March 21, 2024

University investigating pro-Palestinian student group Penn Against the Occupation

PAO is not allowed to organize events in Penn-af liated spaces until the investigation has concluded

VIVI SANKAR Staff Reporter

The University has opened an investigation into Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine, prohibiting the group from organizing events in Penn-affiliated spaces until the probe has concluded.

Penn’s Center for Community Standards and Accountability is leading the investigation into PAO, a pro-Palestinian student organization, according to a source familiar. The organization has been temporarily removed from Penn Clubs, an online directory of registered student organizations.

The DP could not confirm what sparked the investigation or when it was launched. PAO was listed on Penn Clubs as recently as Feb. 18, according to website archives.

A University spokesperson told the DP that “the privilege of being listed on the Penn Club website is a benefit of being an active registrant with the Office of Student Affairs.”

“A club would not be listed in the event of a lapse or suspension of registration, among other reasons,” the spokesperson added.

Multiple PAO members declined to comment. PAO is the first political advocacy group known to be the subject of a University investigation since a Penn spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal in December that probes into three registered student groups were ongoing.

The investigation into PAO follows a recently amended lawsuit filed by Penn students regarding antisemitism on campus. The lawsuit mentions multiple Penn student organizations, including PAO — which is cited in allegedly antisemitic instances almost 30 times.

According to the amended lawsuit, PAO is a student group that recently formed “as if to one-up the antisemitism.” The plaintiffs allege that PAO “demonize[s] Penn Hillel’s Birthright Israel program,” and that in its 2022 Penn Disorientation Guide, PAO falsely stated that “Israel is a settler colonial state that uses apartheid to further its ethnic cleansing agenda.”

PAO has participated in multiple pro-Palestinian demonstrations since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, several of which have prompted public responses from University administrators. In December, PAO joined a pro-Palestinian march across Philadelphia that culminated in a rally of over 500 attendees at 40th

DEMOLITION OF UNIVERSITY CITY TOWNHOMES BEGINS

“It was hard enough when I had to leave the day my son pulled up with a moving truck, but I got the same feeling, if not worse,” 29-year resident Darlene Foreman said.

Penn receives record number of applications for Class of 2028 despite admin. turmoil

65,230 students applied to the Class of 2028 amid an unprecedented semester for the University

ETHAN YOUNG Staff Reporter

Penn received a record number of applications for the Class of 2028 despite campus leadership transitions and concerns over antisemitism and Islamophobia.

The Class of 2028 received 65,230 applications, according to Interim President Larry Jameson’s stated remarks at a University Board of Trustees Meeting on March 1. Over 8,500 of these students applied to Penn through the Early Decision program, according to an earlier University announcement. Applications are up more than 10% from the year prior – the Class of 2027 received more than 59,000 applications.

The increase in applications follows an unprecedented semester for the University. Both Penn’s president and Board of Trustees chair resigned in December, and many students expressed concerns about antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus throughout the fall semester.

This is also the first application cycle since the Supreme Court’s overturn of affirmative action last year.

In an interview with the Penn Gazette, Vice Provost and Dean of Admissions Whitney Soule shared that while admissions officers are not aware of an applicant’s race throughout the application process, they still are “reading students with the full integration of complexity that they reveal about themselves.”

“The substance of how we think about reading the totality of a student within an application and the information they provide to us to think about them as an individual—that part does feel familiar,” Soule added. “What is different, though, is that we can’t know the racial or ethnic makeup of the class that we are intending to admit, and what that might represent for the students who enroll.”

While Penn saw an increase in applications, other Ivy League institutions did not, at least in the early admissions cycle. Harvard University saw a 17% decrease in early action applications and Brown University saw a 5% decrease in total applications from last year.

Penn made several changes to its application for the 2023-24 admissions cycle. An essay prompt unique to each undergraduate school was added to the application on July 31, a transition from the previous single short answer used

Penn professor, five alumni sanctioned by Russian government

Professor of Russian and Eastern European Studies Mitchell Orenstein and ve Penn alumni were on the list of 227 Americans banned from entering Russian territory ELLA

The Russian government banned a Penn professor and five Penn alumni from entering its territory in a press release on March 14.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation released a list of 227 sanctioned U.S. citizens, including professor of Russian and Eastern European Studies Mitchell Orenstein Following the announcement, The Daily Pennsylvanian spoke with Orenstein and other sanctioned Penn affiliates about how the ban connects to their work on Russian affairs.

According to the Russian press release, the ban applies to individuals engaged in “anti-Russia” undertakings. The list included academics from across the country, members of the United States executive branch, the business community, and the media industry.

Orenstein’s research focuses on the political economy of Central and Eastern Europe, and he is a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute — a Philadelphiabased think tank that conducts research on geopolitics and international security. He described the Ministry’s justification for the sanction list as a “blanket characterization” of academics in his field.

He said that he may have been added to the list for his 2019 book “The Lands in Between: Russia vs. the West and the New Politics of Hybrid War,” which analyzed Russia’s strategy of competing for influence in European countries and political processes in the West. According to Orenstein, the book initially received criticism for being overly harsh on Russia. He said that the criticism largely vanished after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Orenstein said that a way of thinking about the sanction was as targeting perspectives on Russia that were “too accurate.”

“Maybe they were concerned about just somebody actually putting out a more realistic interpretation of what they’re doing,” he said. “They want people to be confused about their intentions, to always be wondering what’s going on.”

Orenstein said that the sanction would have little practical impact on his work since he has been cautious about traveling to Russia since 2014. He added that — while the Foreign Ministry may be seeking to negatively impact academics’ credibility by limiting their ability to travel — the sanction can have the opposite effect of legitimizing their work.

“It’s basically a badge of honor because you’ve been noticed by Russia and recognized for your perspective,” he said.

Several Penn alumni on the list expressed similar thoughts regarding the sanction’s justification and implications. 1971 College graduate Stephen Blank, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, told the DP that he considered the sanction a “great honor.”

“It shows that at least the Russians are reading what we write about them and taking it seriously,” he said.

Blank, who has published several books about European and Asian security, added that anyone who studies Russia should seek to objectively evaluate the current state of affairs.

“I don’t think an objective assessment of Russian reality leads in any direction other than a sustained critique of what increasingly appears to be a regressive mafia state that is fully consonant with much of Russian history, including, unfortunately, Stalin,” he said.

The list also named 1990 College graduate Elise Giuliano, the director of the Program on United StatesRussian Relations at Columbia University. In a written statement, Giuliano noted that the sanction includes academics who have spent their careers on the study and teaching of Russian politics.

“The accusation of Russophobia is not a serious one,” she wrote. “The sanctions are targeted not as much at the Americans on the list as at Russia’s population who are continually directed to feel hostility toward westerners.”

PHOTO FROM PENN TODAY Professor of Russian and East European studies Mitchell Orenstein (left) listens to Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov (right) on April 30, 2019.

ETHAN YOUNG | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

EMILY SCOLNICK AND DIAMY WANG Senior Reporters

Demolition of the University City Townhomes began on Monday, marking a new stage in the community’s fight against displacement.

Around 20 Penn and Philadelphia community members, as well as former residents of the UC Townhomes, gathered at the property on 40th and Market streets on Tuesday to witness the process. Although demolition was originally slated to begin at the end of last year, the UC Townhomes site remained undisturbed until Monday.

By Tuesday afternoon, half of a structure had been razed, and a bulldozer sat next to a pile of debris. Multiple workers were present on site.

In a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian, Philadelphia City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier spokesperson Harrison Feinman wrote that Gauthier’s office learned of the demolition on Tuesday, and was not aware of who was carrying it out and when it began.

“We knew this day would come, but that doesn’t make it any less painful. My heart aches to see the University City Townhomes come down,” Gauthier — whose district includes Penn, the UC Townhomes property, and part of West Philadelphia — wrote in a statement to the DP.

The UC Townhomes are owned by IBID Associates Limited Partnership, which in 2021 announced that it would not renew its annual affordable housing contract with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. IBID Associates spokesperson Kevin Feeley wrote in a statement to the DP that demolition began “in earnest” on Monday — despite previous plans to begin such efforts before the end of 2023.

“Demolition of the current buildings is a necessary step in the future development of the [UC Townhomes] site,” Feeley wrote. “There is no dispute that the buildings are at the end of their life cycle and allowing them to remain standing poses a threat to the safety of the site and the surrounding community. For these reasons, demolition must and will continue until completion.”

IBID Associates declined to comment on any future plans for the site — including a potential sale — but said that demolition should be completed “in about six weeks.”

29-year UC Townhomes resident Darlene Foreman told the DP that a sign posted near the Townhomes gave April 28 as the potential starting date for the demolition. However, “they were keeping it quiet,” she said.

Penn professor of English Chi-Ming Yang — a

longtime member of the Coalition to Save the UC Townhomes — was present at the demolition site on Tuesday. In a written statement to the DP, she said witnessing the bulldozing was “absolutely tragic,” and that no former residents of the UC Townhomes were notified of when demolition would begin.

“I only learned about the demolition this morning, when a former resident walked by and saw the bulldozers,” Yang wrote.

At the site of the UC Townhomes, former residents and Penn community members expressed deep sadness about the demolition process.

“They told us all [residents] about what was happening, but it still took a toll to me because I didn’t ever think they were going to really do it,” a former UC Townhomes resident of 43 years, who identified herself to the DP as Miss C, said.

Feeley noted in his statement that the “relocation” of former UC Townhomes residents was completed last fall. However, on Tuesday, personal items such as a stroller and clothing remained within the buildings.

“It was heartbreaking watching them tear down the townhouses,” Foreman told the DP. “It was hard enough when I had to leave the day my son pulled up with a moving truck, but I got the same feeling, if not worse, yesterday. I had tears in my eyes.”

College sophomore Eliana Atienza, who was present at the site, said that the UC Townhomes were a reminder for the Penn community that “gentrification [and] displacement don’t just exist in the theories we teach in our classrooms.”

“It’s really, really heartbreaking to see the bones of what was once a thriving, thriving community,” Atienza said.

In front of the partially demolished building was a small community garden, which Fossil Free Penn has provided contributions for, according to College senior and FFP member Sparrow Starlight. They noted that the garden — which now appears overgrown and untended — used to be a “symbol for hope” but is now a representative of a reality “forced upon the [UC] Townhomes.”

“I think the act of bearing witness and why we’re here today is important to see those little details and truly understand the depth and the humanity of what is happening,” Starlight said.

The UC Townhomes were originally constructed in 1983 to provide affordable housing for residents of the neighborhood — several years after the

has been banned from Russia. Benjamin Schmitt — a senior fellow at Penn’s Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy — was sanctioned in 2022. The list of 25 U.S. citizens included Jill Biden, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and former United States Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor David Kramer.

destruction of West Philadelphia’s Black Bottom in the 1960s. In 2021, IBID Associates announced that it would not renew its contract with HUD, putting nearly 70 families at risk of displacement.

The ensuing legal fight included multiple deferrals of the deadline for residents to vacate the Townhomes. Gauthier proposed a bill in late 2021, which the City of Philadelphia passed in March 2022, that prohibited any demolition of the site for 12 months. After the prohibition expired, the City issued a demolition permit in December 2023.

In April 2023, IBID Associates and the City of Philadelphia reached a settlement agreement that required the company to transfer nearly 24,000 square feet of land to the City for the future development of 70 permanent affordable housing units.

The settlement — which stemmed from a lawsuit filed by IBID Associates in response to Gauthier’s legislation — also called for the arrangement of a fund sponsored by Penn, Drexel University, and other University City institutions to assist displaced residents. It was met with mixed reactions from residents, including many who felt that the affordability standards of the allocated property were not sufficient.

Since then, residents “have met repeatedly with the city to ask to be part of the process and to ask the city to make sure to apply for low-income housing tax credits or other forms of housing vouchers,” Yang wrote.

However, she said that Philadelphia has not allowed them to participate in the process.

“Together we fought so hard to prevent the breakup and displacement of this community,” Yang wrote. “The city did not value preservation and rehabilitation of this historic site.”

“We’re supposed to have the right to return,” Foreman said. “It was basically the last standing total low-income property in West Philly. So we need low-income housing. They can’t just take it away.”

Feinman wrote to the DP that in a meeting with former Townhomes residents, Gauthier committed to asking the City to involve them in the process of redevelopment.

“She will continue to serve as a bridge between the community and the City,” Feinman said.

George Claflen, who holds master’s degrees in Architecture and Planning from Penn, is a founding member of Design Advocacy Group — a volunteer organization that advocates for equitable planning and development in Philadelphia. In

a 2022 article, he called on Penn, Drexel, and the University City Science Center to “to publicly and loudly renew their commitment to creating and maintaining diverse housing opportunities in the neighborhoods affected by their growth.”

Claflen praised Gauthier’s efforts with the Townhomes, telling the DP that she “advocated very strongly for the residents and got far more than might have happened otherwise.”

“That means that some housing will be built, but whether the people who were living on the site will ever get a chance to live in that housing depends on how quickly it’s built,” he said.

Claflen also echoed community members’ sadness about the demolition on Monday.

“I was disappointed that those three organizations did not step up in a way that could have resulted in a better outcome,” Claflen said. “There’s a big history there that does not reflect well upon the enlightened behavior of the institutions.”

In January, a bronze statue designed by Penn graduate Elsa Tarantal that had been at the Townhomes site since the 1980s was cut off its pedestal and taken from the site. The statue was part of the City of Philadelphia’s Percent for Art Ordinance, which mandates city construction projects to include “site-specific public art” amounting to one percent of the total project budget.

“Maybe the developer cut and removed the sculpture. If not, this is a complete failure on the part of the developer,” Frank Mallas, a Philadelphia architect who was involved in the initial construction of the Townhomes site, wrote in an email to city officials obtained by the DP. “This treasured artwork should have been removed and put into storage, to be restored and reinstalled in the new project.”

Mallas called for the developers to be held responsible and for a new bronze casting of the original statue model to be commissioned for the Townhomes site. He told the DP that he did not get a response from any of the officials he emailed.

“When the demand is there, the owners should have the right to develop their land, but they should do it sensitively and with the neighborhood in mind,” Mallas told the DP.

“The struggle to save the people’s Townhomes will continue even after demolition,” Atienza said. “The people are still here and they’ll still be here in different ways that we can imagine. But they’ll be here.”

She said that the sanction will not greatly affect her research, which has focused on Ukraine since the start of the Russian offensive in Donbas in 2014.

“The experience of sanctioned Americans cannot compare to our Russian colleagues who had to leave their home or face repression, unemployment, or imprisonment,” Giuliani wrote. “And it cannot compare to the millions of Ukrainians who have fled Ukraine since Russia’s full scale invasion in 2022.”

The list includes 2005 College graduate and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Associate Director of the European Union Centre Markian Dobczansky and 1980 College graduate Peter Fritzsche, a history professor at UIUC.

“While I am proud to serve with those who have done much more than I to examine the international misdeeds of Russia, the arbitrariness of the list itself confirms both the tyranny and insecurity of authoritarian government,” Fritzsche wrote to the DP.

Dobczansky holds a B.A. in European History and German Studies from Penn.

“It’s regrettable, but it won’t change my travel plans one bit,” Dobczansky wrote of the sanction.

2010 College graduate Emma Ellenrieder — a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section — also received a sanction. She did not respond to the DP’s request for comment.

This is not the first time a Penn community member

Schmitt received a Ph.D. in experimental physics from Penn in 2018, after which he worked as European Energy Security Advisor to the United States Department of State. In that role, he supported U.S. policy to oppose the Russia-backed Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.

In June 2022, Schmitt testified before Congress on the need to increase U.S. sanctions against Russia. Two weeks later, he said that he woke up to messages congratulating him on being sanctioned. Schmitt called the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ reasoning for the sanctions, which cited Russophobic policies, “lazy” and “absurd.”

“For a malign regime that relies on disinformation, it’s part and parcel to what they do,” he said. “The laziness is in the lack of rigorous sanctions justification.”

In contrast, he said that the Office of Foreign Assets Control — the U.S. entity that administers sanctions — uses a high evidentiary bar for selecting individuals from regimes that have engaged in human rights abuses or other threats to security.

Schmitt added that he has no plans to visit Russia until it installs a democratic regime in alignment with international norms.

“Not being able to visit about 3.35 percent of Earth’s surface is a small price to pay, especially in astronomical terms, to support those in Ukraine who are fighting for the very democratic norms and principles of sovereignty that we hold dear,” he said.

and Market streets, prompting Penn to investigate graffiti along the Walnut Street march route. PAO also organized a walkout on Penn’s campus in October.

In November, Penn denounced projections of pro-Palestinian messages that were also critical of the University onto campus buildings, calling the displays antisemitic and “vile.”

At the time, PAO and the Philly Palestine Coalition had posted on their Instagram stories photos

of several messages projected onto Huntsman Hall, Irvine Auditorium, and Penn Commons — displaying phrases such as “Let Gaza live,” “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” “Zionism is racism,” “Penn funds Palestinian genocide,” “From West Philly to Palestine, occupation is a crime,” “Free Palestine,” “Liz Magill is complicit in genocide,” and “10,000 murdered by Israeli occupation since October 7.”

According to its website, CSA aims to foster accountability, integrity, and community cohesion at Penn, alongside facilitating healing processes. It handles breaches of both the Code of Academic Integrity and the Code of Student Conduct and coordinates the University’s efforts to manage incidents of bias and harm.

RUSSIA , from FRONT PAGE

PAO, from FRONT PAGE

ABHIRAM JUVVADI | PHOTO EDITOR

College Hall on Dec. 9, 2023.

Opinion

Let’s talk about dying! LET’S BE FRANC | What I wish you knew about grief

“What do your parents do?” someone seriously asked me during Wharton orientation. Fighting my brain’s battle between an unforced desire to share and an aversion to the anticipated awkward look, I recognized that I would face a long, interminable moment of apnea trying to explain to the world that I do not have two parents because my dad died. Grief exists, and at Penn, it isolates. To be clear, I do not intend to be a prophet speaking universal truths because loss looks different for everyone, but I hope you will find truth in my words nonetheless. Death is a sensitive topic, not the least because it intertwines with cultural, religious, spiritual, and socioeconomic aspects of our identity. Yet grief is undeniably omnipresent, and Penn is no exception, meaning I am not the first one to write (or talk) about it, nor will I be the last, unfortunately.

Almost 40% of college students have lost a family member or close friend within the last two years. Considering there are 18.58 million college students, that makes us more

than 7 million grievers. I guess we are not a minority, are we?

Wharton senior Pranavi Karnati lost her father last December after a battle with glioblastoma. She bravely watched him suffer for more than a year and a half, but “despite the pain he felt, he always managed to make us smile.” She experienced a slower, anticipatory death and described her grief as “isolating.”

There is no definitively designated place to grieve at Penn. Yes, Student Health and Counseling helps (if you are lucky), but 61% of college counselors in the United States report feeling “somewhat, little, or not comfortable at all” with supporting students primarily on grief. Unlike peer institutions like Princeton that offer grief-focused support groups, Penn lacks such infrastructure. The only comparable program that existed was Actively Move Forward, but it has been inactive since 2019.

What about Philadelphia-based groups?

As Karnati shared, before you even get a chance to talk about grief, you may face an

A love letter to Philadelphia

SOSE’S STANCE |Start feeling the good old brotherly love

Upon my acceptance to Penn a couple of years back, I was overwhelmed by an abundance of snooty comments and remarks relating to the city of Philadelphia, sentiments I could not visualize or understand. “Have fun in Filthadelphia!” or “Don’t get shot!” often followed the congrats I received from most people. Not having had a proper vision of Philadelphia’s layout or culture, I soon fell victim to my peers’ alarming warnings and became rather cautious and overly attentive in my first weeks as a Quaker. Of course, the University alerts about various armed robberies or the occasional escaped prisoner did not help this berated city’s case.

While Philadelphia does have its safety hazards and concerning instances, I’ve learned that just may be the price of living in a big city — the sixth biggest in the nation, in fact. Not to fluff up the real and present dangers, but it also should be said that Philadelphia is not much more dangerous than living in San Francisco, Chicago, or Miami, all of which are regarded as highly attractive places to live.

Many Penn students, coming from places of privilege and very comfortable livelihoods, are quick to harp on and nitpick at Philadelphia’s imperfections. Jokes are constantly made about living in Philadelphia, comparing it to a punishment or drag. Most students are eager to move out, with their eyes set on New York City or Washington D.C., completely blind to the bevy of opportunities offered right here in Philadelphia. What many Penn students seem

to overlook is the fact that Philadelphia is an esteemed, bustling, and charming city that many people dream of moving to and working in. Sure, Philadelphia is no tropical paradise, but it serves its purpose as a solid, spiffing city with so much to offer.

So, instead of joining my peers in badgering on the City of Brotherly Love, I’d like to take this time to highlight the best parts about living in Philadelphia, and hopefully convince you that we are extremely lucky to be going to school in such a vibrant and lively city. The first thing that comes to mind when family or friends ask what I love about Philadelphia is, more often than not, the incredible food scene. Almost every restaurant, cafe, and quick lunch spot I have tried has wowed me, and I’d like to say that that’s a lot coming from a Los Angeles native! Just last year, Philadelphia won four titles in the James Beard Awards, whose prestige can be compared to “the Oscars, but for food.” Beyond the bevy of choices we have near campus in University City, there are countless hidden gems and highly acclaimed restaurants in Rittenhouse, Fishtown, Northern Liberties, Manayunk, and more. Philadelphia is known for its diversity, and its countless cuisines are here to prove it. Philadelphia’s finest cheesesteaks and soft pretzels are great, and they’re best when eaten in the stands of one of the city’s stadiums. Philadelphians beam with pride every time the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers, and 76ers play. Living in a city with this much athletic pride is not only

identity crisis. “There are groups for children and groups for adults. What am I? Where are college students supposed to sign up?” The result explains why grief feels isolating. Naturally, some prefer to process on their own, but sooner or later, we crave feeling less like an alien and more like we are not the only ones experiencing excruciating pain. And support groups are one easy way to find others who relate.

Of course, this is only half the problem. Remember, I believe Penn is a detached elite. Having two parents is a privilege: emotionally but interestingly also economically, and substantially so. I cannot blame you for having a privilege you did not choose, but I can and will invite you to reflect on it.

After Karnati posted her terrible news, she received several supportive messages: “Lmk if you need anything” stood out. She mentioned, “My loss is making me realize who my true friends really are.”

Can Penn students only support one another through hasty texts with cheap acronyms?

We know your “I’m here if you need me” is well-intentioned, but understand that it creates a dilemma by putting the onus of starting the conversation on us, inadvertently burdening the griever even more. The individualistically expeditious culture of Penn is inevitably in direct contrast to the prolonged nonlinear path that grievers experience. At best, Penn students are awkwardly unequipped to support a grieving friend and at worst, fundamentally incapable of slowing down to care and empathize. You can do better.

Like what? Be present with your friend’s pain, listen with the heart, respect disordered confusion, and discover the gifts of sacred silence over filling words. That is what grief counselor Dr. Alan Wolfelt calls companioning. I wish my friends knew about companionship to ask me about my

dad. Ask me what he was like, what he liked to do, what his quirks were. God, just ask me what his name was. When you ask, you are not reminding me that he died (trust me, I know), you are letting me know that you acknowledge that he lived.

The truth is I cannot blame them. Part of the matter is institutional and part of it is cultural: Many of us are used to the high school familiarity of knowing at least some family members of our friends. For better or for worse, in college, you are nothing more to others than what you present. And unlike your Canada Goose, you cannot wear your invisible grief when you walk down Locust. What you can wear is a Penn Face and pretend no one died, even with your closest friends, because it is profoundly easier and more tempting than the unfathomable truth.

So please, I beg you, next time you come across a griever, think twice before ending the conversation out of discomfort or sending the “I’m here if you need me” text. Think beyond and think deeper. Perhaps take the simplest approach: Sit down with them and see where they will bring you.

If we collectively accept death as a mainstream topic of social dialogue, grief will be easier to handle than to hide. Harvard professor and happiness expert Arthur Brooks says: “Grief does not have to be a private misery and net harm to our lives. We can learn to comprehend it, manage it, and grow from it. And in understanding our own grief, we can help others heal and thrive as well.”

After seven years, I understand my grief, and it is my hope (and Karnati’s recent hope) that these words will help somebody.

FRANCESCO SALAMONE is a Wharton sophomore from Palermo, Italy. His email address is frasala@wharton. upenn.edu.

great for our college experience, but it’s also just a good time. Being able to go to these games, engage in the city’s love for the teams, and enjoy city-wide celebrations is something we’re very lucky to have at Penn, where school-wide athletic spirit is low. Even if you’re not one to appreciate sports, you can easily be one to appreciate Philadelphia’s teams in a different way, perhaps by admiring one of the big Phillies murals on the Walnut Street walk to Center City. Philadelphia’s streets are decorated with many murals and public art, coloring the city and demonstrating civic engagement through the expressions of many local artists. What’s more, Philadelphia also offers many outlets to enjoy fine arts, whether it’s through a day spent at the Philadelphia Museum of Art or a night at one of its many popular jazz clubs. Last year, Philadelphia was named the Public Art Capital of America, and the Best City in America for Street Art. And to top these accolades, Philadelphia is constantly celebrated for its memorialized history. Named the Nation’s First World Heritage City, Philadelphia is also known as the birthplace of the United States. In a city with a history so rich, every building, street, and alleyway has a story worth telling. Independence Hall, Benjamin Franklin, and the Liberty Bell all make this city the perfect historical backdrop for college students, offering countless opportunities to engage with the legacy of this country’s founding fathers and their work.

In particular, Philadelphia’s long history

of Black trials and tribulations is a key feature of the city’s development. What’s more, Philadelphia has grown into an unbelievably diverse city, boasting a great range of racial, socioeconomic, cultural, sexual, and religious representation.

While I have only touched upon some of the things that make Philadelphia so great, every Penn student has the opportunity to explore this big city and discover its many wonders for themselves. Penn’s location, being right across the bridge from Center City, gives all able students the opportunity to just take a brisk walk out of the Penn Bubble and enter a realm of possibilities, opportunities, and new experiences. And for those of you who would rather not get on your feet, the city can just as easily be explored with the comprehensive and convenient SEPTA system.

I call on each and every one of you to take a moment the next time you’re about to bash Philadelphia and consider the validity of what you’re about to say, while also acknowledging our privilege of being here. Learn to love this city, for we know it loves you!

SOSE HOVANNISIAN is a College sophomore majoring in Communication and minoring in History and Consumer Psychology from Los Angeles, Calif. Her email is sosehova@ sas.upenn.edu.

DESIGN BY KATRINA ITONA

DESIGN BY INSIA HAQUE

Columnist Sose Hovannisian calls on Penn students to embrace all that Philadelphia has to offer.

Columnist Francesco Salamone shares his experience with grief at Penn

CHOWDHURY CHATS

I support the use of ChatGPT.

Our view of ChatGPT must change

A statement that, said aloud, would garner me sidelong stares despite the website’s appearance in many lecture halls.

The use of ChatGPT has raised much debate among students and become a topic of considerable contention. Similarly, many professors hold polarizing views, as the use of generative AI has been harshly rejected in some classrooms while others have tentative policies supporting its usage. The limitation of emerging technology in educational spaces should raise alarm bells, as we are rejecting tools that could be invaluable for facilitating learning.

To be clear, I am against academic dishonesty, and I haven’t used ChatGPT in a duplicitous manner. However, saying that ChatGPT is synonymous with academic misconduct is a remarkably weighty statement. I do assent that some individuals could use ChatGPT in an academically dishonest way, such as employing it to write papers in their stead. But, a similar result could be accomplished via other online tools, like Google. Just recently, we have become privy to accusations of plagiarism by former Harvard President Claudine Gay, revealing how this is not solely a ChatGPT issue. Thus, our viewpoint of the perpetrator should be reframed, delegating the fault to the person, not the tool. With the release of GPT-4, many professors and students alike need to reconsider its benefits. Professors already recommend YouTube for content help, so why not ChatGPT?

ChatGPT can be a remarkable asset that provides an advantage to disadvantaged students. Since many Penn students come into university with a deep background in their chosen field of study, which they gained from their access to prep schools or private tutors, the bridge between these two groups is substantial. ChatGPT provides a way to somewhat balance the playing field.

For one, GPT-4’s added feature of uploading PDFs makes it ridiculously simple to ask questions about lecture content, at any time of the day, while tailoring it to your level of understanding, a skill that many professors and teaching assistants lack. As several professors are utterly immersed in their fields and many TAs have an intuitive

grasp of the subject, they are often incapable of making complex topics digestible. Unfortunately, there have been many instances where I gave up on asking questions to avoid receiving a convoluted response.

With ChatGPT, feedback is immediate, allowing students to reflect on areas of improvement in their work, and providing them with mechanisms to improve over time. Why go through the hassle of setting up TA office hours to ask a simple question when ChatGPT can do it instantaneously? Students outside of Penn who do not have access to an educational institution with tutoring facilities also stand to attain so much from receiving academic help from ChatGPT. This is due to its similarity to using online services like Khan Academy, though ChatGPT is much more personalized.

Professors who reject the idea of incorporating ChatGPT into classrooms have not considered thinking critically of its beneficial uses. Instead, they are content with adhering to traditional practices, foregoing innovation for comfort. On the other hand, students who are against the usage of AI hold themselves to a higher standard for not relying on outside sources — similar to many Penn students’ views of receiving academic help through services like Weingarten tutoring or office hours. For many, receiving outside help is equated to a lack of intelligence. As with the many Penn students of privileged backgrounds, they do not require additional help and thus look down on disadvantaged students who do require these services.

In the end, humans are meant to be adaptable and always have been. Rejecting technological advancements accomplishes nothing; rather, it is actively harmful to many students who lose out on such a beneficial tool.

With that said, we should all sit to reflect on the valuable uses of ChatGPT.

THE TURTLE’S VOICE

No viable solution exists to Penn’s dining hall dissatisfaction

Not a single person on campus seems to be satisfied with Penn Dining. Over the past month, The Daily Pennsylvanian published several pieces that express dissatisfaction. They highlight four problems.

The first problem is sanitary issues. Students have reported finding a cockroach, maggot, and glass in their food. It is also no secret that last year, Penn’s dining halls

received a total of 100 health code violations, with Hill House and 1920 Commons being outright noncompliant with the general standards set by Philadelphia’s Department of Health.

The second problem is the taste of the food. I acknowledge that taste is a very subjective matter. But when we would rather line up at food trucks on 38th and Spruce

streets than eat at dining halls and have several dozens of unused swipes at the end of semester, something must be wrong.

The third problem is the food being too pricey. A small box with nine pieces of sushi or two normal-sized buns from the cafe at McClelland costs one swipe, which is equivalent to at least $10, depending on the dining plan. Penn admitted that eating off campus costs less than it does on campus, and some expressed that it is difficult to feel full living only on the dining plan.

The fourth problem is the limited operating hours of dining halls. On regular weekdays, though they do not give us 7:30 a.m. to 12 a.m. dining hall access like some schools do, the hours cover most of the normal eating times. Choices become more limited during weekends and over breaks. Brunch opens at 9 a.m. on weekends and is only provided at Hill House and Commons. Over spring break, Hill House was the only non-retail dining hall that opened.

The problems are clear and simple. But after years of complaints, nothing has changed (well, except for the annual increase in meal plan prices). And I believe nothing will change in the near future — no truly viable solution exists to Penn’s dining hall dissatisfaction.

What are some practical solutions to address dining hall problems? Eliminating the dining plan requirement for first-year and sophomore students would definitely be one. When students do not need to pay Penn a lump sum at the start of the semester, their decision on where to eat will be purely based on taste and price. If Penn Dining makes

no improvements, students will either eat out or cook on their own, and dining hall revenues will tumble. Another possibility is to have two or more food contractors. Competition gives the dining halls an incentive to improve their food quality and lower prices to attract students. If they do not, again, they will face revenue contraction. Essentially, the more affordable choices students have, the better Penn’s dining services will be.

But none of these changes will probably ever happen. No school administrator would want to cut the flow of profit from dining plans. No food contractor would sign a contract with Penn knowing that it faces competition from another food contractor. And why would Penn double the cost of food contractors? There is no financial rationale for improving students’ dining experience, and no matter how many more articles we write on “Penn should improve its dining services,” we still have to wake up the next morning and use our swipes.

So will we be forever stuck with Penn’s unsatisfactory dining halls, at least for the first two years? Unfortunately, I would say yes. Unless we are willing to pay for the meal plans but not eat at dining halls, or we actually find Penn’s dining satisfactory, we will need to look forward to life as an upperclassman.

FRANKLIN LI is a College first year from Beijing, China. His email is liyuzhou@sas.upenn. edu.

“If I don’t get an internship this summer,” I hear someone say on Locust, “I’ll be so far behind. Some people are already recruiting for next summer.”

On Canvas, I finally receive the prompt for a reading response that I need to submit in 36 hours. An email notification pops up: It begins with the all-too-familiar “URGENT” and “ACTION REQUIRED,” but this, too, will ultimately be buried in my inbox for a good few days until I have the time to go through it. Over time, I began to question the sense of urgency that dominates Penn’s campus, and whether it’s doing more harm than good. This isn’t a problem exclusive to me. One of my friends has over 10,000 unread emails in her inbox from various departments and clubs with which she is no longer associated. Every so often, I will hear professors and teaching assistants suggest that students start their assignments earlier, and that a significant portion of work was turned in late. At the other end of the classroom, I hear conversations about just how behind and sleep-deprived everyone is amid the barrage of midterms, club interviews, rushing, and job applications.

In “Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander,” Thomas Merton say, “The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to violence.”

As the overcommitted, overworked high school students we once were, Penn students are intimately familiar with this sense of urgency and obligation. There’s so much to do, always, and these impending tasks are completed at the expense of sleep, rest, and recreation. Instead of attributing this lack of work-life balance to poor time management skills or the need for prioritization, I’d like to suggest a different approach: Just how much of this is really urgent, anyway? How much of this is worth sacrificing our wellbeing over?

We labor under the illusion that even inconsequential things must be done immediately. If we miss the opportunity to apply for the position now, we’re letting go of one of the “greatest” opportunities of our lives.

Not responding to emails in a timely manner is the sign of someone who’s “lazy” and “unreliable.” This is perpetuated in our classrooms as well: “Makeups will only be given under extraordinary and documented circumstances.” “Even habitual excused absences will negatively impact your grade.”

I firmly believe that academia, especially institutions like Penn, should be a space for fostering growth and intellectual conversations. How is this achievable, I wonder, if we don’t recognize and accommodate the very real struggles that anyone can come across? Surely, no one wants to experience a death in the family during finals season, but sometimes those are the cards we are dealt. What happens then? Do our deadlines take precedence over our health and our loved ones?

The implications of these sentiments can be sinister. They tell us that it is not important to take care of our bodies, listen to our needs, and live in accordance with what is most meaningful to us. Bombarded by constant deadlines, we are pushed to perform day in and day out with no space to reflect and connect with the lofty ambitions we initially came here with.

We have the power to reimagine academia — spaces like Penn are saturated with people who are dedicated to learning, contributing to social change, and becoming an integral part of our communities. However, taking advantage of this also means that everyone needs the time to explore and see their ideas through. Taking a step back from the one-time-only events and assignments piling up on our to-do lists, we are able to devote more resources to our goals and begin to manage our tasks instead of our tasks managing us.

I truly applaud Penn students for their commitment to success and achievement; however, I would like us to pause and reflect on what we would like to achieve. The narrative of urgency written into our deadlines can motivate us to go further, but it can also disempower us, clouding our ability to take charge of our lives.

JESSEY SHIN is a College first year studying sociology and communications from Seongnam-si, South Korea. Their email is jessey0@ sas.upenn.edu.

KAYNATH CHOWDHURY is a College sophomore studying political science and computer science from Detroit, Mich. Her email address is kaynathc@sas.upenn.edu.

ABHIRAM JUVVADI | PHOTO EDITOR

Columnist Kaynath Chowdhury encourages students and professors to reconsider their perceptions of ChatGPT.

HANNAH SHUMSKY | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Columnist Franklin Li considers possible solutions to the problems facing Penn dining.

Columnist Jessey Shin argues that the Penn experience need not be one filled with deadlines and urgency.

Researcher Carl June led the Penn Medicine team that first used CAR-T cell therapy — a Penn-pioneered cancer treatment — to treat adult leukemia patients in 2010.

In 2012, Emily Whitehead was the first pediatric patient to undergo CAR-T cell therapy, and was cured of acute lymphoblastic leukemia at age seven. Now, Whitehead — a Pennsylvania native and prospective English major — is a first-year student in Penn’s College of Arts and Sciences.

The Daily Pennsylvanian spoke with Whitehead and June about the discovery which drastically altered both of their lives.

Chimeric antigen receptor T cell

immunotherapy modifies the immune system’s T cells to target and kill cancerous cells. The process involves the removal of the body’s T cells — white blood cells which are crucial in the human body’s immune response — and genetically modifying them before infusing them into the patient.

“We went from thinking it was just an experiment of proof of concept [to see] could you redirect T cells, and then it worked way better in humans than it ever did in mice,” June said. “All of the sudden — for something that we never thought would be widespread and commercialized — we got all these offers … and we got thousands of inquiries,” he said.

Since 2010, hundreds of patients at Penn Medicine — and more than 20,000 patients worldwide — have undergone CAR-T therapy, according to David Porter, the director of cell therapy and transplantation at Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center.

Whitehead was the first child, and one of the first people in the world, to receive this treatment.

Whitehead, who hails from Hershey, Pennsylvania, described herself as a “pretty normal kid” until age five, when she and her family suddenly began noticing serious bruises and knee pain overnight, she told the DP.

After receiving a diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Whitehead spent 23 months undergoing unsuccessful chemotherapy at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center — including relapsing twice in the process.

Rather than following medical advice to cease attempts to cure Whitehead’s leukemia, her family decided to seek out a second opinion at the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania — where a CAR-T cell therapy trial had just begun. In 2012, Whitehead became the first pediatric patient to be treated with CAR-T therapy, following just three adult patients before her.

The treatment originally caused cytokine release syndrome — which happens when the body’s immune system reacts too aggressively to immunotherapy — in Whitehead, causing her condition to worsen, according to June.

“There was both the elements of timing and luck that she happened to be there at the time to be enrolled as the first patient, but then the luck that she didn’t die when she had a 106 degree fever for two days in the lab,” June said.

June and his team treated Whitehead with Tocilizumab, an antibody that was typically used to treat arthritis. He told the DP that he “knew about [Tocilizumab]” because his daughter, who was one year older than Whitehead at the time, had arthritis — stating that this coincidence “saved Emily’s life and [is] why CAR-T cells are available.”

After just 22 days, she was cancer free.

“She was discharged from the hospital on her seventh birthday, when we treated her, and then every year we never knew if she would have to come back,” June said in an interview with the DP. “But there was a consensus after 10 years that she was cured.”

Eleven years later, Whitehead began her career as a Penn undergraduate student when she entered the Class of 2027.

Whitehead spent time debating between attending Penn and Pennsylvania State University, because those were the two schools that “[felt] the most like home to [her],” she said, and eventually chose Penn due to the amplitude of opportunities and resources available to students.

She recalled walking through campus every time she was in Philadelphia for doctors appointments at Penn Medicine throughout her childhood.

“I think it’s a little different now that I’m a student here, because before I was more just a patient,” she said. “Now, I can develop my own identity.”

June spoke effusively of Whitehead’s journey to return to Penn over a decade after her treatment.

“That closes that circle in a way I could never have imagined, and I’m so blessed to have seen that happen,” June said. “How can you have a better thing than that?”

During her first year of college, Whitehead said that she has taken classes that have interested her greatly, created new traditions to help her feel at home both on Penn’s campus and in Philadelphia, and formed close relationships with her roommates in Lauder College House.

“It was a little bit hard leaving home, but once I got into the groove, I was like, ‘I really like it

now,’” she said. Though she has not yet declared a major, she anticipates majoring in English, as she tends to gravitate towards classes centered on reading and writing. Her favorite class thus far is an English course called “Climate Fiction.”

This semester, after her American Sign Language class each week, she visits Houston Hall with a classmate to practice sign language and for a weekly lunch of burritos.

Outside of class, she volunteers locally with dogs and is very interested in photography. Last semester, she participated in the Hershey Fellowship through the Penn Women’s Center. Though she was already familiar with Philadelphia from visits to Penn as a child, she has made time to explore Center City, especially cafes and bookstores. She described herself as “very much a cafe person,” and named the Last Word Bookshop as a favorite spot nearby. Looking forward, Whitehead hopes to continue to explore the city and study abroad through a Penn Global Seminar. “Whenever you have a story like mine, it can be hard to figure out your identity outside of it. I think learning how to balance that is really important,” she said.

Med’s Abramson Cancer Center

PHOTO FROM EMILY WHITEHEAD Emily Whitehead, the first pediatric patient to receive CAR T-cell therapy from the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania, is now a first year in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Penn hosts fourth annual Energy Week

This year’s Energy Week consisted of 26 events with sponsorship from 16 centers and schools

ZION ABEBE

Contributing Reporter

The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology hosted their fourth annual Energy Week from March 11 through 15, featuring panels, workshops, lightning talks, and lectures.

Energy Week at Penn aims to expose students and faculty to different aspects of energy research. This year’s Energy Week consisted of 26 events, both recurring and new — including a workshop for women interested in pursuing a career in energy and engineering and a fireside chat with University of Ghana School of Law Dean Raymond Atuguba.

These events were offered in person, virtually, and hybrid with sponsorship from 16 centers and schools. Executive Director of the Kleinman Center Cornelia Colijn, who helped execute Energy Week across campus, detailed the interdisciplinary nature of the programming.

“Even though [Energy Week] is technically housed by the Kleinman Center and the Vagelos Institute, we understand that the energy transition relies on contributions from across disciplines and across sectors,” Colijn said. “It’s about motivating and celebrating the work that is going on on campus and the interest that people have in their respective areas and disciplines.”

Oscar Serpell, the associate director of academic programming at the Kleinman Center, was also involved in organizing events, particularly those aimed at engaging students — such as an alumni career panel moderated by Scott Kleinman, who graduated from Penn in 1994 and founded the center in 2014.

“Part of what makes this week so much fun and interesting is having all these diverse partners and having all of these topics that relate in different ways to energy policy,” Serpell said.

While Energy Week did not adopt a specific theme, Colijn noted that energy justice served as a unifying element between the various events this

year. “We have to be incredibly careful in the way that we design projects to ensure that we are very intentional to not overburden communities and individuals that have long been left behind,” Colijn said. “That [idea] seemed to come up a lot in our events.”

One of the events was a lecture by Jamie Vanucchi, an associate professor of landscape architecture at Cornell University. The lecture, taking place in person at Meyerson Hall, focused on the concepts of adaptation in the context of changing atmospheric, social, and political climates. Vanucchi highlighted the interconnection between environmental and personal challenges.

“Landscapes and lives are full of uncertainties,” she said. “And I think it’s interesting that these landscapes and lives really intertwine in both changing climates and the ways we might adapt to them.”

Vanucchi also equipped the audience with a set of six tools to aid in managing the unknown, one of which was to communicate uncertainty and collaborate.

“Trust comes both from what we know, our expertise, and communicating what we don’t know, but there is a limit to how much of the latter stakeholders can tolerate,” she said.

The School of Engineering and Applied Science and Penn Sustainability sponsored a discussion on how students can obtain jobs in energy and climate fields. The event was hosted by College to Climate, an organization founded in 2022 that aims to connect students to careers in climate.

Serpell said that he was struck by how many local stakeholders and Philadelphia community members participated in this year’s events, adding that they showed “a really keen interest in these topics.”

“I would love to see Energy Week become a source of dialogue and maybe add an event or two that has a Philadelphia focus,” he said.

APPLICATIONS, from FRONT PAGE

for all four schools.

The application also removed a question about applicants’ intended area of study while adding one about campus group involvement.

Penn also added a new application the admissions cycle for the Class of 2027, asking students to write a thank-you note to someone they had not thanked and wanted to acknowledge. In her interview with the Penn Gazette, Soule described reading these notes as “one of the most favorite experiences” of her years working in higher education.

“It was one of the most unbelievable experiences to read those thank-you notes, because they were all so genuine and personal,” Soule said.

Penn announced on March 5 that it was extending its test-optional application policy for the 2024-25 admissions cycle, despite other institutions reinstating standardized testing requirements. This decision defied decisions made by several other Ivies, as — in the weeks preceding Penn’s announcement — Brown, Dartmouth, and Yale all implemented standardized testing requirements.

Regular decision applicants to Penn will receive their admissions decisions by April 1.

CHENYAO LIU | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

The Wharton Graduate Association, which oversees Penn Fight Night, allegedly has yet to donate $90,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia.

Wharton defends Penn Fight Night amid ‘missing’ donation backlash

The Graduate and Professional Student Assembly voted to extend $25,000 of funding for this year’s Penn Fight Night, which is scheduled for April 6

BEN BINDAY News Editor

Wharton is defending its student government after an investigation by The Daily Pennsylvanian found that the Wharton Graduate Association allegedly failed to fulfill a promised $90,000 donation to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia.

Three weeks ago, the DP found that the WGA allegedly donated only $75,000 of the approximately $165,000 raised from Penn Fight Night's 2023 event — despite Fight Night leadership telling the Clubs that they would receive $160,000. Students resigned in protest, with participants in Fight Night 2023 expressing that they participated because they believed that the funds would be donated to the Clubs' literacy initiative.

Now, Wharton, the Clubs, and the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly are voicing support for the event — which remains scheduled for April 6 — amid continuing student backlash.

In a statement to the DP, a Wharton spokesperson acknowledged students’ disappointment while stating that they “fully support the difficult decisions made by the WGA this academic year.”

“The WGA finance team was diligent in considering all pathways forward following the University’s audit of their financials,” the spokesperson wrote. “The WGA has been a stalwart supporter of Fight Night and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia for many years, and we expect they will continue to support important causes while also setting clubs and conferences up for success.”

On March 2, the Clubs addressed the "exemplary leaders of Fight Night," thanking them for their "invaluable support and commitment to our shared vision." The statement, which Fight Night posted on Instagram on March 11, was obtained in full by the DP and does not contain any mention of the allegedly withheld donation.

“On behalf of the Boys & Girls Club, we would like to extend our heartfelt appreciation for Fight Night and the University of Pennsylvania’s graduate school’s unwavering support and dedication to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Philadelphia,” PresidentCEOs Joseph and Lisabeth Marziello wrote. “We are honored to have you as a partner in our mission to serve those who need us most.”

The Clubs directed the DP to their statement in response to a request for comment.

In the post’s caption, Penn Fight Night wrote that “this letter reminds us of the positive impact and significance of our collective efforts.”

The Graduate and Professional Student Assembly — which has been a sponsor of Fight Night for “many years,” according to President Michael Krone — voted on March 13 to extend $25,000 of funding to the event for this year, including a ticket buy and direct fund transfer. While Krone said that the $25,000 is a smaller amount than previous

years, it may increase once Fight Night confirms the use of additional funds from student governments. The funding, however, was provided with multiple stipulations attached, according to one source familiar with the matter. While Krone acknowledged that the funding was conditional, he declined to share the specific conditions until the meeting’s minutes are finalized.

Despite this, several students who are involved in Fight Night voiced frustration and disappointment with WGA's alleged failure to execute the promised donation.

Penn Grad Boxing Club vice president and captain Joe Dangtran, a University of Pennsylvania Carey Law student and combatant in the 2022 Fight Night event who serves as a graduate school liaison to the Fight Night Committee, called the allegations “awful” and “a disgrace.”

“There is a lot of outrage," Dangtran, who has also coached Fight Night combatants, said. "...We have a lot of coaches and a lot of experienced individuals who come down from less fortunate areas of Philadelphia, like Kensington, to share their knowledge with us and to be a part of this club."

He and "a lot of other people" had devoted time to the event largely because it was benefiting a "good cause," Dangtran added.

Alex Feng, a 2023 School of Engineering and Applied Science master’s graduate and fighter in Fight Night 2023, described the event as “among the highlights of [his] life.” However, he said that he was “really disappointed” by the allegations, recalling the fighters’ visit to the Clubs before the event as a “nice opportunity to see what we were working toward.”

“Now hearing about the situation that happened, it doesn't feel good — [especially] thinking about the time in-between when the Boys and Girls Club was expecting this money and having it not come through for so long, and even now maybe not even fully coming through to what they were expecting," Feng said.

Feng said that he would take precautions to ensure that the donation would be fulfilled if he were still at Penn and considering participating in the next Fight Night. He also said he has spoken with current fighters and trainers, who have said they will be “more vigilant” about similar issues in the future.

“It definitely puts a damper on the memory and the whole thing,” Feng said.

Dangtran also criticized Wharton’s response to the allegations.

“The fact that there seems to be a lot of apathy, or a kind of unwillingness to make things right, on behalf of the premier business school in America, is a symptom of something bigger," he said.

CHENYAO LIU | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy hosted a moderated conversation with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) at the Fisher Fine Arts Library on March 15.

BENJAMIN MCAVOY-BICKFORD | DP FILE PHOTO

Penn received a record 65,000 applications during this year’s admissions cycle.

Quakers’ night ended in a heartbreaking 59-54 loss. Senior forwards Jordan Obi and Floor Toonders and guard Michaela Stanfield will end their careers representing the Red and Blue (15-13, 7-8 Ivy) without ever experiencing a win against the Tigers (24-4, 14-1).

Earlier this week, Penn saw three of its players receive Ivy League honors. Obi earned first team All-Ivy recognition while junior guard Stina Almqvist was named to the second team All-Ivy, and freshman guard Mataya Gayle took home Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors. Today, all three showed why they deserved those honors.

In her first-ever Ivy League tournament appearance, Gayle finished the game with 20 points against the No. 1 team in the conference. Obi and Almqvist broke double digits as well, finishing the day with 15 and 11 points respectively.

“She’s really a talented, skilled, athletic, and smart player that plays really, really hard,” Princeton coach Carla Berube said in reference to Gayle. “And I’m not looking forward to coaching against her for the next three years.”

After the Tigers opened up the scoring, Almqvist quickly got to work, scoring the team’s first points of the game off a free throw after getting fouled while driving to the basket. Gayle joined her on the scoresheet on the following possession, sinking a three-point shot to tie up the game. On the next possession, Gayle found Obi at the top of the arc, who threaded the ball to Almqvist for an easy layup to give the Quakers their first lead of the game.

Unanimous first team All-Ivy selection and former Ivy League Player of the Year guard Kaitlyn Chen scored the first points of the game, but was quiet for much of the first quarter. In this time span, the Quakers lept out to an eight-point lead. Sophomore guard Simone Sawyer put on a defensive masterclass, recording multiple steals and layups off of those breakaways. But the tides quickly shifted when Chen found her rhythm.

Chen — who finished the game with 18 points — led a nine-point run for the Tigers that lasted from the end of the first quarter through the start of the second quarter to tie the game up and give Princeton the lead. And while she wasn’t given that many open looks, when she got them, she made them count. The attention Chen drew from Penn opened things up for guard Madison St. Rose and forward Ellie Mitchell to dominate.

The constant double teams surrounding Chen enabled former Ivy League Rookie of the Year St. Rose to finish the game with a teamleading 19 points, and Mitchell to become Princeton’s all-time leading rebounder as she recorded 12 on the night.

“It was really special,” Mitchell said. “I mean, obviously, the bigger thing is that we got the win. But there have been a lot of greats that came before me. So it’s really cool to [now]

have my name come up in that conversation.”

Heading into the locker room at the break, Penn held onto a slim two-point lead, but that quickly vanished as the second half got underway.

With the Tigers up by eight points deep into the fourth quarter, the Princeton faithful got to their feet cheering, assuming that the game was out of Penn’s reach — especially as Almqvist recorded her fifth foul of the game, ending the standout junior’s season prematurely. Last week, the fourth-quarter onslaught was too much for the Red and Blue to handle. However, this time, the Quakers showed no quit, and with her time with the Red and Blue drawing to a close, Obi led the charge for the comeback attempt.

“We’ve been working really hard in practice on closing the gap,” Gayle said. “And I feel like we executed to the best of our ability … Everyone was hustling for loose balls and I thought our execution was a lot better.”

After scoring a jumper, Obi drew the foul from St. Rose and proceeded to sink a threepointer on the next possession. The five-point swing gave the team the spark it needed to give itself a chance with its back against the wall. A crucial steal recorded by Sawyer with 19 seconds left in the game — with the team down just three points — set the Quakers up with the opportunity to send the game into overtime.

Unsurprisingly, Obi found herself with the ball in her hands. With her season and potentially her collegiate career on the line, Obi drove to the basket and made the layup despite the defender making contact. The Red and Blue faithful went wild as the potential game-tying play transpired, but those cheers quickly turned to gasps of disbelief as the referee signaled for a charge. The call officially put the nail in the coffin for the Red and Blue’s season.

“I thought it was a great college basketball game,” coach Mike McLaughlin said. “With that said, I’m a pretty transparent person. That was a block at the end … I’m professional, but I also have to fight for my players. That’s a block and I think that if anyone saw it and rewatched the video again, they’ll say the same thing.”

With the team’s season now over, Penn women’s basketball will be looking to regroup and rebuild. The team will miss the presence of Obi and Toonders — two very consistent starters — sorely, but McLaughlin is more than optimistic about the players who will be returning.

The Quakers will be returning Almqvist, who led the team in scoring this season with 15.3 points per game, as well as Gayle, who will be looking to build on her impressive rookie season. Joining them will be freshman guard Ese Ogbevire, who nabbed a few Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors this past season, and Sawyer who showed today that she can be a force on the defensive side of the ball.

“When you really think about it, we’ve lost a lot of people that played a lot last year,” Almqvist said. “We have a great group next year, so I’m super excited. I think there’s really something to build on here.”

Beyond the court: Sophomore guard

Simone Sawyer’s journey from athlete to advocate

Sawyer has established her own private clothing company, Mo Minds Matter, to promote mental health

NIK KATHIRESAN Sports Reporter

Penn women’s basketball’s sophomore guard Simone Sawyer is making waves both on and off the court. With Sawyer being a key player for the women’s basketball team, her talent and tenacity have earned her plenty of recognition. In her freshman campaign, she received Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors twice.

“Being in this program, everyone is super positive, and it’s really like a family,” Sawyer said. “It’s easy to play for [Penn], and it’s easy to love it here.”

The love she has for her teammates, fans, and coaches is certainly reciprocated.

“She’s always on,” coach Mike McLaughlin said. “You know what you’re getting out of her every day. You can challenge her approach, and she responds.”

On the hardwood, Sawyer’s prowess is undeniable, and McLaughlin spoke highly of her speed and athleticism. “As an athlete, she’s quick, straight-line fast. When she’s active, she’s at her best. And when she gets out and runs lanes for transition, she’s at her offensive best.”

With lightning speed and a sharp eye for the game, she’s become a formidable force for the Quakers, having started 13 of 23 games so far in the 2023–24 season. Yet, it’s her commitment to mental health advocacy that paints a fuller picture of who she is.

Mo Minds Matter, Sawyer’s brainchild, was founded to destigmatize mental health issues and promote an open dialogue about struggles with mental health. Through her private clothing company, Sawyer designs and sells apparel containing empowering messages to help spread mental health awareness. Mo Minds Matter has also become a platform for other individuals — often athletes — to share their own experiences with mental health struggles and to promote mental well-being.

Sawyer’s current project with Mo Minds Matter is “The Keys to Mo Happiness,” where she has other athletes share their keys to happiness through a handful of quotes. Having struggled with mental health in her own life, Sawyer saw a chance to create something that could not only help herself, but also help others away from the sport of basketball, as much as

WBB, from BACK PAGE

Which brings me back to the start of this column:

Sometimes you just can’t win. A referee will make the wrong call, the ball will bounce the wrong way, and all Penn can do is watch it all roll away.

Accepting this fact allows you to see one major truth: This was an amazing season to witness. Success is not always defined by a title run or a major upset.

The team ushered in an amazing pair of backcourt rookies with Gayle and freshman guard Ese Ogbevire, a pairing that racked up over nine Rookie of the Week awards in the Ivy League. Almqvist blossomed into an All-Ivy player, and proved that the program will be entering good hands next season.

Finally, seniors like Obi and forward Floor Toonders gained the chance to end their Red and Blue careers with a fighting effort, something many players aren’t lucky enough to get.

All in all, this season didn’t end how anyone wanted, but it showed that Penn has a program that puts itself in a chance to win every day. Sisyphus may never reach the top, but he gets stronger every time he tries, a lesson Penn women’s basketball has taken to heart.

Despite the end result, the team gets back up every time and one day the ball will roll their way And when it does, we will all be there to celebrate.

SEAN MCKEOWN is a sophomore and current deputy sports editor studying communications from Philadelphia. All comments should be directed to dpsports@thedp.com.

she enjoys it. “I wanted to create something where I can just be Simone Sawyer, and not like ‘basketball Simone’ or ‘academic Simone,’” she explains.

For Sawyer, the journey hasn’t come without its challenges. Balancing the demands of Division I athletics with the responsibilities of running a company has required grit, determination, and, of course, a lot of organization.

“This is going to sound crazy, but I just use Google Calendar,” she said, laughing a little. Sawyer also knows the importance of personal time. “I make sure I set aside at least two hours a day for myself. I think that’s important, and I get to choose what I do with that time.”

Sawyer’s maturity and unwavering commitment to her cause fuel her drive to succeed in all aspects of her life. “As a person, she’s mature and growing right in front of us; she really is,” McLaughlin said. “I think it’s really important, the work that she is doing, bringing recognition to mental health. And more importantly, it’s really important to her.”

As Sawyer continues to excel in her sophomore season, the women’s basketball team faces a battle for the Ivy Madness title this weekend.

As the number four seed, Penn takes on Princeton on Friday, March 15 at 4:30 p.m. for a spot in the tournament final. Sawyer is excited to bring the energy for the Quakers this weekend and hopefully extend their season a little longer.

But ultimately, as Sawyer’s journey unfolds, it’s clear that her influence extends far beyond the hardwood. With each game she plays and each message she shares, Sawyer proves that athletes have the power to effect change and leave things better than they found them. Whether it be sinking three-pointers or spreading awareness about mental health, Sawyer is certainly determined to leave a lasting impact on the Penn community and beyond.

“You’re not going to play basketball forever, and so I think that’s super important: to leave impacts,” she said.

Regardless of the results from this weekend’s Ivy Madness tournament, Sawyer can feel confident that she’s leaving her mark on this program, both on and off the court.

SONALI CHANDY | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Senior forward Jordan Obi attempts a layup against Princeton during the Ivy Madness semifinals on March 15.

CALEB CRAIN | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Sophomore guard Simone Sawyer looks to pass in a game against Princeton on Feb. 10.

Track and field sees three coaches recognized in the Mid-Atlantic Region

Joe Klim, Chené Townsend, and Steve Dolan are recognized for their contributions to the Quakers stellar track and eld performance this year

PHOEBE WEINTRAUB

Sports Associate

All-Americans.

On March 15, the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced the winners of its 2024 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Regional coaching awards, which are separated by region. Penn coaches dominated the Mid-Atlantic region, winning three of the four awards that they were eligible for.

Coach Joe Klim won the Mid-Atlantic Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year. Klim is in his 12th year as assistant director of track & field, and he also coaches vertical jumps and multi events. Klim has led three Penn athletes to top-15 national rankings, with two of his pole vaulters receiving regional recognition. Senior vaulter Scott Toney is an Ivy Champion, having placed first in the 2024 Ivy Heptagonals, with junior vaulter James Rhoades placing second. The two are rated first and second, respectively, in the Mid-Atlantic Region and are first team

In addition to his stellar pole vaulters, Klim also coaches Penn’s top high jumper: sophomore Kampton Kam, who is an NCAA qualifier and ranked No. 1 in the region. Throughout his tenure at Penn, Klim’s athletes have broken countless program records, attained multiple All-America titles, and made a combined 18 NCAA appearances.

Coach Chené Townsend was named the Mid-Atlantic Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year. She previously received this honor for the 2023 outdoor season. Townsend is in her fourth year as the Rogers Family Associate Head Women’s Track & Field Coach, with a focus in hurdles and sprints. Her athletes have broken six school records this year. Three of these were also Ivy League records: senior Isabella Whittaker, who ran the 400m in 51.69; sophomore Moforehan Abinusawa, who ran the 60m dash in

7.25; and the 4x400 relay team with a time of 3:29:86. Townsend led the women’s track and field team to their seventh Ivy Heptagonals first place title where they won four events: 60m hurdles, 400m, 60m sprint, and 200m. Four of her athletes also qualified for the NCAA Track & Field Indoor Championships: senior Isabella Whittaker for the women’s 400m and the 4x400 team, which is made up of Whittaker, senior Christiana Nwachuku, and juniors Jocelyn Niemiec and Aliya Garozzo.

Steve Dolan, who is in his 12th year as the director of the track & field and cross country program, received the title of Mid-Atlantic Women’s Coach of the Year. This is his eighth time receiving the honor during his time at Penn. He was also the Ivy League Coach of the Year during the women’s indoor season. In addition to directing the program and coaching men’s distance running, Dolan also serves as the Frank Dolson Director of the

Penn Relays. Dolan is considered one of the best coaches in the country due to his transformation of the Penn track and field program. During his first ten years as athletics director, he led the Quakers to eight team Ivy League Championships (two men’s cross country, three women’s indoor track and field, and three women’s outdoor track and field). He has witnessed over 50 program records broken, and his athletes include 36 All-Americans, 92 individual Heptagonal champions, 200+ All-Ivy honorees, and 48 Academic All-Ivy recipients. He is an eight-time unanimous Ivy League Coach of the Year. These accolades not only prove the strength of these three coaches, but that of the Penn track and field program itself. The outdoor season is already underway, with the Penn Challenge coming up on March 23, at Franklin Field.

PHOTO FROM PENN ATHLETICS

Head track coach Steve Dolan was named Mid-Atlantic Region Women’s Coach of the Year for the 2023-2024 indoor track and field season.

DESIGN BY EMMI WU

Heartbreak in New York: Controversial call in Ivy Madness semifinals ends women’s basketball’s season

The Quakers lost their 12th straight game to the Tigers as the team was ultimately unable to complete the late fourth quarter comeback attempt

VIVIAN YAO Sports Editor

the Ivy Madness tournament semifinals.

The Quakers entered the matchup in the midst of the program’s longest-ever losing streak against the Tigers, with 11 straight losses. The last loss in this series came less than a week ago, where the Red and Blue were

Men’s basketball freshman guard Tyler Perkins enters transfer portal

LUCAS

A Sisyphean season: Women’s basketball gets knocked down as they reach the top

McKeown | After a tremendous effort against Princeton in Ivy Madness, the Quakers fell just short

SEAN MCKEOWN Deputy Sports Editor

Sometimes, no matter how hard you fight, no matter how much you care, you can’t stop history from repeating itself.

In what turned out to be the final game of the season for Penn women’s basketball, the Quakers turned in a masterclass of a performance against Princeton in the Ivy Madness semifinals — but it just wasn’t enough. The Quakers showcased some of their fiercest defense of the year at all the right times, but Princeton’s dominant rebounding and second-half shooting proved to be the difference. The Quakers ultimately fell 59-54, an impressive showing against the top-seeded Tigers, but an end to the 2023-2024 season nonetheless.

Taken game by game, a season is a collection of many smaller moments. However, regardless of the highs and lows, wins and losses, the ending is the defining moment in everyone’s mind. How it ended for Penn was quite familiar, as it marks the third straight campaign in which the Red and Blue couldn’t push past Princeton. Despite that familiar sting of tiger claws leaving a last impression, the Quakers shouldn’t let their Groundhog Day ending define them. The team improved greatly throughout the season, and demonstrated such against the Tigers. Losing by double digits to Princeton just under a week prior, Penn rapidly improved in their preparation for their Ivy semifinal. Every player brought their utmost defensive intensity, as evident from the 21 turnovers the Tigers coughed up. Offensively, the Quakers executed well throughout the game, setting the stage for a thrilling final frame.

The fourth quarter played out like a battle scene. Both sides traded blows as the score began to tip in Princeton’s favor. While the Quakers attempted to come back, they found themselves staring down an eight point deficit, and only 90 seconds left on the clock. With star junior guard Stina Almqvist just fouling out, the Quakers needed a parade of miracles to close out the game. Throughout the season, playing in other arenas, Penn has faced the same problem: a need for everything to go right. In those moments, the team has had mixed results, but never stopped learning. Now, they knew exactly what they needed to do.

unable to stymie Princeton’s early fourthquarter explosion en route to a 72-55 loss.

After keeping the score tight with the top-seeded team for much of the game, the

See IVY MADNESS, page 8

After a record-setting season from freshman guard Tyler Perkins, the Quakers’ top scorer in total points on the season and the all-time freshman scoring leader has entered the transfer portal. Perkins, a three-star recruit out of Virginia, will be exploring options to leave Penn after just one season with the Red and Blue.

Perkins’ decision to enter the portal marks the second consecutive season in which a star Quaker will leave. He follows in the footsteps of Jordan Dingle, the second-leading scorer in the nation during the 2022-23 season for Penn, who transferred to St. John’s after one of the better individual seasons in Quaker history.

Perkins is sure to have several opportunities to play in a power conference after averaging 13.7 points per game, along with 5.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists. Defensively, Perkins also impressed, ranking fifth in steals per game in the Ivy League. He finished the year taking home three Ivy League Rookie of the Week awards, and finished 11th in the conference in points per game and tenth in rebounds. Perkins broke onto the scene early in the campaign, scoring 22 points in the Quakers’ massive upset over then-ranked Villanova in early November. He would top the 20-point mark four other times throughout the year. The transfer comes on the heels of one of the worst seasons in recent memory for the Red and Blue, who finished seventh of eight in Ivy League play with a 3-11 conference record. Perkins took on a much larger role than expected throughout the year after senior guard Clark Slajchert suffered an ankle injury just weeks before Ivy play began and missed the majority of conference play. With Slajchert graduating and entering the portal as a graduate transfer, and with the impending loss of Perkins, Penn will have to find several new producers at the guard position for the upcoming season.

Penn Athletics did not respond to a request for comment.

Quakers acquired possession, and there was only one woman for the job: senior forward Jordan Obi. An all-time great for the Penn program, she acted as a steady hand throughout a tumultuous final season. Captaining the team, Obi has proven time and time again that the ball belongs in her hands when the game comes down to the wire.

Obi proved her mettle, lacing a jumper from just inside the paint near the baseline. On the next possession, she connected on a triple on a crucial three off of a laser pass from star freshman guard Mataya Gayle. An impact player since day one, Gayle led the team in scoring on the day, but this stellar pass served as her biggest play of the game. After an excellent defensive play from sophomore guard Simone Sawyer — her seventh steal of the game — momentum was building for the Quakers, who turned to Obi once again with the game on the lines.

A player who has yet to beat Princeton in her career. A player who has worn the Red and Blue with more pride than anyone. With all the pressure of the world on her shoulders, Obi once again found the ball and drove to the paint. The game was on the line; she would drive and score. The crowd erupted — the boulder reached the top of the hill, and everyone could see the horizon for a fleeting second. But a whistle turned the cheers into boos as an official ripped the hearts out of every Quaker fan in the stadium: An offensive foul had been called on Obi. Soon after, the game would get away from Penn. A slew of mistakes pushed the match — and the season — out of reach, knocking the boulder back down the hill. Postgame, coach Mike McLaughlin said that he believed it was a missed call, and that the result should’ve been a thunderous and-one that would have given Penn the chance to tie the game. When it all mattered most, Penn did everything right. Not just in the match, but throughout the season. They took each game as a chance to learn, maximized their talents on both sides of the ball, and improved to the point where, in their most dire moments, they were playing to their full potential.

ABHIRAM JUVVADI | PHOTO EDITOR Perkins, a three-star recruit out of Virginia, will be exploring options to leave Penn after just one season with the Red and Blue.