Penn community embraces shift toward institutional neutrality — but questions long-term implementation
Several community members expressed approval for the announcement that University leaders will no longer issue public statements on local or global events that do not have a direct impact on Penn
KATIE BARTLETT,
ELEA CASTIGLIONE AND GABRIEL HUANG News Editor, Senior Reporter and Staff Reporter
Penn community members expressed support for Interim Penn President Larry Jameson’s new policy on institutional neutrality, but some shared concerns about Penn’s ability to commit to the new policy.
Jameson announced last week that University leaders will no longer issue public statements on local or global events that do not have a direct impact on Penn, claiming that the new policies aim to protect the “diversity of thought” central to Penn’s mission. The shift to the new policy will limit the University’s role in commenting on controversial issues which do not directly relate to it.
A request for comment was left with a University spokesperson.
“It is not the role of the institution to render opinions — doing so risks suppressing the creativity and academic freedom of our faculty and students,” Jameson wrote in the announcement.
Several Penn community members expressed approval toward Penn’s new commitment to neutrality.
Former University Board of Trustees Chair Scott Bok also expressed approval of the policy in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian.
“I am supportive of the new policy given how difficult it is to craft a statement that satisfies all constituencies on whatever event is being addressed,” Bok wrote. “At the same time, I suspect it will sometimes prove challenging to remain silent on a national or international event that impacts members of Penn’s large community.”
Penn Hillel leadership declined to comment.
Faculty Senate Chair and University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School professor Eric Feldman, while clarifying that he speaks only for himself and no other Faculty Senate members, told the DP that he agreed with Penn’s decision to not issue statements on external events.
“It has been clear for many years that such statements are often more polarizing than healing,” Feldman wrote in a statement to the DP. “That is not their intent but that’s what happens, so a no statements policy is the best remedy,” he continued.
Feldman acknowledged that this policy would be difficult to maintain given that many Penn leaders have become accustomed to making public statements.
“My hope is that the silence of our leaders will amplify the voices in our community,” he added.
Judy and Howard Berkowitz Professor in Education at Penn’s Graduate School of Education Jonathan Zimmerman said he thought the new policies were the “right call.” He referenced a statement of institutional neutrality
known as the Kalven Report, which the University of Chicago issued in 1967 in response to tensions related to the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War.
The statement, which argued that a university must “encourage the widest diversity of views within its own community,” has since served as a model for several other institutions’ adoption of neutrality policies.
“I think that the past year has borne out Kalven’s argument,” Zimmerman said. “Kalven said that everyone at the university should be free to take whatever positions they want personally, but the institution shouldn’t take a position because that would inhibit the fundamental function of the university, which is actually to debate contested public questions.”
Alumni and student groups expressed support for the policy but emphasized that more steps needed to be taken to protect academic freedom and free speech on campus.
Penn Alumni Free Speech Alliance — which was founded last spring — called Penn’s commitment “an important first step.”
“We hope Penn will strive to build an intellectually diverse community of students and faculty through admissions and hiring practices that reflect the same commitment,” a PAFSA spokesperson wrote in a statement to the DP.
Penn College Republicans also expressed hope that this policy would represent a “new chapter” of intellectual diversity at Penn.
“In the past, community members who have disagreed with Penn’s stances have felt isolated and hesitant to share their ideas openly,” a spokesperson for the club wrote in a statement to the DP. “We sincerely hope that he will keep his pledge to remain impartial on controversial issues which spark disagreement among students, faculty, and staff.”
A Penn for Liberty spokesperson wrote in a statement to the DP that libertarians “oppose the hyperpoliticization of society.”
“We therefore welcome this change in policy as a step toward a saner world — one in which it is unnecessary for the leaders of every societal institution, from
big banks, to sports leagues, to universities, to offer their opinions on every issue under the sun.”
Penn Democrats did not respond to the DP’s request for comment.
The push for institutional neutrality has increased over the past year due to controversy surrounding school administrators’ varying responses to the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
Jameson told the DP in a recent interview that the process of formally reviewing Penn’s policies for institutional statements was initiated by Interim Vice President for University Communications Stephen MacCarthy several years ago.
“The frequency of institutional statements has been increasing over several years; the request for institutional statements has been escalating, particularly during the [COVID-19] pandemic,” Jameson told the DP. “I think that was the time that we realized that we needed some guidance about how often we make comments and what the scope should be and who should be making them.”
Penn political groups outline plans ahead of presidential election, emphasize civic engagement
Here’s a look at what everyone from Penn Democrats to Penn for Liberty are planning to tackle this fall
ZION ABEBE Staff Reporter
The Daily Pennsylvanian spoke with several political clubs at Penn — Penn Democrats, Penn College Republicans, Penn Leads the Vote, the Government and Politics Association, and Penn for Liberty — to explore their plans and goals for the fall 2024 semester, particularly leading up to the presidential election.
Penn Democrats
Penn Dems will focus on recruitment for the first few weeks of the semester, according to College junior and Penn Dems President Ellie Goluboff-Schragger. Since membership numbers often drop during non-election years, its goal is to boost club membership and build a strong team for this fall.
Goluboff-Schragger said the organization aims to get the student body registered to vote in September and October, particularly first years, then focus on driving voter turnout in the following months.
No other organization in the state registered more voters than Penn Dems did for the 2022 midterm elections, according to Goluboff-Schragger, and voter registration continues to be a large part of the group’s efforts. Since Pennsylvania is a swing state, it is also working to encourage people to switch their voter registration from their home state to Pennsylvania.
In addition to promoting voter registration, the organization aims to provide information on how the electoral process works, where polling places are located, and how to vote. It also hopes to keep students informed about the candidates and issues important to them.
“One of the big things that [Penn Dems] does is education. I think we’ve done a good job of educating people about issues and bringing in speakers that talk about what is relevant to our current moment,” Goluboff-Schragger said.
Goluboff-Schragger told the DP that Penn Dems hope to revive canvassing, which saw a decline during the 2020 election season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The group is planning trips to swing districts in Pennsylvania suburbs for canvassing efforts and is looking to partner with other universities to bring their members to Philadelphia.
On Sept. 16, Jack Schlossberg — the sole grandson of former President John F. Kennedy — attended a Penn Dems tabling event. Several club members also went to an event featuring Vice President Kamala Harris at the Community College of Philadelphia on Sept. 17. It is also organizing weekly political action events on Tuesday nights, including phone banking and other activities.
Penn College Republicans
In a statement to the DP, College Republicans said it is “committed to fostering respectful dialogue and encouraging civic engagement across all political perspectives” for the upcoming semester.
According to the organization’s Instagram page, it recently placed nearly 3,000 flags on College Green to remember and honor the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001
terrorist attacks. As it continues to plan more events for the semester, College Republicans wrote that it is in contact with the Republican National Committee and several prominent speakers, including Dave McCormick, the Republican nominee for the 2024 Pennsylvania Senate race.
College Republicans wrote its goal is to “create a space for students to stay informed, connect with leaders, and have their voices heard.” The organization also emphasized the importance of voting, regardless of party affiliation, and highlighted its desire to create an environment where students can discuss salient issues.
Penn Leads the Vote
PLTV — a student-run nonpartisan organization that works to increase voter and civic engagement on campus — remains focused on registering students to vote, with a goal of achieving 100% voter registration among eligible students by 2028. In 2022, the registration rate among Penn’s eligible student body was 73%; in 2020, the most recent presidential election year, the rate was 86%.
College senior and PLTV Director Alyssa Antonian explained that, along with ensuring students are registered and voting, PLTV strives to keep students informed and engaged throughout the year.
“Our overarching goal is to instill a habit of voting and being civically engaged in Penn students,” Antonian said. “These are super formative years, so if we get people in the habit of voting now, that carries on with
them throughout their life.”
Over the past year, PLTV has been working to implement institutional change by meeting with the registrar’s office and University officials to explore integrating a voter registration form into Path@Penn.
PLTV will host an event on Sept. 17 for National Voter Registration Day and has already set up tabling events to speak to members of different organizations about voter registration.
While Penn is PLTV’s main focus, it works with other organizations in the West Philadelphia area throughout the year. It is currently organizing an event at a local entertainment festival and is in regular contact with the High School Voter Project through the Netter Center for Community Partnerships, according to Antonian.
Government and Politics Association
The Government and Politics Association — Penn’s largest political organization devoted to nonpartisan dialogue — told the DP that one of its biggest goals this semester is growth, both within the club and general political life on campus. In late August, the group held an orientation session for students interested in learning more about GPA, which College senior and GPA President Dhilan Lavu said garnered a high turnout.
College junior and Penn Political Union Speaker Mia Antonacci told the DP that GPA wants to focus on fostering “a collaboration between those who want to use their voice” and talk about issues, and “the general population that might just want to sit and learn.” Lavu also discussed the organization’s decision to
moderate a preceptorial debate between Penn Dems and College Republicans specifically within the context of the 2024 election — something which the group had not done before. In previous debates, questions were not specific to current affairs.
“We just felt like there was so much excitement and political passion surrounding these two candidates that we didn’t want to beat around the bush,” Lavu said. “We wanted to let people express their views and hear views directly supporting or criticizing each candidate.” Penn for Liberty
Second-year University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School student and Penn for Liberty President Caleb Waters told the DP the organization’s main goal is to hold consistent meetings this semester and foster engaging conversations for club members.
“We want to be a place where people can come and openly discuss interesting ideas that are important,” Waters said.
While Penn for Liberty’s activities will remain fairly consistent with previous semesters, Waters anticipates that the upcoming presidential election may influence the topics discussed, making them more electorally focused than usual.
“A lot of times our conversations can be really philosophical and more oriented toward the libertarian political theory,” Waters said. “Whereas now, I think we’ll certainly try to plan some meetings this semester around the libertarian view of the candidates.”
ANNA VAZHAEPARAMBIL | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
A student walks by the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center on March 29, 2023.
ABHIRAM JUVVADI | PHOTO EDITOR
Members of Penn Dems, Penn College Republicans and Penn for Liberty participate at the all-parties debate on April 10.
UNHINGED | Is the Wharton name all Penn has left to offer?
When I saw the “Wharton School of Finance” trending on my X — the platform formerly known as Twitter — feed, I realized that the Penn name had made it into mainstream American politics. And unfortunately, this development cast a dark shadow over our University. For those who didn’t tune in to the recent ABC presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, both candidates mentioned the Wharton School within the first 10 minutes. After Harris referenced the Penn Wharton Budget Model when criticizing Trump’s tax and spending proposals, Trump responded, “I went to the Wharton School of Finance, and many of the professors, the top professors, think my plan is a brilliant plan.”
Here was the point of contention: when Trump incorrectly referred to his alma mater.
The Wharton School was initially known as the Wharton School of Finance and Economy from 1881 to 1902 before its retitlement as the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce in 1902 and a change to its present name at the end of the 1972 academic year.
So, of course, “The Wharton School of Finance” was the name of the institution when it granted Trump’s diploma in 1968.
However, the former president’s lapse in recalling the University’s name of almost five decades speaks to a larger phenomenon: Penn students and alumni find significant meaning from the social capital granted by our University affiliation, sometimes more so than that from our shared experiences. Consequently, some of us have no incentive to actually engage with the University after graduation. We’ll probably be too busy with the pursuit of a new title signaling professional prestige.
Even the celebratory anthem “The Red and Blue,” which was written by a Penn alumnus and is performed at Commencement, Convocation, and other key University events, cannot complete a verse without attempting to validate our status by namedropping other Ivy League schools:
“Fair Harvard has her crimson Old Yale her colors too, But for dear Pennsylvania
We wear the Red and Blue.”
And so, does this University offer us nothing but its name? Obviously, the answer is no. Any section of Penn’s course catalog — which features opportunities ranging from short-term travel to intensive independent study programs — can prove my point. The problem, however, lies in our campus’s lack
of unity.
At Penn, those seeking centralized social interaction can only do so outside of their learning environments. I’ve always found the concept of rushing for membership in a fraternity or sorority at Penn strange. Time and time again, I’ve attended late-night open rush socials at random properties on Sansom Street, unaware of who the actual residents are. But although I have to bear an awkward sense of intrusion during these events, they are among the most ubiquitous open-access opportunities for me to branch out of Penn’s bubble of aspiring academics.
From the start, select first years are housed with those in their specialized degree programs. Subsequently, some students at the undergraduate schools — all of which we’re able to access when registering for courses — maintain an identity that doesn’t extend to the entire University (barring, of course, the Wharton internal transfer hopefuls). And so, it’s even more glaring when Penn’s attempts to centralize opportunities take a backseat.
Penn’s largest student organizations operate without oversight from the University. For example, the Wharton Undergraduate Healthcare Club operates “the largest undergraduate healthcare conference in the nation” largely with the support of corporate sponsors and around 20 student volunteers. Even organizations like the Penn Undergraduate Biotech Society — which operate with Penn-affiliated labs and startups — offer pro bono services, and as such don’t have a formal relationship with Penn due to a lack of paperwork run by the University’s Human Resources department. This system conditions students to rarely turn to the University for guidance or resources aside from those that are department-specific. My point is not that Penn should extend an authoritarian hand over club operations, but rather that with the relative agency these organizations have, Penn was never in a position to establish a single platform for featuring student opportunities.
However, it was in this condition that Penn developed an Office of Religious and Ethnic
‘In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs’
GUEST COLUMN | How a ridiculous statement embodies America’s recent discourse on immigration
Watching the presidential debate, I got some humor from the quips between former President and 1968 Wharton graduate Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Whether it was Trump comparing the brevity of Harris’ policies to the phrase “run, Spot, run,” or Harris’ goading of the former president to talk about his rally crowd sizes, there were plenty of comical moments. But what I didn’t enjoy was the former president spewing unsubstantiated lies about the Haitian immigrant community in Springfield, Ohio.
Over the past couple of weeks, Trump and his Republican allies have unabashedly claimed that members of the Haitian community are going around Springfield, rounding up people’s pets and the local wildlife, and eating them! It is a story so far-fetched that in a recent interview even Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), the Republican nominee for vice president, disturbingly admitted that he knew these stories were made up but committed to continue spreading them to make a point about immigration. Let’s call this out for exactly what it is — racist, xenophobic, weird, and just flat out dangerous.
We could have talked about how the Haitian immigrant community — a community that has fled a country grappling with gang violence and political instability — helped to revitalize a decaying blue-collar city. They eagerly joined the workforce, shared their culture, and revived the dwindling population. I absolutely acknowledge the newfound struggles Springfield has faced as it grapples with a large influx of people. There is ample opportunity to have constructive debate on how to better integrate the Haitian immigrant community while not leaving behind the already struggling residents of Springfield. However, Republicans did not share this nuanced story. Instead, they chose to add fuel to the flames of hatred and put targets on the backs of Haitian immigrants.
We already know what happens to vulnerable groups when political discourse becomes nasty and polarized. Asian Americans suffered from the racist rhetoric spread during the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, Jews and the Arab community are experiencing heightened attacks on their safety because of the discourse
Sept. 10.
Inclusion (Title VI), which functions as a “point of contact for … compliance related to religion, shared national ancestry, and ethnicity.” This new office follows the University Task Force on Antisemitism and the Presidential Commission on Countering Hate and Building Community. The establishment of the office is certainly a step forward in not only addressing political contentions, but also in streamlining communication. Now, Penn has yet to further address its fragmented communication with regard to student opportunities. This time, however, the problem will not solve itself through consecutive meetings followed by reports. Penn should recognize that Wharton’s newfound fame in popular media is the symptom of a deeper, yet easily solvable, problem on campus.
MRITIKA SENTHIL is a sophomore from Columbia, S.C. Her email is mritikas@upenn.edu.
A spectator watches the first presidential debate on Sept. 10.
surrounding the Israel-Hamas war. And now, not only are Haitian families in Springfield fearful of attacks, but the entire city has been subject to countless threats.
The rhetoric from the former president and his party is not happening in a vacuum, but points to a larger trend that is occurring in the United States — an increasing embrace of anti-immigrant sentiments. From polling this year, Americans have indicated less trust in the character of immigrants, an increase in the belief that immigrants pose a “major risk” to the United States, and a normalization of support for the mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.
Most notably, we’ve seen the largest percentage of Americans who want a decrease in overall immigration to this country since 2001. It comes as no surprise then that throughout the debate, regardless of the question, Trump pivoted to immigrants as a catch-all problem that, once solved, would supposedly fix everything wrong in the United States. While it’s easy to blame Republicans for feeding these sentiments and creating
a self-reinforcing system of anti-immigration sentiments, I blame Democrats as well. For too long, they have pivoted rightward and allowed Republicans to control the narrative on immigration. We saw this in the most recent bipartisan immigration bill that nearly passed the Senate earlier this year but was subverted by Trump at the last minute. Looking at its provisions, you wouldn’t believe it was Democrats that drove the attempts to pass the legislation.
Policies such as tougher qualifications for asylum, record funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, continued funding for a border wall, and the creation of a mechanism that would shut down the border when crossings pass a certain threshold are policies in stark contrast to the party’s immigration messaging just four years ago.
Democrats should promote this simple message: There is still broad support for expanding pathways to citizenship, protecting asylum seekers, and welcoming those searching for a better life to come to this country legally. Immigrants are
not criminals, border crossings have been steadying to a four-year low, and supporting immigration is not only a moral obligation, but an economic one, too. In closing, we know our immigration system is broken and is an issue constantly kicked down the proverbial curb, but if we want change, we must reject the parameters set by those who demonize immigrant communities and fearmonger to the American people. Conversations guided by hate lead to antiquated, uninformed, and harmful policies, when we should actually want a fair, effective, and efficient immigration system. In order to do that, we must start by reasserting the idea that immigration is neither a hindrance nor an inconvenience to the United States, as some would want you to believe, but it is undoubtedly one of our nation’s greatest strengths.
ALEX GUZMAN is a College senior studying political science from Northampton, Pa. His email address is alexguz@sas.upenn.edu.
ABHIRAM JUVVADI | PHOTO EDITOR
Former President Donald Trump speaks at the spin room following the first presidential debate on
ETHAN YOUNG | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Pennsylvania progressives, stop saying you want to ‘beat out’ rural voters
FROM THE INSIDE OUT | Reckoning with rural America in progressive politics means reckoning with our own perceptions
As I’m sure the legions of voter registration volunteers on Locust Walk have already reminded you, election season is upon us. In a swing state like Pennsylvania, that means a meaningful part of the conversation is not just about politics itself, but also an equal focus on election strategy and campaigning. As I speak to people about Nov. 5, I’ve noticed a trend in some city progressives’ rhetoric on strategy: We must “cancel” or “beat out” rural American voters.
The claim is that rural voters will vote in a bigoted, populist manner that defeats many progressive goals and ideas. To proponents of the “beat out” rhetoric, it seems the assumption is that rural America is an uneducated, prejudiced monolith that threatens our democracy. As someone who grew up in a Midwestern red state (albeit, a blue county), I know the issues of bigotry, prejudice, and hatred plagues parts of rural America. These issues must be solved, and there is absolutely nothing that can invalidate or disprove the pain brought on by their presence. However, I also know that this is not a complete picture of rural America.
Rural America is not singular — it is far more diverse than the picture that’s clearly been painted for some. Mainstream politics, especially in cities, often ignore the fact that rural America includes immigrant populations who fuel the nation’s agricultural industry,
Invested in silence
change their perceptions of rural communities.students at Penn.
union members hurt by corporate conglomerates, disenfranchised communities of color, and the majority of Native American reservations. What about their voices? Ought they be “beat out” too?
Through demonstrating an increasing trend in rural diversity, the most recent census illustrates that rural America is not simply the unchanging monolith of conservative farmworkers some imagine. Arguably more importantly, the data reveal that diversity in rural America is widely dependent upon regional contexts, proving that a binary mode of thinking about diversity as a dichotomy split over urban and rural areas ignores many nuances.
We must also consider the unique hardships faced by rural communities, and be conscious of the perspective from which their opinions are derived. From a young age, education is a privilege scarcely afforded to children in rural communities to the same extent as in urban areas. Though the underfunding of public education is a critical issue for many cities as well, the type of social and political lack of education in rural areas is unique. Years of disinvestment, private sector takeover, inadequate health services, and insufficient wage policies have forced some rural areas into a disadvantaged position.
This is absolutely not to say that empathy for these
YOUR (UN)FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD | Penn’s ideal student is one with nothing to say
Every time Interim President Larry Jameson’s name shows up in my inbox, I sigh, brace myself, and read. The latest from the top: a significant move towards institutional neutrality. While I’m glad that blatantly one-sided statements from an amorphous “Penn” will no longer be hitting my feed, I’m less convinced that the administration’s motivations are to “amplify the expertise and voices” of students and faculty “within.”
In every recent instance that Penn’s commitment to freedom of student speech has been tested, it has failed. In the past year, we’ve seen the greatest push by students to make themselves heard in recent history, and that wave of enthusiasm was met with crushing repudiation.
In July 2023, the Undergraduate Assembly and its graduate counterpart, the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, were denied requests for a single voice each on the University Board of Trustees, Penn’s highest governing body. The request was perfectly reasonable; Cornell University, for one, has been doing it for over 50 years. The Board of Trustees cited “existing avenues” to student representation in their rejection — which must totally work, right?
In April 2024, Penn Student Government’s Nominations & Elections Committee followed established convention to run a referendum on disclosure of investments, divestment from Israel, and termination of partnership with Ghost Robotics, a Penn affiliate that supplies weapons to Israel. Despite a majority of voting students supporting all three calls, students were met with a curt refusal of all three possibilities. Contempt for student democracy, check.
Okay, so if “legitimate” methods within the bounds of institutional policy fail, there is the long tradition of student activism to draw on, from encampments against South
African apartheid to marches against the Vietnam War.
To this end, in April 2024, Penn’s activists launched an encampment to protest Penn’s complicity and involvement in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Instead of hearing out the students as administrations at peer institutions like Brown University did, our administrators repeatedly pushed city officials to deploy police in riot gear to demolish the encampment. Penn also weaponized a policy for students experiencing psychological mental episodes to place six pro-Palestinian activists on involuntary leaves of absence. I refuse to pretend as if this was somehow an actual act of addressing conduct concerns, and not for the express purpose of chilling contemporaneous and future student dissent.
To top it all off, Penn’s updated Guidelines on Open Expression have forced dissenting student speech to jump through a number of hurdles, including absurd volume level requirements, University approval for spaces, and most egregiously, limited press access to University grounds. Contempt for student activism, check.
The escalation to these more dramatic methods came only after a refusal to consider previous calls by activists.
A Jewish student group’s screening of an anti-Israeli film was canceled in November 2023. A peaceful, silent studyin at Van Pelt-Dietrich Library was shut down in February 2024. Penn’s desire to silence students who disagreed with those at the top only led to escalation as students became desperate to be heard.
While pro-Palestinian activism is a particularly incisive example of student resistance, Penn’s anti-speech efforts are not remotely limited to that. Despite a national right to unionize, the University has challenged any attempts to form unions here at Penn. In each union election, Penn did not willingly recognize any of the constituent groups and
conditions should manifest as reasons not to critically question voters’ ideas. It is imperative to criticize. However, the way in which we do so is incredibly important. Progressives in cities are far more likely to have been afforded these privileges. It is an unwise mistake to hold the all-but-classist perception that rural voters are simply unintelligent. Uninformed? Perhaps. But I would like to live in a world where the processes that cause this lack of information are criticized (at least) as much as the people shaped by them.
This dynamic should also tell us that the issue at hand reaches far beyond election methods, the twoparty system, and mainstream politics. The attitude with which we discuss rural America — especially as students at an elite institution that can, at times, put a filter over our understanding of many real-world issues — shows that we must rethink our own knowledge and perception of this nation.
To mainstream progressive politicians and other holders of power: Stop ignoring the needs and nuances of rural America. Very few things are as demoralizing as the idea that an entire class of people are no longer deemed worthy of political attention — that is the true threat to our democracy. Progressives must reckon with rural groups (plural, because different rural parties have different interests and cannot be lumped into one
category) and seek to gain their vote.
On a level beyond strategy and policy, we need to reconceptualize how we view geographic diversity in America. Empathy and nuance cannot be a luxury that we only extend based on overgeneralizations. Progressive politicians, you can win the hearts and votes of so many more rural Americans than you think if you do not overlook their struggles. It is self-defeating for a citizenry to ignore the nuance of an entire part of the population.
It is not just that ignoring rural America will hurt progressives’ chances of winning elections (which it indubitably will in the small margins of swing states), it will also cause misunderstanding and tension to bleed through the entire ideological fabric of our society. If rural voices, especially those who might not match the first image you have when you hear “rural,” continue to be ignored, the way human relationships and social dynamics progress in this nation will be deeply harmed — both on a political and humanistic level.
is arshiyap@sas.upenn. edu.
Penn’s new Open Expression Guidelines are posted on College Green. has made repeated attempts to delay or diminish union power. The National Labor Relations Board has had to rule against Penn for its attempts to union bust. Contempt for student labor, check.
Time and time again, when Penn needs to live up to its commitment to listening to student speech, it doesn’t just fall short. It actively sprints sternward. Somersaults towards silence. Subscribes to the status quo. It doesn’t matter that our status quo is careening towards a second Gilded Age, voicing assent to genocide and imperialism, or contributing to the plights of our neighbors west of 40th Street.
Our neoliberal sociopolitical order relies on replacing dissent with complacency, and Penn is a vanguard of this system. Penn’s treatment of student speech shows a clear intent of creating orderly citizens, not good ones. There is
Being interdisciplinary: A principle not in practice
THE BOTTOM LINE | Does Penn adequately provide its students with interdisciplinary opportunities?
Back in December 2023, Penn released a pamphlet titled “In Principle and Practice: Penn’s Focus on the Future.” In a letter to the Penn community, former Penn President Liz Magill described the document as “a strategic framework to guide our path forward.” It is important to note that this initiative, spearheaded by Magill, was released just days prior to her resignation. Nevertheless, when you visit the “About” section on the Penn website, it is one of the first things you find. The plan itself included four principles, one of which was “The Interwoven University.” On the surface, it would be quite hard to know what that exactly means, but it is included with this tenet: “Leadership in interdisciplinary excellence distinguishes Penn.” Expanding upon that notion, the framework says that the University should “[a]ccelerate interdisciplinary pursuits” by “seek[ing] exponential growth in Penn’s interdisciplinary faculty support; even more inter-School teaching, projects, and programs; and rich opportunities for students and staff to pursue novel collaborations across a wide range of domains.” Further examination of this statement, however, reveals a rather
glaring flaw: The ability to take classes in a school in which you are not enrolled is minuscule at best.
Let me give a simple example: You are a student in the College of Arts and Sciences with your mind set on being an English major. You love analyzing complex literature and working on creative writing in your free time. You are perusing courses on Path@Penn, as all students do when deciding their classes, and come across a course on global real estate. It catches your eye and seems interesting to you: Why not give it a shot; it fits in your schedule, Penn Course Review gives the instructor an incredible rating, and on the syllabus, you read “there is no pre-requisite for the course.” Perfect! Then you scroll down, only to discover that “Enrollment is limited to students in the Wharton Undergraduate Division.”
For most students, that is where their interest in global real estate — or whatever the specific field may be — comes to a halt because the system told them they had to. That is not, by any means, a liberal education.
Just to clear some things up, as maybe the University registrar is reading, I am not saying that anyone should be able to take any class without their appropriate prerequisites. What I am saying, however, is that taking a lower-level or intro class on a topic that a particular student finds appealing to them should be seen as an open door to an opportunity, instead of a brick wall of audit permissions and out-of-school waitlist forms.
The most notable approach that the University has historically taken to promoting an interdisciplinary education is the development of a variety of coordinated dual-degree programs that allow students to
not a conspiracy by top Penn brass to consciously generate the next soldiers and victims of the top one percent, but the effects of their actions lend themselves to this result. When members of the capitalist class are granted decision making power over institutions of learning and research, this result should hardly be surprising. Penn needs to actualize its potential. This University, its alumni, and its affiliates are, or will one day be, some of the most powerful people in the world. The changes the world desperately needs will never come from within walls of silence.
NIHEER PATEL is a College sophomore studying history and English from Atlanta. His email is niheerp@sas.upenn.edu.
receive more than one degree after four years of an undergraduate-only experience. There are currently five coordinated dual-degree programs that span beyond one school. These programs are incredibly prestigious and selective — the cohort size ranging from 50 to 55 in the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology to only 24 enrolled in the Roy and Diana Vagelos Program in Life Sciences and Management. All in, approximately 156 students matriculate into these inter-school programs each year, making up a mere 5.9% of Penn’s undergraduate student body. As renowned as these initiatives may be, the idea of an interdisciplinary education should not be limited to those specifically selected into five cohorts, but rather all students. In fact, not only should it be permitted — it needs to be highly encouraged. I could give a whole list of action items for the University on how to best go about this ideological inconsistency, but that is a topic for another day.
Ideological execution, however, is essential to the growth of any institution, let alone one of Penn’s stature. Regardless of the University’s success (or failure) in that department, the bottom line is this: When a talented, bright, and unique young person enrolls into Penn, they may be choosing Penn because of a specific world-class undergraduate school, but they also need to be able to take advantage of all the University has to offer.
from New York. His email is bbarth@sas.upenn.edu.
SYDNEY CURRAN | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Columnist Arshiya Pant challenges urban progressives to
ARSHIYA PANT is a College sophomore studying history and legal studies from Kansas City, Kansas. Her email
CALEB CRAIN | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Columnist Brian Barth encourages Penn to make interdisciplinary opportunities more accessible to students.
BRIAN BARTH is a first year student in the College of Arts and Sciences
CHENYAO LIU | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Penn's new Open Expression Guidelines are posted on College Green.
Indonesians urge Penn to revoke scholarship granted to daughter-inlaw of country’s president
Erina Gudono announced that she had received a scholarship to SP2 on July 28
FIONA HERZOG Staff Reporter
Some Indonesians are urging Penn to revoke a scholarship that was apparently granted to School of Social Policy & Practice student Erina Gudono, the daughter-in-law of the country’s president.
Gudono, who is enrolled in the school’s nonprofit leadership program and is married to the youngest son of Indonesian President Joko Widodo, announced that she had received a scholarship to attend SP2 in an Instagram post on July 28. Since then, several Indonesians have taken to social media — including the platforms X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram — to voice concerns about her apparent acceptance, alleging that her privileged background makes her an undeserving scholarship recipient. Gudono and SP2 did not respond to requests for comment.
Users have tagged Penn in the comments of Gudono’s post and the captions of their own critical ones, calling for the University to reconsider their decision. Critics have also allegedly started
CLUB, from FRONT PAGE
a mass email campaign demanding the removal of Gudono’s scholarship.
“I didn’t expect that Allah SWT would be so kind in providing sustenance for children and going to college at the same time in one year of marriage,” Gudono wrote in the post, which was originally written in Indonesian.
In the post, which has over 100,000 likes, she added that her parents both moved to Pennsylvania after their marriage — referencing them studying, working, giving birth, and raising children in the state. Gudono has since disabled comments on the post.
Columbia University graduate Patricia Kusumaningtyas told The Daily Pennsylvanian that some of the outrage surrounding Gudono’s alleged scholarship stems from her “very lavish lifestyle” and lack of comment “on the political unrest and protests happening in Indonesia.”
Specifically, Kusumaningtyas took issue with Gudono’s lack of comment on the ongoing crisis relating to a recent ruling by Indonesia’s top court.
The ruling stated that political parties would not be required to have a minimum representation of 20% to field a candidate, which loosened the requirements for political participation.
Less than a day later, the Indonesian Parliament introduced an emergency motion to overturn these changes, which was met with widespread criticism and concern over local elections becoming uncontested.
In the following days, Indonesian citizens protested in Jakarta — the country’s capital — against the proposed motion, which would preserve the existing political system and benefit Widodo and
his successor, President-elect Prabowo Subianto.
“There were a lot of protests — all my friends protested and then got tear gassed,” Kusumaningtyas told the DP. “It’s not fair that so much oppression is maintained by the Jokowi administration, and Erina gets to be so tone deaf.”
She added that she — and many others — feel that Gudono should be free to pursue her education. However, she encouraged Penn to “think about applicants in the future who have a hand in disrupting human rights issues [and] democracy issues in their own country” when considering potential scholarship recipients.
Katie Bonner, the executive director of OSA, disputed Shah’s characterization in a statement to the DP.
“OSA was not informed of Wharton Council’s new application timeline, and, therefore, did not have the opportunity to provide feedback about discrepancies between their deadlines and our established re-registration period,” Bonner wrote.
“OSA pushed the timeline for club-approval resets and reapprovals on their end on PennClubs later than what we’ve experienced in the past,” Shah said. “They were not aware that Wharton clubs have a centralized application and recruitment timeline that all clubs must adhere to.”
Ma explained that the delay meant “club leaders weren’t able to edit their applications, and some of their previously made edits were deleted.” Ma also said that some students couldn’t access applications at all.
“Upon learning of the issue, staff in OSA prioritized the re-registration requests of Wharton student groups in an effort to minimize any further impact to their planned process,” Bonner wrote.
By the end of the day on Sept. 3, OSA had reviewed and cleared all Wharton Council-recognized clubs from the approval queue. Club representatives received an email the same day announcing the new recruitment timeline for all Wharton Council-recognized clubs, detailing a one-week delay to the original application period.
A document attached to the email, which was obtained by the DP, wrote that “students will still have the full two weeks to complete their applications - no interviewing may be done before this.”
Wharton senior Andrew Diep-Tran, the vice president of the social impact consulting committee of the Marketing Undergraduate Student Establishment, said the updated timeline gave his team more time to source clients and organize internally before accepting applications.
However, he added that “further delays would detract from the club experience for students.”
Wharton junior Julian Ward, co-president of the Wharton Global Research and Consulting group, agreed.
“GRC and other consulting clubs now have to grapple with one less week to complete our already fast-paced projects,” Ward wrote in a statement to the DP.
Both GRC and MUSE are clubs recognized by the Wharton Council and follow the centralized application cycle.
Ma also said that efforts are being made to improve communications across organizational bodies and avoid delays in future years, adding that Wharton Council plans to meet with OSA representatives soon.
“Wharton Council would like to extend their apologies about the PennClubs delay,” Shah said. “We hope that the remainder of the application cycle goes smoothly.”
JINTONG WU | DP FILE PHOTO
The School of Social Policy and Practice is located at 3701 Locust Walk.
SONALI CHANDY | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Students at the Student Activities Council Fair on Aug. 28.
On Aug. 12, the Office and Professional Employees International Union filed an initial unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of the union, alleging that GRAs had received an email the week before informing them that they were no longer allowed to hold multiple campus jobs. OPEIU also began a petition urging Penn to “stop charging RAs $6000+ to work,” which had nearly 1,400 signatures at the time of publication.
Although the Aug. 12 charge was ultimately withdrawn, a second charge was filed alleging economic threats against union members, 2016 Graduate School of Education graduate and OPEIU organizer Scott Williams told the DP. Following discussions about potential legal action, they filed a third charge on Sept. 11 alleging that Penn “has discriminated against union members in regards to terms and conditions of employment to discourage union membership.”
“We find this to be completely inequitable and unfair and particularly punitive because of unionization,” Williams said. “Penn, in multiple different ways, is trying to penalize our members for unionizing.”
College junior Haydr Dutta told the DP that — in response to the discrepancies over the value of RAs’ meal plans and their impact on financial aid awards — Penn offered the affected RAs an alternative meal plan for no cost. Dutta, along with others, declined — and they said that Penn then offered a $2,200 settlement grant to allow RAs to make their own meal decisions. Dutta told the DP that they accepted the grant, but were still left with a $3,000 bill
to pay. “This feels like union-busting behavior,” they said, adding that — because of the unexpected financial aid reduction — the RAs’ increased stipends do not change much. “Basically, compared to last year, we’re at a loss.”
In addition to alleged contract violations, members of Graduate Employees Together — University of Pennsylvania, which voted to unionize in May after the University unexpectedly postponed their election and formed their first bargaining committee in July, told the DP that Penn has withheld information the group has requested to begin the process of ratifying initial bargaining demands.
“Penn administration responded to the bargaining committee’s request for information … but did not offer the majority of the information we requested,” second-year literacy studies Ph.D. candidate and GET-UP bargaining committee member Clara Abbott wrote in a statement to the DP. She added in an interview that GET-UP is aware that “the Penn administration has stalled on contract negotiations.”
Penn Libraries United, a recently formed group of Penn Libraries staff members, hosted a unionization election in early August. Those results, which were counted on Aug. 21, consisted of 40 “yes” votes, 27 “no” votes, and 17 “provisional ballots” — voters whose eligibility has not yet been determined by Penn. Those 17 ballots will determine the outcome of PLU’s election, which is unclear one month after polls closed.
“We are eager to see this resolved,” social sciences librarian Sam Kirk said.
However, dissatisfaction with Penn’s response to unions has grown. English professor and Communications Secretary for the Penn chapter of the American Association of
Penn expands veteran benefits to cover tuition for all eligible undergraduates
The Yellow Ribbon program allows private, higher-cost schools to voluntarily enter into an agreement with the United States Department of Veteran Affairs to cover the cost of tuition
RICHARD ZHUANG
Reporter
Penn is expanding its veteran benefits for all eligible undergraduate military-affiliated students and will pay for any remaining tuition not covered by the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
The Yellow Ribbon program allows private, highercost schools to voluntarily enter into an agreement with the United States Department of Veteran Affairs to cover the cost of tuition for eligible veterans and their dependents. Penn — which previously provided $10,000 for each Yellow Ribbon slot — is now offering contributions that amount to the full remaining tuition for the 2024-25 academic year.
The Yellow Ribbon program is a provision of the Post9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, which expanded educational benefits for military veterans who served on active duty after 2001. The VA matches Penn’s contributions under the program.
“What that means is that anything that’s not covered
by the Post-9/11 GI Bill, we’ll cover that between our Yellow Ribbon contribution and the VA,” Penn’s Student Registration and Financial Services Associate Director of Veteran and Military Engagement Lynn Manuel said.
“Our undergraduate students this year are almost able to attend Penn for free, which is a pretty phenomenal thing.”
According to Manuel, around 165 Penn students are Yellow Ribbon eligible, with around 25 students at the undergraduate level. Students who are veterans or dependents of veterans may receive up to 36 months of benefits based on their length of service. For families with multiple dependents, they may have to divide those months of entitlement for each child.
“It’s really important that whenever the students are using their entitlement at Penn, they are fully covered for those semesters,” Manuel said.
College sophomore Zachary McGrath is currently using the Yellow Ribbon benefits as a dependent of his
University Professors David Kazanjian claimed that Penn’s anti-union messaging has included websites with “myths and false information” from the Office of the Provost, as well as work with Cozen O’Connor, a prominent law firm, to suppress union efforts. Many of these websites, posted ahead of union elections, are no longer accessible.
“We expect [Penn] to continue to try to suppress unions on campus,” Kazanjian said, adding that AAUP is in regular communication with Penn unions to offer support.
GET-UP recently released its initial bargaining demands, which “reflect the specific needs of graduate workers at Penn and our vision for a fairer, more just University and workplace,” according to their website. The group hopes to ratify these demands — which include pushes for financial security, expanded healthcare coverage, and fair grievance procedures — this month.
Penn Medicine residents and fellows, who first unionized in May 2023, have described facing difficulties with consistently securing bargaining sessions with Penn.
The group sought an unfair labor practice charge following two collective action events being affected by hospital security — including an Aug. 30 event with 2013 Engineering graduate and State Rep. Rick Krajewski (DPhiladelphia), whose district includes Penn and who has been vocal in his support of unions across the University.
Following these collective actions, bargaining sessions between the Penn Med union and the University resumed on Sept. 17.
An ongoing effort to educate prospective union voters
“As an educational institution, we believe that information and education is vital so that individuals can make informed decisions about union engagement and representation,” the University spokesperson wrote to the DP.
Penn’s unions’ leaders, however, told the DP that they are committing to educating prospective voters on unionization efforts. They said that they hope to provide a continuous, accurate flow of information about the importance of unions and how to avoid anti-union messaging from Penn.
AAUP-Penn hosted several faculty conversations in fall 2023 in response to perceived anti-union communications from the Office of the Provost, while PLU provides extensive resources, including a “Mythbusting Union Busting” zine designed to define union busting, and breaks down labor laws that are relevant to campus labor organization.
“We were anticipating some of the anti-union information [put out by Penn],” Middle Eastern studies librarian Heather Hughes told the DP. “A lot of [the resources] are kind of wanting to prepare ourselves and our membership [for that].”
Former digital humanities librarian Cassandra Hradil added that the resources were useful before PLU went public with its unionization efforts.
“We were able to build these relationships of trust with the people that we’re hoping to be in a union with,” she said. “And that does have to do with transparency and truth and knowledge.”
Williams, who is also involved with the Coalition of Workers at Penn — which aims to provide a space for mutual support for all Penn workers — told the DP that “there’s a historic change” happening at Penn, and “it’s embodied” by the goals that campus unions have achieved in the past year.
“It’s an exciting moment to be part of union organizing at Penn,” Hughes added.
CHENYAO LIU | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
For the 2024-25 academic year, Penn will offer unlimited Yellow Ribbon contributions.
father, who was a veteran. McGrath’s brother was also able to benefit from the Yellow Ribbon program while attending Yale University.
McGrath, who is interested in the pre-law track, said that the unlimited Yellow Ribbon contributions this year allow him to focus on pursuing an education at Penn without having to worry about the financial consequences.
“Before it was fully covered, I was seriously having to consider going to a state school that gives me a fullride scholarship and then use my college funds for law school,” McGrath said. “After this new change, that’s no longer a concern. It’s making graduate school a lot more accessible for me and other students.”
In addition to the changes for undergraduate students, many graduate schools also increased Yellow Ribbon contributions. The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, Stuart Weitzman School of Design, and
School of Social Policy & Practice now offer unlimited Yellow Ribbon slots with unlimited contributions for eligible graduate students.
The Wharton School and Graduate School of Education will also offer unlimited Yellow Ribbon slots, increasing their contributions to $23,000 and $15,000 for each slot, respectively.
Manuel says that her ultimate goals are not only to “have unlimited Yellow Ribbon across the board,” but also to establish a center for veteran military students to connect with each other.
“Us being able to say we offer unlimited Yellow Ribbon slots and contributions, to me, shows how much Penn cares about this community,” Manuel said. “We’re really trying to say that we recognize [veterans] and the services that they’ve provided for this country and that we’re grateful, and we want to have them as part of our community.”
immediately figure out it wasn’t real. I thought the public would see the absurd image of a presidential candidate wearing a football helmet and understand that it was satire.
The whole point of my Eagles-Kamala ad was to satirize political endorsements. Why do we care about them? Why are they such a factor in our elections?
If I really wanted to deceive people, I’d make more realistic looking ads.
What draws you to using existing intellectual property and branding for your art?
A few different reasons. There’s a built-in level of trust and comfort viewers have when they’re out in public and see an ad that looks official. I like to take advantage of that familiarity as a way in to grab their attention, kind of like a Trojan horse.
But more so, branding is such a part of our cultural language today, so it’s a really effective tool to communicate with. When someone sees an ad from a brand they know, they’re already programmed to have certain thoughts and expectations for what they’re looking at. Being able to put the audience in that mindset instantly is a good starting point for my work and allows me to play from there.
Another part of it is just the fun of speaking on behalf of these brands and corporations. The idea of a brand speaking out about a serious issue is just inherently funny to me. It’s a consistent aspect of my work that I think gets overlooked, or people just don’t find it as amusing as I do.
Were you expecting such an onslaught of attention from NFL fans following your installation of the Eagles-Kamala ads? How has this attention compared to previous installations you have done?
Yeah, I had a feeling it would get a lot of attention. Just the mixing of sports and politics, people’s emotional attachment to the Eagles and to the candidates, and the timing of the season starting and the upcoming election. It was like a tinderbox of excitement and attention just waiting to explode.
What I wasn’t expecting was how much media coverage would come out of it. I’m surprised by the amount of articles written and news reports done. I’ve had previous work go viral, but usually it’s just on social media, never to this level of national media attention.
Artist and activist Ai Weiwei penned the quote, “Everything is Art. Everything is Politics.” With many NFL fans pleading to “keep politics out of sports” following your installations, what is your reaction to this mantra?
I understand why some people feel that way, but I just see that as turning a blind eye. Those same fans probably love it when their preferred candidate is being promoted ringside at a UFC fight. Personally, it makes me want to do more and have more fun with it. Have you had experience with companies taking legal action against you due to your use of their branding?
I’ve received cease and desists before, but nothing
beyond that so far. Are you expecting litigation from the NFL or the Philadelphia Eagles due to your most recent artwork?
I don’t really have any expectations. I’ve been advised that my work is generally protected under fair use, and hopefully they agree.
Philadelphia is going to be pivotal in the 2024 election. You have seen first-hand the varying social media reactions to your recent artwork by Philly natives. What do you think politicians and social activists miss in their appeals to Philadelphians? What do they get right?
I don’t think I’m the right person to be advising or critiquing their work; they have a very different set of rules to play by and goals they’re working towards. They need to be direct and clear and leave no room for misinterpretation or confusion.
I’ll just say for my work, though, humor and familiarity can go a long way. And communicating emotionally and culturally, not just rationally, can be really effective. I would be remiss to ask this, but are you a Philadelphia Eagles fan, yourself?
I’m not originally from Philadelphia, so I don’t claim to be a true die-hard Eagles fan. But I support them. Monday’s loss was brutal. Some people on social media were blaming my posters, which is hilarious.
You have spoken about the rampant backlash you have faced from conservative critics due to your work. What was the craziest response you saw on social media to your latest installation?
I haven’t seen anything too crazy directed at me.
I was called a pedophile and a bunch of anti-Asian, racist things, but that’s pretty much par for the course at this point.
For the most part, I think the attention has been on conspiracy theories. That’s been the craziest response. Laura Loomer was really pushing a lot of insane stuff over and over again on all her platforms, which is dangerous but also ironic considering the storm of attention and backlash she’s under right now.
In a 2021 interview with Juxtapoz Magazine, you stressed that you are “not necessarily trying to change anyone’s mind” with your artwork. In our current political moment, do you still hold this sentiment?
I do, in the sense that changing someone’s mind directly from A to B isn’t a primary goal of my work, and I don’t think it’s very likely in the current political moment. Of course it would be nice, but I think that would put my work more aligned with propaganda or activism, which isn’t the true purpose.
My aim is to highlight issues and provoke reflection today, and hopefully create work that people can look back on to understand our times better.
Finally, should we expect to see more from you before November’s election?
Yeah, but less in the street and more in the gallery setting. I’ll have new work in an exhibition next month at Subliminal Projects, AMERICAN PUNCHLINE, curated by Sara Lois Kaplan. It’s a timely show featuring a range of contemporary artists focused on political and social issues, so please check it out.
that gives me the energy and momentum to keep going.”
Sophomore outside hitter Zada Sanger led the Quakers in kills during the win over Le Moyne, notching eight on 18 attacks for an impressive .444 hitting percentage. Rittenberg, Murray, junior middle-blocker Jalen Tennyson, and freshman outside hitter Jenna Garner each contributed seven kills in the sweep. Tennyson also dominated defensively with eight blocks, five of which came in the first set against Le Moyne.
Freshman setter Emery Moore facilitated the Quakers offense, tallying 40 assists across the two matches, while junior setter Anna Shohfi added 14 assists and led the team with 10 digs in the Le Moyne match.
In the evening, Penn struggled to gain traction against a Morgan State team that had just completed a grueling five-set win over Manhattan earlier in the day. The Bears jumped out to an early 9-3 lead in the first set, forcing Penn to call a timeout.
Although the Quakers fought back to within one point at 19-18, Morgan State pulled away late, securing the set 25-21.
The second set saw a dominant 10-point run from the Bears, who turned a 5-4 deficit into a commanding 14-5 lead. Penn was unable to recover, dropping the set 25-14 despite a strong showing from Murray, who recorded four kills on five attacks.
Penn put up a stronger fight in the third set, leading by as many as four points on two occasions. However, Morgan State went on a late 6-1 run, reclaiming the lead at 18-17. The Quakers managed to regain the advantage at 20-19, but the Bears closed out the match with a 4-0 run, winning the set 25-22 and sealing the match. Rittenberg and Murray combined for seven kills in the final set, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Morgan State’s late surge.
However, despite the loss, the team’s morale stayed strong and ready for the next match.
“The goal for us is to find our confidence early so that when we get into Ivies, we can challenge a lot more than we have in the past,” coach Meredith Schamun said. “I think we were challenged, which I appreciate because we will continue to be challenged. Next time we meet this, I’m confident we’ll have a better response.”
The Quakers will travel to NJIT on Sept. 17 to face the Highlanders at 6 p.m. They’ll return home on Sunday to take on the University of Rhode Island at 1 p.m.
For sophomore Zada Sanger, volleyball wasn’t always the dream
Sanger comes from a family of Quaker athletes but will be eager to leave her own legacy at Penn
SONALI CHANDY Sports Reporter
For Penn volleyball sophomore outside hitter Zada Sanger, Quakers’ blood has always been in her.
In a full circle moment, the impact player now plays under the same Palestra lights that once shone on her mother and father, who are Penn volleyball and basketball alumni, respectively.
In the 2023-24 season, Sanger — then a freshman — led the team in kills, totaling 265, good for second in the Ivy League. Sanger also set a team high in start appearances.
However, despite her current stardom, volleyball was not always the dream. Born in Los Angeles, Sanger aspired to be “the next Gabby Douglas,” crafting her gymnastic talent as a young girl. Her mother, always hoping to change her mind and have Sanger follow in her footsteps, decided to place her in recreational volleyball when the family made the move to Northern California. And so, her volleyball development started at age 10 — though it could hardly be described as love at first sight.
“I didn’t want to play volleyball,” Sanger said. “It wasn’t fun — there were no flips.”
When it came to middle school and time to try out for a club team, Sanger tried to “throw” her tryouts and “intentionally not make the team.” Thus marked a two-year stint on a team that she described as “haphazard” under the direction of a peer’s parents. Having been a gymnast and having athletic genes, Sanger was able to develop skills that set her apart on the court, despite her distaste for the game. The turning point for her took place in her last club tournament in eighth grade.
“Something clicked and I found my swing [and that] I can hit hard,” Sanger said.
This moment marked a turning page in Sanger’s volleyball journey. She realized her potential in the sport and wanted to go all in. A visit to one of the best local volleyball clubs during her freshman year of high school in Northern California cemented this idea. The director pulled her aside and showed a wall with commits, highlighting a standout athlete slated to play at Pepperdine.
“‘In two years, if you come to play for us, you could be like them,’” Sanger recalled the director saying.
Sanger jumped at the opportunity, but it came with a steep learning curve. The talent level that she saw was uncharted, and there was serious ground to make up as a “late starter” in the sport. Playing alongside girls who grew up with it was originally difficult for someone who just started playing competitively as a ninth grader.
“My only regret is that I didn’t do it earlier,” Sanger said.
When asked if Penn was her dream school, Sanger quickly denied, stating that it was originally her dream to stay on the West Coast. Her parents emphasized that volleyball should always be a tool to get into the best school possible. In a way to differentiate herself from her Quaker parents and not be seen as a “copy,” Sanger heavily considered other Ivy offers. To a West Coast native, there was no appeal to urban Philadelphia — “there’s no beach!”
Fortunately, her visit to campus changed her mind. As her first official athletic visit to any institution, Sanger recalls immediately loving the girls on the team.
“I really liked the energy of the staff, and the team was so welcoming,” Sanger said.
Her visit left such a significant impression that it was a no-brainer after touring other schools. Ultimately, being able to receive an education from the Wharton School was an opportunity she could not pass up on.
Sanger has made an effort to create her own path and shared that despite playing the same sport, there are stark differences between herself — an outside hitter — and her mother — a middle. The two share a close relationship in their shared experiences.
“She does understand the pressures … practicing five hours a day,” Sanger said. “I’m able to talk volleyball in a technical sense and she can get it.”
So what does she chalk her instant impact as a freshman up to? For her, it’s a constant need to get better. Sanger mentioned that many people would describe her as extreme, acknowledging being an intense player, derived from the love for pressure and the game. That passion has allowed her to become the primary scorer for Penn volleyball.
“I like setting goals, meeting them, and pushing myself and pursuing excellence in different areas,” Sanger said.
Her statistics for this year are just the beginning. Her goals for this year are primarily team oriented. At the top is working toward making an appearance in the Ivy tournament. On a personal level, she hopes to become first team All-Ivy and eventually break the conference record for most kills in a game.
The team will need Sanger at her best in order to have any hopes at reversing the group’s last season woes, where the Quakers finished with a record of 4-20, and 2-12 in the Ivy.
As a better-footed sophomore, Sanger looks to this season with hope, citing the team’s promising rookie talent and returning players with more court experience.
Sanger also mentioned the sports IQ jump from club to college, explaining that as a younger athlete, it was “easier” to win by either attacking one person or “the weak link.” She was able to rely on her strength to hit the ball to win sets. However, college forced her to adopt different strategies.
“You have to earn every point and won’t get away with a bad blocker or lazy defender,” Sanger said. Collectively, the team has struggled in the past couple years to succeed on the court, marred by a toxic training environment created by former staff, which ultimately shook the culture and forced the team to find an “identity coming out of COVID-19 and season cancellation,” said Sanger.
Under the leadership of coach Meredith Schamun, who joined the staff in 2020, the team culture has dramatically changed. Sanger recalled the help of two volleyball seniors in her freshman year, who took her “under their wing” and helped her understand the social and academic ways of Penn. Now, as a sophomore, Sanger hopes to repay that same level of trust to the new rookie recruits, especially understanding the difficulty of moving so far away from home.
“Their enthusiasm and effort does not go unnoticed,” Sanger said.
For Sanger, the best piece of advice that she has been given came from her club coach who realized one thing: “‘You play your best when you play relaxed and confident.’”
Sanger now starts each game with a pre-game ritual: positive self-talk, hype music, pinning up her hair in the superstitious “lucky slick-back hairdo” and completing a plyometric workout.
Sanger puts intentional thought into every aspect of her game, even down to her own uniform. When asked, Sanger explained that the jersey number eight has been consistent throughout her career — she even wears a golden bracelet with the number inscribed on it.
“It’s a lucky number and represents calm,” Sanger said. “It’s circular, and when flipped sideways, it becomes infinity.”
As an added meaning, while her parents were at Penn, her mother wore No. 4 and her father wore No. 44. Both wore the number with pride, so it makes it all the more special for Sanger that she gets to wear the double of that number.
The Wharton student hopes to pursue a concentration in finance, combining her passion for sports and business in her post-college endeavors.
Sanger closed by mentioning the ultimate bond that is being a part of Penn volleyball.
“I have never been on a team before where I’ve had such close relationships with every single person,” Sanger said. “I could get dinner individually with any person on the team and it wouldn’t be a problem.”
ANNA VAZHAEPARAMBIL | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER Freshman outside hitter Zada Sanger during the team’s matchup against Lafayette on Sept. 9.
NATHANIEL SIRLIN | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Junior defender/midfielder Amy Lanouette attempts to steal the ball from Temple on Sept. 13.
Earlier this month, counterfeit advertisements revealing Vice President Kamala Harris as “the official candidate of the Philadelphia Eagles” were spotted on Penn’s campus and across Philadelphia. Despite the bogus ads containing the official web address to the Eagles’ voting outreach program, the team denied any involvement with a post on X, the platform previously known as Twitter.
In reality, the mind behind the viral advertisements, which sparked social media debates and conspiracy theories, was street artist Winston Tseng. In an exclusive interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian, Tseng agreed to talk about these advertisements and his career.
Could you introduce yourself to our readers who may be meeting you for the first time?
Sure. I’m a street artist that uses brands and advertising to communicate societal issues, hopefully bringing some unexpected attention to them. My work aims to surprise, amuse, and ideally challenge the public to reflect a bit on the subject matter. Recently I did a parody ad campaign of the Philadelphia Eagles endorsing Kamala Harris for president. Many people, including some I talked to on
Penn’s campus, fell for the Eagles Kamala endorsement ad as a genuine partnership between the franchise and the Harris campaign. Was this your goal?
Not exactly. It was meant to grab attention and cause a double take, but I assumed people would
Penn men’s basketball senior forward Ed Holland, a projected starter for the Quakers, will step away from the team for the upcoming season, according to a report by The Black Cager and confirmed by The Daily Pennsylvanian. Holland, a Philadelphia native, has played in 44 games over three years with the Red and Blue.
“While this decision was not easy,” Holland said in a statement, “I believe that this shift in focus will allow me to make the most of the opportunities that lie ahead and better position myself for future success.”
“Eddie came in; he handled it the right way. He met with me, spoke about his reasons, and I have great respect for him,” coach Steve Donahue said. “This is just something he felt … I appreciate all he’s done, but I have to respect his decision to step away.”
According to the initial report, Holland’s decision was motivated by academic and career aspirations, as well as a desire to prepare himself for graduate school, when he plans to use his final year of athletic eligibility. Holland will finish his undergraduate career at Penn as a student.
Holland’s role with the Quakers has gradually increased over the course of his career. After
averaging just 3.2 minutes per game as a freshman, Holland developed into a key rotational wing for Donahue’s squad, particularly on the defensive end. Last season, he started eight games for the Red and Blue, averaging 5.8 points per game and 2.9 rebounds per game.
“I will forever cherish the experiences I’ve had with the team and the support I’ve received from my teammates, coaches, and the University,” Holland said.
This is not the first time the Quakers have suffered an abrupt loss before the start of the season.
In 2023, junior guard Jordan Dingle unexpectedly transferred in the spring, while senior forward Max
Martz announced his medical retirement at the end of August 2023. This offseason, the Quakers brought in a surplus of new players via recruitment and the transfer portal, a decision that Donahue says was meant to insure against these sorts of situations.
“We did a lot in the offseason addressing [the roster] because of last year; just when we got hurt, getting blindsided with [Martz] and [Dingle],” Donahue said. “So I think we took a little extra in recruiting — we brought in seven new players — and that was kind of the reason.”
The Quakers will attempt to rebound after an 11-18 finish last season. They will tip off the new campaign on the road against NJIT on Nov. 4.
Penn men’s basketball senior forward Ed Holland, a projected starter for the Quakers, will step away from the team for the upcoming season. The Quakers swept Manhattan on Friday and Le Moyne College on Saturday morning but lost in straight sets to Morgan State University in the evening, leaving the tournament with a 4-3 record on the season.
In the first match against Manhattan (1-8), Penn (4-3) won with set scores of 25-23, 25-17, and 25-12. The next morning, the Red and Blue dominated Le Moyne (1-5) with set scores of 25-14, 25-17, and 25-19. However, the Quakers’ momentum didn’t carry into the evening match against Morgan State (3-8), where they dropped all three sets 25-21, 25-14, and 25-22. Sophomore right-side hitter Bella Rittenberg and freshman middle-blocker Adell Murray were standouts for the Red and Blue and were both named to the all-tournament team.
Murray had a stellar performance throughout the day, hitting .428 with 16 kills and only four errors on 28 attacks. She led Penn in the evening match with a team-high nine kills. Rittenberg also shone, collecting 13 kills for the day with a .367 hitting percentage. She hit .400 in the loss to Morgan State, registering six kills without an error on 15 attacks. When asked how she keeps her motivation up throughout the game, Rittenberg stated, “Volleyball is my passion, so it’s easy to keep going and keep my energy up. I’m doing it for my team, so
DESIGN
