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The room selection application will open for all undergraduate students on Jan. 18
JESSICA WU Contributing Reporter DESIGN BY ALICE CHOIThe application process to live in on-campus housing for the 20232024 academic year will open at the beginning of November. Here are all of the key dates and deadlines you will need to know, according to Penn Business Services Director of Com munications and External Relations Barbara Lea-Kruger. Keep reading for a run-down of the living options available for upperclassmen.
The form to indicate interest in
on-campus housing for current sopho mores, juniors, and seniors graduating in December 2023 opens in MyHo meAtPenn on Nov. 1 and closes on Nov. 21. Completing the application informs Residential Services that a student intends to complete the spring semester’s room selection process and gives them an advantage for room selection timeslots, but it does not commit a student to housing until they apply in the spring.
The room selection application will open for all undergraduate students in MyHomeAtPenn on Jan. 18 and will close on Feb. 7. Students interested in living in a program community must apply by Jan. 27.
Program communities offer a shared living space and special pro gramming for students to connect with peers who have similar cul tures, lifestyles, or interests. Some
examples of upperclass program communities include the Jewish Cultural Studies Program and Front Row Theatre and the Arts. A full list of program communities can be found on the Penn College Houses & Academic Services website.
Rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors can indicate that they wish to continue living in the same college house next year during the Return to House period.
The housing process involves many im portant decisions: where you want to live, whom you want to live with, and what kind of room you want. The Daily Pennsylva nian spoke to upperclassmen who have words of advice for students going through the process.
Thompson added that it is important to consider proximity to your classes and your financial aid situation. She recommends reaching out to upperclassmen friends and speaking to them about their current living situation.
“You need to know what works for you as a student and you as a person when making your decision,” Thompson said.
Alvarez-Carcamo said. “It becomes per sonal versus if you are not that close with them, then you can distance yourself from that person without it hurting that much.”
Alvarez-Carcamo also stressed how per sonal routines are an important factor when choosing a roommate.
Do your research
Nursing junior Monai Thompson rec ommended visiting different rooms in different college houses to get a feel for each house. This advice, she said, also applies to sophomores who are consider ing moving off campus for their junior year.
“Definitely do as much research as you can because I feel like every college house is different, and they have something else to offer. You won’t know which college house fits you until you do your research,” Thompson said.
College senior Bryan Alvarez-Carcamo explained that communication is the most important attribute in a successful living situation.
“I really think that communication is probably the key to a successful living situation and that it is important to room with a group that you know fairly well, but don’t room with your best friends because it gets complicated when issues arise,”
“Make a game plan in terms of what the day-to-day is going to look like. Like, the scheduling of who’s cleaning, who’s taking out the trash, and showering times,” he recommended.
College senior Jeffrey Fishman echoed Alvarez-Carcamo’s sentiments. He said that when picking a roommate, it is impor tant to consider habits.
“It is important to consider a lot of things when you are deciding whether you want to live with someone or not, so not just if you are compatible, but think about your sleep sched ule, eating schedule, how clean you want the apartment to be,” Fishman said. “Setting those standards earlier is definitely a good idea to have when thinking about living with people.”
Plan ahead and get organized Fishman urged students to plan far in advance and talk to the group of people they want to live with about their priorities for housing.
“You want to figure out where you see yourself living and also who you want to live with so that you make sure you are organized and ready to go into the process of actually requesting the housing on time,” Fishman said.
For current first years, Fishman also recommended that they take note of their timeslot and make sure they are ready with a list of their first choices and backups.
“Make sure you make use of your timeslot, or else you most likely will not get the housing you want,” Fish man said.
Here are three pieces of advice from upperclassmen on navigating the on-campus housing processPHOTO BY ANNA VAZHAEPARAMBIL Students studying in Hill College House.
After Penn recently announced a plan to lease The Radian for two years while the Quad undergoes major renovations, The Daily Penn sylvanian spoke with several officials from the Division of Facilities and Real Estate Services to break down the details and updates about the pro cess.
This will be the first major renova tion since 2000 to the Quad, which is over 100 years old. The initial
budget for the renovation was $200 million, but since then the budget has increased to $238.15 million to cover chimney work and normal inflation, according to Director of Design and Construction John Zurn. This ad justed amount does not include the costs of leasing The Radian.
The three college houses that comprise the Quad will be reno vated one at a time, with Riepe being the first, Ware second, and FisherHassenfeld third. The timeline has changed slightly, with renovations now scheduled to last roughly 15 months per house, meaning the entire project will be completed in 2026, a year earlier than was initially announced.
Renovations in Riepe will last from May 2023 to August 2024, in Ware will last from May 2024 to
August 2025, and in Fisher-Hassen feld will last from May 2025 to May 2026.
Renovations will include the removal of sinks in all bedrooms, two new elevators and a LimitedUse-Limited-Application lift for increased accessibility, and more single-use bathrooms.
The two currently existing el evators will be replaced, and the new elevators will also make larger lounges more accessible, accord ing to University Architect Mark Kocent.
He added that the creation of more single-use bathrooms will mean that some bedrooms currently surround ing bathrooms will be consolidated into the bathroom space instead. However, no more than 50 beds will be lost in this transition, and there
will still be more than 1,400 beds in the Quad.
“There were a number of bed rooms lost to make the bathrooms all-gender. Some were lost for utility infrastructure, and some were made to make the building more equitable in terms of lounges,” Kocent said.
All the bathrooms in the Quad will be updated, but not all will become single-use bathrooms. They will, however, “feel more single-use,” according to Kocent, with almost floor-to-ceiling doors in the stalls to make them feel more “private.”
All bathrooms will have the “po tential” to be gender neutral with this layout according to Senior Associate Director of Building Operations Paul Forchielli.
“Sometimes in the past, halls have made those calls. Every
bathroom will have the potential to be completely gender-neutral now,” Forchielli said.
The renovation of Stouffer Col lege House was announced at the same time as the Quad renovations, and that process has already begun. Most of the demolition in Stouffer has been completed, according to Zurn, and he doesn’t anticipate run ning into any issues with the rest of the project.
Stouffer had not been renovated since it was built, and the main goal of the renovation was to both update bedrooms and bathrooms and to make it more accessible.
“It was never fully accessible inside. The next step will be taking out some of the concrete steps and putting all the ramps in pouring con crete,” Forchielli said.
The Radian on Sept. 22, 2022.
Students currently living in The Radian have the option to renew their lease, but they must go through the Penn
JASPER TAYLOR Staff Reportercomplex, as student housing to facilitate renovations in the Quad over the next three years, start ing August 2023. Current Radian residents have the option to renew their lease, but they must go through Penn to do so.
Students currently living in The Radian expressed confusion and concern about Penn’s leasing of the off-campus apartment complex.
not be able to stay with us,” Zhang said.
Various college houses within the Quad will be closed for reno vations from May 2023 to May 2026. During this time, first-year students who would have lived in the Quad will instead be placed into one of Penn’s four-year college houses.
year, but some say they are still waiting to learn more about how this decision affects their chances at renewing their lease.
Zhang said that she and her roommates, as well as other Radian residents they know, are wondering how the renewal pro cess will change now that Penn will lease the complex.
residents, who must move out by the end of May, Huang’s lease with The Radian is set to expire in July.
After Penn announced that it would be leasing The Radian for on-campus student housing to ac commodate renovations in the Quad, current residents say they are worried about rising rent rates and housing policy changes as a result.
The Penn Board of Trustees voted on Sept. 22 to lease The Radian, an off-campus apartment
Engineering junior Helena Zhang is currently living in a fourbedroom apartment suite with three roommates. She said that the group’s original plan was to renew their lease at the end of the year, but Penn’s plan to lease The Radian could pose a financial bar rier to current residents.
“If Penn is actually going to rent out The Radian, the price might go up from when we signed the lease, so one of our roommates might
Upperclass students will be able to select The Radian as a housing option this spring semester during the housing selection process. Housing in The Radian through Penn will cost $15,418 per aca demic year — the same as Penn’s current higher-cost housing option, Doug Berger, executive director of business services, previously told the DP.
Penn’s decision to lease The Radian may force some students to reconsider their housing plans next
“We want to know, if Penn were to rent out The Radian, how the process will be,” Zhang said. “Do people who currently live in The Radian get priority to renew, or are we going to be thrown in the pool with everyone else?”
College junior Kyle Huang, who lives in a four-bedroom suite in The Radian, echoed Zhang’s sentiments. He added that he is concerned about whether Penn will honor residents’ exist ing leases. Unlike on-campus
College senior Angela Lao, who also lives in a four-bedroom apart ment suite with three roommates, said she was concerned about the future of the building when Penn takes over. Lao said that some resi dents are considering not returning after learning that Penn would begin leasing it, starting the next academic year.
She echoed concerns about the increase in pricing under Penn ownership, and said that she has many questions about how the building will function as an oncampus dorm.
“I feel like the pricing for hous ing in general for residents might be a concern,” Lao said. “Oncampus housing is relatively more expensive.”
Sophomores and juniors can choose from a variety of options for the next year with a wide range of amenities and prices
George Botros Contributing ReporterLOCATED AT 3720 CHESTNUT ST.
The Chestnut is a new 30-story apartment building constructed in 2020 with close proximity to campus. It also has the most expensive starting price per square foot on this list.
Rent: Studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments — starting at $2,317/mo.
Floor Plans: Units range from 486 to 1186 sq. ft.
Amenities: Rooftop pool, co-working space, fitness center, paid parking garage, game room, in-unit washer and dryer, kitchen appliances Pet Friendly? Yes, with a monthly fee and conditions Walk to Campus: Six minutes
LOCATED AT 3601 MARKET ST.
Arrive University City is a 28-story building constructed in 2016. It has many dining options nearby, including Dunkin’ and Jimmy John’s.
Rent: Studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments — starting at $2,317/mo.
Floor Plans: Units range from 486 to 1186 sq. ft.
Amenities: Rooftop pool, co-working space, fitness center, paid parking garage, game room, in-unit washer and dryer, kitchen appliances
Pet Friendly? Yes, with a fee and conditions
Walk to Campus: Seven minutes
LOCATED AT 3701 CHESTNUT ST.
The Mason was built in 1969 and has 409 units on 14 stories.
Rent: Studio and one-bedroom apartments — starting at $1,350/mo.
Floor Plans: Units range from 275 to 530 sq. ft. Amenities: Study lounges, fitness center, media room, basketball court, in-unit washer and dryer, kitchen appliances with a monthly fee Pet Friendly? No Walk to Campus: Six minutes
LOCATED AT 400 S. 40TH ST.
Luna on Pine is a five-story apartment building constructed in 2018.
Rent: Studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments — starting at $1,385/mo.
Floor Plans: Units range from 400 to 800 sq. ft.
Amenities: Co-working spaces, fitness center, media room, game area, secured bike room, keyless entry, in-unit washer and dryer, kitchen appliances
Pet Friendly? Yes, with a one-time fee and conditions
Walk to Campus: Two minutes
LOCATED AT 3411 CHESTNUT ST.
Domus is an eight-story apartment building built in 2007. It is a popular choice for
to its close proximity
Rent: One- to three-bedroom apartments — starting at $3,012/mo.
Floor Plans: Units range from 793 to 1,635 sq. ft.
Amenities: Pool, private study rooms, fitness center, paid parking, smart home features, in-unit washer and dryer, kitchen appliances
Pet Friendly? Yes, with one-time fee, monthly fee, and conditions
Walk to Campus: Four minutes
LOCATED AT 20 S. 36TH ST.
The Axis features resident advisors and social events, and the on-site Axis Pizza Cafe & Salad Bar.
Rent: Single and double room units — starting at $800/ mo.
Floor Plans: Units range from 252 to 360 sq. ft.
Amenities: Kitchen appliances, fitness center, laundry room, movie theater, game room Pet Friendly? No Walk to Campus: Four minutes
LOCATED AT 101 S. 39TH ST.
Hamilton Court dates back to 1901. In 2016, it underwent major renovations, and earlier this year, it was sold for $87 million to new management.
Rent: One- to five-bedroom apartments — starting at $1,215/mo.
Floor Plans: Units range from 600 to 1,780 sq. ft.
Amenities: Pool, outdoor kitchen, study lounge, fitness center including yoga studio, laundry room, kitchen appliances
Pet Friendly? Yes
Walk to Campus: Three minutes
For first years, sophomores, and juniors, there are nine on-campus housing options, including The Radian
Sophomores are required to live on campus as part of Penn’s Second Year Ex perience, while juniors and seniors have the option to live on campus if they choose to.
Three 24-floor high-rise apartment buildings on the west side of Penn’s campus are available for upperclassmen.
Harnwell College House, Harrison College House, and Rodin College House each occupy around 775 residents and offer apartment-style lay outs ranging from one to four bedrooms. All rooms have private baths, while some also have kitchens.
The high rises feature lounges on each floor, laun dry rooms, and music practice rooms. Other facilities include rooftop study lounges, a dance studio, computer labs, a movie screening room, a library, and a game room, depending on the specific high-rise build ing. The high rises are located along Locust Walk near 39th and 40th streets.
Due to renovations in the Quad, The Radian, an off-campus apartment com plex, will be a new addition to the housing application
for upperclass students this spring. It will house around 460 students, and every room in The Radian includes full kitchens and washers and dryers.
The recently built Gutmann College House — renamed from New College House West in honor of Penn's eighth president Amy Gutmann — houses around 430 residents in suites ranging from two to
six people. While Gutmann does not have private kitchens for each suite, it contains sev eral shared kitchens, a dining cafe, a coffee bar, a campus green space, a meditation room, and a tinker space, in addition to the amenities also provided by the high rises. Gutmann also houses Quaker Kitchen, a dining facility that offers students a restaurantstyle dinner experience five nights a week. The house is located near 40th and Walnut streets.
Lauder College House, known for its dining cafe that serves chef-curated dinner specials, is a four-year com munity home to 344 total students, including 92 first years. Students live in suitestyle rooms ranging from two to six people, each suite having one or two bathrooms, a flat-screen TV, and builtin shelving. Other amenities include a library, meditation room, fitness room, dining pa vilion, and private courtyard. Lauder is located near 34th and Walnut streets.
Gregory College House is a four-year community comprised of two buildings:
Van Pelt Manor and Class of 1925. The residence features suite-style rooms with singles, doubles, and quads, with fa cilities such as a greenhouse, film screening room, piano lounge, and yoga studio. The 241 residents, including 52 first years, can join one of four Language Houses that host international dinners. Gregory is located near 39th and Spruce streets.
Du Bois College House
Housing 159 students, in cluding 43 first years, Du Bois College House is a four-year residence that pro vides a community space for Black students on campus. In addition to suites rang ing from singles to quads, Du Bois also offers common kitchens, a computer room, fitness rooms, a library, and lounges. The college house, which holds traditions such as Senior Toast and Thanksgiv ing Dinner, is located between 39th and 40th streets.
Stouffer College House
Stouffer College House is a four-year community made up of Mayer Hall and Stouffer Hall. Mayer Hall features apartment-style rooms with kitchens and private bath rooms.
The building will include 236 individual apartments and 127 group living units
EVA NEE Senior ReporterDevelopers are planning a new 34-story building near Penn’s campus on Chestnut Street that will contain over 360 units for individual apartments and group living.
The building — which will be located at 3615 Chestnut Street — will have 363 units and be named The Mark at Phila delphia. Of the total units, 236 units will be used as individual apartments and 127 units will be used for group living. The building will also have 70 parking spaces and 96 bicycle stalls, Rising Real Estate reported.
The building will be constructed on
The project will require leveling two residential buildings already owned by Campus Apartments, including the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house
what is currently a surface parking in the heart of University City. The building’s pedestrian entrance will be on Chestnut Street, and the parking entrance will be on Ludlow Street.
Made up of stacked stone and metal and precast panels, the exterior of The Mark will be composed of different shades of blue and gray. The neighbor ing buildings will include the existing Ralston House and a church.
According to Rising Real Estate, The Mark is using a low-income housing bonus to build an additional 250% in floor area ratio. No permit has yet been issued for the construction of the building.
The BKV Group and Landmark Proper ties are the architects and developers of the project, respectively. Landmark Properties is planning to construct a similar project to be completed in 2024, next to the Univer sity of California, Los Angeles.
Existing Mark properties also serve as student housing and are located in Ari zona, Texas, and Georgia.
“The Mark is a luxurious student community designed for the ultimate offcampus living experience,” according to the The Landmark’s website. “With custom-designed furniture packages and first-class amenities, our residents are met with a high quality of life that is a mark above the rest.”
— such as the distribution of apartment types — have not been finalized, the build ing is planned to contain retail space and the company’s corporate headquarters, ac cording to Adelman. Amenities will include fitness facilities and shared study spaces.
The living space will include studios as well as one-, two-, and three-bedroom units with a private bathroom per bedroom.
Chair of the Spruce Hill Community Association Zoning Committee Barry Grossbach told The Philadelphia Inquirer that “students are no longer interested in living with 10 other people in a house with two bathrooms.”
The project is not planning on using Philadelphia’s zoning bonuses that would exchange greater height and density in exchange for including more affordable housing and open space. The building will consist of a maximum of 162,000 square feet of space and be 10 to 11 stories tall.
The new Campus Apartments project will require leveling two residential buildings already owned by Campus Apartments, including the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house.
Campus Apartments is planning to open a new headquarters building featur ing 136 new residential units and office space at 41st and Walnut streets in 2026.
David Adelman, the CEO of Campus Apartments — which provides hous ing for many Penn students who live off
campus — wrote in an emailed statement that the next steps for development will be entitlement and demolition, which is currently planned to begin in 2024. The project will require leveling two residen tial buildings already owned by Campus Apartments, including the Alpha Epsilon
Pi fraternity house.
When asked for comment on the de velopment, Heidi Wunder, the assistant director for Communications of Facilities & Real Estate Services, directed The Daily Pennsylvanian to Campus Apartments.
While the details of the living space
Adelman, who is also involved in the pro posed Philadelphia 76ers arena in Center City near Chinatown, told the Inquirer the company does not want the project to impact the townhomes located to the imme diate south by taking on the zoning bonus. He added that Campus Apartments is very aware of its place in the community.
“Our headquarters have been in Univer sity City since 1958,” Adelman wrote. “We wanted to stay true to our Philadelphia roots and remain in the city, specifically the Uni versity City neighborhood.”
For Penn undergraduates living on campus, program communities are an option to connect with students who share similar interests.
Program communities, a category that includes Student Designed Communities and Course Communities, allow groups of students in the same program to reside on the same floor of a dormitory. These communities encapsulate themes from “Perspectives in Humanities” to “Women in Computer Science.” In order to partici pate, students must fill out an additional part of the on-campus housing applica tion and are accepted with varying levels of selectivity, depending on the program.
Course Communities comprise two different categories: Penn Course Com munities, which encompass a full academic program and often a specific degree, and College House Course Com munities, which generally offer course credit in conjunction with a livinglearning community on a designated residential floor. Popular Penn Course Communities include the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business and the Jerome Fisher Program
in Management and Technology.
College first year and member of the Casa Hispanica program — one of the College House Course Communities — Erika Kishino is an intermediate Spanish speaker. According to the CHAS web site, the Casa Hispanica community is a part of the Modern Languages Program, based in Gregory College House, and helps students of varying fluency levels develop their proficiency in Chinese, French, German, or Spanish.
“I think one thing that’s good is that you get to know other people in your college house,” Kishino said. “And in the Spanish house, there aren’t that many people fully enrolled that come every time, so we get to know them pretty well.”
Although the French language compo nent of the Modern Languages Program, Maison Française, is not offering a credit option this semester, College first year and program member Sergio Carballido appreciates the level of immersion the program offers.
“I think students could have a really good experience in belonging to these types of programs, especially because it
allows them to practice more language,” Carballido said. “I think that, in general, something I’ve noticed the language courses here [at] Penn are missing is speaking practice.”
Miraya Gesheva, a College first year, is a member of the Film Culture Program in Gregory College House, and is opting to take two half credits over two semes ters. Both Kishino and Gesheva noted that while there is a core group of people who are consistently involved with the program community, students who are not official members can also participate in its activities.
“When I go — because I’ve been to a couple [movie screenings] — I see famil iar faces that go to many films, but there are random people as well,” Gesheva said. “It’s not binding if you’re not taking the half credit.”
Student Designed Communities are also an option for upperclassmen to facil itate existing connections and create new ones. Applications for SDCs are accepted annually, according to CHAS.
The East Asian Media & Culture pro gram, located on the fifth floor of Lauder
College House, was created by a pre-ex isting group of friends.
“We decided to start this cultural com munity because most of us kind of relate to it, and we all have some background in East Asian culture,” College sophomore and EAMC founding member Ben Lin said.
Lin cited a greater degree of freedom in event planning and budget allocation as benefits of having a student-led com munity as opposed to one organized by CHAS and faculty, but added that the freedom has some drawbacks.
“I think it definitely took a little bit more time [to be organized], being com pletely student-run,” Lin said. “But we have some people who stepped up and are taking charge.”
Lin and Carballido agreed that the events hosted by program communities would benefit from increased advertise ment in order to attract students with similar interests.
“The [hardest] thing is to make people know about the program and make them do the first step of going there,” Carbal lido said.
The Quad, the oldest dormitories on Penn’s campus, was originally built in 1895. Penn recently announced its renovation, which will take place over the next three years. The Daily Pennsylvanian takes a look at some images of key dormitories and architecture around Penn’s campus in the Penn Archives Digital Image
what they look like
BY JESSE ZHANG
Penn has not shied away from making University housing decisions that do not put students’ needs first, the require ment for sophomores to live in on-campus housing being a recent instance of this. Penn neglected to factor in the added ex pense that on-campus housing imposed on many students who would have otherwise chosen cheaper off-campus options.
The announcement that Penn would be leasing The Radian to counter the effects of the partial shutdown of the Quad during the year for renovations displays another lack of forethought for the students affected — those who currently live in The Radian, along with the second- and first-year stu dent bodies as a whole.
Those who live in The Radian are facing an immediate financial burden looking forward to next school year if they choose to renew their leases. An email sent to the current tenants already explained how rent would be raised around $500 a month for the upcoming school year.
The email to current tenants stated that Penn security will be in place, requiring the same check-in process for guests that on-campus housing imposes — defeating the off-campus feel that many Penn stu dents hoped to find when moving into The Radian. Penn instead is trying to create the feel of on-campus housing, introduc ing resident advisors, graduate associates, a house director, and faculty fellows into the apartment. Even if current residents choose to incur the extra costs that are as sociated with Penn’s leasing of The Radian — which in itself could pose a significant financial burden to students — the idea of it being a purely off-campus housing experi ence is gone.
While the changes to The Radian make it too reminiscent of the on-campus ex perience for upperclassmen hoping for a change, the inclusion of the apartment complex as an option for second-year students also defeats the purpose of the second-year housing requirement. In rationalizing the change to on-campus housing requirements, the University cited its desire to forge a stronger community among both the first- and second-year stu dents.
In spite of this mission statement, estab lishing on-campus housing in The Radian is a decision that isolates students, rather
than builds community. While The Radian has study rooms and a fitness center, the building was not constructed with the in tention of providing a community to the degree that on-campus housing intends to do, with its central location on campus, co pious student lounges, and closely located dining options.
While first-year students are not going to be living in The Radian, the successive shutting down of Riepe College House, Ware College House, and Fisher-Hassen feld College House over three years will require some students to be placed in fouryear college houses. These include Gregory College House, Stouffer College House,
and Lauder College House.
I felt isolated my first year at Penn, but I at least had the solace of living with other students in my same year, who faced the same struggles of adjusting to a new envi ronment while trying to find community. Living in four-year housing strips those who are in these four-year dormitories from having a uniquely first-year expe rience, risking adding new stresses and pressures for first years who are living with upperclassmen who are already ad justed to Penn.
Ignoring the burden — partly finan cial, partly social — being put on current residents, future tenants, and first-year
students is not a solution to the housing problems posed by renovations.
While Penn may not change its decision, moving forward it must put more consider ation into the decisions it makes regarding housing, and whether they are hypocritical to its own claims about wanting to foster community. Students should be put first, not what is convenient for the University.
ISABELLA GLASSMAN is a College senior studying philosophy, politics, and economics and Italian studies from Suffern, N.Y. Her email is iglass@ sas.upenn.edu.
Open a new tab, type “Spring Fling” into the search bar, and press return. What you’re likely to see isn’t Penn Park or Franklin Field; instead, there are panoramic photos of students jumping into crowds of bodies and what can be considered a mosh pit occupying the now serene Quad green. If you’re a current student at the University, this ex perience may have enticed you, but it was never offered.
Spring Fling uprooted itself and settled down on the edge of campus, Penn Park. If you tried to stroll in during the first few hours last year, you were probably first met by the intimidating line, and if you managed to wait that part out, you would reach the jackpot: a muddy meadow dotted with a few vendors and an alarm ing amount of Monster Energy being handed out. Siphon through the obvious questions if you would like: (1) Were there chairs — no; (2) Was there shade — ex cluding the street overpass, no; (3) Was the setup helpful for performing artists — no. Spring Fling had a logistical, obvious issue, and it’s time to fix it.
To understand what went wrong, we first need to address how the largest
student-run festival on the East Coast lost its way. In 2018, the Quad was aban doned by the Social Planning and Events Committee in an attempt to reinvigo rate the festival following issues with attendance. Fearing security concerns and general issues with the Quad venue space, SPEC made the rash decision to start from scratch somewhere else, but the change of locale stripped Fling of its playfulness and appeal.
No one wants to stand in a flat, fairly sparse field while watching musical entertainment because half of the enter tainment is the crowd itself. Without the close quarters of the Quad’s antiquated aesthetic, Fling downgraded from Wood stock ‘69 to Woodstock ‘99 — or some sort of Fyre Festival. The one event that enticed people from every corner of Penn into the Quad was effectively nerfed, but was it for good reason?
The green space lying directly in front of McClelland is much smaller than Penn Park, and its borders are much more rigid. Furthermore, the issues of line queues and bathrooms stick out as crucial Quad counterpoints. The Uni versity’s frequent property damage bills
from Fling weekend also pressed SPEC to find a new solution. To end festival mishaps and troubles in the Quad, the event relocated. COVID-19 and space constraints were not at fault.
I would not call the Quad a perfect lo cation by any means, but it is a historic stomping ground that used to undergo a drastic, almost freeing transformation each April. Also, the issues attributed to the Quad could be solved by simply shifting a few policies. Queue lines could zig zag throughout the upper Quad and south gate entrance green. Maybe ven dors could sell snacks to those waiting in line. Bathrooms could be made more accessible to upper-level students, and security could always be ramped up to prevent property damage or theft. A change of location was not a fix but a dampener on Penn’s one chance to act up amid each year of academia.
The only benefit I can spot in Penn Park is the lack of property to be dam aged. 2022’s Spring Fling tried to distract its overworked socialites and exploratory partygoers with free, massproduced food, but all the crowd could see was a school-sanctioned event with
too much money invested in the wrong places. Stripped of the messy culture tra ditionally surrounding the event, Fling tried to distract its attendees with boba, popsicles, and even a bounce house. I say that we should want more than handouts; we need an experience.
Even if you would rather stand in a field adjacent to the expressway, at least sympathize with the student perform ers who want to play in a smaller space with a more condensed audience. The noise pollution and lack of a fan base can dampen any performance. It’s time we get that back.
Current Penn students have been stripped of a core memory: watch ing their friends, classmates, and semi-famous musicians perform in the right venue. It is time for this year’s Spring Fling to return to its rightful niche on Penn’s campus, and I hope those organizing the event can see the same.
C.H. HENRY is a College sophomore studying communications and theater arts from Nashville, Tenn. His email address is chhen@sas.upenn.edu.
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Barnard College’s resident advisors recently made a historic move, be coming one of only a handful of university workers’ groups to unionize since a Na tional Labor Relations Board ruling in 2017 cleared the way for such actions. Hot on the heels of Wesleyan residential life employees unionizing this past March and Mount Holyoke’s filing for union recogni tion just weeks ago, Barnard RAs are only the latest participants in an accelerating unionization movement.
The common motivation for such collective organizing efforts generally centers around the lack of adequate com pensation and benefits. This complaint becomes especially marked when con sidering the situation of resident advisors and graduate resident advisors who are expected to work around the clock. It is often framed as a requirement that RAs and GRAs should be virtually always available to address residents’ needs. They also have a myriad of other re sponsibilities such as event organizing, administrative work, and leadership.
Keeping in mind that RAs and GRAs are often full-time students, involved in extracurriculars and sometimes juggling other jobs, the additional commitment re quired of them is formidable. Of course, RA and GRA positions are voluntary, and are often taken by students because of the benefits provided as compensation.
At Penn, this takes the form of yearround housing and a paltry dining plan. However, considering that RAs and GRAs are implicitly required to be constantly available, rough calculations can be made as to how much they are compensated by the hour in the form of “benefits.” Using conservative estimates that RAs and GRAs must be on call for nine hours a day, and taking a generous estimate of the monetary value of Penn’s provided dining and housing, dividing by 63 hours a week for approximately 40 weeks, yields a meager salary of $7.14 an hour, which falls below the minimum wage.
But this is, after all, a moot point, as RAs and GRAs are not paid in the form of wages. Penn, instead, treats the benefits as they would an external scholarship: As opposed to reducing the expected contri bution, the University subtracts the total value of RA and GRA benefits from the financial aid these students may have al ready received in the form of grants.
In this way, depending on the amount of financial aid a student receives, they could
see no net financial benefit from being an RA or GRA as their financial aid, which is calculated independently of holding an RA or GRA position, is replaced by valued benefits. As a result of this meth odology, students who receive little to no financial aid benefit the most from being a RA or RGA, while those who require the perceived added benefits the most reap no absolute financial rewards.
This, in turn, may discourage lowincome students from applying to be an RA or GRA, as they will not receive any extra aid for the, as previously es tablished, inordinate amount of work required. The resulting lack of socioeco nomic diversity in the resident advisor staff is problematic for obvious reasons, as RAs and GRAs are often who students first turn to in times of need.
Additionally, since RAs and GRAs are paid in the form of benefits, which can be calculated as a lump sum, there are no avenues through which they can re ceive extra pay or benefits for extra hours worked, events organized, or exceptional support provided to students. Moreover, Penn’s College House and Academic Ser vices does not permit RAs and GRAs to
travel home for fall break, Thanksgiving recess, spring recess, or other breaks. Any absence for more than two consecu tive days is prohibited except in “extreme emergencies.”
By framing the current state of af fairs in this way, it is clear why students at peer institutions, who operate in much the same way, have moved towards unionization. The current system at Penn not only exploits RAs and GRAs through lump sum benefits and an extreme lack of breaks, but paradoxically disadvantages low-income students.
As more student employees unionize across higher education, as well as within the Ivy League, Penn RAs and GRAs have a unique opportunity to mobilize in the context of a growing movement that is undeniably gaining traction. By doing so, they can cement collective bargaining power, which would allow them to re dress a lengthy list of glaring issues with the operation of the current system of RA and GRA employment.
Under the auspices of union mem bership, RAs and GRAs can demand compensation in the form of wages, out side the current benefits offered by the
University, formal allowances, vacations during major breaks in the academic cal endar, request leaves of absence for more flexible reasons, and much more. While unionization will strengthen the ability of all RAs and GRAs to ad vocate for their rights and interests as student workers, such an organiza tion would also play a crucial role in protecting and attracting low-income students who are being taken advantage of the most under the current system of benefits. Columbia, Barnard, and Dartmouth, among a growing list of uni versities, have shown that unionization is possible, and that often a large pro portion of student workers are in favor of such organizations.
Should a similar sentiment exist among RAs and GRAs at Penn, now is the time to organize and unionize. Both for yourself, but also for student workers everywhere.
VINAY KHOSLA is a College sopho more studying history and political science from Baltimore. His email is vkhosla@sas.upenn.edu.
