking about this Cornell match since we’ve been back from winter break, knowing that this was the one match we needed to win to make it into the top division of nationals,” junior Ashley Manning said.

Looking at CSA championships, she is optimistic about their chances to fight their way up, confident the team will give it its all.

“The past few years we have gone into nationals with a higher ranking, but have ended in the last position,” Manning said. “This year, we are going in as last, and I know that everyone on the team could not be more excited to do our best and exceed our ranking. We currently have our heads held high, we are closer than ever, and training harder than ever before! We honestly can’t wait to see what we can do.”

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SPORTS 9

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2022

Gymnastics breaks program record in matchup against Towson Thanks in large part to the efforts of McCaleigh Marr, Penn notched a score of 195.375 JOYCE DAVIS Sports Associate

The Penn gymnastics team flipped its way to a new program record in its meet against Towson this past weekend. The Quakers left the competition victorious, setting a team record of 195.375 and tying its beam record of 9.950 thanks to the efforts of junior McCaleigh Marr.

The Quakers toppled its previous team record of 195.075, which it scored against Maryland in 2019.

This weekend, Penn’s score was the highest ever for an Ivy League program despite falling short to the Towson Tigers, who scored 195.950.

It truly was a team effort, as four Quakers left the arena with huge individual wins as well. Senior Sydney Kraez left with the all-around title for the second meet in a row, scoring 38.925. Marr’s 9.950 was the highest score for a Quaker in over 21 years.

Getting these top scores doesn’t come without hard work, and coach Kirsten Becker credits the team’s success to its resilience.

“The team has been working so hard and has been so focused throughout this preseason and throughout COVID-19, and I think this was kind of the culmination of that,” coach Becker said. “We’ve had a lot of girls who really haven’t had much exposure to collegiate competitive experience, and despite last year’s season being canceled, they stayed working hard and so focused throughout the last year and a half.”

On bars, junior Sarah Penuela-Wermers led the way for the Quakers with a 9.9, the highest score of the season and the event’s third-best score in program history. Kraez and freshman Isabel Song followed with a 9.8 each, Marr scored a 9.750, and

sophomore Sara Kenefick scored 9.675.

Becker said the style and structure of the team’s typical practice schedule has greatly contributed to its success.

“Typically [in preseason], we practice four full days a week for around three hours and then we’ll have one focus day that is typically [for] things we didn’t get to spend as much time on during the week, or some basics for the girls, or rehab exercises,” Becker said. “Now, our schedule changes based on when the meets are.”

On the vault, sophomore Kiersten Belkoff won the event with a 9.875, and Song and Kraez followed close behind with a 9.775 and 9.750, respectively. On floor, Kenefick reaffirmed her DP Sports Player of the Week title, scoring a careerhigh 9.875. Other Quakers also made their way on to the scoreboard to bring Penn’s floor total to 48.700.

For the newer members on the team, Becker revealed the specific way she has been helping them with their adjustment to collegiate-level competition.

“We do a lot of things in practice that are group assignments. A lot of it is getting them exposed to what it would feel like to do an individual routine for the team,” Becker said. “We do mock meets in practice, and we just had our inner squad in December to prepare for what a meet feels like. Outside of that, we have exhibitions where you go out there and do your thing without it counting for a score.”

On the beam, Marr’s record-tying 9.95 helped the Red and Blue notch the highest score of the season (49.00). Kraez’s 9.8, Belkoff’s 9.775, and senior Natalie Yang’s 9.750 also contributed to the team’s score.

Going into the meets, the mindset and focus never change for the Quakers, as they look to better themselves each time they suit up.

“Honestly, we haven’t changed much of our focus throughout the start of [the] season,” Becker said.

PHOTO BY KYLIE COOPER

Sophomore Connie Hsu competes on the bars during a meet against Yale at the Palestra on Jan. 30.

“Our focus has been on consistency and margin of error. If we’re going into a routine, we want to know if we’re going to hit between a 9.65 and 9.9 and if a 9.75 is an average score, we’re going to come out with a successful team score. Landing and sticking

dismounts is another thing we’ve been focusing on this season.”

Next Sunday, Penn will host Gymnastics East Conference competitor Bridgeport at 1 p.m. in the Palestra.

Over 300 current and former swimmers sign letter in support of swimmer Lia Thomas Thomas is set to compete at both the Ivy and NCAA championships EASHWAR KANTEMNENI Deputy Sports Editor

More than 300 current and former NCAA, Team USA, and international swimmers and divers signed an open letter, commissioned by LGTBQ+ advocacy group Athlete Ally, to NCAA leadership in support of Penn women’s swimmer Lia Thomas.

The letter was published on the same day the NCAA announced that it will not adopt USA Swimming’s more rigid policies for transgender athletes ahead of this year’s championship, thus preserving Thomas’ eligibility to compete.

The letter, in support of Thomas and all transgender and nonbinary athletes, requested that the NCAA “not adopt USA Swimming’s current policy mid-season, establish clear and consistent guidelines for developing and adopting new eligibility policies, and ensure those policies are adopted and communicated well in advance of the season, and ensure that transgender and nonbinary athletes are directly engaged in the policy development process.”

Six current and former Penn swimmers were among the 322 athletes to have signed the letter in support of Thomas. 36 Harvard athletes and 25 Yale athletes, including both current and former students, were among the signees of support from within the Ivy League.

The letter expressed support for Thomas in that all transgender and nonbinary athletes “deserve to be able to participate in safe and welcoming athletic

environments.” The letter concluded with a statement that its signees “will not be silent as members of our swim community are unfairly targeted by discriminatory policies.”

In her first season on the women’s team, Thomas qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 200, 500, and 1,650-yard freestyle events.

Thomas’ success was followed by widespread national media coverage and changes by the NCAA on policies regarding the competition of transgender athletes. According to the first phase of the new NCAA policies, which were announced this season, athletes competing in women’s swimming must not exceed the testosterone limit of five nanomoles per liter for 36 months. Additionally, athletes must provide evidence to a medical committee that they would not hold a “competitive advantage over their cisgender competitors.” This policy reflects the guidelines outlined by USA Swimming, though many other sports only require a period of 12 or 24 months under the testosterone threshold.

The signed letter in support of Thomas asserted that the new NCAA policies were directed unfairly towards Thomas, who began her treatment 33 months ago, falling short of the 36 months as required by the new policy.

Schuyler Bailar, a former Harvard swimmer who was the first transgender athlete to compete in Division I men’s swimming, and one of the letter’s commissioners, told Sports Illustrated, “The amount of discrimination [Thomas] has experienced, the amount of hatred, the amount of just blatant cruelty that has been projected and targeted at her, [is] inhumane.” Bailar believes that the new NCAA regulations aren’t just a threat to Thomas, but to “trans people in general, because [they] already are at risk.”

The letter follows a statement from the week prior

signed by 16 of Thomas’ teammates at Penn in support of the new NCAA policies potentially affecting her eligibility. This was preceded by a statement released by the women’s swimming and diving team expressing support of Thomas.

The Ivy League, with Thomas set to compete in

the conference championships this week in Boston, condemned the midseason changes in policy that the NCAA attempted to enact, citing the athletes’ confusion on their eligibility as the main reason.

The women’s swimming and diving NCAA championships are scheduled for March 16-19 in Atlanta.

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Senior Lia Thomas competes in the women’s 500-yard freestyle during a swim meet against Dartmouth and Yale at Sheerr Pool on Jan. 8.

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Quakers headed to Ivy-leading Yale after crucial win against Harvard PHOTO BY JESSE ZHANG

Junior guard Lucas Monroe attempts a layup during the game against Harvard on Feb. 12 at the Palestra.

Penn would claim first in the Ivy League with a win over Yale ASHIL SRIVASTAVA Sports Reporter

After five consecutive Ivy League wins, Penn (1112, 8-2 Ivy) will face arguably its biggest challenge all season, as it will face off this Friday against Ivyleading Yale on the road in New Haven, Conn.

The Bulldogs (14-9, 8-1) are currently riding an extended win streak as well, theirs being at six games, but if recent history is any indication, the Quakers will have a fighting chance to pull off the win.

Yale’s last loss came to the Quakers on Jan. 22 by a 76-68 margin in the Palestra. Over the course of the game, Penn managed to stymie the Bulldogs’ primary scorer, senior guard Azar Swain, holding him to 12 points on an abysmal 3-13 from the field.

Whether or not the Quakers can hold Swain off again will likely be a crucial factor in its ability to

secure the victory.

Another vital factor for Penn will be how much it can rely on sophomore guard Jordan Dingle, who has been lights-out as of late. Against Yale specifically, which kicked off Penn’s recent hot streak, Dingle struggled from deep, going one for eight from behind the arc, but he still managed to put up 31 points on 13-24 shooting. That means Dingle managed to go 12-16 when taking shots from inside the three-point line, a mark that if he can put up again will likely spell victory for the Quakers.

Over the team’s last five games, including its last matchup against Yale, Dingle has played the best he has all season, putting up an average of 27.4 points per game. In all but one of those contests, Dingle shot over .500 from the field, which is something that he had difficulty with early in the season, but he now appears to be a far more efficient version of himself.

Penn will need all the help from Dingle and the rest of the lineup it can get because if Penn pulls off the victory, the program will move past Yale in the Ivy League standings, which would put it in prime position to pull off some feats it hasn’t accomplished in quite some time. The Quakers have not earned an

Ivy League Championship since 2018, and the last time they did so outright was way back in 2007.

Granted, winning an Ivy League Championship wouldn’t automatically award the Red and Blue a March Madness berth — they still have to get through the Ivy Tournament — but it would award them a No. 1 seed in the tournament, a factor that might help the Quakers eventually make it to the vaunted NCAA Tournament.

This potential scenario would not have been possible without Penn notching a massive victory against Harvard (11-10, 3-6) in the packed Palestra on Saturday, which didn’t come without some worrisome moments.

For the Red and Blue’s first Ivy League home game with fans present in almost two years, Penn students showed up in full force, with free student tickets selling out prior to game time.

“It was really fun to be able to play in front of our fans again. I’m really happy that my seniors got to play in front of their fans as well,” Dingle said.

The matchup was mostly a back-and-forth battle.

Every time Penn had momentum, Harvard would find a way to claw back in. In the end, though, the Quakers emerged victorious with a score of 82-74

on the back of yet another monstrous Jordan Dingle performance, as he finished with 33 points.

With just two minutes remaining in the game, the score tied, and Penn in dire need of a crucial basket, Dingle — with two defenders swarming him — banked in a shot from downtown to give Penn a 74-71 advantage that the team wouldn’t give up for the rest of the game.

“He had three bodies on him, and he kept his poise, kept the dribble, didn’t panic, didn’t try to make a quick one,” head Coach Steve Donahue said of Dingle. “Today, he was in an extra zone of really staying in the moment.”

Freshman guard George Smith then hit the dagger three with under a minute remaining to bring the lead to six, electrifying the packed crowd.

“I was just trying to make the right play each time,” Dingle said postgame. “I did a good job this week preparing for it and they happened to fall.”

Dingle — whose 33 points marked a career high for the sophomore guard — shot an impressive 1217 from the field. Sophomore Clark Slajchert and junior Lucas Monroe added 15 and nine points, respectively, as Penn improved to 11-12 overall, but more importantly, 8-2 in the conference.

Women’s basketball on Ivy Tournament bubble after OT win at Harvard

PHOTO BY ANNA VAZHAEPARAMBIL

Junior guard Kayla Padilla attempts a shot against Cornell during the home game on Feb. 5 at the Palestra.

The two-game win streak could be a turning point for the Quakers in the midst of tough Ivy League matchups COBY RICH Sports Reporter

The shots were falling for Penn women’s basketball on Saturday, as the team used four doubledigit scoring performances to cruise past Harvard.

It was one of the Quakers’ best offensive outputs of the season, with the 87 points marking the most they’ve scored against a Division I opponent this year.

The Quakers struck first at Lavietes Pavilion, SEND STORY IDEAS TO DPSPORTS@THEDP.COM

with senior forward Kennedy Suttle scoring a game-opening layup off an assist from senior Mia Lakstigala. Penn continued its run to start the game with a Kayla Padilla jumper and a second Suttle layup.

Harvard followed the Quakers’ scoring streak with its first basket of the game, but Mike McLaughlin’s squad kept up its scoring pace. Penn outscored the Crimson 19-13 in the first quarter and 22-13 in the second quarter.

A major factor in the Quakers’ first half success was the efforts of Penn’s two leading scorers on the season, Padilla and sophomore forward Jordan Obi. Padilla scored 14 of her 23 points in the first half, while Obi scored 15 of her 20 over the first two quarters. The scoring duo shot a combined 4-6 from beyond the arc and 10-15 from the floor in the first half.

One issue the Quakers have faced this season is a lack of secondary scoring options behind Padilla and Obi, who are averaging 19.9 and 13.8 points per game, respectively. But that issue didn’t make the trip up to Harvard, and Padilla and Obi had no shortage of help in putting up points. Freshman Stina Almqvist’s 15 points were the second-most of her career, and Suttle’s 19 were a season-high.

Despite entering the half with a 41-26 lead, the Quakers were outpaced by the Crimson throughout the third and fourth quarters. Penn’s shooting from beyond the arc dried up, with the Quakers making just one of their eight second-half attempts. The Crimson, however, made six of their 14 three-point shots, helping them send the game into overtime.

Harvard’s offensive output was primarily fueled by junior guard McKenzie Forbes, who scored a career-high 30 points on the back of 11-26 shoot-

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ing from the floor. Forbes’ effort was also complemented by a 23-point outing from first-year guard Harmoni Turner.

Penn’s second-half struggles did not extend to overtime, where the Red and Blue held Harvard to just three points in the bonus period. The Quakers made good use of six points from Padilla, who also made all four of her overtime free-throw attempts.

The Quakers (9-12, 4-5 Ivy) have now won backto-back Ivy League games for the first time this season, and they continue to right the ship following a mid-season five-game losing streak that threatened their Ivy Tournament hopes. Following Saturday’s win at Harvard (12-10, 6-4), Penn sits at fifth in the Ivy League with five conference matchups left. The team will look to continue its winning ways this upcoming weekend, when it hosts Yale and Brown at the Palestra.

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