Greek Lady ordered to cease operations following numerous health code violations
The restaurant amassed 19 city health code violations, according to the most recent inspection report
Greek Lady, a popular restaurant near Penn’s campus, was shut down by the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Health on Oct. 16 due to health code violations.
Greek Lady, which first opened in 2004 at 40th and Walnut streets, was ordered to cease operations on Wednesday morning, according to a sign on the door of the restaurant. In total, the restaurant amassed 19 Philadelphia Health Code violations, according to the most recent inspection report published on the Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s website. The order states that the restaurant must correct its violations and be recertified by the Philadelphia Department of Health in order to resume operations.
It is unclear how long the restaurant will be closed.
A handwritten note at the top of the Cease Operations Order paper reads “2 days,” but The Daily Pennsylvanian was unable to confirm the length of the shutdown.
Greek Lady ownership and the City of Philadelphia have not responded to requests for comment by the time of publication.
The restaurant is required to correct its violations according to Section 6-502 of the Philadelphia Health Code, says the inspection report, which adds that a failure to comply may result in the restaurant’s health license being revoked. The notice adds that the restaurant will be required to pay a $315 fee for reinspection.
The violations, all of which fall under Section 6-300 of the Health Code, included a lack of proper date marking of food, inadequate food service certification from the City of Philadelphia, and a lack of proper sanitation of food-contact surfaces — all of which are repeat violations.
How the presidential candidates’ digital ad spending in Penn’s zip code compares
The analysis found that Harris has outspent Trump by an estimated $36,004 since she became the Democratic nominee
Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign has outspent former President and 1968 Wharton graduate Donald Trump’s campaign on digital advertisements targeted to the University of Pennsylvania’s ZIP code, according to an analysis by The Daily Pennsylvanian.
The DP used data concerning locally targeted ads on Google and Snapchat from a project developed by Andrew Arenge, director of operations for the Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election
MAKENZIE KERNECKEL Staff Reporter
Studies, to compare targeted digital ad spending in the 19104 ZIP code. The analysis found that Harris has outspent Trump by an estimated $36,004 since she became the Democratic nominee.
Harris ran 867 ads between Aug. 2 and Oct. 7 targeted to Penn’s ZIP code, compared to 20 ads from Trump starting from April 17, with the most recent on Sept. 5. In September alone, the Harris campaign spent an estimated $26,389 on digital ads locally targeted to the 19104 ZIP code. The Trump
Students criticize campus closures during Indigenous Peoples’ Day vigil for Palestine
Penn Faculty for Justice in Palestine hosted the vigil, which. drew over 250 participants who rallied for nearly two hours
JASMINE NI AND VIDYA PANDIARAJU Senior Reporters
EMILY SCOLNICK Senior Reporter Indigenous groups at Penn celebrate community, identity
Philadelphia and Penn Police closed off Locust Walk from 34th to 36th streets — as well as several surrounding roads — in response to a vigil mourning the Palestinian, Lebanese, and Syrian lives lost in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Penn Faculty for Justice in Palestine hosted the vigil in conjunction with Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine and Penn Jewish Voice for Peace, as well as eight organizations not affiliated with the University, including Natives in Philly and the Philly Palestine Coalition. The vigil, which was called “Indigenous Peoples Day Palestine Solidarity Vigil,” had over 250 participants who rallied for nearly two hours.
A University spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on the vigil.
The vigil started at 3:30 p.m. and directly blocked traffic at the intersection of 34th and Walnut streets for about 10 minutes. It then moved in front of Fisher-Bennett Hall briefly while police redirected traffic. Police closed Walnut and Chestnut streets between 33rd and 34th streets to traffic, and the vigil then returned to the intersection for about 25 minutes. Speakers addressed the crowd, who chanted and took part in moments of silence.
One speaker at the vigil pointed to “survivance” — which they defined as “the insistence
on native presence” — as an overarching theme of the vigil.
“Keep in mind that we are standing on Indigenous land that has been colonized and pillaged the same way Palestinian land is currently being colonized and pillaged,” the speaker said.
As participants arrived, organizers passed out cardboard key necklaces which listed the names of “depopulated villages in Palestine,” an organizer of the vigil who did not identify themselves by name told The Daily Pennsylvanian. In the first speech of the afternoon, the speaker encouraged the group to wear them “as a symbol of connection to the homeland and eventual return.”
Throughout the vigil, around 10 organizers held up olive branches. The first speaker said they serve as an homage to the olive branch’s “integral” role in Palestinian culture.
“Our farmers themselves have been fostering, keeping, and maintaining their olive trees for over 100 years, and in 1948, when European colonizers came to pillage their land, the way the European colonizers pillaged this land, they burned over 800,000 [olive] trees,” the speaker said.
At around 4:15 p.m., the vigil marched to the 200 block of South 34th Street, behind Fisher Fine Arts Library. A UPennAlert was sent out notifying the University community of the group’s movement, writing that traffic was “restricted in that block.”
The group again stood in the middle of the street as speakers addressed ecocide — the pollutant and landscape-altering effects of the ongoing conflict in Gaza — and read poetry.
One speaker also criticized Ghost Robotics, a company housed in Pennovation Works that
campaign’s highest spending month was May, with an estimated expenditure for targeted digital ads of $2,184.
“I’ve long been convinced that this data is a good leading indicator of where candidates are allocating their resources and how they perceive their voters’ locations,” Arenge said in a recent article with Penn Today.
Higher digital Democratic spending levels
See SPENDING, page 3
College senior and DP staffer Mollie Benn, a member of NAP and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, said that Indigenous Peoples’ Day serves as a reminder that “Indigenous people are still here”
VIDYA PANDIARAJU Senior Reporter
Indigenous student groups at Penn commemorated Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Monday with a picnicstyle lunch at Greenfield Intercultural Center.
Members of Natives at Penn and Quechua at Penn gathered on Oct. 14 to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which “recognize[s] and honor[s] Indigenous resilience and endurance through history,” according to NAP’s Instagram post. Students also later attended a celebration organized by Indigenous Peoples’ Day Philly celebrating communities in Philadelphia and beyond.
College senior and DP staffer Mollie Benn, a member of NAP and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, said that Indigenous Peoples’ Day serves as a reminder that “Indigenous people are still here.”
“Some people consider [Oct. 14] to be Columbus Day, but that’s very forgetting of what happened in America. A whole population of people existed prior to the arrival of Europeans,” Benn said.
Philadelphia started recognizing Oct. 14 as Indigenous Peoples’ Day rather than Columbus Day in 2021.
See VIGIL , page 3 See INDIGENOUS, page 3
‘Who is Rishabh Wuppalapati’? Penn student wins two nights in a row on ‘Jeopardy!’
Wuppalapati rallied during the high-stakes Double Jeopardy round and ultimately won after auditioning the game show “on a whim”
ISHA CHITIRALA Contributing
Reporter
College sophomore Rishabh Wuppalapati won “Jeopardy!” two consecutive nights and will be continuing his run for a third day as the returning champion.
The trivia game show “Jeopardy!” features three contestants who compete to solve clues quickly and formulate their responses in terms of a question. Wuppalapati’s appearances aired on Oct. 15 and 16, with another set for Oct. 17.
On Tuesday night, Wuppalapati — a former staffer for The Daily Pennsylvanian — faced off against fellow contestants Eamonn Campbell, a Vermont lawyer, and Zoe Grobman, a Philadelphia therapist. Wuppalapati told the DP that he was “extremely stressed” when the game first began.
“I knew every single answer, but I was getting frustrated because I was losing every single buzzer race, except for one,” Wuppalapati said. “So, right before the break, that was a really great opportunity for me to kind of calm my nerves and get back into it.”
Despite a slow start, Wuppalapati rallied during the high-stakes Double Jeopardy round and ultimately won.
Wuppalapati appeared on “Jeopardy!” the following day as Returning Champion, competing against St. Louis attorney Jay Eversman and Brown professor Rachel Cassidy. The competition remained intense — throughout the course of the game, the leading contestant changed five different times.
Despite the competition, Wuppalapati won another round and entered Thursday’s appearance with a two-day win streak and $42,402 in total earnings.
Wuppalapati said that he auditioned for the game show “on a whim.” He began by taking the online “Jeopardy! Anytime Test,” which is open
for anyone to take it at any time. After that initial success, Wuppalapati took a Zoom-proctored test, participated in mock auditions, and did an interview before he was called back almost six months later for filming in September.
Despite only casually auditioning, Wuppalapati dedicated himself to studying for his upcoming “Jeopardy!” appearance, making good use of four years of high school quiz bowl experience. Combing through “probably 200” year-old “Jeopardy!” archives and various online study guides, Wuppalapati went into his “Jeopardy!” appearance well prepared.
Wuppalapati spoke to the “camaraderie” between contestants, highlighting that the competitive nature of the show did not hinder conversations behind the scenes.
“On stage it looks like really competitive, but what they don’t show is behind the scenes, they gave us three or four hours to get to know each other and to talk, and all of the contestants were really, really fun to talk to,” he said.
Along with his fellow contestants, Wuppalapati also spoke admirably about “Jeopardy!” host Ken Jennings.
“[Ken Jennings] is a really smart guy, and it was incredible to just get to talk to him and tell him our feelings after every game,” he said.
Despite his initial success, Wuppalapati maintained that he’s not necessarily seeking anything specific out of the experience, but rather enjoying it for what it is.
“It’s definitely a confidence booster. I really enjoy getting to go in there. Honestly, I’m not sure if I was necessarily seeking anything out,” Wuppalapati said. “Getting to go on, you know, what was one of my favorite shows growing up, was honestly probably the best experience in and of itself.”
Penn’s student conduct, academic integrity violations increase, disciplinary data shows The report, which was released in July, listed 742 total incidents — a 22% increase from 608 in 2022-2023 and 678 the year before
Three nurses injured in hitand-run at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center
According to police, the incident occurred at 4:22 a.m. on Saturday after a man driving a silver Jeep Cherokee dropped off a shooting victim in the ambulance bay at Penn Presbyterian
ETHAN YOUNG Staff Reporter
Three nurses were injured in a hit-and-run car accident at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center early Saturday morning.
According to the Philadelphia Police Department, the incident occurred at 4:22 a.m. on Saturday after a man driving a silver Jeep Cherokee dropped off a shooting victim in the ambulance bay at Penn Presbyterian. As he fled the scene, he struck all three nurses and the victim. As of Sunday morning, one of the nurses remained in critical condition.
“In a workplace where teams are devoted to caring for others, this incident is devastating to our staff and is a reminder of the tragic, far-reaching toll of gun violence on entire communities. Violence against healthcare workers harms us all, and is a corrosive, unacceptable threat which our staff must cope with on a daily basis,” a Penn Medicine spokesperson wrote in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian.
“Our heroic staff continued working to save the gunshot victim and care for all our other patients even as their own colleagues were suffering and being treated,” the spokesperson added, noting that Penn Med is providing resources to the injured nurses and their families.
Chief Executive Officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System Kevin Mahoney wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that “the nurses hurt today have our support, and we’re here for all staff who feel the pain that ripples out from such senseless violence. We stand as a community, stronger together.”
Radio clips from PPD confirmed that PPD officers assisted in the response and relayed information to Philadelphia Police about the incident.
“Public Safety personnel are working to provide additional support to our life-saving Penn Medicine colleagues as needed,” Penn’s Division
of Public Safety wrote in a statement to the DP. “Our thoughts are with them during this difficult time.”
According to a statement from PPD, all three nurses injured in the incident are male. The driver of the car was a male in his early 20s and the shooting victim was injured on the 1300 block of Belmont Avenue before being taken to the hospital. The DP could not confirm if the driver was involved in the shooting.
Philadelphia City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, who represents City Council’s third district — which includes University City — wrote in a statement that she is “praying that all three nurses make a full and speedy recovery, most especially the one who remains in critical condition.”
“As West Philly’s only adult Level 1 Trauma Center, the nurses and staff at Penn Presbyterian are on the front lines of the gun violence crisis,” Gauthier wrote. “Every day they come face-to-face with gruesome pain and suffering to care for us during the most traumatic moments of our lives. It is unfathomable to me that someone would drive their car into our neighbors charged with healing.”
Gauthier added that she has spoken to Penn Med to offer her support.
On Wednesday, Jaadir Goodwyn — the suspect in the case — turned himself into police around noon. His surrender at PPD headquarters followed a press conference the previous day when PPD and City leaders outlined multiple counts of aggravated assault and other related charges against Goodwyn.
During the press conference, Deputy Commissioner of Investigations for PPD Frank Vanvore added that the investigation into the incident was a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, PPD, and Penn Police.
count for 2023-2024 includes 332 academic integrity cases and 250 student conduct cases.
The number of “failure to comply” cases rose significantly, jumping to 68 instances from 27 the previous year. The University also reported 22 suspension sanctions for student conduct — more than five times the number of suspensions the preceding academic year.
Regarding the increase, the report noted that sanctions “are reported by policy violation, not by respondent. During spring 2024, a total of 22 policy violations resulted in CSA recommending suspensions for six respondents.”
In May, the University placed six students affiliated with the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on mandatory leaves of absence pending the results of CSA’s disciplinary investigations. A July 2 post from the Freedom School for Palestine stated that four students involved with on-campus pro-Palestinian activism were suspended.
In response to a request for comment on whether the six recommended suspensions are the same students placed on mandatory leaves of absence, Center for Community Standards and Accountability Executive Director Julie Nettleton wrote that the CSA does not comment on individual cases.
She noted that CSA is not involved in placing students on mandatory leaves of absence and that the leave of absence status “has no overlap or implication in CSA sanctioning.”
According to the report, increased case investigations related to academic integrity surrounded plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration or use of another person’s work, facilitating academic dishonesty, and unfair advantage over fellow students. This follows a sevenfold increase in academic integrity violations for attaining an “unfair advantage over fellow students” in the 2022-23 academic year, partly due to the increased unauthorized use of ChatGPT.
“Hazing” violations dropped to five in 202324, compared to 14, 16, and 14 in the previous three years, respectively. “Other conduct violations” almost doubled from the previous academic year, while the number of academic support violations dropped to 13 — a 58% decrease from the 2022-23 academic year.
The number of “decision-making tree”
sanctions for academic integrity rose to 86 from 27 in the previous academic year.
The decision-making tree is “an educational requirement that walks students through steps to make different choices moving forward,” according to Nettleton.
“Sometimes to make a different choice, students need to be proactively addressing the underlying issues,” she wrote. “This requirement helps students identify these opportunities, so they are positioned differently next time a similar decision is in front of them.”
The report listed eight instances of “withheld/delayed” degrees compared to zero in the previous academic year.
The majority of disciplinary cases were resolved through a signed agreement, with 39 listed as unresolved. 195 cases were resolved through restorative practices.
“Restorative Practices is an opportunity to address harm that is different from a traditional disciplinary system,” Nettleton wrote. “Essentially, it’s a process that focuses on identifying harms and involving those impacted in mapping out a path forward.”
Nettleton said it is important for the University community to have information such as that in the report on a “regular basis,” noting that CSA has been publishing annual disciplinary reports since 2015.
She referenced a new dashboard on the CSA website that updates with disciplinary data by semester, in response to the University’s recent antisemitism task force and task force to counter hate on campus.
“This new effort aims to provide more timely updates to the community,” she wrote.
When asked whether CSA is working on decreasing the number of incidents, Nettleton wrote that CSA works with the University’s schools and the University Honors Council “to talk about academic integrity concerns through preventative work and programming.”
“It is important to note, though, that it is on the members of the Penn community to decrease incidents and to uphold the Codes of Academic Integrity and Student Conduct that all students are expected to know, understand, and follow,” she wrote.
GREEK LADY, from FRONT PAGE
In total, the restaurant collected five repeat violations and 14 first-time violations. Other violations included a lack of adequate hand-washing supplies, improper storage of utensils and linens, and frost and residue on the walk-in freezer and cooler units.
“Due to conditions observed during the inspection … the establishment has agreed to discontinue food operations and voluntarily close until it is approved by the department to resume operations,” the report reads.
The report also states that Greek Lady currently does not have a valid food license and that one is required to operate the establishment.
Members of the Penn community expressed surprise at the closure.
College senior Ariana deSa e Frias told the DP that she frequented the restaurant last semester “enough where the employees knew [her].”
“I’m definitely a little scared of what I’ve been eating,” she said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been in
there and noticed … [anything] that would cause a health code violation, so I was quite surprised and a little bit nervous.”
She added that she and her friends are “very sad to see it shut down.”
College senior Liam Hoare told the DP that Greek Lady “is part of the campus institution,” saying that the closure made him “scared” and “sad.”
“Definitely, no one wants to eat at a place that has health code violations … especially when there are other options,” he said.
Greek Lady is owned by the same proprietor that runs Allegro Pizza and Grill, another popular food establishment at 40th and Spruce streets.
Earlier this semester, Allegro — formerly a popular late night food option for students — eliminated its late-night hours. After previously staying open until 3 a.m. on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, the restaurant altered its schedule to close at midnight seven days a week.
INDIGENOUS, from FRONT PAGE
After issuing an executive order to officially change the designation of the day, former Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney wrote that the change was an “opportunity to recognize and teach about the atrocities that have occurred to Indigenous people through colonialism.” College junior Nikolai Jawiyuga, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, said that this year, NAP emphasized community celebration as a way to take a break from their focus on educating the community through land acknowledgments and speaking engagements.
After the picnic, NAP members attended an Indigenous Peoples’ Day Philly event in Penn Treaty Park. The program featured speakers, singing and dancing performances, as well as workshop and storytelling activities that highlight both contemporary and traditional Indigenous art.
“[We are] working on finding a balance between external events that help the community and generally raise awareness, [and] events where we get to celebrate our sense of community and our sense of Indigeneity among ourselves,” Jawiyuga said.
Valeria Andrango, a College senior and president of Quechua at Penn, spoke about the importance of both learning about the histories of Indigenous peoples and understanding Indigeneity through an intersectional perspective.
“I think that’s really important when it comes to Indigeneity, understanding how intersectional it is and how there’s so much to learn from each other,” Andrango said. This year, the University did not send an email or issue a statement recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ Day. This is a departure from 2022, when Vice Provost for Education Karen Detlefsen and Interim Vice Provost for University Life Tamara Greenfield King sent an email calling on the Penn community to “reflect on the history of this day and how we can support our Native/
Indigenous communities.”
NAP President and Wharton junior Rylyl Ziese, a member of the Cherokee Nation, told The Daily Pennsylvanian that she waited for the email to be sent out all day, and described the lack of communication from the University as “interesting.” She added she hopes to discuss this decision with University administrators and learn more about how it was made.
“It felt like the University treated the day as invisible,” Ziese said.
However, both Ziese and Benn also commended Vice Provost for University Life Karu Kozuma and Associate Vice Provost for University Life Will Atkins for their involvement with and support of NAP. Ziese noted that after their appointments to their respective positions, they took initiative and extra steps to listen to NAP’s concerns.
“They took [our concerns] seriously, when they haven’t been taken seriously in the past,” Ziese added.
Both NAP and Quechua at Penn, a group that provides a community for students from South American Indigenous groups, operate under the Greenfield Intercultural Center.
“[The GIC is] a great home for us. We really enjoy getting together and talking about identity, and what it means to be indigenous, and building a community — no matter how big it is,” Benn said.
Going forward, Andrango said that she would like to see the more “holistic” inclusion of Indigenous members of the University community. She spoke about the lack of representation of Indigenous voices when considering events such as Hispanic Heritage Month or Climate Week.
“[I think something that would be appreciated would be] seeing Penn include Indigenous people in the conversation not solely at events hosted by the History Department, but in more contemporary spaces, as well,” she said.
SPENDING,
from FRONT PAGE
support this view. According to data from The New York Times, voting precincts in the 19104 ZIP code recorded margins of +70 to +90 for Biden in 2020.
Harris’ top digital ad topic targeted to the 19104 ZIP code has been the economy. Since August, her campaign has spent an estimated $10,936 on 306 digital ads about the economy targeted to the area code. The next four most popular topics for Harris’ digital ads in 19104 were Project 2025, abortion, healthcare, and attacks on Trump. Trump’s locally targeted digital ads predominantly covered immigration, with an estimated expenditure of $1,861, followed closely by ads on the economy.
Some spikes in daily targeted spending on Harris’ ads appear to coincide with campaign-related events coming to Philadelphia. The most active period in Harris’ daily spending on digital ads targeted to the 19104 ZIP code occurred between Sept. 10 — the day of the presidential debate at the National Constitution Center — and Sept. 17, when Harris spoke at the Community College of Philadelphia.
Data on locally targeted digital ads offer a partial view of the advertising that Penn students and residents of the 19104 ZIP code receive, but they do not reflect expenditures on statewide and nationwide ads or on ads shown outside of digital platforms.
“On social media, I’ve probably seen more Kamala ads, but I’ve still seen a lot of Trump ads,” College senior Dominic Woods said. “Whenever I’m watching sports, usually football, the amount of Trump ads is vastly larger.”
While watching football, Woods recalled seeing the same Trump ad three times, ending with the tagline: “Kamala is for they/them; Trump is for you.”
According to NBC News, Trump’s anti-transgender
ads are the most seen during professional and college football games. The ad is currently running statewide across Pennsylvania, according to the Google Ads Transparency Center.
Both Woods and College junior Dillon Nittoli said that they don’t see Harris’ economy ads on a Trump national sales tax as effective messaging for young voters who are generally not as worried about taxes or economic affairs.
“I think some of the other issues; the painting of Trump as being really bad on human rights … they stick with me a lot more,” Woods said.
Students also expressed frustrations with the amount of political advertising present in the leadup to the presidential election.
“It doesn’t matter the political affiliation; whenever I get a text message from these pollsters … I hate that,” Nittoli said. “I mean, I hate advertisements in general.”
“Say I’m down 50 points in fantasy [football], my team’s losing, and the next thing you know I hear ‘Kamala is for they/them; Trump is for you.’ At this point this is the 50th time I’ve heard this in the last three hours,” Woods added. “It’s effective in the sense that I am remembering it, but it does get irritating.”
The dashboard for Harris’ ads includes digital ads on Google and Snapchat run by Harris For President and the Harris Victory Fund. For Trump, the dashboard includes ads run by Donald J. Trump For President, Inc., Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee, Trump National Committee JFC, and the outside groups Make America Great Again, Inc. and Securing American Greatness Inc.
VIGIL , from FRONT PAGE
develops and sells four-legged robots to be used for “data collection, intelligence, security, asset protection, and military-specific uses.” Protesters have been calling for the University to end its relationship with the company since last spring, alleging that it produces robotic dogs used by the Israeli military.
The speaker called on the University and Pennovation Works to cut their ties with and remove any “financial, logistical, [or] academic support” provided to Ghost Robotics, describing the company as “complicit in genocide.”
At 4:45 p.m., the participants moved to Edward W. Kane Park, which is located at the intersection of 34th and Spruce streets.
“We are standing between these institutions of humanitarian disaster, Penn Medicine and Penn Museum,” an organizer said. Upon the group’s arrival to the park, organizers unfurled a banner
with the names of “7,000 martyrs from the 2014 massacre in Gaza,” according to an organizer. A healthcare professional who did not identify themselves by name delivered the final speech of the afternoon, alleging that Israel has targeted medical buildings and personnel in Gaza.
“Hospitals are meant to be medically neutral, places for healing where no one is turned away. In Gaza, the targeting of hospitals, healthcare workers, and medical systems began as early as ten days after October 7th, 2023,” the speaker said.
The vigil finished with the reading of the names and ages of those deceased in the ongoing conflict.
“We stand here today, not only in mourning, but in defiance of the cruelty of those that wanted to erase them,” a speaker said.
The group disbanded at Edward W. Kane Park around 5:45 p.m.
Sorry, Wall Street Journal. You have the Ivy League and the South all wrong
ALLISON’S ATTITUDE | Ivy League vs. the South: A false dichotomy in higher education
The Wall Street Journal has mastered the art of clickbait: “Sorry, Harvard. Everyone Wants to Go to College in the South Now.”
The article highlights the rise in northern students enrolling in southern universities, which I’m happy to see. Being from the South, I love the region and want to see it thrive. My concern lies in how the article gravely misrepresented both the schools and students in the Ivy League and the South.
As a Mississippian, I was initially excited to come across an article about how students from across the country are starting to enroll at more southern universities. Many parts of the country misunderstand and misrepresent the South to use it as a scapegoat for this country’s social and political ills. I — mistakenly — thought that this article would be different, painting a holistic image of the South, rather than the oversimplified narrative that is often repeated throughout the media landscape. Of course, as the article explained, increased enrollment in southern universities is a positive force, especially in stimulating southern economies — which drastically lag behind other regions in the United States. But the attempt at capturing the essence of southern universities to explain this surge in enrollment is misleading.
As someone who grew up attending Southeastern Conference game days, I know firsthand the energy and excitement southern schools offer. It’s unparalleled. Especially in Mississippi and Alabama, where there are no NFL teams, supporting a college football team becomes nearly a religious rite. But there’s so much more that entails attending Ole Miss — or any of these other SEC-like schools — than just game day.
The article presents an overly simplistic view that neglects the complexities of the educational landscape in the South and the unique experiences of students of color. While the article argues that southern schools attract students looking for a “warmer climate, lower tuition, and thriving social scenes,” as well as an escape from more politically charged environments up in the North, it fails to recognize the nuanced social dynamics and persistent issues that define these institutions, especially for marginalized groups. In the same stroke, the South has always been a place for tremendous change and progress, especially in regards to the civil rights era. The idea that the South is immune to “politically charged” environments at any point in American history is wholly misleading and offensive.
The article also presents a false equivalency. The assumption that students applying to institutions like Harvard would naturally gravitate toward the University of Mississippi or similar schools overlooks the social and academic fabric of these universities. A student seeking the prestige of Harvard isn’t likely to see Ole Miss as an equivalent option, just as a student who prioritizes vibrant social life and world-class athletics might not choose Harvard. Positioning these schools as rivals is akin to comparing apples and oranges — it oversimplifies their unique strengths and vastly different institutional cultures.
Moreover, while the article suggests that tuition is a major factor, the financial aspect is also oversimplified. Out-of-state tuition at many southern schools, such as the
University of Alabama or Ole Miss, is only marginally different from similarly ranked northeastern institutions. For example, outof-state cost of attendance at the University of Alabama is around $57,000, not dramatically lower than what out-of-state students pay at public schools in the North. This makes the financial argument far less persuasive than the article implies.
Additionally, the article’s focus on greek life and #RushTok as defining aspects of southern university culture represents only a narrow slice of student life. For many students of color, particularly Black students, the rush experience is often fraught with racial dynamics that differ dramatically from that of their white peers, who may find the social scene more welcoming. There are also many other facets of social life for different students that the article fails to explore. The article simply does not account for the experiences of many students of color, for whom southern schools may offer both opportunities for community and support. Often a statistic overlooked, the South is the region with the highest concentration of the U.S. single-race Black population. And despite this community of support and familiarity, the narrative that southern schools offer a more welcoming and less politically charged environment ignores the fact that many of these institutions are still grappling with their own racial tensions and histories of exclusion. For instance, while the article notes that southern campuses have remained “quieter” compared to northern schools that are embroiled in protests, it neglects to mention recent controversies at places like Ole Miss. Just last year, pro-Palestinian protesters were subjected to agitation and racist remarks during a Free Palestine demonstration, highlighting that southern schools are not immune to the political and social
conflicts of the day. Incidents like members of Ole Miss’ Kappa Alpha fraternity posing with guns in front of a Emmett Till memorial sign less than 10 years ago further illustrate the ongoing struggles with racism on southern campuses. While the article suggests that the South may be an attractive destination for students of color due to its higher proportion of Black students, it glosses over the historical and contemporary realities of racism that persist within these institutions. While, to be sure, there has been great progress in inclusivity, this progress in and of itself was wholly ignored by the article; the shift toward inclusion is intrinsically political. These campuses in the South have never been immune to the political realities and struggles of our time, and the Wall Street Journal mistakenly paints this as so. Furthermore, people moving to the South aren’t necessarily leaving behind their own prejudices. In fact, I believe that many people from the “liberal” Northeast use the South as a shield to express racist or discriminatory views they feel comfortable revealing in a more conservative culture. It’s as if being in the South gives them permission to voice the things they keep quiet elsewhere, assuming that the people here will automatically agree. But the South is not a refuge for the heinous ideas they carry — nor is it a place that exists to reinforce their stereotypes. Racism is a national issue, not a regional one, and pretending that the South is the only place where such views are freely expressed does a disservice to the complexities of these universities and the people who live there.
Along this vein, the portrayal of free speech on campuses also warrants closer examination. The article implies that southern schools offer a more open environment for discourse, free from the perceived “cancel
Paris or Penn? The love incubator
DIYA-LOGUES | Where generational love stories meet modern situationships
They say Paris is the city of love, but for my family, romance feels more at home within the hallowed walls of the Quad than along the Champs-Élysées. On these 300 acres, my two uncles and three aunts didn’t just survive spirit weeks or toast Franklin Field — they wove their love stories into the very fabric of Penn itself. Amid dodging the Compass and discovering their favorite hangout spots, they found what every romantic dreams of: the elusive soulmate.
It's been a month since I’ve stepped into their old stomping grounds, and I can’t help but imagine their shadowy silhouettes everywhere I go — from studying together in Fisher Fine Arts Library's creaky chairs to locking eyes on a balmy spring evening along Locust Walk. But, as I wander through our buzzing campus today, the one thing I can’t envision is their love stories in our
generation’s landscape. Could my aunt and her now-husband really have had a meet cute at a frat party? (Are they really reminiscing about the same inebriated, Sahara-like heatwave I witnessed last weekend?) Would they even have known what a “mutually exclusive situationship” is?
And most of all, it makes me wonder: If they lived in our day and age, would they have found each other at all?
There’s been a noticeable shift in how our generation approaches love. What was once a quest for “the one” has, for many, morphed into an endless loop of fleeting hookups and makeouts. A recent study revealed that a staggering 91% of college students are now entangled in hookup culture. But we weren’t always like this. Somewhere between us 2000s kids growing up on “She’s the Man” and “10 Things I Hate About You”
ILLUSTRATION BY ELIZABETH YUAN
and arriving at college, I think something changed. Maybe it’s the realization that balancing coursework and social life leaves little time for Channing Tatum-style grand gestures. Or maybe our fairytales now come with a caveat: a return offer from MBB (and if you’re the sole Penn student living under a rock, that’s McKinsey, Bain, and BCG). Specifically at Penn, the issue seems to extend beyond just evolving romantic ideals. Here, love feels like another item on an already overflowing to-do list. I’ve found myself skipping dinner plans because my schedule’s booked solid from dawn until well past dusk. We’re all striving to be the best — academically and socially — in a room filled with the best. All while navigating a relentless pressure to “SABS” (See and Be Seen) at every event, our social success is just another box to check. Unlike my aunts and uncles, who navigated a simpler time focused on building a few meaningful relationships, many students today would easily trade that in for 500+ LinkedIn connections. As senior Cathy puts it, “Most people at Penn aren’t dating — because they just don’t have the time. People tend to hook up at a frat party and then forget each other’s names altogether.”
It’s as if the pursuit of romance has become more about bragging rights than real connection, reflecting the same fastpaced, transactional culture that drives Penn’s academic and social scene. We seek out immediate gratification and quick wins — whether it's through hookups, resumes, or club acceptances — but leave little room for deeper, more lasting relationships. Some argue that this hookup culture offers
culture” of northern institutions. However, as a student at Penn, I find this assertion inconsistent with my own experience. While I am not an expert on how free speech is formally evaluated on campuses, I will say this: Just as conservative students might feel hesitant to express their views at liberal Ivy League institutions, liberal students attending Ole Miss are likely to experience similar pressures. At Penn, despite the University’s low free speech rankings, I have never personally feared engaging in difficult conversations with my peers or professors. University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School professor Amy Wax, for example, has said incredibly inflammatory things and remains tenured. The idea that Ivy League students walk around in fear of being “canceled” lives far more vividly in the imagination of conservative politicians than in the reality of my lived experience.
Ultimately, if more students moving South means that more people are starting to love and invest in the region, I’m thrilled. The South has long been overly vilified and blamed for many of the country’s problems, and it’s refreshing to see it receive attention for its positive aspects. There’s no doubt the South is a fun place to live. But the Wall Street Journal’s attempt to pit the North against the South and paint the South as some kind of utopian refuge from political conflict is something I simply can not ignore. The South is neither the regressive hellscape nor the sorority fairytale that people tend to oversimplify it to. The reality is far more complex.
ALLISON SANTA-CRUZ is a College senior studying communications from Jackson, Miss. Her email address is allisant@sas.upenn.edu.
freedom — no strings attached, no complications. But as a first year, teetering between being an outsider and a fully initiated Penn student, I can’t help but wonder if in this quest for “hyper-independence,” our generation is missing out on something more. Is it really independence we’re receiving, or are we just trying to avoid the vulnerability of opening ourselves up to real connections? Yet, to all those hopeless romantics, don’t lose hope. Junior Sara shares that despite the dominance of hookup culture, she found her long-term boyfriend seated right beside her in chemistry class. “I think you just have to look for it in the right places. Don’t be afraid to strike up a conversation with new people. Not everyone’s looking for something casual.”
Maybe love will never return to the way it used to be at Penn. But I still think that amidst the rush to secure LinkedIn connections, it’s essential to forge real ones — whether they’re romantic or platonic. When I look back on my college days, I doubt I’ll remember Ohm’s law, but I will remember the 3 a.m. conversations with strangers about the meaning of life and the warmth of a picnic with my roommate on College Green. Love may have changed, but it quite literally remains cemented on our campus — you only have to seek it out to find it. Worst case scenario? There’s always the Penn Marriage Pact to fall back on.
DIYA CHOKSEY is a College first year studying cognitive science from Mumbai, India. Her email is dchoksey@sas.upenn.edu.
Why vote?
GUEST COLUMN | It’s easy here in Pennsylvania — and important!
We write to urge everyone on campus who is a United States citizen and eligible to vote to take the time to register and cast your ballot in the upcoming election. The deadline to register in Pennsylvania is Oct. 21. Go to Penn Leads the Vote for an electronic link and for other information.
We know that the pressures of academics, social life, and other activities can make it hard to find time for anything else. But registering to vote can be done easily and quickly, and in Pennsylvania and other states it’s now possible to vote by mail. It isn’t much of a hassle. Why vote? We would like to counter some common arguments made against voting.
Of course, it’s a free country, and no one is required to vote here. But that’s one reason in and of itself to vote: to preserve the freedom from being compelled by the government to act without public consent.
One common reason that people give for not voting is that it’s too much trouble. Why bother? In fact, though, it’s relatively easy these days to register online (see above) and to cast your ballot. Any conception that voting is going to be a drain on your time just isn’t true today.
Another reason often given is that voting isn’t
worthwhile given the prospects of having any actual effect on the outcome of an election. It’s true that the marginal effect of any single vote is very small. But a compelling response is to ask “what if everyone did that?”
If we all made individual decisions not to vote, then leaders would not be subject to the discipline of elections. Voting assures at least some measure of accountability of leaders who have political power, but only if everyone — or at least a large fraction — exercises their right to vote. This year also happens to be one in which voting here in Pennsylvania may decide who becomes the next president. In our system, presidential elections don’t depend on who wins the most votes nationwide, but which candidate prevails in the Electoral College. Pennsylvania is a closely divided state with a significant number of electoral votes, and some analysts suggest that winning Pennsylvania would give either Harris or Trump an 87% or 93% chance, respectively, to win the Electoral College and thus the presidency. In 2020, Biden won Pennsylvania by only 81,660 votes (out of more than more than 6.8 million votes cast). So voting in the election here may matter more than voting in any other state, especially given that the polls are pretty much all within the margin of error.
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Another reason to vote is that long-term outcomes may be difficult to predict, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t matter. Think of the main issues today: policies affecting the economy, immigration, climate, healthcare, reproductive freedom, education, and even voting rights themselves. The consequences of who gets elected might not matter to you immediately, but consider the long run. The cumulative effects of policies adopted by one administration rather than another can add up to be quite large.
But you might still say, who cares? I don’t really like either candidate. Whoever wins will probably only make things worse.
Here’s one possibly helpful exercise: Pick a few issues that you care the most about. Which of the candidates do you think will best address them (or do the least harm)? Maybe talk with a few friends or family about your deliberations. Then vote!
Usually, for reasons that are probably not hard to figure, registration and turnout among younger voters is lower than for older ones. Perhaps this is partly a question of habit — new or younger voters just haven’t developed the muscle memory of participating in regular elections. Or maybe older voters become more concerned with consequences on their daily lives, such as perceived threats to their jobs, the cost of living, or their healthcare or social security.
But when and if younger adults vote in larger numbers,
they can change outcomes. For example, many observers predicted a “red wave” in 2022 because the party that wins the presidency usually loses seats in the next congressional election. Studies show that this did not happen largely because of an unexpectedly high turnout of younger voters (Generation Z and millennials). In closely divided Pennsylvania, for example, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) would probably have lost his 2022 U.S. Senate race without a high percentage (70%) of younger voters supporting him.
Rationally, too, if you consider the long-term effects of voting outcomes combined with life expectancy, voting should really matter more to younger people than their elders.
If you find one or more of the reasons we give above persuasive, please find the time to register and make a plan to vote — and maybe do a little more than that and encourage your friends, family, and fellow citizens to vote too!
Collectively speaking, at least, our future depends on it.
ERIC ORTS is a Wharton professor of legal studies and business ethics. His email is ortse@ wharton.upenn.edu.
KATE SHAW is a Carey Law professor of law. Her email is kateshaw@law.upenn.edu.
Last year, Penn defeated Columbia 20-17 in New York. This time around, I’m predicting the same score at Franklin Field. The Lions, who are off to a strong start, having beaten two non-conference opponents and Princeton to begin their season, go up against a potent Quakers offense that can attack you on the ground and through the air. Columbia comes into the game ranked as the Ivy League’s top rushing offense, led by Giorgi.
Thus, a critical key to Penn’s ability to win this game relies on their run defense, which has been (for the most part) solid this season. In each of Columbia’s three wins, they have scored more than 20 points — a threshold I believe the Quakers need to keep them under. With strong defensive plays as their formula for success, I expect the Quakers to roar to their first Ivy League win of the season on a last drive defensive stop.
It is certainly early, but this feels like a mustwin for the Quakers in their hunt for an Ivy League championship. The cost? A not-so-promising 0-2 hole in Ivy League play.
Columbia 27, Penn 13 — Brian Barth (2-0),
Sports Reporter
Columbia comes firing into Philadelphia with a 3-1 record, including double-digit wins over Lafayette and Princeton. The Quakers see this weekend’s matchup with the Lions as an opportunity to get back over .500. But this time, the Blue and Blue will reign over the Red and Blue. Congrats to coach Priore on win No. 50 last weekend, and I’m excited to see No. 51 come at a later date following this weekend’s loss to Columbia.
Penn 28, Columbia 24 — Revanth Renukunta (1-0), Sports Reporter
Back to .500 and back to winning ways. Courtesy of some unlucky special teams play from last week’s opponent, Bucknell, the Red and Blue came out on top with a final score of 31-21. Hosley rushed for over 100 yards — a mark he’s reached in six of his last seven games. Elite.
As the Quakers look to Columbia, they should be wary of a team that knows how to win; despite outgaining their opponents by an average of just 11 yards per game, the Lions are outscoring their opponents by over 10 points per contest. If that doesn’t tell Penn to lock in, I don’t know what else would.
Buoyed by coach Priore’s 50th win, I have the Quakers slipping by an explosive Columbia team to go above .500 for the first time this season. (I’m a freshman and have the blindest faith in this team currently.) Hurrah Hurrah!
How cross country and track and field athletes manage a year-round season
A look into how cross country athletes manage to compete year round.
VALERI GUEVERRA AND TEESH LIANG Sports Associate and Sports Reporter
Everyone enjoys a break now and then. For the Penn distance runners who compete during cross country and track and field seasons, those training breaks are few and far between with their demanding, year-round training.
For most sports, there are designated seasons for main competition and training: for example, football in the fall and swimming in the winter. However, this isn’t the case for many of Penn’s distance runners, who train and race throughout the fall, winter, and spring seasons as members of the cross country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field teams.
In preparation for cross country season in the fall, senior cross country and track and field athlete Silas Ruth says the team begins almost immediately after the outdoor track and field season concludes.
“We focus on building up for cross country after an intense track season and then take a week off to let the body recover, but that’s all of the rest time runners get — a week after track season before we switch straight to cross country training,” Ruth said.
Once summer ends, the team returns back to campus during the New Student Orientation period and starts training together again.
While it may seem intimidating training and being in season all school year, junior cross country and track and field athlete Dennis Fortuna said that the consistent, routine aspect of their training is a great benefit.
“Our schedule is consistent from the fall into the spring since we’re training all year round compared to sprinters,” Fortuna said. “It puts me into a good schedule, just as a daily routine. Even in the summer, I still follow that schedule. Even if I’m not in school, I’ll still get up in the morning to run in the afternoon as well … just to make everything a lot more consistent.”
Being a student-athlete poses a significant holistic burden, but running year round is another level of wear and tear. Fortuna said that while athletes adjust to the mental challenges, it takes consistent effort to manage the physical wear and tear year round.
“Running does have a large impact on your body,” Fortuna said. “We sleep a lot. We’re always in bed fairly early, and then [on] the days we can sleep in, we take advantage of that. [Our] coach also takes us into the weight room twice a week, mainly for injury prevention.”
Each athlete has their own preferences and
specifications: Fortuna can handle running seven days a week, while some of his teammates run five to six days a week and cross-train on the bike, elliptical, or in the pool. This is meant to help avoid muscular and stress injuries, a common issue among high-volume runners.
When it comes to academics, cross country and track and field athletes, like other studentathletes, face challenges in regards to time management. Athletes often liken their classes to a “high school schedule” due to its typical timeframe of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., while runners specifically lack an “off” semester to focus primarily on their classes or career.
“Balancing work and training is ultimate[ly] hardest thing,” Ruth said. “For example, in the summer, when you’re working on an internship, you do have to also [run] 80, 90, 100 miles a week while your other athlete friends are resting, which represents a challenge in staying motivated all year round.”
On the academic side of things, Fortuna is a student in the School of Nursing, which causes scheduling difficulties with balancing clinicals and longer classes. Fortuna sometimes has to make up clinicals on the weekends due to travel for Friday cross country meets. However, the support from his coaches and professors do help in managing all of his commitments.
This support carries over into the team and its culture that is integral to the success of the cross country and track and field athlete cohort.
“We all get each other up in the morning,” Fortuna said. “We get each other out the door and get each other to run. We work off each other to help achieve [our] goals. Having a team that is all at the same skill level with the same passion — it really does help.”
“[Competitions are] super, super fun. I love the team element and the team support,” Ruth said.
Despite the challenges of running year round, Fortuna would not have his college career any other way.
“Before I even came to Penn, the coach [told] me that it’s a hard program,” Fortuna said. “[But coaches and support staff] will work everything they can to ensure that I stay on track. … As hard as it may sound, I’ve enjoyed it a lot, and I’m really grateful for the support I get, so I don’t want to throw any of it away. I have this opportunity. Why not seize every moment for these four years?”
