January 27, 2022

THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2022 VOL. CXXXVIII NO. 2

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In-person life resumes, with caveats University reopens indoor dining locations Students must remain “masked up” when not eating KOMAL PATEL Senior Reporter

Penn Dining announced that indoor dining will reopen in all of its locations on Monday after suspending it for the beginning of the spring 2022 semester.

In the email sent to students on Jan. 21, Penn Dining announced that students are expected to provide proof of vaccination in compliance with Philadelphia’s vaccine card mandate when dining at retail dining locations such as Houston Market, Accenture Café, and Pret a Manger. The email did not mention this mandate in relation to the six residential dining halls.

The City of Philadelphia had announced on Dec. 13 that all people seeking to dine inside public spaces are required to show proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 beginning on Jan. 17.

The reopening of indoor dining comes as Penn confirmed that in-person classes will begin for the first time this semester on Jan. 24.

Penn Dining initially suspended indoor dining as a result of rising COVID-19 cases but since then, the campus case count and positivity rate have both declined. For the week of Jan. 9 to Jan. 15, 743 community members tested positive compared to 1,313 the week before, and the positivity rate was 6.91% — the lowest number in three weeks.

“We are pleased to welcome students back to in-house dining. Our goal has always been to allow students to have the widest range of dining options, while supporting efforts to keep our campus safe and healthy,” Director of Hospitality Services Pam Lampitt wrote in an email to The Daily Pennsylvanian on Jan. 23.

Lampitt added that even as indoor dining reopens, students should be mindful to wear their mask any time they are not eating.

“We ask that students, when not eating, continue to wear their masks and that they return their Green2Go containers so that diners who still prefer to take their meals to go have a sustainable way to do so,” Lampitt said.

The email from Penn Dining echoed Lampitt, explaining that students should make sure they have a green PennOpen Pass before visiting any dining location and that when not actively eating or drinking, they must be “masked up.”

On Jan. 7, Penn announced that starting on Jan. 10, all members of the Penn community must either double-mask — by layering a cloth mask on top of a disposable one — or use a KN95 or N95 mask when indoors.

PHOTO BY KYLIE COOPER

Students are relieved to be back in the classroom, but COVID-19 concerns remain Some students uncomfortable in large lectures, unable to be socially distanced EVA NEE Senior Reporter

As in-person instruction resumed this week, students were excited to be back in the classroom — but some felt uneasy in large, crowded lectures.

Students largely said they were glad to be back in person and relieved that the University did not extend the virtual learning past Jan. 24. In smaller, seminar-style classes, students said they felt safe — as they were easily able to socially distance — but many expressed concerns about potential COVID-19 transmission in larger lectures.

Natasha Balogh, a first-year postbaccalaureate student in the Liberal and Professional Studies program, said that her view on going back in person “shifts back and forth.” Although she does not live with immunocompromised individuals, she is concerned she will contract COVID-19 and experience long-haul symptoms. She added that experience in PSYC 001: “Introduction to Experimental Psychology” has been stress-inducing.

“My 400-person class [PSYC 001] has brought me a bit of anxiety, given

that we’re all so tightly nestled together,” Balogh said. “It was very much a ‘sardines in a can’ experience.”

College juniors Kira Lucas and Criston Young, who also take PSYC 001, agreed with Balogh.

“It was super packed. Every single seat in Meyerson B1 — [the lecture hall] — was filled,” Lucas said.

Balogh, Lucas, and Young all said that their smaller classes had seats where students were spaced out, so they felt safer. They also said that the majority of students in all of their classes seemed to be following the indoor masking policy, which requires students to double-mask or wear a KN95 or N95 mask.

College senior Isabel Casares, on the other hand, said that her first week of classes has differed from many of her peers — since three of her four courses are still being taught virtually. She added that one of her professors confirmed that he has contracted COVID-19, which is why the class is currently being held online.

Casares said that starting out her senior spring semester with only one course being taught in person has been “disappointing, at least to some degree.”

“I think online classes are definitely not the same as being in person, because you miss out on such a big socialization component,” Casares said. “It can be difficult for some material to translate well onto computers, especially for discussion-based classes.”

Despite difficult aspects of virtual learning, though, Casares added that she’s glad Penn’s testing procedures could identify cases so that her instructors did not come to class sick, potentially spreading the virus to students. The University continues to report that there has been no proof of COVID-19 transmission due to in-person classes.

Still, when students do feel sick, the University recommends that they stay home in an effort to protect the community, Chief Wellness Officer Benoit Dubé told The Daily Pennsylvanian on Jan. 20.

At first, PSYC 001 visiting professor

Andrew Ward told students that the lecture would not be recorded due to the University’s transition back to in-person learning, upsetting many students who believed they should be able to miss class due to COVID-19 without fear of falling behind. Balogh, Lucas, and Young all said that the policy felt unfair to students who may miss class due to COVID-19, especially with a relatively high positivity rate on campus.

Since then, Ward sent an email to students, notifying them that the Director of Undergraduate Studies in Psychology Elizabeth Brannon gave him permission to record every lecture and post them after the class.

Young said professors should still record lectures, regardless of COVID-19.

“Even though the virtual format was forced upon us by COVID-19, I feel like the virtual format has really good pros for learning the material,” Young said.

Penn announced in December its plan to delay move-in and begin the spring semester with virtual classes in SEE IN PERSON PAGE 2

Penn women’s swimmer Lia Thomas sparks national conversation on transgender athletes Thomas’ record-breaking performance at the Zippy Invitational brought attention to NCAA guidelines regarding transgender athletes DESIGN BY JESSE ZHANG, PHOTO BY SUKHMANI KAUR

DEREK WONG & SEJIN PARK Sports Reporter & Senior Reporter

PHOTO BY KYLIE COOPER

Lia Thomas during a swim meet against Dartmouth and Yale on Jan. 8, 2022

Penn senior and women’s swimmer Lia Thomas has made local and national headlines for her recent record-breaking performance on the team.

Thomas competed on the men’s team for the 2018-19 and 201920 seasons and began hormone replacement therapy in May of 2019.

Thomas broke meet, program, and pool records at the 2021 Zippy Invitational — which has since sparked a national conversation about transgender athletes in sports and current NCAA guidelines.

“The process of coming out as being trans and continuing to swim was a lot of uncertainty and unknown around an area that’s usually really solid. Realizing I was trans threw that into question.

Was I going to keep swimming? What did that look like?” Thomas

told Penn Today in June 2021.

Thomas competed on the men’s team for her first three years at Penn. As a long-distance swimmer, she placed 2nd in the 500-, 1000-, and 1650-yard freestyle events at the 2019 Ivy League Championships.

“It just was not working out and I wasn’t able to focus on swimming or school or friendships as much as I wanted to. And so I decided it was time to come out and begin my transition and start everything,” Thomas told SwimSwam in a recent interview.

After beginning hormone replacement therapy in 2019, Thomas appeared at only a few meets in the 2019-2020 season: her last season on the men’s team. She took a gap year in 2020, which preserved a year of athletic eligibility when the Ivy League canceled the 2020-21 winter season.

Thomas returned to the pool in 2021 after two years of hormone replacement therapy, participating on the women’s team. She achieved success at her early meets but began to draw national attention at the Zippy Invitational, held at the University of Akron in December.

After her record-breaking performance at the Zippy Invitational,

Penn Law’s Amy Wax doubles down on racist comments, says she will not resign ‘without a fight’ Wax again decried the current state of higher education and defended her infamous anti-Asian remarks JARED MITOVICH Senior Reporter

Tenured Penn Law professor Amy Wax said she will not resign despite the University’s recent decision to initiate sanctions against her over racist remarks she has made about the Asian American community.

SEE THOMAS PAGE 2

OPINION PAGE 4

EDITORIAL | PRESIDENT MAGILL, HERE’S WHAT PENN STUDENTS WANT YOU TO KNOW

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SPORTS PAGE 10

NCAA ANNOUNCES NEW TRANSGENDER ATHLETE GUIDELINES

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PENN RHODES SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT FILES LAWSUIT PAGE 2 AGAINST UNIVERSITY FOLLOWING INVESTIGATION

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Wax, who has worked at Penn for two decades, said in a recent interview with Concordia University marketing professor Gad Saad that she does not want to give the University “the satisfaction” of her resignation because SEE WAX PAGE 2

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IN PERSON FRONT PAGE

THOMAS FRONT PAGE

light of the highly transmissible Omicron variant. As some students began to return to campus during the week from Jan. 9 to Jan. 15, the number of students in isolation surged to a record high of 1,314.

Earlier this week, the University reopened indoor dining on Jan. 24 and loosened restrictions on social gatherings on Jan. 25, as cases have continued to decline.

“Everybody that I know is very happy that we’re back. They were dreading the possibility that we could be virtual for longer. My program is a very tight-knit community, so that’s part of why everybody was really excited to be back, ” Balogh said.

Thomas’ participation began to draw criticism from right-wing media outlets such as Fox News, which has aired numerous segments — several of which have also deadnamed and misgendered her. Similarly, right-wing print outlets such as the New York Post have published articles criticizing her participation in the women’s team.

Transgender athletes such as Thomas still face other obstacles beyond anti-trans rhetoric — nine states ban trans youth from either competing outside their assigned sex at birth, or at all. Twentytwo bills ban solely trans women from competing in female sports,

making no mention of transgender men.

Following Thomas’s recordbreaking performance in Akron, many outlets voiced their support of Thomas.

Anne Lieberman — the Director of Policy and Programs of Athlete Ally, an organization that aims to support LGBTQIA athletes — told NBC OUT that Thomas should be able to compete, and said that the conversation surrounding Thomas’ performance is tied to the “political fire” attacking trans rights.

Cyd Zeigler, the co-founder of Outsports — a sports news website concerned with LGBTQ issues

— also voiced his support for Thomas in an article.

“She is not in any way cheating by competing in the women’s category,” Zeigler wrote.

Schuyler Bailar — a former Harvard swimmer and the first openly transgender man to compete in NCAA Division I swimming — voiced his support of Thomas through a set of Instagram posts saying that “Lia and other trans athletes deserve [respect as great athletes].” United States Olympian Jacob Pebley and Australian Olympic medalist Madeline Groves also posted statements on their Instagram pages.

“Lia isn’t breaking any rules so

Wax labeled the curriculum at Penn Law and other law schools as having been “propagandized” by diversity, equity, and inclusion supervisors and political interests, which she claimed has hurt her own students’ knowledge of conservative thought and legal concepts over the years.

“I have seen my students change over even 10 to 15 to 20 to 30 years … They have become these cowed, benighted sheeples. It’s just unbelievable,” Wax said of her Penn Law students. “So not only are they thoroughly intimidated as they should be, but they are ignorant.”

In 2019, Ruger established the Office of Inclusion and Engagement at Penn Law and announced several new initiatives to increase diversity and inclusion at the law school, including the formation of a student advisory board, alumni advisory board, and a newly appointed associate dean for inclusion and engagement.

Wax is teaching two courses this semester, LAW 672: “Remedies” and LAW 956: “Conservative Political and Legal Thought.” LAW 956 is the only course Penn Law currently offers on conservative legal thought, Vidyarthi previously told the DP. University spokesperson Stephen MacCarthy and Penn Law spokesperson Rebecca Anderson both wrote to The Daily Pennsylvanian that they would withhold

public comment on the controversy until the faculty review process of Wax has concluded, in adherence to University policy.

According to Penn’s procedure governing sanctions taken against a faculty member, the Faculty Senate — which serves as the representative voice for full-time teaching faculty — will create a board of five people who will both hear the charges and the defense and vote on the implementation of sanctions. If this board finds Wax guilty of violating the University’s behavioral standards, Wax potentially faces major or minor sanctions, ranging from suspension to a letter of reprimand.

Ruger’s decision to launch the sanctions process against Wax followed a petition, created by Penn Law third year Apratim Vidyarthi and other law students, calling for Wax’s suspension and reformation of the University’s tenure policy.

The petition, which has since garnered more than 2,500 signatures, was sparked by Wax’s recent claim that “the United States is better off with fewer Asians and less Asian immigration.”

The Philadelphia City Council also recently criticized Wax for these claims, and urged Penn to review her role within the University.

On the other hand, the Academic Freedom Alliance addressed a letter on Jan. 18 to Penn President

Amy Gutmann arguing that Wax should not face formal consequences for her controversial comments. Princeton University professor Keith Whittington, who serves as chair of AFA’s Academic Committee, told the DP he found it “disturbing” that Penn responded to pressure from students and lawmakers by invoking the formal sanctions process against Wax. Wax’s comments have sparked controversy for many years. In 2018, Ruger barred Wax from teaching mandatory first-year law courses after she received criticism for saying she has never seen a Black Penn Law student graduate in the top quarter of their class — which Ruger said was false. A petition that was launched three years ago calling on Ruger to fire Wax has now received more than 76,000 signatures.

“They’ve been trying to fire me for years and they’re still trying. I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction,” Wax told Saad during the interview. “I come from a barely middle class family, and for me to have worked so hard, to be earning the money that I do and have the position that I have and things like library privileges — which sounds silly, but it means a lot to me — I am not going to give that up without a fight. And this is just nuts and bolts, you know, I’ve worked too hard to get where I am. Why would I give it up?”

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please treat her and the entire trans community with more respect next time you want to be public about your opinion because it has much greater consequences than points on a scoreboard,” Pebley wrote.

Earlier this month, Penn and the Ivy League both released separate statements in support of Thomas.

Penn Athletics stated that Thomas “has met or exceeded” the NCAA guidelines required of her to compete on the women’s team. The Ivy League has publicly issued a statement reaffirming their “commitment to providing an inclusive environment.”

“I’m feeling confident and good in my swimming and in all my

personal relationships, and transitioning has allowed me to be more confident in all those aspects of my life where I was struggling a lot,” Thomas told SwimSwam last December.

Moving forward, the NCAA recently voted on new guidelines for transgender athletes, calling on the national governing body of each sport to determine policies appropriately for their respective sport.

Penn Athletics said in a statement to ESPN that it is aware of the new policy and would support Thomas with her eligibility in upcoming NCAA swimming competitions.

WAX FRONT PAGE

she views herself as an indelible resource for her students.

Wax again decried the current state of higher education and defended her infamous anti-Asian remarks, which ignited an online firestorm and strong reactions from the Penn community and local politicians.

“My case is on some level not about me. I’m just roadkill, I’m a casualty in the culture wars,” Wax told Saad, whose Youtube channel has more than 230,000 subscribers, in an interview released on Monday. “What I see being said and done with respect to me is truly alarming. It is a total repudiation of the very concept of academic freedom.”

The interview follows Penn Law Dean Ted Ruger’s initiation of a formal faculty review to investigate and determine whether Wax’s public conduct has impacted her classroom teaching. Ruger wrote in the Jan. 18 announcement that Wax’s conduct has led to multiple complaints from University community members since at least 2017, which have cited Wax’s comments as a “cumulative and increasing” promotion of white supremacy.

But Wax said during the interview that she is the “only person” Penn has left on its faculty that her students “can talk to and go to for advice.”

During the interview with Saad,

PHOTO FROM MACKENZIE FIERCETON

2020 College graduate Mackenzie Fierceton

Penn Rhodes Scholarship recipient files lawsuit against University following investigation The investigation questioned Mackenzie Fierceton’s status as a first-generation, low-income student and survivor of abuse WILLIAM KUSTER Staff Reporter

Penn student and Rhodes Scholarship recipient Mackenzie Fierceton filed a lawsuit against the University following its investigation into allegations that questioned her status as a first-generation, low-income student and survivor of abuse.

In the lawsuit filed on Dec. 21, Fierceton, a 2021 School of Social Policy & Practice graduate and 2020 College graduate, accused Penn

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THEDP.COM | THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN of discrediting details about her upbringing and unjustly withholding her master’s degree. She alludes to a tie between the University’s investigations and her previous attempt to determine whether the 2018 death of her classmate Cameron Driver was due to alleged inaccessibility issues on campus.

Fierceton has since withdrawn from her Rhodes Scholarship, and her master’s degree is being withheld, according to an investigation published in The Chronicle of Higher Education. The investigation led to extensive national media coverage and strong reactions from the University community, drawing attention to what it means to qualify as a first-generation, low-income student in higher education.

As one of 32 American Rhodes Scholars selected in 2020 from a competitive pool of 953 applicants, Fierceton was given the opportunity to pursue postgraduate work at the University of

NEWS 3

THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2022

Oxford for up to four years. She planned on conducting research on the foster care-to-prison pipeline.

After The Philadelphia Inquirer profiled Fierceton in November 2020, Penn and the Rhodes Trust received anonymous tips suggesting Fierceton had been dishonest about aspects of her past on her application. Separate investigations were then launched by Penn regarding Fierceton’s undergraduate and scholarship applications detailing her alleged experiences of abuse.

After receiving the anonymous tip, Deputy Provost Beth Winkelstein, who was Interim Provost at the time, began to lead Penn’s inquiry in fall 2020. Following a conversation with Fierceton, The Chronicle reported that Winkelstein sent a letter to the Rhodes Trust. The letter stated that Fierceton attended a private high school in St. Louis, was raised in an upper-middle-class household with a

radiologist mother, and that her grandfather had been a college graduate.

Penn’s Office of Student Conduct also issued a report that investigated Fierceton’s family background, according to The Chronicle.

Fierceton’s narrative was “replete with falsities, including but not limited to a fictitious account of abuse by her mother,” the University wrote in its legal response to Fierceton’s complaint issued earlier this month.

Fierceton previously told The Chronicle she was questioned about her mother’s profession, family income, and foster history. She said that her mother pushed her down a flight of stairs in their home in 2014, which she testified about in court hearing five years later. That incident and other events that took place in her household, which she described as “physically, mentally & emotionally lethal,” placed Fierceton in foster care at

the age of 17.

Fierceton held that her strained relationship with her parents during her application period to Penn validated her stance as a first-generation student. According to the Penn First Plus website, students qualify as first-generation if they “have a strained or limited relationship with the person(s) in your family who hold(s) a bachelors degree.”

The Rhodes Trust launched an investigation and completed a 15-page report in April 2021, which The Chronicle reported contradicted the University’s investigation. While the Rhodes Trust report praised Fierceton as “gifted,” it concluded that Fierceton’s representations of herself and her situation were “canny” in order to make herself a more appealing candidate. According to a statement provided by Penn to USA Today, the Rhodes Trust gave Fierceton the opportunity to withdraw her

candidacy to the program after a report was given to her and her attorney.

Fierceton later withdrew her candidacy.

Reports from the University and the Rhodes Trust did not arrive at a definitive conclusion, and Penn’s Office of Student Conduct stated it “could not make findings related to abuse that would be helpful,” The Chronicle reported.

Advocating for Fierceton, political science professors Anne Norton and Rogers Smith expressed to The Chronicle that they disapproved of Winkelstein’s treatment of Fierceton. Norton wrote that idea that Fierceton lied about her experience in the foster care system or her economic status is “not consistent with [Fierceton’s] character, nor is it in accord with the evidence.”

“I identify as a FGLI student based on Penn’s own definitions of FGLI,” Fierceton told The Chronicle.

Penn loosens restrictions on indoor social gatherings As of Jan. 25, students can now gather indoors for attending class, studying, meetings, and events JONAH MILLER Senior Reporter

DESIGN BY TYLER KLIEM

Wharton professor’s viral tweet sparks national debate on income inequality One student estimated that the average American worker’s salary is $800k a year EMI TUYẾTNHI TRẦN Senior Reporter

When Wharton professor Nina Strohminger asked undergraduate business students what they thought the average American worker’s salary was, her students had no idea their answers would be the subject of a viral conversation about privilege, income inequality, and elitism.

Strohminger polled students in her LGST 100: “Ethics and Social Responsibility” course, a required Wharton class for undergraduates, on Jan. 19. That evening, Strohminger posted on Twitter that she asked students what they thought the “average American worker” made per year, revealing that a quarter of students surveyed estimated over six figures.

Her tweet specifically mentioned that one student had posited that the average worker’s annual salary was $800,000 per year. The figure, however, is far lower: The average American worker only made $53,383 in 2020, according to the Social Security Administration, and the median annual salary that year was $34,612.

Overnight, Strohminger’s tweet garnered hundreds of thousands of likes and tens of thousands of retweets. LinkedIn published an article titled “Wharton students schooled by Twitter,” and MarketWatch’s coverage

spoke directly to Strohminger’s students: “No, Wharton students, the average U.S. worker does not make $800,000.”

One student, Wharton first year Juan Lopez Ramos, a member of Strohminger’s course, however, claimed that the survey is not representative of Wharton students.

“She started class talking about how her tweet went viral and how the purpose was to show how people don’t estimate [average income] correctly,” Lopez Ramos said. “But I think instead it showed how skewed income is for people who go to Wharton and Penn in general.”

Strohminger had sent a clarifying tweet the next morning, writing that the results from the survey were not unique to business students in Wharton.

“A lot of people want to conclude that this says something special about Wharton students — I’m not sure it does. People are notoriously bad at making this kind of estimate, thinking the gap between rich and poor is smaller than it is,” Strohminger tweeted on Jan. 20.

Respondents on Twitter also noted that at Penn, the median family income is much higher than the average across the United States. The New York Times estimates that the median

income of the family of a student who attends Penn is $195,500 per year — the third highest in the Ivy League behind Brown University and Dartmouth College.

It also estimates that 71% of students at Penn come from the top 20% of households in America.

Lopez Ramos, who identifies as a first-generation, low-income student, said that the issue of income inequality is not unique to Wharton or Penn, and it is a problem across all elite universities in America.

“I feel like it carries everywhere, and it’s not just a specific Penn thing,” he said. “I have friends at Yale [University] who say certain things that are very classist and elitist, but they don’t really realize it because that’s just how they grew up.”

Lopez Ramos also said that some students did not take the survey seriously which may have thrown off the results. He said that a student in the class had admitted to submitting the $800,000 figure as a joke, and another student admitted they had answered “$15 million.”

Strohminger did not respond to a request for comment.

College junior Laura Santos, who identifies as a FGLI student, said she was not surprised by the results of Strohminger’s survey.

“There’s no surprise that [Penn

All members of the University community are invited to bring issues for discussion to the

UNIVERSITY COUNCIL

OPEN FORUM Wednesday, February 23, 2022 4:00—6:00 p.m.

Bodek Lounge, Houston Hall (PennCard required for entry)

Individuals who want to be assured of speaking at Open Forum must inform the Office of the University Secretary (ucouncil@pobox.upenn.edu) by 10:00 a.m. on Monday, February 7, 2022. Please indicate the topic you would like to discuss. Speakers’ statements should be framed to present policy issues and be directed to University Council as a body through the moderator.

Those who have not so informed the Office of the University Secretary will be permitted to speak at the discretion of the moderator of University Council and in the event that time remains after the scheduled speakers.

For the meeting format, please consult the University Council website at https://secretary.upenn.edu/univ-council/open-forum.

The Office of the University Secretary can be contacted at ucouncil@pobox.upenn.edu or 215-898-7005.

students are] out of touch with reality. People try to [say], ‘Oh, but this is an outlier,’” Santos said. “No, it’s not. If you’re lowincome at Penn, you know that this is not an outlier.”

Less than half of undergraduate students at Penn receive any grant-based financial aid, according to Student Registration and Financial Services.

Santos said that she has received “insensitive” and “out of touch” comments from peers before about her financial situation. Santos, who said that she receives a generous financial aid package because she lost both her parents, remembered peers who told her she was “lucky” that her parents died.

Derek Nhieu, a Wharton junior who also identifies as FGLI, said that he was concerned that Wharton students, who may go on to be business and political leaders, may not understand the experiences of low-income Americans.

“I’m particularly worried that if these are the people who are going to be making decisions for the average American, how are they going to be able to make effective decisions with that in mind, [considering] that they aren’t fully understanding of what the average American is going through,” Nhieu said.

Penn loosened its restrictions on indoor social gatherings which were first instituted at the end of the fall 2021 semester.

The University updated its event guidelines on Jan. 25, which allows students to once again gather indoors in order to attend class, study, and hold meetings and events. The ban on parties, however, is still in place — and it applies to both registered events and parties held at third-party venues. Penn plans on updating the current policy by Feb. 1, upon final review of the gateway testing data.

The announcement comes as the COVID-19 positivity rate among all community members lowered for a fourth consecutive week — 4.11% for the week from Jan. 16 to Jan. 22, down from 7.57% the previous week.

More community members also took COVID-19 tests in the past week — with a five-week high of 11,371 — as part of the University’s spring semester gateway testing policy, which requires all students, faculty, staff, and postdoctoral

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students to receive a COVID-19 test through Penn upon campus arrival.

The total number of positive cases among community members nearly halved during the week from Jan. 16 to Jan. 22, with 467 positive tests compared to 821 the week before.

The number of students in isolation also plunged, dropping from 1,315 to 564. With fewer students in isolation, on-campus isolation housing capacity nearly tripled, reaching 77.2% availability — up from 23.3% during the prior week.

Despite the loosened restrictions, Penn still encourages clubs and organizations to utilize virtual and outdoor meeting options and recommends limiting the size of gatherings. Eating and drinking indoors is discouraged. In accordance with Penn’s revised spring semester masking policy, all community members are required to wear a KN95 or N95 mask or double-mask — layering a cloth mask over a surgical mask — when inside campus buildings.

4 OPINION

THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2022

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OPINION THURSDAY JANUARY 27, 2022 VOL. CXXXVIII, NO. 2 138th Year of Publication ALESSANDRA PINTADO-URBANC President

EDITORIAL

President Magill, here’s what Penn students want you to know

T

he University’s next president, M. Elizabeth Magill, has the resume necessary to become the next great leader of Penn. Set to assume current Penn president Amy Gutmann’s role this July, Magill will take the reins of a university that has seen a rapid

needs of marginalized students on campus, and cooperative with our Philadelphia neighbors.

Magill has already made clear her interest in interacting with students. In the coming months, and as president, Magill should attempt to make herself as accessible to the

expansion in endowment, groundbreaking research, an increase in socioeconomic diversity among its student body, and the construction of numerous prominent campus facilities. But Penn has also seen tensions between Greek life and students of color, recent changes in University leadership, and pushback from Philadelphia officials and community members — all while navigating a ruthless pandemic.

In light of Magill’s appointment, The Daily Pennsylvanian’s Editorial Board has three suggestions for Magill as she charts her own path at Penn: Be accessible to various constituencies of the Penn community, responsive to the

student body as possible. This means regular virtual and in-person communication with students, faculty, and staff and being present on Locust Walk — especially during the warmer months. While we acknowledge Gutmann’s incredible tenure at Penn, her accessibility to the student body has, at times, been lacking.

For example, Gutmann has experienced a frosty relationship with the press, including student managers and reporters at the DP. Some of this silence may prove useful, such as when discussing the University’s politically active alumni, but Gutmann’s insulation of Penn administration from the press certainly

PIA SINGH Executive Editor JONAH CHARLTON DP Editor-in-Chief TYLER KLIEM Design Editor TORI SOUSA News Editor EMI TUYẾ TNHI TR ẦN 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

reduces transparency surrounding University decisions. This can, and should be, a top priority for Magill. Being a regular face on campus, as well as being available to answer questions from student media and local organizations, as well as the student body at large, will facilitate greater trust and understanding with our community. And University and Philadelphia community members will no doubt appreciate this type of transparency and regular interaction.

Secondly, Magill should focus on supporting the needs of marginalized groups at Penn, specifically by fostering a more cooperative relationship with the 7B, Penn’s main minority student coalition groups. The 7B has petitioned for numerous issues of importance throughout the past few decades, including but not limited to increased multi-stall, all-gender bathrooms and access to more centralized cultural spaces on Locust Walk. While Penn has taken steps toward some of these issues, including bringing in an architect, the lack of regular meetings with the president and provost has hindered progress. Many of these issues have been systemic problems for years, and Magill has the opportunity to address them.

Additionally, while Penn has made strides in improving socioeconomic diversity, including shifting towards grant-based financial aid and the creation of the Penn First Plus, there are still strides to be made. A previous study from The New York Times estimates that 71% of Penn students come from the richest 20% of Americans, and a recent viral tweet from a Wharton professor revealed just how much some students at Penn are out of touch with the average American. Acknowledging these disparities is the first step. And at Penn, listening to the 7B, which represents over 90 constituent groups, isn’t just about supporting marginalized populations; it’s about serving the Penn community as a whole. Decisions made by Penn’s administration, from the top down, should reflect this reality.

Finally, Magill needs to prioritize having a more equitable and human relationship with the West Philadelphia community. Many of the consequences of Penn’s activities over the 18 years Gutmann served as president have been felt not by students or professors, but by local community members — who for years, have called Penn, University City, and West Philadelphia their home. Some of these impacts have been positive, such as investments in local infrastructure and increased support for West Philadelphia schools via the Netter Center and financial donations. However, the area’s real estate prices have become increasingly unaffordable to buyers largely due to University actions, affecting low-income households’ ability to remain in the area — and Penn has drawn criticism from students, faculty, and community groups for instances like the Penn Museum’s recent possession of remains belonging to child victims of the 1985 MOVE bombing.

As a result, Penn must take actions that benefit the West Philadelphia community and rebuild trust. As the incoming face of the University, Magill should make sure that University decisions impacting West Philadelphia residents are made in collaboration with community stakeholders, and the University should take steps to ensure that West Philadelphia residents are not displaced due to University-driven gentrification. Taking these steps is by no means comprehensive nor restorative, but they will increase goodwill towards Penn among local residents, not to mention improve lives.

Incoming President Magill will have a myriad of issues to tackle as the next President of Penn. We see Magill’s fresh leadership as an opportunity to transform Penn across boundaries, bringing her needed warmth to our students, faculty, and staff, prioritizing mutually beneficial relationships with the local Philadelphia community, and furthering Penn’s already globally renowned reputation.

Penn was never a need-blind school THIS ISSUE REBEKAH LEE Deputy Design Editor ALICE CHOI Deputy Design Editor CALEB CRAIN Deputy Design Editor AVA DOVE Deputy Copy Editor ALLYSON NELSON Deputy Copy Editor ANNA VAZHAEPARAMBIL Sports Photo Editor DEREK WONG Opinion Photo Editor LILIANN ZOU News Photo Editor ANDREW YOON Deputy Opinion Editor CAROLINE MAGDOLEN Deputy Opinion Editor TAJA MAZAJ Deputy Opinion Editor VALERIE WANG Deputy Opinion Editor LEXI BOCCUZZI Deputy Opinion Editor LAURA SHIN Copy Associate ELIZABETH XU Copy Associate TIFFANY PARK Copy Associate RICHA PATEL Copy Associate BRITTANY DARROW Copy Associate COBY RICH Copy Associate

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Caroline’s Queries | What the 568 Cartel lawsuit reveals has been painfully obvious to the Penn community for decades.

y stepdad, a ‘75 Yalie and physicist, jokes that he was admitted as a part of the University’s “geek quota.” He was a high school student whose idea of playing hooky was playing with lasers in his friend’s basement.

He wasn’t wealthy or suave. He once went to a mixer at Yale wearing hip-hugging hot pink bell bottoms and seriously questioned why not a single woman would dance with him. His family broke the bank paying for him to attend an Ivy at a time when they were considered exclusively for the rich, and he is eternally grateful for it.

It’s impossible to say that after 50 years, there haven’t been any changes in how colleges admit and provide for students. At Penn, admissions methods have become holistic, financial aid has increased considerably, and more programs for first-generation, low-income, and otherwise underrepresented students have emerged.

But Penn stating that they are “need-blind” is a blatant lie. This is the main premise of the 568 Cartel Lawsuit, which accuses elite universities in the 568 Presidents Group, including Penn, of violating antitrust laws by price fixing financial aid packages. These universities were granted permission to collaborate on financial aid formulas under the condition that their admissions be need-blind. However, this has been far from the case.

“I think it is possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary.” – 1997 Wharton and College graduate Elon Musk The University of Pennsylvania, among other top universities, markets the quintessential college experience well: life-changing for anyone admitted, irrespective of their background. This message is so well-curated that it is easy to forget their admissions processes have upheld existing biases for centuries, rather than tearing them down.

In the early days of elite universities, admissions were vastly different. Before the 1920s, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale accepted anyone who completed the prerequisite classical education, because the only students who

could complete these requirements were the elite sliver of Americans who attended similarly prestigious private high schools. In 1923, Harvard’s president, Abbott Lawrence Lowell, adopted a new admissions policy characterized as “equal opportunity regardless of race and religion” — the direct predecessor of holistic admissions today. Admissions officers now had to consider qualities like family background and personality, but with sinister intention. “Increasingly alarmed” by the rising number of Jewish students earning admissions to Harvard based on academic performance, holistic admissions were developed as a proxy for ethnic quotas.

We can argue the benefits and harms of holistic admissions, but either way, they first emerged as a form of discrimination. At that time, top universities acted to preserve status and wealth, disguising their actions in language connoting generosity. We shouldn’t be surprised that this still happens today, with Penn’s students faring significantly better socioeconomically than average American students.

From a list of 1,550 universities, Penn ranks 1,402 in its social mobility index, a measurement of real opportunity and advancement for economically disadvantaged students. Out of a survey of 1,113 randomly selected Penn undergraduates, not a single student came from a ZIP code that had a median household income in the lowest quintile. Ivies across the board have had modest gains in the number of attending low-income students over the past few decades while achieving record growth in their endowment sums. This surplus money could help aid students. Why doesn’t it?

“Rule number 1: Never lose money. Rule number 2: Don’t forget rule number 1.” – 1949 Wharton graduate Warren Buffett Though Penn’s admissions does admit and provide for some of its low- and middle-income students, it only does so to a point. Many elite university admissions offices, Penn included, utilize enrollment management: a secretive process which uses econometric modeling to forecast the revenue and cost of making various

admissions and financial aid decisions. According to the recent lawsuit, factors such as geography, demographics, interests, and whether or not a student has requested aid are used to estimate students’ abilities to pay on a macro scale.

Karen Crowley, a former Penn admissions officer, stated in 2009 that admissions officers admit “full-paying student[s]” on the waitlist over those that need aid, particularly when “endowments are down and cost cutting is essential.” Separately, the lawsuit also mentions Penn’s tracking of past and potential donors.

In her Los Angeles Times Op-Ed, a former associate dean of admissions at Penn commented on how high-priority applicants are tracked at Penn. She noted the use of tags to identify such applicants, who tend to be recruited athletes, as well as children of alumni, donors, potential donors, and students who are “connected to the well-connected.”

None of this is particularly surprising. But by law, all of it is illegal. Section 568 of the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994 states that schools that employ need-blind admissions are allowed to establish common principles for assessing financial needs. To summarize, a promise to offer need-blind admissions has permitted what resembles a monopoly among elite colleges. We know that monopolies harm consumers because they can raise prices indefinitely: It’s economics 101. Furthermore, Ivy Plus colleges have each been hiking tuition costs by roughly the same amount every year, which seems strikingly similar to price fixing. And tuition and fees have been vastly outpacing inflation in recent years. So why should we allow elite colleges to continue eliminating competition in financial aid packages when they aren’t even need-blind?

“This has been the worst trade deal in the history of trade deals, maybe ever.” – 1968 Wharton graduate Donald J. Trump I have been reluctant to write something so critical about Penn’s aid and admissions processes, especially when they’ve been so

generous to me. See, I’m a “geek quota” type of person. People at Penn are known for being pre-professional and keeping up appearances at social events galore. I am known for being a cheapskate and pulling up to class in my sweats.

And yet, as a middle-class student, Penn offered me a top-tier education at a lower price than any other university that I applied to.

But words have to mean something. And right now, need-blind at Penn isn’t truly needblind — it comes with plenty of asterisks attached. Every spot given to the children of tagged families is one not given to someone else, someone perhaps more deserving. Every international or wait-listed student considered for a spot faces need-aware admissions.

These asterisks have real impact. If you’re a Penn student, odds are that you are friends with someone affected by them. These inequities, coupled with the social and economic inequities already prevalent in the United States and globally, may explain why Penn has more attending students in the top 1% of household incomes than in the bottom 60%.

One could argue that these mechanisms that favor the wealthy are needed to continue earning money for Penn, but these mechanisms are not only morally flawed but possibly illegal. Is the money Penn earns from its tagged families worth the consequences? Are the lies worth the prestige?

I dare to dream of a University of Pennsylvania that is unencumbered by socioeconomic biases, where fewer students face debt and skyhigh tuition costs and greater diversity exists in student backgrounds and experiences. For such a dream to be achievable, the first step is admitting that we have a problem. Penn is not need-blind, and never has been.

CAROLINE MAGDOLEN is a College and Engineering sophomore studying environmental science and systems engineering from New York City. Her email address is magdolen@sas.upenn.edu.

Let’s talk about the viral Wharton tweet J to the Z | How one tweet by a Wharton professor is both a revelation and a warning of the state of our community

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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.

Y

ou’ve all seen the viral tweet.

But in case you missed it, on Jan. 19, 2022, legal studies and business ethics professor Nina Strohminger at the Wharton School tweeted that 25% of her students thought that the annual income of average American workers is over six figures, and one of them even thought it was $800k.

She then commented by replying to her own tweet, “really not sure what to make of this.”

While a student in Strohminger’s class later admitted to submitting the $800k answer as a joke, 25% of her students still estimated the annual income of average American workers to be over six figures which is nearly double the actual number.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the annual average of the median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers in 2021 is $998 which approximate to just under $52k annually.

To be completely honest, if I was in Strohminger’s class and had to make an

DESIGN BY TYLER KLIEM

estimate, I would have likely guessed higher than $52k as well. This, in large part, has to do with my upbringing — including the school I attend and the people around me. Our cognizance of the world is often shaped by what we perceive on a day-to-day basis. A study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that people often rely on their own income level to estimate the average economic levels.

According to statistics published in The New York Times in 2017, the median family income of a Penn student is $195,500, placing our community in the 82nd average income percentile. Combined with the

study above about people estimating average economic levels of others above, it is now easier to make sense of Strohminger’s tweet.

While the phenomenon is behaviorally logical, it is alarming that many of us within the community, not only at Wharton but at Penn in general, lack an accurate grasp of economic reality. It is certainly problematic when many of us hope to and will work in sectors that shape private and public economic policies. If those of us who will one day advise legislators, work at think tanks, or be penning policies themselves are growing further apart from the people whose exact livelihoods the policies will impact, then how can one work toward better economic equity? Furthermore, if a society lacks economic equity, then how is it conducive towards social equity?

Even for students who aren’t looking to create public economic policies as a career choice, the lack of general business knowledge is demonstrative of a disconnect

between Wharton’s academia and its surrounding community. For comparison, the median household income of West Philadelphia in 2019 was $34,579, a sharp contrast to most families of Penn students. If Wharton’s academic endeavors failed to inform its students on basic business knowledge — a sense of society’s economic reality — how is it supposed to “develop leaders to change the world” as its website’s home page claims to?

This is an opportune moment for those leading the Wharton community to think about what they are hoping to impart to their students — what kind of leadership they are trying to foster, and whether our curriculum is lacking a grasp of the real world. Furthermore, is Wharton’s mission to help students become responsible citizens of the world grounded in reality, or is this simply a ruse on paper?

Concurrently, it is also beneficial for those of us within the Wharton community to think about whether Strohminger’s tweet

THEDP.COM | THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN is representative of our state of mind: Are we out of touch with the communities around us? While many may dismiss this issue and instead relegate it to those who intend to work in public sectors, one should not jump to make that conclusion. For example, if one hopes to work for a tech firm without an accurate sense of the state of American society, then who are those technologies built for — the few or the many?

OPINION 5

THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2022 Similarly, if one is hoping to find success in the marketing industry, then they must have a sharp grasp of the socioeconomic reality of their targeted segment.

Simply put, having basic cognizance of the society we live in is inevitably crucial, regardless of which walk of life we hope to enter.

Though one should not jump to generalize all Wharton and Penn students according to one survey

from a single class, the phenomenon mentioned above is certainly worthy of attention and even alarm. Penn is an institution that has historically produced leaders of society, and will certainly continue to do so in the future. Those leading our community should reexamine what kind of leadership they are trying to foster for the world. Furthermore, this is a moment of introspection not only for the leadership

of the school but also for us: Who are we becoming as a community, and who do we want to become?

JESSE ZHANG is a College and Wharton sophomore studying Marketing and Communication from Shenzhen, China. He is the DP’s photo editor. His email is zhexi@wharton.upenn.edu.

Statement in support of Lia Thomas Guest Column | Transgender women belong in women’s sports

O

n Saturday, Jan. 8, University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas and her teammates on the Penn Women’s Swim Team competed against Yale and Dartmouth in their last home meet of the season. Some teammates, however, threatened to boycott the meet.

They did so over what they perceive as the unfairness of allowing Thomas to compete (and, specifically, the perceived unfairness of allowing Thomas to beat them) in the sport she loves, and at which she works hard to excel.

Thomas, who has been swimming since she was five years old, had an incredible season following a year-long break; she won events, broke records, and earned bids to the NCAA championships. Thomas did not succeed because she is transgender; she succeeded because of the hard work she has put in throughout her long swimming career, and because she is finally able to authentically be herself and race in a sport that she loves.

The backlash toward Thomas’ success comes at a time when states across the country are continuing to launch attacks on trans rights — from passing bathroom bills to prohibiting gender-affirming (and life-saving) healthcare to excluding trans athletes from competition. These bills have forced teenage boys like Mack Beggs to compete in girls’ wrestling, where many of his competitors refused to wrestle with him because he is trans. These bills have effectively removed Beggs’ — and countless other trans athletes’ — access to playing sports. The Olympics, regarded as the highest level of sport, recognizes and includes transgender athletes, yet dozens of states have introduced legislation that would ban transgender student athletes from participating in school sports. Thomas met the NCAA policy and was cleared to compete on the women’s team by the NCAA in fall 2020. As of fall 2021, Thomas had been on genderaffirming hormone therapy for two-and-a-half years.

This conversation about Thomas’ inclusion, and the inclusion of all trans athletes, is not just about sports. It is “really about the broader conversation about the humanity of trans folks and whether or not they deserve to participate in all aspects of life in society, and that includes college sports, ” as Athlete Ally’s director of policy and programs Anne Lieberman said. This is further highlighted by the fact that almost 550 college athletes demanded the NCAA to protest laws that restrict trans participation in sports.

This demand was sent in a letter to the NCAA in March 2021, demanding that “the association stop holding championships and events in states that have passed or are considering passing laws that effectively ban transgender women and girls . . . from participating in youth and college sports aligned with their gender identity.”

Unequivocally, we, signatories of this column, support Thomas and all trans athletes who want to participate

in sport and amplify the message of Anne Lieberman: “Trans athletes — Thomas, in particular — deserve love, support, care, access to be able to swim. And Thomas, like any other athlete, should be able to win and lose.” Protecting women’s sports means protecting all women.

The hysteria about transgender inclusion in sports that has been mounting over the past several years centers based on the perceived threat that trans athletes pose to

PHOTO BY KYLIE COOPER

Lia Thomas competes in the women’s 100-yard freestyle during a swim meet on Jan. 8.

sports. Specifically, the rhetoric and coverage surrounding Thomas, and athletes like her, makes bad faith assertions that transgender women are inherently cheaters, and that if a trans woman athlete wins, she is dominating women’s sports and taking away opportunities from fellow female athletes. In reality, out of the over 200,000 women that compete in the NCAA each year, it has been estimated that only 100 are trans. Nevertheless, these assertions have led to the introduction and enactment of legislation that employs stricter standards for the participation of transgender athletes than both the NCAA and the International Olympic Committee, often focusing on chromosomal makeup and sex organs. These discriminatory actions

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years without major issue. In fact, the NCAA policy was set in 2010, and only requires trans women to complete “one calendar year of testosterone suppression treatment.”

The International Olympic Committee first enacted its trans inclusion policy in 2004, requiring gender-affirming surgery for transgender athletes who wished to compete. In 2015, the surgery requirement was replaced with a requirement for a specific testosterone level for trans women. In 2021, the International Olympic Committee released a new framework on fairness, inclusion, and non-discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sex variations. Notably, 2021 also saw the first publicly out trans athletes compete, including the first trans

athlete to win a gold medal. The committee stated that the Framework was “issued as part of the IOC’s commitment to respecting human rights (as expressed in Olympic Agenda (2020+5)) and as part of the action taken to foster gender equality and inclusion.” The Framework focuses on 10 principles: inclusion, the prevention of harm, nondiscrimination, fairness, no presumption of advantage, an evidence-based approach, the primacy of health and bodily autonomy, a stakeholder-centered approach, the right to privacy, and periodic reviews. Chris Mosier, the first trans athlete to qualify for the United States Olympic team, praised the new framework for making it “clear that no athlete has an inherent advantage & moves away from eligibility criteria focused on testosterone levels, a practice that caused harmful & abusive practices such as invasive physical examinations & sex testing.” Canadian soccer player Quinn called the framework groundbreaking “in the way that it reflects what we know to be true . . . that athletes like me and my peers participate in sports without any inherent advantage, and that our humanity deserves to be respected.”

Regardless of the differences between testosterone suppression policies at high school, collegiate, and professional levels of play, the focus on testosterone in trans women is rooted in the assumption that being trans has some element of choice to it. Other biological advantages athletes may have — like height in basketball — routinely go unquestioned. In fact, these advantages are seen as very valuable and the athletes that possess them are promoted to more competitive and professional leagues rather than disqualified. In contrast, the choice to take performance-enhancing drugs is (rightfully) regarded as dishonorable, deceptive, and advantage-seeking. Despite the misunderstandings of those who accuse trans women of cheating and playing unfairly, being trans in sports is not a choice like the decision to take a performance-enhancing drug — athletes have as much say in their height as their gender identity. Focusing on supposed biological advantages that trans women possess but ignoring all other oftenvalued advantages athletes may possess both implies that being trans is a choice and demonstrates that the goal is not competitive fairness — rather, it is exclusion.

Additionally, by focusing on “biology,” these attempts to exclude, disparage, and discriminate minimize the tremendous amount of work that athletes like Beggs and Thomas have put in to play their sports.

Thomas belongs on the Penn women’s swim team, Thomas belongs in sports, and all trans athletes belong in sports.

This column was written by 16 Penn Law organizations.

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ignore the simple fact that transgender athletes have and continue to compete at the highest level of sports without incident. For example, the California Interscholastic Federation has allowed trans athletes to compete as the gender with which they identify for 8 years without protest.

Further, several professional sports leagues, the NCAA, and the International Olympic Committee, have trans-inclusive policies that have been in place for many

6 NEWS

THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2022

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NEWS 7

THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2022

Penn’s new indoor masking policy, explained All Penn community members in campus buildings must either double-mask or wear a KN95 or N95 mask JONAH MILLER Senior Reporter

Penn is set to begin in-person classes Monday, with a revised indoor masking policy as part of the University’s spring semester COVID-19 mitigation efforts.

In an interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian, Chief Wellness Officer Benoit Dubé explained the University’s new masking strategy, defined what it means to “double-mask,” and the negligible difference in efficacy rates among allowed masking types.

Here are Penn’s mask rules, explained.

What is allowed?

Community members are allowed to wear a KN95 or N95 mask or double masking combination — defined as a cloth mask layered on top of a surgical mask. Following the new policy, community members are not allowed to wear a single surgical mask or a single cloth mask by itself indoors.

What is more protective?

The protection rates between N95 and KN95 masks and double-masking are quite similar.

In a study cited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, scientists tested the fitted filtration efficiency of different face mask combinations.

A single cotton mask had a mean FFE protection rate of about 44%, but adding a surgical mask underneath increased the FFE rate up to 81% at the highest. By comparison, N95 and KN95 masks are designed to filter out 95% of air particulates.

When analyzing the differing effectiveness of masking, Dubé said the University looks at two key components — the amount of air leak-

PHOTO BY ALVIN YU

age and the quality of the mask’s physical barrier preventing particles from entering and leaving.

Dubé noted that the effectiveness of doublemasking and wearing KN95 masks is “very similar,” and both are incredibly safe when it comes to the classroom setting.

Dubé said the University specifically recommends using a cloth and surgical mask combination because it offers “broader and snugger

coverage” compared to two identically shaped surgical masks.

Will masks be available?

Dubé said the University has bought surgical masks in bulk and plans to distribute them at various entry points around campus buildings and facilities. Community members are encouraged to take a University-provided surgical mask and layer a selfbought cloth mask on top.

Although the University has sponsored the purchasing of masks, Dubé said each campus building will handle the distribution of masks individually, since those who work in each building know the best entry points to place a station to distribute surgical masks.

“This decision to require double-masking is not forever,” Dubé said. “We wanted to keep the solution as simple and as accessible as possible.”

Penn first year runs, power walks from Locust Walk to New York City Wharton first year Ryan Torres ran the nearly 100 miles in 44 hours ISABELLE LHUILIER Contributing Reporter

After completing finals, Wharton first year Ryan Torres ran and power walked almost 100 miles from Locust Walk to the Penn Club in New York City.

He ran for the first 50 miles and then, due to a foot injury, power walked for the second half.

Starting on the night of Dec. 20, the journey took him 44 hours and he finished in New York at 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 22.

“I finished my last exam. And then two hours later, I was running,” Torres said.

Torres, who took part in Modern Pentathlon events in high school, said that he decided to run this distance because he was looking for a challenge.

“For the last five years pushing myself physically was a cornerstone of my life. And getting to Penn, I felt like I didn’t have the chance to push myself as hard physically. So I decided to do something,” he said.

In order to stay fueled during the long run, Torres stopped every 30 minutes to eat 200 calories of food and drink 250 ml of water. He would take a longer break every four hours to have a sit-down meal and nap briefly. Despite running on minimal sleep, Torres said that during his run he did not feel tired because he was so focused on getting to New York.

In order to ensure his safety, Torres told five close friends about his run beforehand and shared his location with them throughout. During his journey, they called him periodically to check in and ensure that he was safe. Wharton first year Laura Brodkey, one of Ryan’s friends who monitored him during his run, said she called him frequently to check up on and support him.

“He has a really good understanding of what he’s capable of and pushing himself,” Brodkey said.

For Torres, his favorite part of the experience was turning off his headlight when running by a lake on the first night.

“There was no light other than the moon. I’m alone. I’m running. It’s like 3 a.m. and then there’s the lake by my side,” he said. “That was an ecstatic moment.”

PHOTO FROM RYAN TORRES

Wharton first-year Ryan Torres

For the first 50 miles, Torres ran without a problem. However, once he reached Princeton University — his halfway mark — he began experiencing pain in his feet. After sitting down for breakfast, Torres realized he might have a stress fracture.

Torres attempted to start running again after taking a break at Princeton, but the pain in his feet became too much. He thought about buying a wheelchair and turning back when he saw a Costco on the side of the highway but ultimately decided against it.

“I was gonna get to New York. If I could run, I would run. If I could walk, I would walk. If I had to crawl, I would crawl,” he said. “The moment I passed Costco and just kept walking, I realized that I was going to be good.”

When Torres finally arrived at the Penn Club — a New York social club for Penn affiliates — on Dec. 22, he sat down and immediately went to sleep.

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8 SPORTS

THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2022

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

Wessels | A new offensive identity for the Quakers means a stronger chance at Ivy success

Sophomore guard Jordan Dingle, recently named Ivy League Player of the Week, scores against Yale at the Palestra on Jan. 22.

In its big win against Yale, Penn prioritized attacking the paint in a way it hasn’t in the past JACOB WESSELS Sports Reporter

For much of the season, Penn men’s basketball seemed to be pressing on offense. On Saturday afternoon at the Palestra, sophomore guard — and recent Ivy League Player of the Week winner — Jordan Dingle debuted a new hairstyle and a new offensive identity as Penn took down the Yale Bulldogs 76-68 in what marked the team’s most complete performance of the season.

The theme for the Quakers this year has been potential. With the loss of six of the team’s nine rotation players from the 2019-20 season, previous columns outlined the obvious talent on Penn’s roster, but the team’s lack of experience produced an up-and-down start to the year.

As the team made the transition to Ivy League play, this trend of inconsistency continued. A crucial win over Brown looked to set the Quakers on the right path, but just one week later, the Red and Blue dropped a game to Columbia, the

consensus worst team in the Ancient Eight.

The cause of these struggles? A lack of offensive consistency and an overreliance on three-point shooting. Watch Penn for much of the year and this pattern is obvious — the team often struggled to create looks inside and was forced to settle too often for contested attempts from beyond the arc. This generates a worrying trend, the Quakers are ranked 66th in the nation in threes attempted but are ranked just 139th in three-point percentage. It comes as no surprise, then, that entering Saturday the Quakers were just 2-10 in games where they shot less than 40% from three. When the shots don’t fall, the Red and Blue don’t seem to have an answer.

How, then, did Penn manage to take down the preseason Ivy League favorite while having their worst three-point shooting performance of the season? By going back to what they do best.

Look back at the highlights from any of Penn’s key wins in the previous four seasons. The key to the team’s offense was not three-point shooting but cutters getting to the basket and creating open looks at the rim. This strategy not only consistently generates high-percentage looks in the paint, but also puts pressure on the inside of the defense, producing open shots from three.

This made Saturday’s performance a sight for sore eyes, as the Quakers sliced and diced Yale for 76 points despite making just five threepointers. Implementing this style was never going to be easy. Timing cuts and passes requires a tremendous amount of experience and trust between teammates, which takes time to develop.

AJ Brodeur, Penn basketball’s all-time leading scorer, who mastered this offense, was a fouryear starter in the system. These young Quakers are only starting to flash their potential.

Beyond that, changes in personnel require a different approach. With Brodeur anchoring the frontcourt, Penn was able to largely run its offense out of the post. This season, the Quakers are led by perimeter guard Jordan Dingle, requiring a new approach to getting guys open. Dingle has occasionally struggled with this new role as the offensive focal point, scoring just 10 points per game in the Quakers’ three games heading into the matchup with Yale.

Fortunately for the Quakers, Dingle rose to the occasion on Saturday. While the three-point ball wasn’t falling — Dingle shot just 1-8 from deep — he was electric when driving to the basket.

He ended the evening with 31 points, including 16 in the game’s final eight minutes. Dingle’s

PHOTO BY KYLIE COOPER

ability to get into the lane created opportunities not only for himself but for cutters like freshman guard George Smith and junior forward Michael Moshkovitz to get open underneath. On the second unit, it was much of the same, but with sophomore guard Clark Slajchert — who just was awarded Ivy League Rookie of the Week — running the show. For the first time all season, the Quakers looked confident in their offensive game plan every time they came down the floor. Work the ball inside with dribble penetration, take a layup or find a cutter or spot-up shooter.

It remains to be seen if Penn will be able to carry its offensive momentum from Saturday through the rest of Ivy League play, but its 19% three-point percentage in the game suggests the Red and Blue are only scratching the surface of their offensive potential. It might not have seemed like it at the start of the year, but with a rejuvenated Jordan Dingle and a focus on working the ball into the paint, the Quakers could be legitimate contenders in the Ivy League.

Another good test in Harvard awaits the team this week as the Crimson appears to be a strong contender for a spot in the Ivy League tournament. I’m excited to see if the offense keeps its flow going.

Gymnastics breaks vault record with another strong performance Despite being the underdogs, the Quakers posted their second best overall score in program history.

BRIDGET SKELLY Sports Reporter

As the underdogs in a tri-meet against Temple and New Hampshire, Penn’s gymnastics team returned to Philly last Sunday with two big stats: a vault score program record and the third highest overall score in program history.

Penn gymnastics entered the meet on a high note.

Just a week prior, the Quakers dominated the Lindsey Ferris Invitational in Washington, D.C., besting George Washington, Cornell, and William & Mary.

Most notably, they put up a score of 194.925, the second-best overall score in program history.

Sunday’s meet in New Hampshire began with the Quakers on the beam, where they put up a score of 48.725 and placed second behind UNH after one rotation. Penn senior Natalie Yang’s graceful routine earned a 9.850, coming close to her career-high of 9.875.

The second rotation saw Penn on the floor, and while it put up some high scores, especially sophomore Sara Kenefik’s 9.850, Temple overtook Penn in second place.

The third rotation was where the Quakers really found their stride.

Penn’s vault team consists of three freshmen: Emma Davies, Olivia VanHorn, and Isabel Song; two sophomores: Rose DeBarberie and Kiersten Belkoff; and one senior: Sydney Kraez. Each vaulter earned a score of 9.675 or higher, bringing Penn a record-breaking vault score of 48.900.

“Today was the highest vault score in program history, and it was by over a tenth,” said head coach Kirsten Becker. “Usually if you’re beating a record it’s by .025 or .05, but today was over a tenth.”

With a lot of young talent on the team, including the five freshmen and sophomore vaulters, Penn

Now-senior Natalie Yang competes on the beam during a meet against Rutgers on Jan. 26, 2020.

Gymnastics hopes to build a strong group of underclassmen for years to come.

“It’s really good to see them getting out there, getting experience, and doing well right away,” said Becker. “I definitely think that is going to help us out in the future: to get people experience now, and build some consistency and confidence.”

After its final rotation at the bars, Penn finished in

third place, a commendable performance that wrote entries into Penn’s records. They ended the day with an all-around score of 194.875, the third-best score in program history, and just 0.050 behind last week’s first-place performance at the Lindsey Ferris Invitational.

“Today was great,” said Becker. “For gymnastics, it’s not as much about wins and losses, it’s more

PHOTO BY CHASE SUTTON

about your overall team score and working towards a higher national qualifying score. Any score that beats out another score that you’ve already earned is going to help your ranking go up.”

Penn returns to The Palestra for a conference meet against Yale on Sunday, Jan. 30, where it hope to boost their ranking and continue on their strong trajectory.

THEDP.COM | THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN

SPORTS 9

THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2022

Salas | Ivy League women’s basketball power rankings

Penn now stands at fifth in the Ivy League CHRISTINA SALAS Sports Associate

The college basketball season is at its midway point and teams are in the thick of conference play, with contenders starting to find their form. In the Ivy League, there are three top contenders, as well as a few teams still looking to find their groove. Let’s take a deeper look.

No. 1 Princeton (13-4) With a six-game winning streak and an undefeated record in the Ivy League, Princeton tops this month’s power rankings. Standout guard Abby Meyers has been a dominant force on the court, landing herself as one of 15 players on the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Midseason Watch List.

An impressive performance against Brown demonstrated the Tigers’ ability to capitalize on turnovers as well as the depth of its roster, in which four players each scored 12 points in the game.

No. 2 Columbia (14-3) Columbia follows closely behind Princeton in these power rankings. It has also built up some good momentum with a three-game winning streak in conference and will hope to be able to count on at least five wins against Brown, Cornell, and Dartmouth.

With how strong the team is in comparison to Princeton, its game against the Tigers on Feb. 5 could determine who will be the champion of the Ivy League.

No. 3 Yale (12-6) Despite Yale’s strong record, the Bulldogs have only been put to the test against strong Ivy League competitors once in a game against Columbia that resulted in a 65-55 loss in New York. Like Columbia, the Bulldogs

PHOTO BY KYLIE COOPER

Senior forward Kennedy Suttle fights to secure the ball against Brown at the Pizzitola Sports Center on Jan. 2.

have gained some momentum with a three-game winning streak, but have yet to face its stiffest competition from Princeton and will have to play Columbia again.

Yale’s most recent game was at home against Brown, which it surprisingly won by only two points, suggesting that Yale will struggle to maintain its strong record as it heads into exclusively Ivy League play.

No. 4 Penn (7-10) Penn’s only Ivy League victories have been against the two weakest teams, and its recent loss against Princeton by a score of 70-50 does not suggest that the

Quakers will be pulling off any season-ending heroics.

Before their loss against Princeton, the Quakers had soundly won three straight games, albeit against weak opponents. There were moments when Penn seemed to match Princeton’s scoring ability in its last match, but despite strong performances from Kayla Padilla and Jordan Obi, it doesn’t seem like Penn will be able to contend with the more dominant teams in the League.

No. 5 Harvard (9-9) All three conference losses by the Crimson are against the top-ranked teams in the Ivy League,

and there is no evidence to suggest that they will have a high chance of winning the rematches later this season.

Harvard has been able to soundly defeat many weaker teams, and against a stronger opponent with an off day, it may have a chance of upsetting one of the top three.

No. 6 Cornell (6-10) Cornell is on a four-game losing streak against the top teams in the Ivy League, with the contests all having startlingly similar scores. The consistency is admirable, but it makes for an easy prediction that they will continue to lose against Princeton, Columbia, and Yale.

The team has had trouble with putting up major points, and it is uncertain how it will perform against Penn which stands solidly middle of the pack.

No. 7 Brown (5-12) Although technically below Dartmouth with their 0-4 Ivy League record, the Bears have been able to at least get a few more wins than the Big Green.

Brown’s troubling losses against middle-of-the-pack teams Penn and Harvard spell “trouble” for the team as it continues to push through conference play.

With no momentum on its side, the only wins Brown likely will have for the rest of the season will be against Dartmouth.

No. 8 Dartmouth (1-16) Dartmouth’s struggles are well demonstrated by its recent loss to Harvard, which ended 96-62 and saw the Big Green be outscored every quarter.

With only one game of Ivy play left, Dartmouth may have a chance to secure a second win against a weak Brown team, but its poor record speaks for itself in squarely placing Dartmouth at the bottom of the Ancient Eight.

Penn football names Dan Swanstrom as new offensive coordinator

Swanstrom spent time as the quarterbacks coach at Penn, and is returning after serving as head coach at Ithaca College ANDREA MENDOZA Sports Associate

After a not-so-great season for the Red and Blue, ending in a 3-7 overall (1-6 Ivy) record, it was time for the Penn football team to bring in reinforcements.

Earlier this week, head coach Ray Priore named Dan Swanstrom as the new offensive coordinator for the Penn football team.

This past season, under former offensive coordinator Kevin Morris, Penn’s offense was ranked last

in the Ivy League for scoring and total yards, and second-to-last in rushing and passing.

Swanstrom’s arrival to Penn is a homecoming of sorts, as he was a staff member for two of the Quakers’ Ivy League-winning teams. He was the quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator for Penn from 2014-2016 before accepting a position as head coach at Ithaca College.

Swanstrom spent five years at Ithaca College and led the team to success. During his tenure, he earned the highest winning percentage for any coach that has coached more than one season. In the four seasons he coached, his record was 32-11 (.733), with eight wins in each season. He also led the Bombers to a shared Liberty League regularseason title in his first season with them.

At Penn, Swanstrom coached and oversaw Alek Torgersen, a two-time first team All-Ivy selection, who

later signed with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons in 2017.

Swanstrom has a long history in collegiate coaching that he will bring to the Quakers’ offense. He started off at the University of Redlands from 20062008, where he helped them win the 2007 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

He also spent six seasons at Johns Hopkins from 2008-2013, beginning as a quarterbacks coach and eventually moving up to associate head coach. While Swanstrom was at Hopkins, the Blue Jays won five Centennial Conference titles and four players were named conference player of the year under his tenure.

Additionally, he played football at Rhodes College, where he set more than a dozen school passing records, finishing his career with 7,540 passing yards and 52 touchdown passes. Moreover, he has experience internationally coaching and playing for the Darmstadt Diamonds of the German Football League.

Dan Swanstrom has been named as the new offensive coordinator for the Penn football team.

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2022 VOL. CXXXVIII NO. 2

NCAA announces new transgender athlete guidelines

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

PHOTO BY KYLIE COOPER

Lia Thomas warms up before competing during a meet against Dartmouth and Yale on Jan. 8.

After Penn swimmer Lia Thomas broke meet and program records at the Zippy Invitational, the NCAA’s policies on transgender athletes have drawn national attention.

KRISTEL RAMBAUD & KEVIN BRYAN Sports Reporter & Senior Reporter

The National Collegiate Athletic Association announced in a press release that eligibility guidelines for transgender athletes will now be determined on a sport-by-sport basis by the national governing body of each sport, effective immediately.

After Penn swimmer Lia Thomas broke meet and program records at the Zippy Invitational, the NCAA’s policies on transgender athletes have drawn national attention. Under the new guidelines, the organization USA Swimming will be responsible for providing eligibility guidelines. At present, it has not

released policies governing transgender athletes’ eligibility for elite competition.

In a statement to ESPN, Penn Athletics said that it is aware of the new policy and would support Thomas with her eligibility in upcoming NCAA swimming competitions.

“In support of our student-athlete, Lia Thomas, we will work with the NCAA regarding her participation under the newly adopted standards for the 2022 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship,” Penn Athletics told ESPN. Prior to the announcement — which the NCAA cited as aligning with the International Olympic Committee’s recently updated policy — the 2011 NCAA handbook delineated guidelines for transgender athletes which read that transgender women athletes could compete on the women’s team after they had completed a year of testosterone suppression treatment and filed paperwork documenting it.

The handbook also refuted three “not well founded” assumptions in arguments against transgender women’s participation: that they are not “real”

FOUNDED 1885

women, that their bodies give them an unfair advantage in competition, and that labeling themselves according to their gender identity is a means of gaining an advantage over opponents.

The NCAA refuted the first two assumptions, stating that they go against transgender individuals’ rights to express their own gender identity.

“Gender identity is a core aspect of a person’s identity,” the NCAA handbook stated. “And it is just as deep seated, authentic, and real for a transgender person as for others.”

In response to the third argument, Amy Wilson, managing director of the NCAA Office of Inclusion, maintained in a video discussion with NCAA correspondent Andy Katz that in the ten years since the policy’s inception, there has never been a case in which an athlete has sought to abuse organization policy by accessing women’s sports for purely an athletic advantage.

In May 2021, the NCAA faced backlash from the transgender community following the decision to host softball regional tournaments in states that banned

the participation of transgender athletes, Sports Illustrated reported. In response, the NCAA pointed to an April statement concerning the inclusion of transgender student-athletes, which said that it “firmly and unequivocally supports the opportunity for transgender student-athletes to compete in college sports.”

The International Olympic Committee relaxed its guidelines regarding the participation of transgender athletes in November 2021.

The new guidelines do not explicitly mention a testosterone threshold and state that athletes should not feel pressured to undergo “medically unnecessary procedures.” To deem an athlete eligible, IOC officials must confirm the athlete has no distinct competitive advantage and will not create a risk to the safety of other athletes.

The 2021 guidelines replace those established in 2015, which stated that transgender women must demonstrate a total testosterone level below 10 nmol/L for a calendar year prior to their first competition and throughout the competition period.

Wrestling dominates Columbia in commanding 32-3 victory Several of Penn’s ranked wrestlers had big showings during the competition KRISSY KOWALSKI Sports Associate

715 days.

That is how long it has been since Penn wrestling last faced Columbia.

After a mass of cancellations and postponements, Penn (1-1, 1-0 EWIA) came out with a massive 32-3 victory over the Lions to claim its first EIWA win.

When these two teams previously met, Columbia (1-5, 0-2) came away with a close 17-15 victory.

The day started at 174 pounds, with Penn freshman No.19 Nick Incontrera facing off against Columbia’s No.23 Nick Fine. Incontrera came out quick with a quick takedown and was able to control the match, cruising to a 10-6 victory and jumping Penn out to a 3-0 lead.

“I think Nick Incontrera did a great job getting us off to a strong start,” coach Roger Reina said. “That’s a ranked opponent, and he was just dominant in that match. And I think that really gave some momentum to us early on.”

The Quakers built off that momentum all day and performed strongly in the heavier weights, as they picked up wins in the 184-, 197-, and 285-pound matches to extend the team lead to 12-0. The highlights of the day, though, came in the lighter-weight classes.

Freshman Ryan Miller took on Columbia’s Joe Manchio in the 125-pound matchup. Both wrestlers are ranked, with Miller at No.23 and Manchio at No.15. The match was very tightly contested, with the two grapplers both gaining one point before Miller was able to take control. Miller went up 4-1 before Manchio was able to come up with a last-minute escape point and attempt to come back. Miller was able to hold on for the huge upset and a 4-2 victory that extended the lead to 15-0.

“I’ve been in plenty of those situations before so just staying calm and going back to what I know how to do and not getting too worried,” Miller said.

In the 133-pound match, sophomore No.12 Michael SEND STORY IDEAS TO DPSPORTS@THEDP.COM

Colaiocco won by major decision against No.26 Angelo Rini. Rini scored the first two points of the match, but Colaiocco was able to escape and then took control of the match with a commanding 14-4 victory.

“I believe it was February of last year, I actually had an exhibition match against Angelo Rini and I got off to a bad start, got caught into a weird move, and actually got pinned in 30 seconds,” Colaiocco

said. “So when I knew I was wrestling this year. I was really excited to go out there and give full effort and just try to dominate. It feels really good to come back on top of that one.”

In the 141- and 157-pound classes, both sophomore No.15 CJ Composto and junior No.21 Doug Zapf were both able to come away with technical fall scores of 20-5.

“It’s a short week, we traveled on Thursday to go

up to Brown and Harvard to continue EWIA and Ivy competition,” Reina said. “It’s a sprint to [see] who gets better, faster, and I think we’ve got a lot of momentum. But we got to make every practice day count and continue to improve.”

The Red and Blue will hope to bolster their momentum next weekend, when they take a road-trip to visit Brown and Harvard in Ivy League matchups.

PHOTO BY SAMANTHA TURNER

Sophomore Cole Urbas wrestles down opponent Sam Wustefeld for a win during the meet against Columbia at the Palestra on Jan. 23.

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