March 4, 2021

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021 VOL. CXXXVII NO. 7

Pritchett estimates ‘50-50 chance’ Penn will launch student vaccination campaign by May Although the University does not yet know when vaccines will be available for students, Pritchett said it is prepared for quick and seamless distribution

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

FOUNDED 1885

Students trust COVID-19 testing — but not each other .

.

In a survey conducted by the DP, undergraduates were pleased with testing but concerned by peer behavior

SHIRALI SHAH & SUMMER WYLIE Staff Reporters

JONAH CHARLTON Senior Reporter

Provost Wendell Pritchett estimated that there is a “50-50 chance” that Penn will be able to launch a COVID-19 vaccination effort for students before the end of the semester at the Board of Trustees meeting on Feb. 25.

Although the University does not yet know when vaccines will be available for students, Pritchett said it is prepared for quick and seamless distribution, adding that the facilities, tents, staff, and systems in place for the spring COVID19 testing program are set to be used for vaccine administration.

On March 2, President Joe Biden announced that the United States was “on track” to vaccinate every adult in America by the end of May. The announcement came shortly after the administration threw its support behind Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine and brokered a deal between the pharmaceutical company and Merck & Co. in order to produce COVID-19 vaccines.

In an interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian earlier in the day on March 2, Chief Wellness Officer Benoit Dubé called the approval of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine as well as Merck’s support “game-changers,” adding that it proves how quickly the vaccine distribution process is changing.

He also noted that the City of Philadelphia is in charge of vaccine distribution and the University is bound by the city’s decisions on how to allot vaccines that are provided by the federal government.

Penn Medicine is currently vaccinating hospital

Undergraduate students are overwhelmingly satisfied with Penn’s COVID-19 testing program but concerned with peer behavior and enforcement of the University’s COVID-19 guidelines, according to a survey conducted by The Daily Pennsylvanian.

The survey ran from Feb. 21 to Feb. 28 and garnered responses from 422 students, 55% of whom are living in on-campus housing and 37% of whom are living off campus in Philadelphia. It found that 88% of students said COVID-19 testing centers are efficient at administering tests and 84% of students said COVID-19 test results are easily accessible. Despite their confidence in the testing program, students remain concerned with their peers breaking COVID-19 regulations.

About 70% of respondees said they believe their peers are not acting responsibly and over 71% said they know someone who has attended a gathering of over 10 people this semester. Indoor gatherings in private residences are currently permitted with only one other household besides one’s own, according to city guidelines.

The poll asked students to rate how strongly they agreed or disagreed with a number of statements pertaining to campus life, peer behavior, COVID-19 testing, enforcement of campus policies, and the effectiveness of PennOpen Pass.

Undergraduate students are overwhelmingly satisfied with Penn’s COVID-19 testing program but concerned with peer behavior and enforcement of the University’s COVID-19 guidelines, according to a survey conducted by The Daily Pennsylvanian.

Students reported concerns over Penn’s ability to discipline students who violate the Student Campus Compact, which outlines COVID-19 guideline compliance expectations for students living on and off campus. The Campus Compact focuses on four categories — health and wellness, campus movement, travel and guests, and social life and recreation — asking students to agree to a number of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including avoiding unnecessary travel, maintaining social distancing, and only congregating outdoors, at a distance and while wearing masks.

Only 9% of students said they are confident in Penn’s ability to discipline students who violate the Campus Compact. Over 58% of students believe the Campus Compact should have stricter regulations.

First year students have reportedly been partying in college houses and breaking COVID-19 guidelines since the beginning of the semester.

Many resident advisors and graduate associates have previously told the DP that they feel unsafe enforcing the Student Campus Compact and breaking up student gatherings.

Penn released a dashboard detailing over 250 reports of students violating the University’s COVID-19 protocols that have been submitted to the Campus Compact Review Panel. The dashboard was released on Feb. 19 and will be updated monthly, Chief Wellness Officer Benoit Dubé told the DP on Feb. 22.

Of reports that resulted in University intervention, 52% led to disciplinary sanctions, 33% led to educational interventions, and 14% led to campus restrictions.

The majority of students, however, still said they do not believe the consequences for noncompliance are clear enough.

In the freeform response section of the survey, many students said they wanted “greater transparency” from Penn regarding COVID19 test results and that they would like to see the COVID-19 dashboard updated daily. Over 69% of students said the COVID-19 dashboard is not updated frequently enough. Penn currently updates the dashboard weekly on Tuesday mornings.

In early February, the undergraduate COVID19 positivity rate peaked at 4.47% with 239 positive cases among undergraduates. Last week the University’s weekly undergraduate COVID19 positivity rate reached 0.32% — the lowest rate of the semester.

Over 44% of students also said they do not know where to report Student Campus Compact violations.

Any member of the Penn community can report an alleged violation of the Campus

SEE VACCINES PAGE 3

Despite semester-low positivity rate, admin. urge caution ahead of days off next week This week marks the third straight week that the number of undergraduate cases has decreased by over 50% HELEN RUDOLER Staff Reporter

Even as the University’s COVID-19 positivity rate reached its lowest rate of the semester this week, Penn administrators stressed the importance of remaining cautious and avoiding travel next week.

Penn canceled spring break — which was originally scheduled from March 6 to March 14 — and replaced it with three Engagement Days throughout the semester and two Rest and Recharge days which will take place on March 10 and 11. Chief Wellness Officer Benoit Dubé said that while this week’s 0.32% undergraduate positivity rate is great news, students’ hard work can be undone if they choose to travel next week.

“We can totally mess [this] up if we make bad decisions,” Dubé said. “We just want to remind people that while they’re disconnecting from school, they must remember not to disconnect from the public health guidance that has kept the numbers low for the past few weeks.”

Undergraduates accounted for a total of 17 COVID-19 cases from Feb. 21 to Feb. 27, down from 50 the previous week. This week marks the third straight week that the number of undergraduate cases has decreased by over 50%, making this week’s undergraduate positivity rate as well as case count a semester low.

The three-week-long decreasing trend follows an alarming uptick in cases in early February, when the University considered implementing a campus-wide quarantine policy.

Given the low positivity rates as well as loosened Philadelphia city guidelines, the University has been able to reopen a number of University facilities at limited capacity, including Pottruck Health and Fitness Center, and plans to reopen indoor dining on March 8.

Dubé also said that Penn will be announcing a number of socially distant activities for students to participate in on campus and around the city next week, with more information to follow later this week.

“The Class of 2021 should absolutely experience [commencement] in person, but not at the cost of West Philadelphian lives.” - DP Editorial Board PAGE 4

SEE SURVEY PAGE 3

Penn men’s soccer has established a diversity and inclusion committee to discuss prevalent social justice issues PAGE 11

NEWS PAGE 2

PENN TO REOPEN LIMITED INDOOR DINING ON MARCH 8

PENN & SLAVERY PROJECT RELEASES CAMPUS TOUR APP PAGE 9 DEMONSTRATING PENN’S TIES TO SLAVERY

NEWS

FOLLOW US @DAILYPENN FOR THE LATEST UPDATES SEND STORY IDEAS TO NEWSTIP@THEDP.COM

ONLINE AT THEDP.COM

CONTACT US: 215-422-4640

2 NEWS

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021

Penn faculty and staff will not return to in-person work until July at the earliest

Penn to reopen limited indoor dining on March 8

The University will continue to update faculty and staff on plans to return to inperson work

The decision to reopen indoor dining comes after Philadelphia loosened restrictions on dining in the city, Chief Wellness Officer Benoit Dubé said

KAMI HOUSTON Senior Reporter

SARIKA RAU Staff Reporter

Faculty and staff who were not required to complete work in person this semester will not be required to return to campus until July 2021 at the earliest.

Penn will also continue to update faculty and staff on plans to return to in-person work, as well as the potential of returning to in-person classes in the fall and research projects, according an email from University administrators.

Provost Wendell Pritchett and Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli sent an email to all faculty and staff on Monday afternoon, announcing a “full return to work on campus” will not come before July, but that the University expects to welcome more staff to campus in the coming months. It is too early to decide on a date for all faculty and staff to return to campus, they believe that the success of the PennOpen Pass system and other University health guidelines has created a path to return to in-person work, the administrators wrote.

“Circumstances surrounding COVID-19 transmission and the ongoing distribution of vaccines are changing rapidly, so it is still too early to decide on a date when faculty and staff will be expected to return to campus,” Pritchett and Carnaroli wrote.

Penn welcomed all undergraduates back to campus for the first time since March 2020 in Jan. 2021, opening all on-campus housing with majority of classes still being taught remotely. For two straight weeks, Penn’s undergraduate COVID-19 positivity rate has declined by over 50%, from a peak of 4.47% between Jan. 31 and Feb. 6 to 0.93% last week, the lowest weekly undergraduate positivity rate of the spring semester.

The University is also developing guidelines for remote work locations for staff, but in the meantime, staff members should reference the COVID-19 Return to Campus Guide, which outlines protocols for working on campus, the email read.

Over the past week, a number of other Pennsylvania colleges have laid out plans to return to in-person instruction. Penn State University announced it is planning for a full on-campus learning experience in fall 2021 on Feb. 24, and Temple University similarly announced its plans to hold primarily in-person classes this fall on March 1.

The majority of Penn faculty and staff transitioned to remote work in March 2020 after the University shut down campus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We thank you again for your extraordinary work in sustaining our campus mission,” the email read. “We look forward to providing more details in the months ahead about our shared return to life on campus.”

Penn will reopen indoor dining at limited capacity in three locations beginning March 8.

The decision to reopen indoor dining comes after Philadelphia loosened restrictions on dining in the

COVID-19 forces some Ph.D. students to delay graduation Travel restrictions and safety concerns have prevented some students from completing research abroad SUMMER WYLIE Staff Reporter

With the COVID-19 pandemic preventing some Ph.D. students from completing research abroad, several have been forced to alter their dissertations or postpone their expected graduation date — prompting financial concerns for students who may require additional semesters of funding.

Travel restrictions and safety concerns have posed significant challenges for doctoral students whose dissertations require research conducted abroad. The setback is another challenge faced by graduate students, who, in the midst of the pandemic, have been lobbying the University for a one-year universal funding extension, as some sources of grants have implemented funding freezes.

Members of Graduate Employees Together University of Pennsylvania, a graduate student union, wrote an op-ed published in October in The Daily Pennsylvanian demanding that Penn extend doctoral funding for one year after the University announced that it would offer $1,200 in stipend funds for graduate students for the 2020-2021 academic year.

Students studying the humanities and social sciences are likely to face particular difficulty amid the pandemic, History professor and Ph.D. advisor Sophia Rosenfeld said, because of the need to conduct field work, which often takes place abroad.

Rosenfeld noted that students who are unable to take additional semesters, in many cases for financial reasons, are being forced to alter or limit their research.

city, Chief Wellness Officer Benoit Dubé said. Philadelphia restaurants can now increase indoor dining capacity up to 50%.

“We’re just following the guidance from the city in terms of what is allowed. But we’re also keeping last right of refusal — should the numbers head in the wrong direction, we will scale back,” Dubé said.

Hill House, 1920 Commons, and Lauder College House dining halls will reopen to students who reserve 30-minute time slots, Penn Dining announced in an email sent Tuesday afternoon to all students on dining plans.

A limited number of single tables for one student to sit alone that are positioned to enforce appropriate social distancing will be available, according to the email, and students must wear a mask at all times when not eating or drinking.

Dubé added that students must remember that

eating is a high-risk activity due to the increased transmission of infectious particles through saliva, and that abiding by social distancing guidelines is vital. He also said students must not move tables and seats from where they are originally positioned.

He added that, although indoor dining — like other recently loosened restrictions — is on a trial basis, there is potential for further expansion if students demonstrate a willingness to follow the rules and keep case counts in check.

“We have to be responsive to the levels of disease circulating on our campus,” Dubé said. “But as we all saw, and have celebrated these past few weeks, because the numbers are manageable and they reflect that most students are making the right decisions, this is another restriction that we can loosen up in light of the response on our campus and because of the city’s guidance.”

Paige Pendarvis, a fourth-year history Ph.D. candidate, had originally intended to travel to France in the fall and spend a year conducting research for her dissertation on modern European history. She opted not to travel abroad due to concerns about contracting the virus and the possibility that archives may close.

Pendarvis said she was lucky that the French National Library offers a “robust collection of digitized sources,” and added that she has made use of materials from Penn Libraries to work as best as she could from home. But to make significant progress on her dissertation, she said she needs access to physical records.

“I’m trying the best I can to make progress, but I’m really at a stage where I think I need to get into the archives again and see what’s around,” Pendarvis said. “It’s hard for me to use research money to request archival documents to be scanned because I don’t necessarily know exactly what I’m looking for.”

Limited in what work she is able to complete this year, Pendarvis now estimates that she will take seven years instead of six to complete her Ph.D. She added that many of her colleagues’ Ph.D. completion tracks have also been delayed.

“I’m at this really weird moment where I have colleagues who are in their fifth year, whereas I’m in my fourth year, and so they’ve been able to write some chapters of their dissertation with research they had already done, but [I’m not],” Pendarvis said.

Atenea Rosado-Viurques, a third-year joint education, culture, and society and anthropology Ph.D. candidate focusing on immigration, said she will have to alter the focus of her dissertation in order to complete her Ph.D. studies on time.

“I have had to readjust my ambition in ethnography, [and] I’ve had to include more historical sources and more archival sources than what I had expected,” she said. “So, with a different dissertation, I still can make it on time.”

While she has been able to conduct research in Mexico during the pandemic because her status as a citizen has enabled her to more easily enter the

country despite restrictions, she has had to make several sacrifices — she canceled research plans at an immigrant detention center for fear of bringing COVID-19 in and limited her ethnographic research to safer areas with lower chances of exposing high-risk individuals to the virus.

Rosado-Viurques said she has had to dip into her personal stipend funds for her research abroad, as some of her grants cannot be used for travel.

Despite difficulties prompted by the pandemic, Rosado-Viurques is still planning on completing her dissertation by 2023.

“I think that there’s a lot of intersection with gender, with age, and I personally don’t feel like I am in a position to wait,” Rosado-Viurques said.

“Ph.D. students who are women and who are in their 30s, who are thinking of having a family or also have to support a family, do not have the privilege [of waiting].”

Seventh-year history Ph.D. student Rolf Siverson, who is studying state-building in postcolonial North and South Korea, however, is considering pushing back his graduation date.

His hopes of conducting additional research at the National Archives and the Library of Congress were dashed when both institutions closed last year, as were plans of further study of North Korea after his advisor told him to focus on the research he had already conducted on South Korea.

Rather than wait for COVID-19 to pass, he elected to take the work he had and the resources he could still access — such as Korea’s Institute of National History, which had digitized copies of necessary materials — and finish writing. He said he was lucky to have completed the bulk of his research before the pandemic, having spent two years in Asia studying archives.

Although COVID-19 has not impacted his research as severely as it has for his colleagues, he said it has exacerbated an already highly competitive job market. Having not yet secured a job, Siverson said he may push his graduation date

Call us home.

Reserve your spot for Fall 2021

GET 50 OFF E A C H I N S TA L L M E N T $

APPLY FREE

Limited time | Select floorplans | Contact us for details

215-222-4212 | theradian.com

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

SEE GRADUATION PAGE 3

THEDP.COM | THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN

The 2021-2022 room selection period is open.

Here’s what’s new.

Campus housing is set to return to full occupancy this year as New College House West opens its doors MARY TUYETNHI TRAN Staff Reporter

With a brand-new college house opening its doors and campus housing set to return to full occupancy this fall, room selection for the 20212022 academic year is underway.

The room selection application opened for all returning students on Feb. 23 at 9 a.m., and students must submit an application by March 15 at 5 p.m. in order to receive a timeslot. Timeslots are not given on a first-come-first-serve basis.

This year, students are able to request housing in New College House West for the first time.

After starting construction in December 2018, NCHW will finally open its doors for upperclassmen residents this fall. The 13-story building located near 40th and Walnut streets will house up to 450 students in suite-style apartments, ranging from two- to six-person suites.

Penn is also set to return to regular occupancy levels in college houses next year, according to Penn Residential Services Associate Director of Housing Occupancy Katie Musar.

“We are hoping to have all of our houses filled as they would during a non-pandemic time,” Musar said. “That means shared bedrooms, for example, in our double rooms and our Quad three-bedrooms.”

Campus housing operated differently than normal this year, as precautionary measures were taken in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. After closing on-campus housing for all undergraduate students in fall 2020 with some exceptions for students with extenuating circumstances, Penn later invited thousands of students back to campus in spring 2021 with several restrictions: students living on campus have been housed in private bedrooms, with no more than six students sharing a single bathroom.

To adapt the room selection process to the

VACCINES FRONT PAGE

staff in addition to local residents who are eligible under county guidelines, Pritchett said, adding that Penn Medicine vaccinated more than 4,000 people last week. Philadelphia residents who are essential workers, have pre-existing health conditions, and are over the age of 75 are currently eligible to be vaccinated, Pritchett added.

“We’re not vaccinating faculty — we’re vaccinating people who fit those criteria,” Pritchett said. “The guidelines in Philadelphia are different than the guidelines in Montgomery County

GRADUATION PAGE 2

back from this spring to the summer. Though he is very close to completing his Ph.D., he said he feels a lack of motivation to finish his dissertation more quickly because of the uncertainty surrounding post-graduation opportunities.

For some Ph.D. students in the midst of conducting research abroad, COVID-19 forced them to come home early. Fifth-year music and anthropology Ph.D. candidate Elizabeth Bynum was conducting ethnographic research on noise pollution in Mexico City in March 2020 when she had to return home.

Bynum had hoped to complete 12 more months of fieldwork, but she returned to the United States with less than half of her dissertation research completed. The online presence of her sources has helped her to remain productive at home — a luxury not afforded to many other students, she said.

“I am in a better position than some of my colleagues because so many of the people who I have to talk to for my research are really well connected

SURVEY FRONT PAGE

Compact to the Campus Compact Review Panel via a form, which can be found on the University’s COVID-19 Wellness page. After the submission is received, the panel will determine whether it will address the violation directly, refer the violation to the Office of Student Conduct for disciplinary review, or dismiss it entirely.

As for Penn’s COVID-19 policies, students are overwhelmingly supportive of the University’s testing protocols.

Penn requires undergraduate students living on and off campus to schedule saliva-based COVID19 screening testing twice a week on pre-assigned days. Graduate students and faculty living on campus must schedule screening testing twice a week on days of their choice, and off-campus graduate students and faculty who visit campus must be tested once a week.

The University provides students’ test results between 24 and 48 hours after they test. Dubé and Chief Operating Officer for Wellness Services Erika Gross have told the DP throughout the spring semester that Penn’s testing protocols and systems have “run smoothly and been very successful.”

Dubé and Gross both emphasized that testing is only one part of public health guidelines, and said

NEWS 3

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021 pandemic, which has resulted in students being unable to tour the college houses in person, Residential Services created 360-degree virtual room tours of many of the college houses, Director of Communications and External Relations Barbara Lea-Kruger said.

For students planning on spending another year in campus housing, there are three phases of the housing application: Program Communities, Return to House, and Move to Another House.

Upperclassmen have a choice between two price rates — housing will cost $11,014 or $15,418, depending on the type of room selected. More expensive rooms may include private bedrooms for all residents or amenities such as kitchens.

Students applying to Program Communities, groups centered around shared identities and interests in which participants live on the same floor, must complete their application by March 5 at 1 p.m. Applicants will receive an application decision by March 16.

During the “Return to House” phase, rising thirdand fourth-year students who request to stay in their 2020-2021 academic year place of residence will choose a room and bed space between March 22 and March 25. This option is not available to rising sophomores. Upperclassmen who wish to move to a new college house next year will select a unit and bed space from March 29 to April 1.

“An analogy that I’ve used before is it’s sort of like buying concert tickets in that you see where the seats are — except this time, it’s rooms — and you’ll be able to see what’s available before you make your selection,” Musar said.

Until now, second-year students have not been required to live on campus in one of the University’s college houses. Penn announced in 2018 that, starting with the Class of 2024, sophomores will have to live on campus as part of its Second-Year Experience initiative. Similarly, in February 2021, the University announced that sophomores will be required to be on a University dining plan. Both decisions drew criticism from students, who alleged that the requirements are financially strenuous and restrictive.

All of the college houses on campus will have air conditioning next year, with Gregory College House’s renovations completed in time for the fall semester, Musar said. Gregory has been closed for the 2020-2021 academic year so workers could install air conditioning.

Musar said that students should not worry if they don’t have a roommate or group of friends to apply with because of the isolating nature of this academic year.

“My tip is, always, don’t panic. We have space for you,” Musar said.

right outside, and a lot of our community doesn’t live in Philadelphia, so we’re even dealing with more than one set of guidelines.”

The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania first received doses of the Pfizer vaccine in December 2020. At a town hall held in early December, the Faculty Senate said that priority would be given to health care workers, and that students, faculty, and staff would eventually be able to receive the vaccine free of charge.

“We think that we’ll have [all hospital staff] vaccinated by the end of February — maybe March,” professor of Medicine Harvey Rubin said at the town hall in December.

digitally,” Bynum said. “But I think for a lot of my colleagues, who are maybe studying communities that are more remote or less digitally connected, being at home means that they’re really not able to keep in touch with their research contacts.”

Still, she has not been able to access some of the archives needed for her research, and while Bynum hopes to graduate in her originally planned six years, she said this will now be more difficult.

Bynum said she is also experiencing some funding uncertainty. She had previously secured a 12-month external grant, but said she can only use the money if she is traveling for her research — which she is not currently able to do. She added that she is not sure when she will be able to safely return to Mexico and if the grant funding will still be available.

Rosenfeld said she hopes that graduate student research will be able to return to normal by the fall, given the struggles of the past year.

“We’re ... really hoping that travel resumes by [the fall],” she said. “It will have been a year and a half for many people in the middle of their graduate studies that they weren’t able to do that work.”

students must continue to wash their hands, socially distance, and wear a mask.

While students are supportive of testing protocols, many do not feel that PennOpen Pass is an effective tool in mitigating the spread of COVID-19. Nearly 62% of students said it is not effective and only 11% said it is. PennOpen Pass is a web-based daily symptom checker and exposure reporting system for members of the Penn community which determines whether an individual is allowed inside University buildings.

Some students wrote in the freeform response section of the poll that they felt PennOpen Pass was not effective because they knew of peers who had created fake Open Passes. Last week, Penn added a randomly generated, three-digit alphanumeric code that changes each day to all green passes to prevent the use of fraudulent passes.

The survey was distributed through the DP’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, the DP’s daily newsletter, and on all four class Facebook pages and GroupMe group chats. The sample overrepresents first years, who constitute 42% of all respondents, and underrepresents seniors, who constitute 15% of all respondents. It also overrepresents students who identify as female, who constitute 72% of the sample but 53% of the student body.

The DP Analytics staff contributed reporting.

Penn approves lowest tuition percent increase in more than 50 years Cost of attendance will rise by 2.8% for the 2021-2022 year, lower than the typical 3.9% ARINA PANIUKHINA & SASKIA WRIGHT Staff Reporters

Penn’s Board of Trustees approved a 2.8% tuition increase for the 2021-2022 academic year — the lowest year-to-year percentage increase in more than five decades.

At Thursday’s Board of Trustees Budget & Finance Committee meeting, University administrators announced next year’s cost of attendance will total $79,014 including tuition, fees, and room and board, up from the $76,826 charged for the 20202021 academic year. The University’s financial aid reserve funds will allow it to offer a more modest tuition increase. The increase is notably lower than the typical 3.9% annual tuition hike, a move Penn President Amy Gutmann said is intended to benefit families amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The reason we feel we can and should do this is that we realize how much — financially and otherwise — families are going through, and we came into this in a strong enough financial position that we think this is the time we should use our [financial aid] reserves, since that’s what they’re there for,” Gutmann said at the meeting.

For the 2021-2022 academic year, Penn will charge $54,652 for tuition, up 2.8% from the previous year’s $53,166. Fees will rise from $6,876 to $7,058, room will rise from $11,014 to $11,358, and board will rise from $5,770 to $5,946.

“This is the lowest percentage increase for tuition since the 1960s,” Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli told Penn Today. The trustees also approved a $259 million undergraduate financial aid budget for the next academic year, $3 million more than the 2020-2021 year’s $256 million financial aid budget. Currently, 46% of undergraduates receive financial aid in the form of grants, with an average of $55,861 in funding, according to Penn Today.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Penn froze tuition for the fall 2020 semester at the previous year’s rate and cut the general fee cost by 10% — a move many students felt didn’t go far enough in light of the economic struggles brought by the

Penn mental health experts offer tips to cope in quarantine and isolation Spending this much time physically away from others has proven difficult — emotionally, socially, and academically — for students SARIKA RAU & HELEN RUDOLER Staff Reporters

As COVID-19 continues to ravage the world, many Penn students have found themselves impacted by the pandemic and forced to isolate or quarantine for extended periods of time.

While Penn reduced its mandatory quarantine period from 14 to 10 days for students who are exposed to someone who tests positive for COVID-19, spending this much time physically away from others has proven difficult — emotionally, socially, and academically — for students.

1.

Be kind to yourself

CAPS Associate Director of Outreach and Prevention Batsirai Bvunzawabaya and CAPS Chief Clinical Director Michal Saraf said that, above all else, students should work hard to practice self kindness and compassion as much as possible.

Quarantining and isolating means having normal routines disrupted, adjusting to the disappointment of canceled plans, and not being able to physically connect with people. This leads to stress, frustration, and anxiety, Bvunzawabaya said. Even for students that do not show symptoms of COVID-19, Bvunzawabaya said it is normal for students to be less productive than usual.

2.

Stay social

Even though students must stay physically isolated,

pandemic. The University also replaced the summer savings expectation — a student’s expected contribution toward tuition payments — with a COVID-19 summer savings grant.

At the meeting, Gutmann denied allegations that the University’s decision to launch a secondyear experience program — which will require sophomores to live in on-campus housing and purchase a meal plan starting this fall — was motivated by profit.

Vice President of Finance and Treasurer MaryFrances McCourt and Vice President of Budget and Management Analysis Trevor Lewis made presentations about Penn’s financial performance from the last six months of 2020 and budget recommendations for Fiscal Year 2022. Following the presentations, Trustee Laura Alber said “it doesn’t appear that there’s any truth in the students’ or different people’s comments that the new boarding plan is going to create a lot more income for the school.”

TAMARA WURMAN

The sophomore dining requirement, announced earlier this month, caught students by surprise, one of whom told The Daily Pennsylvanian they felt the plan is a “blatant cash grab.” A petition demanding Penn cancel the dining requirement has garnered more than 650 signatures. In 2018, Penn announced that all undergraduate sophomore students will be required to live on campus in college houses beginning in fall 2021 — a decision that was similarly met with frustration among students, as some off-campus living options are cheaper than living in college houses.

“It is an attempt to create community,” Gutmann said. “From everything we have heard, not just anecdotally but in numbers, this will destress our students and their parents, and actually, this is an expense driver for us, it’s not a revenue source.”

Bvunzawabaya said it is of the utmost importance to remain connected with friends and family through phone and Zoom calls as much as possible. She suggested that students make specific plans to connect with friends and family, both to interact with others but also to give them something to look forward to.

However, she cautioned against using social media as a coping mechanism, calling it an ineffective form of connection.

“Sometimes with social media, it can feel like a connection because you’re observing what other people are doing, but I think when I talk about [connecting with people], it’s someone actually checking in and having a more meaningful conversation,” she said.

3.

Practice gratitude for small things

Saraf emphasized that coping with a stressful and disappointing situation can consume a lot of mind space, and encourages students to take time to express gratitude for small, positive things.

“You may feel bored or distracted in your new, limited environment, but interacting with your surroundings very intentionally, by taking specific notice of things you might normally pass, can help you gain focus and calm,” Saraf said.

4.

Maintain a routine

For students in quarantine and isolation, a lot has changed. Bvunzawabaya said students should do their best to create a new sense of routine for the duration of their quarantine or isolation period.

“When we leave our normal surroundings and routines, it’s easy to feel like everything else changes,” Bvunzawabaya said. “However, maintaining your sleep schedule and other elements of your routine such as exercise, school work, and personal hygiene can be restorative.”

She emphasized that it is normal for students to not get as much accomplished as in a regular day, but said that maintaining elements of structure — including eating, staying hydrated, and maintaining physical well-being — are important steps.

Wisdom Teeth Study

If you have impacted wisdom (3rd molar) teeth that need to be removed you may qualify for a clinical research study that involves taking approved pain relievers after surgery.

Compensation is available for your efforts and time completing the study.

If you are interested please call Stacey Secreto in the Oral Surgery & Pharmacology Research Unit at 215-746-8871 or 484-354-4442

4 OPINION

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

OPINION THURSDAY MARCH 4, 2021 VOL. CXXXVII, NO. 7 137th Year of Publication DANE GREISIGER President ASHLEY AHN Executive Editor HADRIANA LOWENKRON DP Editor-in-Chief ISABEL LIANG Design Editor CONOR MURRAY News Editor PIA SINGH News Editor HANNAH GROSS Assignments Editor BRITTANY DARROW Copy Editor KYLIE COOPER Photo Editor ALFREDO PRATICÒ Opinion Editor SUNNY JANG Audience Engagement Editor BRANDON PRIDE Sports Editor LOCHLAHN MARCH Sports Editor SOPHIE HUANG Video Editor QIANA ARTIS Podcast Editor ALESSANDRA PINTADO-URBANC Business Manager PETER CHEN Technology Manager JASPER HUANG Analytics Manager GREG FERREY Marketing Manager EMILY CHEN Product Lab Manager ERIC HOANG Consulting Manager

THIS ISSUE ALANA KELLY DP Design Editor ALICE HEYEH 34st Design Editor QUINN ROBINSON Deputy Design Editor NATHAN ADLER Design Associate TYLER KLIEM Design Associate MAX MESTER News Photo Editor ANA GLASSMAN Opinion Photo Editor SAMANTHA TURNER Sports Photo Editor JONAH CHARLTON Deputy News Editor

Trump’s out of office. Allegations of his admission fraud still stand.

Guest Column | Credible sources say Trump’s Wharton admission came through fraud. Penn must investigate these claims seriously.

D

ear President Gutmann, Provost Pritchett, and Dean James, What would Benjamin Franklin do? We suggest this question might guide you in deciding the unresolved issue of whether the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School will continue to ignore credible allegations of admissions fraud by Donald Trump. Please begin an investigation of this alleged fraud under the Policy Regarding the Revocation of Degrees.

The allegations that Donald Trump cheated to gain admission to Wharton as an undergraduate transfer student first emerged last summer in a book written by his niece, Mary Trump. At that time, each of us wrote separate letters (one of us with five faculty colleagues) requesting an investigation.

Provost Pritchett replied on June 20, 2020, saying that “this situation occurred too far in the past to make a useful or probative factual inquiry possible,” but he remained “open to investigating” if “new evidence surfaces to substantiate the claim in the future.”

New evidence was then published by The Washington Post in the form of audiotapes made by Mary Trump of conversations with Donald Trump’s sister, former federal judge Maryanne Trump Barry.

We renewed and made public our request for an investigation based on this evidence, but since then Penn’s administration has maintained complete silence.

Last fall, trying to put ourselves in your shoes, we speculated that your decision to remain silent might have been influenced by negative consequences that President Trump might otherwise visit on Penn and Wharton.

Trump was well known throughout his term for acting vindictively against anyone who crossed him — even members of Congress and his own vice president. Trump would likely have lashed out at Penn and Wharton too, perhaps with great cost to some students and Penn’s financial well-being, had you proceeded at that time with an investigation into his alleged admissions fraud. Now, however, Donald Trump is no longer president, and any expected negative consequences that may have stayed your hands in the past have disappeared or at least been substantially reduced.

Since last summer, additional inferential evidence has emerged that supports the case for investigating the legitimacy of Donald Trump’s college admission. The gravity and scope of his “big lie” in calling the national election of November 2020 a “fraud” and a “steal” suggest a pattern of intentional deceit that makes earlier cheating more likely. Add this big lie to the final fact-checked count that Trump told more than 30,000 falsehoods during his four-year term in office.

What would Benjamin Franklin, a founder of Penn and our republic, do under these circumstances? We submit that he would not remain silent and do nothing when our democracy is potentially at stake. To paraphrase a saying attributed to Franklin: we have a republic, but only if we can keep it.

Trump has raised at least $60 million for a possible return to presidential politics in 2024. His acquittal in the Senate of incitement of insurrection means that he will be free to make this attempt. If Trump’s college degree is proven to have been fraudulently obtained, then this credential should be stripped from the list of accomplishments for him to claim in future political races.

The passage of time since Donald Trump’s college admission is also no good excuse to fail to investigate.

Trump’s sister, a former federal judge, has said on tape that she knows for a fact that he paid someone else to take

NICKY BELGRAD Associate Sports Editor

VARUN SARASWATHULA Deputy Opinion Editor VALERIE WANG Deputy Opinion Editor NINA WEI Deputy Copy Editor SARIKA RAU Deputy Copy Editor CAROLINE DONNELLY-MORAN Deputy Copy Editor AVA DOVE Deputy Copy Editor SOPHIE APFEL Copy Associate

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

Editorials represent the majority view of members of The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc. Editorial Board, which meets regularly to discuss issues relevant to Penn’s campus.

Participants in these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on related topics.

CHASE SUTTON

his college admissions exams. James Nolan, the admissions director at the time, also recalls details about the circumstances of Trump’s admissions. Penn and Wharton may possess other records, such as the transcript of Trump’s academic performance, that may be relevant to the inquiry as well.

Last but not least, please consider what lesson a decision not to investigate would teach our students and future students. Failing to investigate Trump would signal that one can cheat in the admissions process at Penn and Wharton, and get away with it as long as you are famous, come from a powerful family, or are a prospective big donor. An investigation would show that everyone must follow the rules no matter who you or your parents are. And if there is no compelling evidence of admissions fraud, then Trump would be exonerated of this charge.

When the history of our time is written, we believe that the allegation of admissions fraud by Donald Trump will be part of his biographical story. In Trump’s “long and crooked career in business,” as one commentator has observed, “the Wharton brand has been central to much of his mythmaking.” Trump’s possible fraud as a young man in his college admission may have taught him an early and tragic lesson that he could “get away with it.”

In the face of credible allegations of admissions fraud against a major public figure who now bears the infamous distinction of being the only President impeached twice for high crimes of deceit and fraud on the American public, please undertake a well-warranted investigation. If you do not, future historians may remark, perhaps with surprise, that the institution founded by Benjamin Franklin failed to stand up to the greatest political fraudster of our time, even when he may well have made this institution one of his first victims.

Sincerely, Eric Orts and Stephen Sheller

emember the days of sitting in a lecture hall spaced out from your classmates, filled with anxiety and dread?

Of course, sitting far away from one another then had nothing to do with social distancing; it was simply midterm and finals seasons. Thinking back to one year ago, I am flooded with memories of cramming insignificant details into my brain moments before entering an exam room, eager to write them down on the margins of the paper as soon as the test began. As I struggled to remember authors of academic papers on the values and downfalls of the Nordic model of a welfare state, I was plagued with one question: why do I need to memorize this? The shift to online school radically changed the administration of education, including the way exams are given. Though many exams are still timed, the pandemic has forced a widespread open-book test policy.

Looking to the post-pandemic world, professors should continue to offer exams this way.

What does the rote memorization of facts do to benefit the student? Back when open-book exams were still rare, closed-book exams seemed designed to magnify stress levels. With a closed-book exam, it was not enough to be able to apply concepts; students were required to engage in the rote memorization of minuscule facts mentioned in passing during lectures. Speaking from experience, the cloud of worry over whether one seemingly insignificant detail would make an appearance on a test plagued my studying experience. Content heavy, memorization-dependent exams left me questioning the purpose of exams, a question that undoubtedly many have wondered about too.

Tests in the past felt less like they were genuinely meant to test our knowledge and ability to apply concepts and more like tricks. At an institution like Penn, I believe the student body does not need to prove that they are capable of memorizing every last detail of a lecture or reading.

From a mental health perspective, open-book tests could alleviate some of the existing stress problems on campus.

According to a study reported in Psychology Today, about 57% of college-aged women and 40% of college-aged men faced anxiety in 2013. The same study found that 33% of college-aged women and 27% of college-aged men reported feeling so depressed it was difficult to function.

At Penn, the student body consistently grapples with addressing mental health issues. “Penn face,” a term coined for the calm facade many Penn students present despite

his past week, Harvard and Columbia announced their commencement plans, leaving Penn as one of two Ivies yet to announce its intentions regarding commencement. With the other Ivies split on whether or not an in-person ceremony is possible, it is not clear how Penn will weigh in on the issue. Although the University can be expected to make an announcement in the coming days and weeks, The Daily Pennsylvanian’s Editorial Board believes Penn should hold an in-person ceremony, provided the University meets the conditions necessary to hold such a ceremony responsibly.

All students in attendance must be vaccinated.

At last week’s Board of Trustees Meeting, Provost Wendell Pritchett said that there would be a “50-50 chance” that Penn would be able to launch a student vaccination campaign by May. The only way for an in-person graduation to be completely safe is for all attendees, especially students, to be vaccinated against the virus.

Fortunately, with daily vaccinations reaching 1.7 million doses per day in the United States and accelerating, it is not unreasonable to believe that vaccines will soon be injected into the arms of college students. The recent approval of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, as well as President Biden’s promise to have enough vaccines for all adults by the end of May, are reasons for even more hope in this regard. If the state of Pennsylvania opens vaccine distribution to college students and Penn is able to secure a supply of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, graduating students could walk across the commencement stage without fear of contracting the virus. All else being equal, the University should prioritize seniors over other undergraduates in their vaccination campaign, to ensure that seniors can participate in an in-person graduation ceremony risk-free.

Even if all students are vaccinated, all usual mitigation restrictions must apply: commencement and related celebrations should be conducted outside, distanced, and masked.

Even if Penn is able to vaccinate all of its graduating students, commencement celebrations should adhere to all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines concerning events and outdoor gatherings: students, speakers, and administrators should be masked and spaced at least six feet apart at all times. This would likely mean holding multiple staggered celebrations throughout the commencement day, perhaps for each school.

Although COVID-19 vaccines have up to a 95% effectiveness rate, there are still a considerable amount of unknowns; vaccinated students could possibly be infectious to unvaccinated family members and peers, for example.

ERIC ORTS is the Guardsmark Professor at the Wharton School and is exploring a run for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania in 2022 but has not yet made any final decision to do so. He can be contacted at ortse@wharton.upenn.edu or friendsofericorts.com.

STEPHEN SHELLER is a 1960 College and 1963 Penn Law School graduate and is the CEO of Sheller P.C. His email is sasheller@sheller.com. *The University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School do not endorse or support candidates for political office.

SON NGUYEN

Isabella’s Impressions | Penn professors should continue the open-book exam trend post-pandemic

R

Commencement should be in person.

Here’s how we do it.

T

Keep tests open book when classrooms reopen

AGATHA ADVINCULA Deputy Opinion Editor

EDITORIAL

facing depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues, represents the challenge of creating positive mental health change. Mental health on campus is clearly a crisis begging to be seriously addressed. Some of the mental health issues raised here can be exacerbated by the high stress nature of closed-book memorization exams, creating a feeling of helplessness as students battle the test anxiety associated with memorization.

In the past, the stress and anxiety of closed-book exams prompted students to resort to cheating. College senior and former President of the University Honor Council Jesse Liu recalls that “a lot of the academic misconduct cases are whenever you’re in that final hour, the greatest hour of stress. Oftentimes systemic cheating is not the main problem. The main problem is people who generally follow the regulations, but when they get super stressed or backed into a corner and don’t feel like they have an option, they end up cheating.” With open-book testing, the pandemic magnified a potential solution to mitigate not only some of the mental health effects of test-induced anxiety but also to reduce incentives to cheat. If we can reduce the need to remember every last morsel of information, maybe students can have the opportunity to enjoy learning rather than stress.

Ultimately, Penn is supposed to prepare students for the “real world.” I doubt that one day my boss will come into my office, take away all of my resources, hand me a pen and paper, and say “you have 50 minutes to answer 30 multiple choice questions on the artist, year, and medium associated with these works of art.” Other than familiarity with deadlines and time pressure which is still fostered by open-book tests, rote memorization tests are generally not reflections of what life is like in the workforce.

Society continues to pepper the phrase “a new normal” into its daily dialogue, but Penn professors can put this into practice. The “new normal” of open book tests does not necessarily need to end when classrooms reopen. Instead, I implore professors to keep this formatting and the administration to encourage this change. Let’s prepare students for the real world, without the undue burden of test anxiety and with a whole lot less memorization.

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

Only students and officiating administrators should be in attendance.

While Franklin Field is an immense stadium with a capacity of over 50,000, only students, commencement speakers, and officiators should be attending commencement in person. The risk of families traveling across the United States and subsequently fueling new outbreaks in the Philadelphia community is far too high. Even local parents should not be allowed to watch the festivities in order to reduce crowding as much as possible. Instead, parents, relatives, and friends can watch the graduates receive their diplomas via live stream. This way, the graduates can walk across the stage without putting their loved ones at risk. Parents and loved ones would still get the satisfaction of seeing their graduate cross the stage without risking their health or the health of those around them.

Positivity rates must be below 5% for at least two weeks before commencement.

The “percent positive” measures how many COVID19 tests return with a positive result. The World Health Organization recommended last spring that at or above 5%, non-essential activities should remain shut down. At or above 5%, the virus is prevalent enough in a community that large gatherings virtually guarantee an outbreak of new cases. While the in-person attendants would theoretically be vaccinated at this event anyway, there is as of yet no conclusive evidence demonstrating that vaccines prevent the vaccinated from spreading the virus to the unvaccinated. As such, the community positivity rate must still be a factor in Penn’s decision.

The University must be actively vaccinating the West Philadelphia community.

The University already put its West Philadelphia neighbors in great peril by deciding to reopen campus this past spring without consulting them. Given Penn’s historically fraught relationship with West Philadelphia, the University has a moral obligation to provide West Philadelphians with free vaccination clinics before it plans any potentially risky large-scale gatherings. Penn Medicine’s vaccination efforts are a good start; however, the University must ensure that the current rate of vaccinations only increases from its current level, even if it means opening new vaccination facilities for those in West Philadelphia.

While the above conditions would minimize risk, they would not completely eliminate it. Commencement is an incredible ceremony celebrating the hard-won achievements of Penn students. The Class of 2021 should absolutely experience such a ceremony in person, but not at the cost of West Philadelphian lives.

THEDP.COM | THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN

OPINION 5

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021

A new vision for Wharton Guest Column | The Wharton Wisdom community invites a bold path forward for our institution

T

he more business wins by current success metrics, the faster humankind loses. How can the creator and key influencer of business education meet this historical moment and adapt in a good way?

Well before the events of 2020 exposed deep systemic flaws, there was a growing chorus of voices outside of elite business culture highlighting the dire need for a new way of relating with ourselves, each other, and the Earth. Now, in response to this time of unprecedented transition and uncertainty, a number of stakeholders within the Wharton community and peer institutions have started coming together to seriously discuss the future of business education.

Students and alumni of Wharton graduate and undergraduate programs want to express our concern for the trajectory of the business school institution and explore a bold path forward together. At this most critical juncture in the lifecycle of business school education, we in the Wharton Wisdom community (a group started in 2017 to bring together those interested in personal development and integrating that with their work in the world) see clear opportunities to better support students and alumni on their personal and professional journeys, while

strengthening Wharton’s reputation as a symbol of innovation and excellence in higher education.

The pioneering vision of Joseph Wharton was to prepare graduates with the breadth and depth of knowledge to become “pillars of the State, whether in private or in public life.” Amid an increasingly destabilizing society, we fear graduates are deprived of a diversity of knowledge and wisdom, inadequately prepared to become well-rounded pillars, and starved of the tools and awarenesses needed to move society in a more life-sustaining direction.

Fortunately, Wharton leadership is already thinking about this. Former Wharton Dean Geoffrey Garrett argues that “to be successful, all organizations will need not only different leaders, but also a whole new style of leadership.” Additionally, professor of Marketing Americus Reed observes, “Students are saying, ‘I want to be a captain of industry, but I don’t want to be out there just chasing materialistic objects. I need something deeper. I need self-actualization in addition to the usual metrics of success in business.’”

Current Wharton Dean Erika James asserts, “Our competition is complacency, and when you’re the best, it is very easy to become complacent. So one of the things that I hope that my

ANA GLASSMAN

tenure as dean will do is to motivate us to think about how do we want to define business education in the future, and not only rely on what we’ve done in the past.”

The pandemic offers a unique opportunity to re-evaluate the path we are on. Let’s celebrate how far we’ve come, and let’s take an honest look at the metrics, the mission, the culture, and the approach. Let’s reckon with the past. As one of the world’s most influential institutions, producing leaders who in turn have an outsize impact on the lives of their stakeholders, Wharton has a responsibility to persistently challenge itself to do better. It’s about time we go for our full potential.

We are signaling our interest in expanding this conversation to the broader Wharton community about opportunities to bring courageous leadership forward to meet the complex challenges of our times. The main goal today is to seed ideas, spark dialogue, and build relationships with those who feel inspired by what’s possible on a multi-generational time arc and are willing to experiment with integrating that higher octave into the educational experience of the next generation of business leaders.

Examples of the types of high-impact actions we are interested in exploring include: – Creating a council of diverse Wharton community members to contribute to a long-term strategic vision of the institution – Developing a regenerative economics course and concentration – Establishing a dual-degree program with Penn’s Positive Psychology Center on expanding access to psychological support and growth – Creating more extensive boundaries against corporate influence in on-campus recruiting – Overhauling first-year curriculums to include some of the course suggestions listed below, as well as purpose discovery, shadow work, and graceful off-ramps for those who want to transfer out of a life path they did not choose – Reimagining conventional success metrics (like SAT/GMAT scores and starting salaries) to include personal health and fulfillment – Expanding alumni mentorship programming – Adjusting admissions criteria to select for balanced qualities such as collaboration, selfknowledge, compassion, and empathy – Increasing capacity of Career Services to advise on alternative career paths – Creating a Hippocratic Oath for students

planning on starting a company At the center of this is the core curriculum.

We want to challenge Wharton to overhaul its key content at both the undergraduate and graduate levels to train the next generation of leaders in a deeper, more diverse, and holistic skill and awareness set. Not to throw all the fundamentals away, but to question and complement them.

Examples of domains to augment the current curriculum include Antiracism and Anti-Oppression, Business in 2051, Systems Thinking, Learning from Nature, Emotional Intelligence, The Path of The Humane Technologist, Mindsets and Worldviews, Quality of Life, Alternative Ownership and Financing Structures, Ethics and Entrepreneurship, People’s History of the Business World, and Ancient & Indigenous Wisdom.

We envision a future where prospective students apply to Wharton not because they think they will be able to earn the most the fastest, but because they can develop the leadership capacities in order to achieve their highest expression of service in public life and richness in personal life. Where schools compete on societal impact and alumni fulfillment instead of test scores and starting salaries. Where Wharton is unleashing hundreds of celebrated leaders each year into the world, igniting a renaissance of creativity and a race to the top for a new breed of businesses that meet the needs of all people within the means of the living planet.

We do not claim to have the answers, though we sense we are connected to lots of clues that may be useful for this shared effort. Our community numbers 100,000 with diverse life paths, values, capacities, and awarenesses. Many of us care. We are here, finding each other and gearing up to help. We sense there is a wellspring of others waiting for a context to come out of the woodwork and contribute their gifts to reimagine the business world. Let’s use our Wharton ingenuity to come together and find the interdisciplinary solutions to create the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.

We are excited to help the institution that gave us so much. We care about what happens next.

We have been trained to spot a good market opportunity. This is one where everyone can win.

ANDREW MURRAY DUNN is a 2012 Wharton graduate and mentor to young people.

His email is andrewmurraydunn@gmail.com.

Space Exploration: The case for government-funded basic research The Watchdog | Americans support government funding for space exploration, so why is basic research left by the wayside?

N

ASA’s video of the Perseverance rover touching down on Mars on Feb. 18 has been viewed on YouTube over 14 million times. The first SpaceX astronaut launch this past summer had over 10 million live viewers. Clearly, since the Space Race, space exploration has brought a level of intrigue to the American public, including myself.

Like many other science nerds, I fervently read about Perseverance leading up to its landing, seeking to learn more about the exciting new research that it would be doing on Mars. Instead, I found that most of the media coverage on Perseverance was very superficial, posting the same videos on the launch and landings, and telling the inspirational, feel-good stories of those involved. Rarely did it go into any detail behind the actual science taking place on the rover. This is indicative of a larger problem in space exploration, because these Mars missions and the basic research involved might not exist soon, and no one is talking about it.

Today, space is becoming increasingly privatized, while conversely, basic research is continually being neglected. Although NASA’s overall budget has remained steady, that funding is often being directed to private companies (like SpaceX and Blue Origin), while the allocations for basic and applied research have see a simultaneous drop. Reallocation of U.S. basic research funding to private companies is a trend occurring throughout science, and experts warn it will make research extremely secretive and competitive, discouraging collaboration and stifling innovation. This starkly contrasts with, for example, NASA’s data policy, where all data is free to the public. Despite the fact that a majority of Americans support NASA’s basic research, government officials remain adamant

in diverting NASA’s funds for basic and applied research to private companies. Americans need to be aware that we cannot shift away from government backed basic research.

NASA’s history has shown just how useful its basic research can be. Cruise control, antilock brakes, food safety protocols, and rechargeable hearing aids were all developed from technologies and practices from the Apollo missions. The use of these technologies in the lives of civilians was not the original intention of NASA, but with additional innovations, the impact of the Apollo missions is still significant.

Current NASA endeavors such as SMAP, or Soil Moisture Active Passive, are also making society more equitable. SMAP monitors the soil moisture levels on every continent and is therefore able to predict droughts, floods, and crop yields. This is especially beneficial in subSaharan Africa and South Asia, where seasonal changes in rainfall greatly affect crop yields and food supply. The technology can make famines a relic of the past in historically foodinsecure regions.

For the endless benefits of basic research in space, look no further than Penn’s campus. Penn Engineering professor Igor Bargatin and his team developed “nanocardboard microflyers” with the ability to fly in the Earth’s mesosphere and potentially above the surface of Mars, something that airplanes, helicopters, and satellites have never been able to do before. The proposed use for these microflyers is to bring sensors to the mesosphere to get an up-close understanding of weather and allow for better climate predictions. However, what is probably more exciting is the many future applications of his research that are still unknown.

When asked about these unknown applications

and the importance of basic research in space, Bargatin stated, “When the Montgolfier brothers were making the first balloons, or the Wright brothers making the first airplanes, did they have specific applications in mind? Probably not — they just wanted to do it because it’s never been done before.” The many practical applications of balloons and airplanes that we see today came later, but they could never have occurred without the scientific inquiry of the Montgolfier and the Wright brothers.

Most Americans support increased funding for NASA and government funding of basic research in general, but I think most are unaware of the unfulfilled promises by politicians to fill those goals. We need to push for a fundamental change in the way the government approaches basic science funding. There is a place for promoting private space companies, but this cannot

come at the expense of research. This is the fundamental dilemma with basic research; it is a challenge to get the government to prioritize funding for scientific research with no immediate benefits. However, from the understanding of agriculture replacing hunting and gathering, to the understanding of electricity spurring the Industrial Revolution, advancements in the basic understanding of the world have always been followed by innovations that have transformed human lives. There is no doubt in my mind that the potential payoff of a more equitable society that basic research can provide is worth prioritizing.

MATTHEW LIU is a College sophomore from Allentown, Pa. studying biochemistry.

His email is liumatt@sas.upenn.edu.

ALANA KELLY

OPINION ART

VALERIE WANG

6 NEWS

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021

Penn adds three more all-gender bathrooms into campus buildings, plans future renovations More renovations to incorporate all-gender bathrooms into buildings’ designs are underway SHIRALI SHAH Staff Reporter

After facing demands to increase the number of all-gender bathrooms on campus, the University has incorporated more gender-inclusive designs into existing facilities.

University Architect Mark Kocent said several new all-gender bathrooms have been built in the past year, and more renovations to incorporate allgender bathrooms into the buildings’ designs are underway.

The Office of the University Architect, which works closely with any school or center that commissions a new project, has opened new multi-stall, all-gender restrooms in the Levin Building, the David Rittenhouse Laboratory, and the Franklin Building on campus in the past year, Kocent said.

The McNeil Building and the Lauder Institute were renovated in the summer of 2019 to include all-gender bathrooms, as well.

LGBT Center Director Erin Cross said that the new multi-stall, all-gender bathrooms in the McNeil Building were well received by students, faculty, and staff, who believe the facilities are more convenient and efficient for everyone.

“We’ve heard from heterosexual, cisgender people that they prefer [the new bathrooms] because they can get in and out much faster than waiting in a line,” Cross said. “There’s also more privacy involved because the stalls [are] longer.”

Kocent added that all new and underway projects and buildings, such as New College House West, have all-gender bathrooms built into the design. The newly built Wharton Academic Research Building on Spruce Street and Tangen Hall on 40th Street were constructed to have all-gender bathrooms incorporated into the design, he said.

The Biomedical Library, Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology, Fisher Fine Arts Library, Stouffer College House, and Quad also have renovations in process for all-gender bathrooms, he added.

“We’re in the early design stages of a multi-year renovation of the Quadrangle, which will include single-user restrooms and multi-stall facilities throughout the building,” he said.

Houston Hall was slated to be renovated in the summer of 2020 to include all-gender bathrooms, but the project was pushed back due to the pandemic and budget constraints. Kocent said the project designs are 90% complete and will be completed this summer.

“I wouldn’t say that [COVID-19] had a major impact at all on our projects,” he said. “Any project that had full funding has continued.”

Students have sought more gender-inclusive bathrooms on campus since 2017.

The Student Committee on Undergraduate Education recently called for more gender-inclusive bathrooms in its 2020 White Paper, which the club releases every five years recommending long-term changes to Penn’s academic policies.

In a section titled “Bathroom Constraints,” the White Paper reads that all-gender bathrooms are necessary for inclusivity for transgender and nonbinary students and help create a more equitable learning environment.

“Making bathrooms more accessible for everyone creates a better learning environment. Students who have to go to higher floors or a different building to use the restroom may be losing valuable class time and their concentration in class, which decreases academic performance,” the White Paper reads.

Cross said that, in addition to disrupting student learning, bathrooms that are in inconvenient locations are a potential health risk for students.

“We have students who plan their day around where they can go to the bathroom or who don’t drink enough fluids because they’re not near a bathroom in some of their buildings,” she said.

“This really is a safety issue, a health issue, [and] a human rights issue. Everybody deserves to be healthy.”

SCUE recommended that the University consider cost-effectiveness — since incorporating all-gender bathrooms in new buildings is less costly than renovating existing buildings to add allgender bathrooms — and that the new bathrooms have multiple stalls and changing tables.

Cross said students prefer multi-stall, all-gender bathrooms to single-use bathrooms, which she said are often placed in inconvenient locations in buildings and do not encourage inclusivity. “[Single-use bathrooms] are kind of separate but not equal because, usually, they’re in really weird places in the buildings. A lot of the time, they’re not even near the other gendered restrooms, or they’re in the basement,” she said.

SCUE’s goal is for 30% of bathrooms in all Penn buildings to be all-gender bathrooms by 2025, Engineering junior and SCUE Chair External Aidan Young said, adding that this ratio reflects the diversity of Penn’s campus. “[Penn] administration has been working with us [by] giving their recommendations and their edits throughout the entire White Paper process,” he said. “I think a lot of the recommendations aren’t entirely new to a lot of the faculty.”

Young said that, although SCUE has not heard anything about Penn’s plans to expand all-gender bathrooms since releasing the White Paper, they are looking forward to meeting with faculty and staff members in the future to implement their recommendations.

Cross emphasized that Penn still has more work to do to become gender inclusive.

“I think most spaces on campus are gender inclusive, but that doesn’t mean the people in them are,” Cross said. “There still needs to be education around our trans community members, and it falls on us at the [LGBT] Center and other folks. It’s really important that it doesn’t just fall to folks who identify as transgender, non-conforming, or nonbinary because they’re here to be students just like everybody else.”

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

Student-led initiative sends 13,000 letters to frontline workers

Lockdown Letters has reached people in over 40 states within one year of its launch SEJAL SANGANI Contributing Reporter

A student-led initiative to send letters to frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic has reached more than 13,000 people in over 40 states.

Six Penn students and one Cornell University student joined forces in April 2020 to launch Lockdown Letters. While they originally targeted health care workers, they have since expanded the project to include other essential workers, such as grocery store employees and firefighters, in an effort to boost morale by encouraging people to write letters thanking frontline workers for their contributions in fighting the pandemic.

Participants can submit letters through a Google form on Lockdown Letters’ website using templates for handwritten and typed messages.

In the past year, their project has gained national attention from hospitals and corporations, including a request from Johnson & Johnson for letters to be sent to their employees. The initiative has also grown to include

College junior and Lockdown Letters Vice President Joey Lohmann added that the virtual nature of the initiative allows people to support frontline workers while following public safety guidelines.

“I knew that I needed to remain safe myself [and] keep my family safe, but there were ways in which I could help those that were putting their lives on the line and protecting the vulnerable,” he said.

For Aboelez, the impact of Lockdown Letters was personal. Many of her family members worked on the front lines of the pandemic, and she has witnessed firsthand how difficult the past year has been for them. “[Lockdown Letters] is very dear to me, because I’ve seen the toll this has taken,” she said. “As community members we can do our part in trying to raise morale and show [frontline workers] that we do appreciate and we do support all the work [they’re] doing.”

Lockdown Letters Chief of Press and Partnerships

IMAGES FROM LOCKDOWNLETTERS.ORG

People sent letters to frontline workers thanking them for their contributions to fighting the pandemic.

video projects and letter-writing “power hours” with Penn student organizations.

College sophomore and Lockdown Letters Ambassador Nour Aboelez said the initiative started as a way to express support for frontline workers at the start of the pandemic.

Many frontline workers, particularly in health care, have experienced burnout and deteriorating mental health since the onset of the pandemic. Some health care workers have said they no longer feel like heroes after seeing fewer public displays of gratitude following the summer, making the continued support from Lockdown Letters that much more meaningful. “[Frontline workers] are really contributing and putting their lives at risk,” Aboelez said. “Being part of Lockdown Letters is a way for us to give back to these heroes.”

Lockdown Letters has touched the hearts of many frontline workers, receiving an overwhelmingly positive response from many letter recipients.

and 2020 College graduate Rupa Palanki said the team’s experiences holding pre-health leadership positions at Penn helped shape the initiative.

“Just seeing how the things we learned at Penn expand to things we either create at Penn or create outside of Penn was really interesting to me,” Palanki said.

“It was really cool to see how that’s grown over the last year.”

Lockdown Letters plans to continue its work for as long as COVID-19 persists. Once the initiative stops writing letters, members hope to create a documentarystyle film to showcase the project’s accomplishments over the past year.

Lockdown Letters President, 2020 College graduate, and School of Social Policy & Practice second-year student Preethi Kumaran said she has already been amazed by Lockdown Letters’ impact.

“It was nice to see that a small group of seven kids was able to touch the lives of people from Maine to Hawaii,” she said.

For close to 140 years our organization has been driven by our student staff’s dedication and determination to deliver news, content, and information, unfiltered, to the Penn community.

Supporting the DP today will help to ensure that tradition. No matter the size of your gift it counts.

All dollars raised go directly to Penn students through scholarships, financial assistance, internships, training, resources, and tools. thedp.com/donate

THEDP.COM | THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN

NEWS 7

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021

Penn announces plans for Quad and Stouffer renovations, new SEAS building University officials announced the three projects are all set to begin construction in 2022 and will carry steep price tags SARIKA RAU & ECE YILDIRIM Staff Reporters

Penn announced plans for renovations of the Quad and Stouffer College House and the construction of a new School of Engineering and Applied Science building at Thursday’s Board of Trustees meeting.

Although construction projects that were underway this past year were delayed by the pandemic — including the installation of air conditioning in Gregory College House and the construction of Weitzman Plaza — the timelines for Quad and Stouffer renovations and the SEAS Data Science Building have remained unaffected, Executive Director of Design and Construction at Facilities and Real Estate Services Mike Dausch wrote in an email to The Daily Pennsylvanian.

DELIA CHEN

Quad renovations will begin in 2022 and end in 2027.

At the Facilities and Campus Planning Committee session, University officials announced the three projects are all set to begin construction in 2022 and will carry steep price tags. Quad and Stouffer renovations will cost $200 million and $29.8 million, respectively, and will feature updated bedrooms, bathrooms, and amenities. The SEAS Data Science Building will cost $117 million and include laboratories, research centers, and classrooms.

Quad renovations will span six summers beginning in 2022 and ending in 2027, including additions like study spaces, seminar rooms, and three new elevators. Some renovations include upgrades that require taking up space currently used for bedrooms, causing the Quad to lose about 27 rooms in total, Quad renovations architect Elizabeth Leber said.

The Quad consists of three college houses — Riepe, Fisher Hassenfeld, and Ware — which currently have the capacity to house more than 1,300 students in total.

Renovations will also feature improved flooring,

furniture, and paint, as well as repairs to windows and roofs. Plans also include improvements to energy efficiency, including upgrades to in-room fan coil units, as well as enhanced privacy in bathrooms through rearranged partitions. Some existing sinks and vanity mirrors in bedrooms that pose maintenance issues will be removed and carpeting in rooms will be replaced, Leber said.

Campus buildings undergo renovations about every 25 years, and college houses are renovated in cycles. The Quad’s most recent renovations were completed in 2002, and Penn began searching for an architect to lead the upcoming renovations in 2018.

Stouffer College House’s upcoming renovations will include several adjustments to make every room in the building fully accessible, including a new elevator, new ramps, and an interior lift. Bedrooms, bathrooms, and common areas are also set to be completely gutted and renovated, Stouffer renovations architect Michael Schade said. Renovations will also feature new lounge areas with glazed windows to allow more natural light into common areas.

The Weingarten Learning Resources Center, as well as some College Houses & Academic Services offices located in Stouffer, may be forced to relocate temporarily while renovations take place, Vice President of the Division of Business Services Marie Witt said. Other facilities that are housed in Stouffer Commons, such as the Platt Student Performing Arts House and retail locations, will not need to be relocated during construction.

Stouffer’s renovations are expected to begin in May 2022 and finish in August 2023 in time for students to move in for the fall semester.

The new SEAS Data Science Building will be located on 34th and Chestnut streets next to Lauder College House. The building will house a data research center on its upper floors, while the first two floors will be used for academic learning spaces, including a student lounge, a grab-and-go cafe, a reading room, classrooms, laboratories, and an auditorium, architect Andrew Herdeg said.

“We think that it could be an environment that we hope attracts people from every one of the schools at Penn as well as the undergraduate and graduate students that form the community,” Penn Engineering Senior Associate Dean David Meaney said.

As the designing stage for the data science building wraps up, Penn is set to begin construction in May 2022 and complete the building in summer 2024. Plans for the building were originally announced in November 2019 with a $25 million gift from 1980 College graduate Harlan Stone.

Cooks ooks + Cooks reshBooks New + ooks

Fresh New Looks

xplore our diverse offerings - including national rands and independent shops - in person or visit ur website to order online from home, with many etailers providing both delivery and curbside ickup for your convenience.

Explore our diverse offerings - including national brands and independent shops - in person or visit our website to order online from home, with many retailers providing GET TAKEOUT. pickup for you p Local.both delivery and curbside VISIT STORES. p Penn.convenience.

ORDER ONLINE.

Cooks ooks + resh New ooksShop Local.

PPE N N O PSATPE N N

SHOPSATPENN.COM

GET TAKOUT. VISIT STORES. Shop Penn.

ONLINE. xplore our diverse offerings - includingORDER national rands and #SHOPPENN independent shops - in person or visit @SHOPSATPENN ur website to order online from home, with many

SHOPSATPENN.COM

etailers providing both delivery and curbside ickup for your convenience.

Now Open 6am - 9pm

#ParisBaguette_UniversityCity

University City 3816 Chestnut St, Unit #9 Philadelphia, PA 19104

8 NEWS

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

+ Bringing the best of The Daily Pennsylvanian straight to your pocket.

THEDP.COM | THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021

NEWS 9

Penn-founded advocacy campaign uncovers racial and gender discrimination in CIS department The majority of survey respondents indentifying as African American or Black reported someone once claimed their racial identity unfairly contributed to their acceptance to Engineering School TORI SOUSA Senior Reporter

The Percentage Project, a Penn-founded advocacy campaign-turned-nonprofit, found that many students in the Computer Science department, namely female students and students from underrepresented racial backgrounds, have faced discrimination and discomfort while at the University.

First launched on campus in 2018, the Percentage Project aims to “put a face to a number” by visually portraying statistics alongside pictures of students studying computer science. The project encourages reflection upon the instances of microaggressions and discrimination faced by marginalized groups in the computer science field.

This year’s edition of the project is set to be released on March 31, and will display statistics from a census that anonymously surveyed members of the University’s computer science community. The survey, which received about 300 responses, is primarily conducted by the Penn Women in Computer Science student organization in coordination with the CIS department.

While the project was originally founded at Penn, the nonprofit debuted as an independent entity at other universities around the country in 2019. Eleven schools are now involved in the project, including peer institutions such as Brown University, Duke University, Harvard University, and Vanderbilt University.

Questions asked in the survey to Penn students in the CIS department include whether students feel comfortable asking questions during lectures, if they feel intimidated studying computer science, and if anyone has ever told them that they had an unfair advantage attaining job opportunities due to their background.

According to a 2016 Google report published about national diversity gaps in the computer science field, Black students are less likely than white students to take classes in computer science at their college, at 47% to 58%, respectively. Additionally, male students are statistically more likely to be told by a professor, parent, or guardian that they would be good at computer science when compared to their female counterparts.

Many respondents reported discrimination based on their gender, as well as racial and ethnic identities.

According to the survey, 62.26% of female respondents reported that someone once told them that their gender identity unfairly contributed to their acceptance to Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, as opposed to just 3.97% of male respondents.

The survey also found that 72.64% of female respondents would be unlikely to post on Piazza, a virtual platform in which students can ask questions of their instructors, if the platform did not allow for anonymous questions, as opposed to 49.21% of their male counterparts.

Sixty percent of survey respondents who identified as African American or Black reported that someone once

claimed their racial identity unfairly contributed to their acceptance to the Engineering School, in comparison to 7.81% of Asian and 7.58% of white respondents.

The vast majority of respondents also said they believe unconscious biases against certain groups based on race and ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, and disability still exist today.

In general, according to the survey, 82.28% of student respondents say they feel respected by their peers at Penn, and 77.64% feel respected by their professors and teaching assistants.

Lucia Huo, a 2020 Engineering graduate and the nonprofit’s outreach director who founded the project during her sophomore year at Penn with 2019 Engineering graduate Stephanie Tang, said that the pair originally came up with the idea when considering ways to share data that would “make people pay attention.”

“We centered the project off of this idea of bringing people’s faces into it, so we had photoshoots [of the survey respondents] and then attached the data collected to the photos so that people would really be able to get a sense of the types of people who are experiencing the phenomena that we were highlighting,” Huo said.

Campus leaders of the project believe that the awareness of identity-based disparities in the computer science field is critical for students to be conscious of before beginning their careers.

Engineering first year Christa Simaan, one of the project’s two campus directors, said her involvement in the movement has given her an increased cognizance of diversity in the STEM field, which she said has already had a significant impact on her experience at Penn.

“As a CIS student, and also being on the Women in Computer Science advocacy team and part of the Percentage Project, I am constantly surrounded by an amazing group of people,” Simaan said. “Having this cohort surrounding me, and then also working to achieve a student body that’s more aware of the diversity census, truly makes Penn feel like more of a warm, welcoming environment for me.”

2019 Engineering graduate Jake Bass, who initially got involved with the project during his junior year at Penn, said that as a first-generation college student, he was passionate about advocating for underrepresented communities. Bass added that he feels it is necessary for today’s engineers to endeavor to create more inclusive working environments, which he said the project aims to accomplish.

In the survey, 21.88% of respondents identifying as first-generation students said that someone has once claimed that being a first-generation student unfairly contributed to their admission to the Engineering School.

“Not only did I have to adjust to the culture shock [upon coming to Penn], but I realized that some of my peers clearly had more resources at their disposal to be

successful,” Bass said. “I was excited to get involved in an opportunity like the Percentage Project to help create more resources for students who felt like they were on an uneven playing field.”

Survey respondents felt similarly to Bass’ sentiments about the pressure to succeed in their careers, with 90.72% saying they felt pressure to find internships and job opportunities in the computer science field.

Engineering senior Carly Ryan, one of the project’s

campus directors, said that she got involved with the project because she believes that Penn students who are going into engineering are able to incite change to make the field more inclusive.

“The Percentage Project paints a community better than just with graphics, charts, and graphs,” Ryan said.

“It goes to show that [each survey respondent] is a piece of our larger community, not just some number or a percent in a statistic.”

GILLIAN DIEBOLD

The vast majority of respondents said they believe unconscious biases against certain groups based on race and ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, and disability still exist today.

Penn & Slavery Project releases virtual campus tour app demonstrating Penn’s ties to slavery

Biden questioned loan debt forgiveness for Ivy League students. So did Penn experts.

Users can explore Penn’s historical connection to slavery through digital recreations of campus locations

Penn’s experts maintain that those who graduate with the highest amount of student loan debt often end up with higher earnings

JACK STAROBIN Contributing Reporter

IMRAN SIDDIQUI Staff Reporter

SUNNY JANG

The removed statue of slaveowner George Whitefield is in the Penn & Slavery Project’s augmented walkthrough.

The Penn & Slavery Project launched an augmented reality campus tour app that allows users to explore Penn’s historical ties to slavery through digital recreations of campus locations, such as the Quad.

The app’s six tour stops detail Penn’s early funding from enslavers and contributions to scientific racism, as well as the personal and familial histories of University affiliates and graduates who were enslaved. The app, which launched on Feb. 19, aims to dispel the notion that the University has no direct ties to slavery and challenge the way users view Penn and its campus.

For users who are on campus, the app suggests a walking route through the stops, each of which includes a short exhibit with narration and an opportunity to read more on the Penn & Slavery Project website. Users can move their device to explore the augmented reality images and tap on objects to learn more about them.

One stop, located in the Quad, displays the recently removed statue of George Whitefield, an enslaver and advocate for the expansion of slavery in the American colonies. The stop also notes that 10 of the 39 residential halls in the Quad are named after enslavers.

History professor and lead historian for the Penn & Slavery Project Kathleen Brown said the idea for the app emerged in spring 2019, after members of the Penn & Slavery Project began looking to create a website to publicize their research.

Second-year history Ph.D. candidate VanJessica Gladney, one of the original student researchers for the Penn & Slavery Project, said the augmented reality format provided the Penn & Slavery Project with a way to tie its research to Penn’s physical campus while accommodating the University’s resistance to physical installations or plaques.

“I’m really hoping that this app is an introduction for people to this history, and it acts as a beginning to future Penn initiatives that attempt to deal with this history of slavery and the slave trade,” second-year history Ph.D. candidate Breanna Moore said.

Moore, a 2015 College graduate who has conducted research with the Penn & Slavery Project since 2018, narrates the stop on the app called “Generations,” located at the Generational Bridge on Locust Walk. In an audio recording, she retraces 200 years of her family history, from her great-great-great-great grandmother, who was enslaved by a Penn graduate, to herself, the first person in

her family to attend an Ivy League university.

Moore chose to retell this multigenerational story through a digital recreation of her grandmother’s quilt, using augmented reality to include four videos stitching together her family history and its connections to Penn.

Moore said that the inclusion of the augmented reality quilt helped tie her research together and convey it to the public.

“It was taking the archival research that I’ve done, the interviews that I’ve done with my grandma and other family members, and being able to turn that into something creative and digestible and really short and to the point,” Moore said.

Brown said she hopes the app is effective in pushing back against the idea prevalent prior to the Penn & Slavery Project’s founding in 2017 that Penn was “all clear” of any past ties to slavery.

In 2006, Penn’s University Archivist Mark Lloyd told The Daily Pennsylvanian that Penn’s history was untouched by slavery, unlike some of its Ivy League peers.

Ten years later, Penn reiterated the statement after a book claimed that all colonial-era universities have connections to slavery.

“There was a belief that Penn was somehow exceptional and that there was no tainted blood money, no money derived from slavery, no slave ownerships,” Brown said.

After clicking “Start” on the app, it shows users a quote from Benjamin Franklin: “Half the truth is often a great lie.”

Gladney said the Penn & Slavery Project included this quote, in part, as a direct response to the University’s 2016 statement, which mentioned that Franklin was an enslaver as a young man before becoming a prominent abolitionist.

Users are also presented with an advisory warning that the app’s content may cause users “discomfort and distress.” Researchers said they wanted to acknowledge the seriousness and potentially triggering nature of the app’s content, particularly for Black users.

Moore said the app offers important framing for all users, as not everyone will relate to the app’s content in the same way.

“You have to deal with the discomfort of the present and of the historic in order to move past this discomfort, to get to a place that’s comfortable for everybody and just not a few,” Moore said.

Despite garnering widespread backlash from college students and progressives, President Joe Biden’s statement that he will not consider a plan that favors loan forgiveness for students who attend elite institutions like Penn, Harvard University, and Yale University was met with agreement and understanding from some Penn professors.

In response to a question at a Feb. 16 town hall if he would consider a larger plan to forgive at least $50,000 in student debt, Biden replied that he “will not make that happen” — drawing confusion and anger from those who had hoped the president would take a more active role in canceling debt. Yet experts maintain that those who graduate with the highest amount of student loan debt often end up with higher earnings after graduating from four-year university programs, and they believe that Biden should prioritize other policies that target wealth inequality more directly.

Assistant professor of Business Economics and Public Policy Ben Lockwood said that there may be a more productive way to spend the $50,000 allotted in Democrats’ proposed loan debt forgiveness plan.

Child allowances, direct income support, or college subsidies from the front end are all interventions he said could help people in a more progressive manner.

Former director of the Institute for Research on Higher Education and Penn adjunct professor Joni Finney agreed, as she believes that Biden has other priorities such as instituting more funding for early childhood education.

Biden’s higher education plans during his presidential campaign included policies to increase accessibility to two- or four-year institutions by making public colleges and universities tuition-free for all families with incomes below $125,000.

Finney said she sees merit in Biden’s hesitation in supporting a plan to forgive up to $50,000 in student debt, but emphasized that it is important to recognize which subset of students have the most student debt and which subset feels the burden of these debts the most.

Often times, she said, it is not those who are attending Ivy League institutions.

Across the country, about $1.6 trillion in federal student loans is owed by about 43 million borrowers, but it is estimated that no more than 0.3% of federal student loans borrowers attended Ivy League schools. The same estimate shows that 49% of borrowers — the largest share — came from public colleges.

Sandy Baum, senior fellow at the Center on Education Data and Policy at the Urban Institute, said people need to view the issue of student loan debt in a more realistic and holistic manner. She added that it is essential that Biden does not implement regressive policies that mainly serve privileged members of society who graduated from prestigious colleges.

“What matters is how much [students] borrowed, how much income they have now, and how well-equipped they are to pay it back,” Baum said.

“The truth is that most people who went to Harvard, Yale, and Penn are doing very well, and we should not be forgiving their debt. It’s not because of where they went to college; it’s because they’re doing well now.”

Lockwood explained that the people struggling

the most are not usually those who have the highest amount of student loan debt from attending costly schools, since they often end up with higher earnings because they graduated from four-year university programs.

People with “more modest loan balances,” who were not able to graduate or complete prestigious degrees, are more likely to be burdened by paying back student loans, Lockwood said.

Baum said that she understands Biden’s perspective and called a plan that would cancel $50,000 for everyone with student loan debt “a pretty inequitable and irresponsible idea.”

Student loan debt is disproportionately held by

ANANYA CHANDRA

President Joe Biden spoke at Penn on March 30, 2017.

households in the top half of the nation’s income distribution, according to Baum, and a third of borrowers owe no more than $10,000. These borrowers are the ones who are the most likely to default on their loans and struggle to make their payments.

Baum added that people need to take a step back when looking at these issues, and also advocate for medical and utility debt relief that is increasingly necessary amid the pandemic.

While Finney believes student loan debt is a serious issue, she said the government needs to focus on resolving the systemic issues that have caused this debt in the first place, in addition to aiding subsets of students by canceling some student loan debt.

“I worry about all this conversation about debt, to begin with, because it’s not getting to the core problem,” Finney said. “We are having all this conversation on debt without saying why it is necessary for all of these young people to borrow this much money.”

10 SPORTS

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

Student-athletes react to Penn’s required sophomore dining plan

BELGRAD | Expect rapid growth from alumnus Taylor Jenkins-led Grizzlies

SPORTS | Some freshman athletes question the nutritional value of the dining halls’ food

SPORTS | The team is scheduled to finish their season with 40 games in two months

CHRISTA SIMAAN Sports Reporter

NICKY BELGRAD Sports Editor

In February 2021, Penn announced that current freshmen must enroll in a dining plan during their sophomore year, sparking confusion and backlash from students. For athletes, who often follow strict nutritional guidelines as part of their training, this new policy spurred conflicting opinions.

Many athletes believe one semester of the dining plan was enough to help facilitate the transition from high school to college.

“I’m not excited about it, but structure can be a good thing in some instances for some students,” freshman defensive back Lawson Nash

experiences in high school, but I think the luster has worn off and the prospect of having another dining plan next year isn’t being celebrated.”

Others note the potential financial burden of enrolling in the dining plan again, which will cost $3,996 annually.

“I don’t think it’s fair to force students into it,” Dimitri Nicholson, a freshman on the track team, said. “For me as an athlete, I appreciate having an easier way to get food, but if I wasn’t forced into it, I would not buy into another plan.

That’s a lot of money that I don’t have.”

Some athletes are frustrated by the mandatory

The NBA All-Star Weekend typically marks the halfway point in the professional basketball season, coming as a welcomed break to the draining 82-game season. Though this year’s mid-season All-Star Game will arrive a bit early amid controversy, the Memphis Grizzlies, coached by Penn alumnus Taylor Jenkins, will rejoice at the opportunity to regroup before a loaded back half of the season.

With just a few games remaining before the All-Star Game, the Grizzlies are a game under .500. They sit at 10th place overall in the Western Conference, contending with other middle-of-the-pack teams vying for a coveted playoff spot.

At the surface, Memphis seems unexceptional.

The Grizzlies are a smidge below average with their record of 13-14. However, the team’s record and their standing in their conference do not paint the full picture. As always, more context is needed.

To begin with the basics, the Western Conference is notably stacked. It requires a seasoned team to be in the hunt for a playoff spot, some of whom could pose a serious threat with the right matchup.

The Grizzlies should also not fret about their record or position in the standings. For one, the team has dealt with a fractured first half of the season.

Due to COVID-19 tracing and positive tests, the Grizzlies have had six games postponed,

Morant’s supposed sidekick, Jaren Jackson Jr., has not been able to make it onto the court yet this season, being plagued by injuries.

However, the tandem will have plenty of opportunity to sharpen their on-court chemistry and carve out a large portion of the Grizzlies offense when Jackson Jr. returns shortly.

The Grizzlies’s youth also shines on their coaching staff, as head coach Taylor Jenkins is the second youngest active coach in the NBA (following the Timberwolves firing Ryan Saunders recently). Jenkins is also the only NBA coach to never have played college basketball.

He graduated from Wharton in 2007.

During his undergraduate time at Penn, Jenkins’s main connection to basketball was running a youth league in West Philadelphia.

That was until Jenkins managed to intern in the Spurs’ front office.

Seemingly impressing the team’s management, Jenkins was invited back after graduating and assigned to a coaching role for the Spurs’ D-League team. After excelling yet again, Jenkins traveled around the league for a decade as an assistant coach in Atlanta and Milwaukee.

Jenkins’ hard work was clearly rewarded, as he was hired as the Grizzlies’s head coach in 2019, his first time in the top coaching role.

Throughout this 2020-21 season, Jenkins is leading the Grizzlies to a franchise record in offensive rating at 110.2, and his defensive unit is tied for second in franchise defensive rating.

MAX MESTER

Freshman athletes have mixed reactions to the sophomore dining requirement, with some raising concerns about the potential financial burden of the program.

nature of the policy, including Lis Zandbergen, a freshman field hockey forward.

“I understand where the decision is coming from, but in my opinion having a dining plan as a sophomore should be optional and definitely not obligatory,” Zandbergen said.

While many see the second-year dining plan as an issue, a few athletes are excited about the program.

“I think it is fair to have a dining hall as a sophomore because it allows us to still be interactive with Penn,” Gabe Wright, freshman defensive back, said. “In the fall, we missed some of the traditions of being freshmen, so I like that we are required to stay close to the University in year two as well.”

Freshman right back Chandler McGruder raised the question of the nutritional value of dining hall food.

“I’m not opposed to it, but what is given really isn’t good nutrition for athletes,” McGruder said. “The protein portions are very minimal, as well as the carbs.”

Penn rowing freshman Simone Vorperian echoed reservations about the contents of dining hall food.

“I think I mostly feel frustrated. It seems CHANDLER MCGRUDER pretty clear that the University made this decision for monetary gain, not students’ wellbeing,” Vorperian said. “Most of my frustration to adopt a dining plan for a second year would stems from the fact that I am a vegetarian, and be less than ideal. Personally, I think dining it’s extremely challenging to get healthy and nuhalls are an integral college experience for stu- tritious food to meet the demands of my sport.

The New York Times Syndication Sales Corporation Food something dents, but the experience hasn’t theAvenue, same New 620been Eighth York,isN.Y. 10018 that I rely on for my sucacademically as well as athletically, and with COVID-19. I think a lot of freshmen wereCall:cess 1-800-972-3550 For Information dining halls okay with the dining halls in the first month For Release Thursday, March 2021 have been making that success For Release Friday,the Feb. 26,4,2021 of school, as it was a new transition from their harder, not easier.” said. “I know a lot of people who don’t care for the food at the dining halls, and they eat outside of campus a lot, so I could see why having

NEWYORKTIMESCROSSWORDPUZZLE Edited by Will Shortz

No. 0128 0122

Crossword

ACROSS Singerinternet Del Rey 11 Some 5 humor Giant walking combat 8 It sharesvehicle a key in “Star Wars” with a “3” films 159 Apple Stuffs product launched in 14 2015 Not just occasionally 16 Vital hosp.

15 worker Blue shade

16 Beheader Without backup 17 of in 17 Medusa, Poppycock Greek myth 18 Release, as a 18 One in song,engaged in modern alingo struggle

19 Need for win” “OK, you translation, in 20 biology Something directly following a penultimate 20 Coined word position —of in the title that is to say, 2008’s Best diametrically Picture opposed to a 22 Congresswoman primary one Demings 23 Gracefully send away 23 Many mainframes 24 Passing comment?

25 Brewery stock

25 Western Girl groupcity with 26 the 1999 #1 where copperalbum “FanMail” riveted jeans invented 26 were 90s, say 27 nymph 31 Water Lie in the sun 29 34 Big LikeTen an football oven powerhouse, for 36 short Demographic figure 30 Big name in 37 apple “Bullet” in a food juice fight 31 Dangerous thing 38 Female kangaroo to catch 39 Golden blades 33 Two that swings may beand atenderly slide, maybe chew’d by equine or 35 Do or ___ (punny bovine beings hair salon name) 44 The NoneDepression, of it is 36 good, for oneas the saying goes 37 feature 45 Rally One committing insurance fraud, 41 Team player maybenot really who’s team playerfind 46 aProspector’s 45 48 Wears ___ Halles (central food 46 Burning market in Paris, sensation once) 48 49 Came It may to end with a reality check 49 African antelope

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE B H A B M E M R C E D U C P

PS O D B A SE R

A G M E O D E B OI O I N D S A RT W E E N TR EI

BJ A N D TE AF O K N E D S A C R O E G L N A A X C

AI R E N O R TI D E CL P H A A S R O A D E

B O A R S A TP E M R Y M A YE T M E W S W

C S T N C S O L O S ET S R A S EF TT EI D N

A S C HI ET N U T N I H S TI P S

C N O A C S O

AT R N O T YI

N S TS E O C L I

A S H U A M S O

C E R AL P

C P O U W R EE R C H E A S N A C U E

PI NI N S M S O H O A E N S I N A T U U S N E

T AI P D D N T A O R C B OI G RI FE Y S

S E H V EI A L R E S Y E T E A EI O L F F G A I

T D U E M C M O Y D A E C H M E R P G E U A A N R U D T

A S M T P E S N O S H FE D E E DI N B C A U C R K

B E S ET O E N H E R S A D E K E LE BI Y A

53 Group The cat’s meow, 50 with the baby. Dig? 2000 hit “This I 57 Promise Follower You” of pigs or cows with 52 Website headings 58 the Be plentiful “Craft Supplies” 59 and In perpetuity “Jewelry & 60 Accessories” Country sound 53 channel 61 Cable Black-and-white owned by swimmer Discovery 62 Name meaning 54 Convenient “born again”place work out 63 to Shipment 56 T.S.A. overseer 64 Actor Damon 57 65 “De-e-eluxe!”

Till section 59 Elvis Presley sings it in “Blue DOWN Hawaii” Drink from a 611 Corpulence machine 62 Tracking device 2 Colorful kind of 63 Sells shirt 643 Some printers Common congestion points 4 Figure skater, for DOWN one 1 Facial piercing 5 With more of the 2 Place for free same sort spirits 6 Donna ___, 3 Where the 2014 Pulitzer University winner for of “The Wyoming Goldfinch”is 4 of some 7 Contents Confess openly towers, in brief 8 Mistakke, of a 5 Some sort? sign 9 language Agreed tousers tie the 6 In fact knot 10 North African 7 “Tough luck … I capitalcare what don’t you think” 11 Work 8 “Watch it!”

12 “That most odious and 9 Cant antisocial of all 10 Make out inJohn passions”: England Stuart Mill 11 13 ___ Datearmy, villainous force in 21 Disney’s Pioneering I.S.P. “Mulan” 22 Pot Four-star 12 supporters

1

2

3

4

5

14 15

17 20 19

24 25

27 32

35 40

38

39

18

18

28

41

48

57 57

53

54

26

35

27

36

40

41

43

55

56

46 49

13 14

29

30

22

28

38 44

42

43

44

52

50

51

52

47 48

51 55

56

58

59

59 60

60 61

61

62

62

63 63

64

64

65

58

12 13

26 30

37

47

11 12

19

34

46

10 11

16

33

50 54

9 10

24

29

42

9

22

21

45 45

49

8

16

34 32

36

7

25

33

39 37

53

6 7

15

21 20

23

31

5 6

Penn alumnus and Memphis Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins will use the All-Star break as a chance to regroup before a busy finish to the season.

five of which were in a row. These games were rescheduled for the second half of the season, when the Grizzlies will be set for 41 games in two months.

These interruptions especially matter for a young and gelling team like Memphis. The team is exceptionally young; only one player is above the age of 30. Moreover, much of the group is returning from last season, leaving the possibility for a ‘one-year leap’ as players on the team become fully accustomed to one another.

Case in point, the Utah Jazz, who returned a historic percentage of its team this year. This example is particularly relevant to Memphis, who share a common team composition and gameplay with the Jazz.

For instance, both teams rely upon a steady defensive presence coupled with frequent threepoint shooting, pick-and-rolls between guards and finishing centers, and ball movement. Another similarity is each team’s respective star guard: Memphis’s Ja Morant and Utah’s Donovan Mitchell.

Morant, a budding young star in the NBA, missed eight games due to a sprained left ankle and is likely still ailing from the lingering effects. Despite this setback, the guard is averaging about 19 points and eight assists per game, numbers that some believe merited an All-Star Game selection.

SUDOKUPUZZLE

5 3

PUZZLE PUZZLE BY

BY STEVE DANIELMOSSBERG LARSEN

26 out 13 Wiped Actor Armand ___ 27 Human rights Clooney 14 lawyer “Beat it!”

40 doing a darn 37 Not When a poser thing might be presented?

41 Cry toward the a list 38 end Placeoffor a stud 28 twoto 21 Number Attachment 42 Source of some 39 Eager, informally Christ?crystal omega-3s 29 What 40 It Causes do build whena 24 jellies Place to 43 may be rolled consternation disturbed castle out for exercise 41 Language 30 Views 44 Competitorofof 26 Fancy “I” the Literature 21-Down 31 Men Nobelist 28 ___ Israeli leader with 47 Cartoonist Chast (one-hit wonder Rabindranath an eye patch group of 2000) Tagore 49 Tape recorder 30 Actress Gibbs of 42 button Test in 32 Food thickener “The Jeffersons” 50 Torn asunder chemistry?

33 janglers 32 Janitor’s Cubs’ hangout 51 producer 43 TV “Yeah, I’m 35 Decides Chaiken 34 Pastoral setting listening”

52 burners 44 Funerary Yellowstone attractions 53 Classic name in equipment 47 audio Bourbon relative 54 50 Shakespeare Murphy’s character who co-star in 1982’s says “How “48 Hrs.”than a sharper 51 serpent’s Robotic tooth itadversary is / To have in a thankless “Battlestarchild!”

Galactica” 55 Model in science 54 aBad fall? classroom 55 Not serious 56 Computing 58 prefix Cause of a trip 57 60 Alternative Once-in-a- to an ellipsis lifetime trip

Online Online subscriptions: subscriptions: Today’s Today’s puzzle puzzle and and more more than than 7,000 7,000 past past puzzles, puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 ($39.95 aa year). year).

Read Read about about and and comment comment on on each each puzzle: puzzle: nytimes.com/wordplay. nytimes.com/wordplay.

The Grizzlies are full of complementary pieces. Though Morant shines as the team’s athletic dunk machine, the team relies on various contributors in the backcourt such as guards Tyus Jones and Grayson Allen. Moreover, Xavier Tillman, Dillon Brooks, and Kyle Anderson are a solid trio of wings, capable of fulfilling the sought after 3-and-D prototype.

At the center of the team is the Lithuanian Jonas Valanciunas, who is back to posting stellar numbers after getting COVID-19 and missing four games. The big man is averaging 16 points and 11.2 rebounds per game on the 15th best field goal percentage in the league.

Memphis is extremely well-rounded with few major weaknesses at any position. Of course, upgrades are possible for them, but the team currently presents a balance and collaborative offensive attack, ranking third in team assists per game.

For all their passing, however, the team needs to improve their three-point shooting, as they rank 22nd in team three-point percentage. Specifically, Morant needs to improve upon his abysmal mark of 22% from three-point land.

In the immediate future, the Grizzlies will hope to gain some momentum heading into the All-Star break. They face the Clippers in backto-back games, and in order to rise above the .500 norm for the rest of the season, the Grizzlies need to steal games from better teams.

3 7 6 4 1 9

9 2 8

4

5 6 7 5 8 4 3

Skill Level:

1 5 3

7 4 7

Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit 1 to 9.

Solution to Previous Puzzle:

© Puzzles provided by sudokusolver.com

“I’M NOT OPPOSED TO IT, BUT WHAT IS GIVEN REALLY ISN’T GOOD NUTRITION FOR ATHLETES. THE PROTEIN PORTIONS ARE VERY MINIMAL, AS WELL AS THE CARBS.”

Create and solve your Sudoku puzzles for FREE.

Play Sudoku and win prizes

at:

prizesudoku.com

The Sudoku Source of

“Daily Pennsylvanian”.

THEDP.COM | THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN

SPORTS 11

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021

Penn men’s soccer formed a diversity and inclusion committee to promote social justice awareness both on campus and in the greater Philadelphia community.

PENN MEN’S SOCCER ADDRESSES SOCIAL JUSTICE WITH DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION COMMITTEE SPORTS | The committee was founded in the wake of COVID-19 and the police killing of George Floyd JOYCE DAVIS Sports Associate

WOMEN’S SOCCER PAGE 12

such, all eight teams read or watched a movie highlighting a social justice-related issue every week during winter break. Kellogg felt that the movie “When They See Us” had a particularly strong impact among the girls on the team.

“Part of what we’re aiming to address is that we have to overcome this white fragility,” Kellogg said. “Our team benefited a lot from it in terms of being able to talk to each other about the things that are important in life, being vulnerable with each other, and also recognizing our own privilege. It set the tone that we’re not going to stand for anything that is not anti racist. Essentially, we want to be more than just anti racist, we want to be actively contributing to deconstruct those systems that allowed for this to happen.”

Kellogg and her team are also working on a survey to be sent out to all Ivy League sports teams to see what gaps players believe must be filled in order to further equity and justice in the studentathlete experience.

Initially, the Coalition experienced some hurdles in organizing themselves and working on initiatives. For example, although the group is not technically affiliated with the Ivy League, they still have to ensure that they comply with the Ivy League standards.

“An obstacle we’re figuring out is what our relationship is to the Ivy League,” Wilensky said. “Coming up with our identity right now is something that we’re working on.”

However, as the year has gone on, the members have been better able to define their goals and navigate the system of getting events off the ground. Brown said that she is proud of her students and feels that their initiatives have built a culture of committing to education and social justice in the sports community.

“Turning passion into action and change is a little bit difficult, but this is where I just commend everyone that’s been a part of it,” Brown said. “I think the echo is well beyond those immediate members and more in every single program’s locker room, and we hope in the greater soccer community, in the greater Philadelphia

Appearing in workplaces, schools, and on soccer fields, diversity and inclusion have no bounds.

The Penn men’s soccer team decided to take action and create a diversity and inclusion committee to promote social justice awareness and make a difference on the field, on Penn’s campus, and in the West Philadelphia community.

The initiative to start this committee was sparked after a smaller group of players on the team came to Penn men’s soccer coach Brian Gill with the idea of creating a cabinet of soccer players that would meet to discuss prevalent social justice issues. “[The creation of this committee] has been an evolving process since summer, around the time of George Floyd’s murder and protests,” Gill said. “In that time frame, a lot of us coaches — not just soccer, [but] coaches across the country — were trying to figure out how to discuss these issues with our teams. We wanted to have open dialogues and to use sports as a method to take stock for what different people have been doing to raise awareness. As we were finishing up fall, a few of the guys believed we could do more.

The players suggested that we could do stuff internally to raise awareness: movies, podcasts, and social justice talks in the athletic department gave the chance to listen. This was an opportunity for the guys to take a step back from soccer and take time to have more open and honest conversations about what’s going on in our world today, and how we interpret these different events.”

Spearheaded by senior Henry Sherwood Caballero, sophomore Will Schlatterer, junior Spencer Higgins, freshman Mattias Hanchard, and junior Dane Jacomen, the committee has many goals for the progress of the group. “[The goal of the committee] is to foster a team culture where we can listen to each other and learn about each other’s feelings, and backgrounds,” Caballero said. “We saw this as an opportunity to get the team closer to each other. A lot of topics we discuss can be polarizing, but our main goal isn’t to create divisions between each other. The point is to accept other people’s ideas. We need to have these hard conversations.”

For Caballero, understanding why diversity and inclusion are so important was the first step in establishing the committee.

“It’s just fair. It’s the right thing to do,” Caballero said. “America was built on a legacy that exploited Black and brown bodies. We need to build a society where everyone is equal. We need higher sports representations. We see how this legacy boiled over during COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd. Now the cracks in the system are more apparent. This not only applies to Penn, but to all lives, society, and the entire world. The first step is to get the skills of putting ourselves into each other’s shoes.”

Similarly, Gill saw the formation of the committee as an obligation to the community.

“It’s a mechanism in the campus to bring awareness to these things,” Gill said. “We need to use our platforms. We as an

ALEXA COTLER

athletics team need to recognize that we have an obligation to show a level of unity and express well to people what is acceptable and what’s not within the walls of our program. It’s a lot of food for thought for people in institutions like ours to challenge the norms.”

Once this mindset was established, creating an agenda for the committee was the next step to take in order for its goals to be met.

“We started biweekly meetings in late/mid-January,” Caballero said. “We hold Zoom meetings and split up into breakout groups.

For Black History Month, we talked about about Black athletes and their impact on social justice. We would split up into five rooms, and then present our findings to the larger group. It’s not always about politics. It’s mainly about walking in each other’s shoes.”

Despite only being a committee of five athletes, its members hope to make a positive impact on not only the soccer team, but Penn’s campus and the surrounding community. The first step, naturally, is to make an impact right at home.

“It’s about taking it a step at a time,” Caballero said. “We need to look inwards to who we are as a team and what we can do.

Making players talk brings them together. Eventually we plan to move outwards in terms of our focus. We want to have discussions with guest speakers. When it’s safe, we want to volunteer at miniclinics at public high schools in [Philadelphia], or food drives, or homeless shelters.”

The next step would be for the team to take their platform and use it to benefit Penn students and faculty, and those in need around the West Philadelphia community. “[Right now], we’re in phase one of inward ref lecting,” Caballero said. “Eventually, we want to branch out and help [Philadelphia]. [Philadelphia] is a ‘big broke city.’ There are so many racial and ethnic problems in [Philadelphia]. We’re so lucky to be here at Penn, so we need to take advantage of our opportunities. If we have a group of people on the soccer team that can have tough conversations, then that in itself will have a positive impact on Penn. We want to contribute what we know to our fellow peers.

It’s hard not having a season because we can’t use it as a platform, but we do have plans to do things such as take a knee to show solidarity to Black Lives Matter. If our peers see us, it will make our actions more impactful.”

With the committee serving as a relatively new addition to Penn men’s soccer, keeping it alive for future generations takes top priority.

“I’m consoled by being the only senior,” Caballero said. “The guys on the committee are great people. The fact that the idea came from underclassmen gives me hope. [Right now], the freshmen on our team are super diverse. This shows why these conversations are important to have. Even when I graduate, I will always be there to support them.”

Applications open now to all undergraduate and full-time grad students

STUDENT STAFF IN THE COLLEGE HOUSES NEXT:

Applications accepted now

www.collegehouses.upenn.edu/ra

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021 VOL. CXXXVII NO. 7

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

PENN WOMEN’S SOCCER

JOINS FORCES WITH OTHER IVY LEAGUE SCHOOLS TO FORM JUSTICE COALITION

SON NGUYEN

Penn women’s soccer, along with the other Ivy League soccer teams, formed the Justice Coalition to address social justice issues.

SPORTS | The Justice Coalition advances social justice issues in each school’s community ANUSHA MATHUR Sports Associate

In light of last summer’s protests and racial activism of last summer, Penn women’s soccer, along with the other seven Ivy League teams, formed the Justice Coalition to further their commitment to advancing social justice issues in their communities.

The formation of the Justice Coalition marks the first time that all eight teams have come together to work on a long-term project. The initiative was started by the women’s soccer coaches, who shared a similar passion for social justice and felt that the teams could have a more powerful impact if they worked together.

“We are part of really important communities where we feel like we can lead,” Penn women’s soccer head coach Casey Brown said. “In the

A LOOK AT THE QUARTERBACKS ON PENN’S ROSTER WITH RYAN GLOVER GONE SPORTS | No quarterbacks on Penn’s roster have started a collegiate game CARTER LYNN Sports Reporter

Ryan Glover, who graduated from Penn in December, has taken his talents to Western Carolina University’s spring football program. The former Quaker quarterback amassed over 1,900 yards of total offense over three seasons, with 1,573 yards passing, 373 rushing yards, and eight passing touchdowns along with a pair of rushing scores.

But with the next season quickly approaching, the Red and Blue are headed into a sea of uncertainty. Without Glover under center for the 2021 fall season, we take a look at who will step up for the Quakers next.

SEND STORY IDEAS TO DPSPORTS@THEDP.COM

wake of all these movements and social justice, we want to be at the forefront. We didn’t want to just be performative, we wanted to be actionable and really help organize something meaningful.”

Since its inception, the Justice Coalition has focused on three main areas: education, action, and leadership. They have created subcommittees to better achieve these goals, including Logistics and Operations, Social Media, Education, and Civic Engagement.

“There is a kind of a default to complacency and our organization is working to get rid of that to light a fire,” junior Lucy Kellogg, the Penn representative on the Operations and Logistics subcommittee, said. “The continued systematic oppression of Black people is not going away just because we talked about it once, just because the protests are over in some areas. We want to continue to be the group that’s actively working against those systems and engaging others.”

In the fall, the Justice Coalition mostly focused on the 2020 United States election. The representatives worked to register all members

of their teams to vote and encouraged them to be involved in electoral politics.

This semester, the teams have focused on racial injustice. For example, over winter break, the civic engagement committee worked on a holiday donation drive to benefit Black families.

“Having those really tangible actionable steps says something and forces people to have conversations that you might not always have,” senior Jadyn Wilensky, member of the Civic Engagement subcommittee, said. “Having this team identity, big team goals, and being able to say that we want to be educated in this way is something that both makes me feel supported as a Black player on the soccer team and also makes me feel like I’m part of a team that I’m very proud to say that I’m a part of.”

The Justice Coalition was also especially active on social media during Black History Month.

The Social Media subcommittee spearheaded the Hidden Gems series, where they featured a person from each university on their Instagram and recognized their unseen accomplishments.

Hugh Brady — Freshman, 6’3’’, 200 lbs.

Ben Gerber — Sophomore, 6’2’’, 200 lbs.

One of two freshman quarterbacks on Penn’s roster, Hugh Brady, is from Punahou School in Honolulu. Without an opportunity to suit up for the Quakers this season, Brady too must rely on what he’s learned through high school. As a team captain, Brady was a 2018 first-team all-conference selection in the Interscholastic League of Hawaii. The Hawaiian quarterback accumulated over 2,300 passing yards and 26 touchdowns as a junior.

Brady missed his 2019 senior season due to an ACL injury but is well on track to suit up for the Quakers. According to 247Sports’ rankings, Brady is the No. 82-rated pro-style quarterback in the nation and No. 31 overall among prospects from the state of Hawaii in the 2020 class.

As the only sophomore quarterback on the roster, Ben Gerber finds himself in a unique situation. Although Gerber has one season under his belt from last fall, he was unable to see any game action with several quarterbacks ahead of him on the depth chart.

Originally from Wayne, Pa., Gerber was an allaround athlete at The Haverford School. He served as the team captain for his varsity football team while also lettering in track and wrestling. Distinguished by awards such as The Haverford School Coaches Award and The National Football Foundation Philadelphia Chapter Scholar-Athlete Award, Gerber demonstrated his ability to lead a football offense. Having a player like him on the roster for the upcoming fall season will certainly help and he will undoubtedly be in the mix for the starting role.

Mason Quandt — Junior, 6’4’’, 200 lbs.

John Quinnelly — Junior, 6’4’’, 200 lbs.

A native of Simi Valley, Calif., Mason Quandt is another option for quarterback. Quandt, like Quinnelly and Goldsberry, has a few years of Penn football experience. Although he’s never seen game action under center, Quandt had a successful high school career.

In his senior year of high school, Quandt went 187-of-272 for 2,400 yards with 17 touchdowns against six picks. The rising senior had 41 carries, 205 yards, and seven touchdowns, demonstrating his dual-threat ability.

John Quinnelly, one of the three juniors on the roster, has a real shot at the starting gig. Having two seasons of experience at Penn doesn’t hurt. Serving twice as team captain of his high school football team, Quinnelly received an AllCounty selection.

With the tools and experience for a starting role under center, the Red and Blue have an option in the Daphne, Ala. native next season. In fact, Quinnelly was close to beating out Ryan Glover for the starting job in 2018. Coach Ray Priore even played around with the idea of a week-to-week or drive-to-drive swap of quarterbacks with Glover.

ONLINE AT THEDP.COM

They also made a post highlighting Black-owned businesses near their campuses, and recognized Black historical figures who graduated from each university.

“Sports in general is much more than just the game, it really is a platform for talking about other things,” junior JoJo Cotto, member of the Social Media subcommittee, said. “The entire purpose of the justice coalition is to really challenge other schools to do the same and we want to set a really good example. Also, for the little girls that want to play in the Ivy League one day, just letting them know that we are so much more than just a sports team. We are here to engage with our community and try to make change in the world.”

The impact of the Justice Coalition on the women’s soccer team extends beyond the three student representatives from Penn. One of the Justice League’s goals is to ensure that their players are educated about modern issues. As SEE WOMEN’S SOCCER PAGE 11

Owen Goldsberry — Junior, 6’1’’, 190 lbs.

Spending his 2018 season on the Michigan Wolverines’ scout team, Owen Goldsberry played as a defensive back and special teamer.

It wasn’t until he came to Penn in 2019 that he was given a shot at quarterback. Buried in the depth chart, Goldsberry didn’t receive many opportunities to shine.

In a few trick plays that were drawn up for him, Goldsberry was able to demonstrate glimpses of his quarterbacking ability. A true Swiss Army knife, he was able to make six catches for 29 yards, return two kickoffs for 54 yards, and pass for 80 yards.

Ryan Zanelli — Freshman, 6’2’’, 195 lbs.

Ryan Zanelli is one of two freshman quarterbacks on Penn’s roster. Due to the cancellation of Ivy League football this past fall, Zanelli has been unable to garner much experience with the Red and Blue.

But given his high school success, he will have all the tools he needs to succeed when Ivy League football starts back up. Serving as team captain for his football team for two seasons at La Habra High School in Santa Ana, Calif., Zanelli was able to reach the California Interscholastic Federation semifinals in his senior year.

CONTACT US: 215-422-4640