IMPACT Issue 3 : Identity, Fall 2014

ISSUE 3 : IDENTITY | MAY 2014

DIAGNOSING STUDENT DISTRESS: THE CAUSES AND SYMPTOMS OF THE PENN STRUGGLE

DIVERSITY AT PENN: OVERCOMING OUR SELF-SEGREGATION THROUGH ATHLETE’S EYES: WHERE PENN STRIKES OUT BREAKING THE BINARY: REFORMULATING OUR CONCEPT OF GENDER

IMPACT Magazine is a publication and community of undergraduate, student voices with the mission to cultivate a culture of involvement at Penn and to bring awareness to the social impact activities of students, alumni, faculty, and organizations in our immediate and global community.

FOUNDER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Valentina Raman FOUNDER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Frances Starn CONTENT EDITOR Tyler Sullivan CONTENT EDITOR Jordan Huynh ASSISTANT CONTENT EDITOR Sam Friedlander WRITERS Aaron Wolff, Brennan Cusack, Cheyenne Rogers, Christine Hu, Esther Yoon, Isaac Silber, Jordyn Horowitz, Leora Mincer, Mayookha Mitra-Majumdar, Rosemary Santos, Saraf Ahmed, Taylor Hosking, Yuqi Zhang ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR Justin Barry ONLINE TEAM Grace Jemison, Dylan Smith, Morgan Snyder, Ciara Stein, Sandra Loza-Avalos, Kelsey Williams CHIEF COPY EDITOR Nicole Laczewski COPY EDITORS Abdel-Aziz Kamoun, Alyssa Kennedy, Emily Chen, Iris Kim, Jerusalem Girmay, Jordyn Horowitz, Michael Stanton, Sami Bronner, Shamarlon Yates PHOTOGRAHY EDITOR Kaustubh Deo PHOTOGRAPHERS Abigail Graham, Dylan Smith, Jenna Goldstein, Jordan Huynh, Sara-Paige Silvestro DESIGN EDITOR Paula Mello Ferber ASSISTANT DESIGN EDITORS Elena Nikonova, Galit Krifcher DESIGN TEAM Brian Rawn, Byrne Fahey, Connie Fan, David Baker, Jordan Huynh, Jun Yoo, Katharine Viola, Taylor Nauden, Tyler Sullivan, Yuqi Zhang FINANCE & STRATEGY CHAIR Souhail Salty FINANCIAL STRATEGY ADVISOR Oona Yadav FINANCE & STRATEGY TEAM Aditi Shroff, Kathleen Zhou, Nicole Laczewski, Nikhil Devnani, Saraf Ahmed COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CHAIR Dina Zaret COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT TEAM Abhiti Prabahar, Catherine Darin, Jane Chen, Kopal Goyal, Shamarlon Yates, Sibel Ozelik, Valeria Dubovoy, Yousra Kandri WEBMASTER Daniel Brooks COVER BY Elena Nikonova SPONSOR The Povich Fund for Journalism Programs at the Kelly Writers House

LETTER FROM THE TEAM: What makes YOU who you are? What experiences and environments shape you? What emotions move you? What dreams drive you? What values and beliefs guide you? controllable and uncontrollable factors that make an individual. As individuals we navigate through society, where families, communities, and other social, political, and economic structures often tell us where we belong and categorize us by our apparent similarities. Yet as we experience new people and new environments, we learn what makes us different from those who seem similar, and what makes us similar to those who seem different. In the end, we are left with one truth: We are all unique, yet we are all connected.

With this in mind, we present IMPACT Magazine’s third print issue: Identity. We recognize that Penn is a large, diverse community formed of many smaller ones. We are athletes and performers; feminists and activists; introverts and extroverts. We are different races, genders, religions, and socioeconomic statuses. While much of this magazine delves into these smaller identities, our feature story focuses on the identity that connects us all: being a Penn student.

By understanding how our own identity is connected to others, we can as a whole is much greater than the sum of our disconnected parts.

The following thirteen articles and one poem in this issue have been written, edited, and designed by the IMPACT Team. All photography and artwork is original as well, or generously contributed by our friends and supporters.

We are excited to present Issue 3: Identity, to our Penn and global community. We hope this issue inspires our fellow students to interact with all the identities Penn has to offer, helps us understand the communities beyond our immediate social circles, and challenges us to expand our Let us engage with the diverse identities around us, so we can better understand our world and make an IMPACT.

MAY 2014

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THROUGH ATHLETES’ EYES: WHERE PENN STRIKES OUT Written by Cheyenne Rogers CULTURE THROUGH CUISINE Written by Christine Hu THE DIGITAL IDENTITY DIVIDE Written by Esther Yoon BEYOND LOSS OF HOME: GENTRIFICATION AND WEST PHILADLEPHIA Written by Yuqi Zhang A BALANCING ACT: FINDING YOUR INNER AMBIVERT Written by Jordyn Horowitz DIVERSITY AT PENN: OVERCOMING OUR SELF-SEGREGATION Written by Taylor Hosking HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES Written by Rosemary Santos

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DIAGNOSING STUDENT DISTRESS: THE CAUSES AND SYMPTOMS OF THE PENN STRUGGLE Written by Leora Mincer I Written by Isaac Silber FAITH IN FLUX Written by Aaron Wolff FACULTY SPOTLIGHT: IDENTITY, CULTURE, AND INCARCERATION Interviewed by Taylor Hosking FEMINISM: A GLOBAL AND COLLEGIATE INTRODUCTION Written by Saraf Ahmed BREAKING THE BINARY Written by Brennan Cusack MODERN-DAY SLAVERY: THE REALITIES OF SEX TRAFFICKING Written by Mayookha Mitra-Majumdar

THROUGH ATHLETES’ EYES:

WHERE PENN STRIKES OUT Written by Cheyenne Rogers

Source: Penn Athletics

‘T

was Saturday afternoon when all along Locust, Penn’s students were stirring with Franklin Field in clear focus.

Their war paint was smeared on and their homework was aside and the players awaited their loyal fans with great pride.

Handfuls of toast and lungs full of cheer, all Quakers rejoiced because game day was here!

Although it has a nice ring to it, this is a less than honest depiction of what Penn students’ Saturdays really look like.

Whether they are studying, partying, or 12-hour “napping,” the majority of Penn students are not out supporting the University’s varsity athletics. College senior and former Daily Pennsylvanian Senior Sports Editor Mike Tony agrees with the lack of “fandom” surrounding Penn sports. “They are just a couple of activities among hundreds,” he states, and “Penn students [will] probably choose one of those other activities instead.”

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The small amount of fans has created a divided culture on campus. 2013 Wharton graduate Scott Lopano, a former Penn football starting punter and kickoff specialist, explains, “We [athletes] are typically very proud to say that we are Penn athletes.

That pride, however, tends to be shared mostly among the athletic community only, which is why I feel that the culture is segregated from the larger community.”

What does this lack of campus support mean for the athletes?

For one, it affects athletic performance and goals. College freshman rower Kelin Baldridge admits that the low hype surrounding Penn athletics has caused her to change her outlook as a competitor. “I am starting to question my long-term commitment to the sport,” she says.

“While I am completely committed to Penn rowing and will remain so for my whole time here, I have begun to rethink my Olympic dreams in favor of dreams in the professional world.”

While Baldridge’s decision is not a bad trade-off for the future, College freshman high jumper Nick McGreivy explains how Penn’s lack of sports culture may prevent athletes from being the best they can be. “Unless we’re doing amazing in athletics, it’s hard to get people excited, [but] if hypothetically track was a sport that everyone watched,” McGreivy imagined, “I may go the extra mile to do better.”

According to this article’s interviewees, Penn athletes dedicate roughly 40 to 50 hours per week to their sport during the

general. How have Penn’s teams been stacking up? According to Lopano, the Red and Blue football team won three Ivy League championships in his four years on the team yet still had poor attendance at games and little support from students.

Even when Penn friends and peers do show up, whether they stick around appears to be contingent on success and not genuine support. Wharton freshman football player Papsi Kabia, a Virginia native, recalled a rather disappointing moment in his college career.

“We were losing a game with very little time left,” he remembers, “and I turned around to see basically everyone in the stands, besides family members, leaving. This was understandable but at the same time shocking because that wouldn’t have happened in my community back home. So sometimes [the culture] is a little bit disheartening.”

As athletes look for fellow students to have their backs, the people they

The integration of Penn’s athletic culture and the rest of the Penn community is a two-way street.

traveling to off-campus events. This is time that could be spent joining clubs, gaining work experience, going out to parties, or catching up on sleep like most students do. A former athlete who wishes to remain anonymous brings light to this challenge, stating that “my love for the sport…played a pinnacle role in shaping me to be the person I am today, [but] as an athlete I felt like I had no freedom to pursue things as I pleased because everything I did revolved interest.”

Why these blasé feelings exist toward Penn athletics is not very clear. Yes, academics are important and take up a large portion of the Penn community’s time, but other rigorous schools, like Stanford and Duke University, have proven that an emphasis on intellect does not have to mean a decreased interest in athletics. records. As Director of Athletic Communications Michael Mahoney points out, the success of schools’ football and men’s basketball teams tend to dictate interest in campus athletics in

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compete with. “It is easier to identify with other athletes,” Baldridge attests.

“We have another layer to our lives that it is hard for many students to understand.”

The road to understanding is a twoway street. Penn’s athletes are doing their part by reaching out, making their voices heard, and asking Penn students for the support they believe they deserve. And compared to the hours they put in each week to improve Penn’s athletic reputation on top of academics, showing up to a game or meet and cheering “Hurrah!” seems small.

If season successes and spirited times with friends don’t convince you to trade in the textbooks and red Solo cups for the fact that your fellow students need you will. Penn athletes, while dedicated

and foremost. “I am a student at the University of Pennsylvania,” declares Wharton sophomore wide receiver Christian Stapleton. “Playing a collegiate sport is nice, but [attending Penn] is more than that.”

It is high time that Penn athletes be seen for who they really are: peers. They are friends, sorority sisters, lab partners, and students who also seek to have their identity as an athlete valued by the rest of the campus community. Sadly, they have had to compete against fellow students’ resistance to reach that status. Now that the athletes have made this disappointing point clear, the ball is in your court, Penn. What move are you going to choose? My suggestion is to take to heart the wise words of 1898 graduate Harry E. Westervelt: “Come all ye loyal classmates now in hall and campus through, lift up your hearts and voices for the Royal Red and Blue.”

CULTURE THROUGH CUISINE

Written by Christine Hu

W

hether you eat to live or live to eat, chances are that food plays a big role in your everyday life. Food is ubiquitous yet unique, universal yet personal. But have you ever stopped and wondered how the food that you eat has impacted your identity? Does the person you are today have anything to do with whether you ate bratwurst, bulgogi, or burritos growing up?

“Food is quite an important marker of identity,” says Anthropology professor Jane Kauer. Unlike traits such as facial features or skin color, food is something that people

can share with each other. America has a particularly rich food culture, Kauer explains, due to immigration. “People in most countries do not have the access to multicultural or multi-ethnic foods that Americans enjoy.” This is because immigrants make an effort to eat the food they ate in their home country. “Their food is a creator and maintainer of their ethnic and cultural identity.”

Perhaps one of the best examples of cultural diversity expressed through food is right here at Penn. “There’s a wide range of different cuisines to try on campus, from

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Indian food to sushi to Ethiopian,” says College junior Katie Behrman, editor-in-chief of on-campus food magazine Penn Appétit. student groups, including cultural groups, which often host events involving food. One such organization is Penn Taiwanese Society (PTS), which hosts events such as PTS Brunch, where traditional Taiwanese dishes are served, and PTS Night Market, which aims to replicate the vibrant street food culture of Taiwanese night markets. College junior and PTS President Leeann Mao acknowledges that food is something that brings students together. According to Mao, many non-constituents attend PTS events, a sign that students are interested in learning about other more culturally informed and more adventurous when it comes to food.

Besides intercultural exchange, there are other roles food plays in student communities. One such example is the Jewish community, in which many students keep kosher. Engineering junior and Hillel Student Board President Alon Krifcher believes that keeping kosher is a very individual expression of one’s Jewish identity; yet the importance of the Hillel dining hall as a social space cannot be underestimated. “Any Jewish student [can] come during a meal and know that there will be other Penn students who share so many of the same beliefs that they may have,” he says. “It’s amazing to see the friendships that are created and built just through eating meals together.”

Certainly, the conversation around food manifests itself in many different ways at Penn. Penn Appétit is one publication that represents the growing desire to talk about

food and its socio-cultural implications beyond just being a form of sustenance. “My involvement in Penn Appétit has allowed me to become more a part of Philadelphia,” Behrman says. “Whether it’s going to the farmers’ market at Clark Park or attending charity galas hosted by top chefs, you really get to experience Philly through food and the effect it has on people’s lives.”

Behrman recognizes Philly’s thriving restaurant culture and the multitude of gastronomic experiences Philly has to offer. “The chef at Le Castagne, Michael Delone, really treats cooking as a creative process,” Behrman says. “He takes quirky moments from his life and puts them into his food, for example with his creative twist on common items like chicken wings and funnel cakes.” Steven Starr, restaurateur and head of the Starr Restaurant Organization, also personally creates the menus at his restaurants.

“Food has become a big part of popular culture,” observes Kauer. “This changes the desirability of food as a topic and as a career. It’s become something that is okay to be preoccupied with.”

College junior Iana Feliciano, photography editor of Penn Appétit, is furthering the conversation around food.

“Penn’s student body is so diverse that we tend to just accept different eating habits. While acceptance is good, it might be helpful to know reasons behind them. Food is undeniably part of culture, and what a person decides to eat can be integral to their culture or beliefs. I think it’s important to remember that.”

So the next time you eat bratwurst, bulgogi, or burritos, keep in mind that it’s not just sustenance you’re consuming, it’s culture.

Take a look at what Penn students have to say about food and their identity: Katie Behrman, College ‘15 Hometown: Marietta, GA YOUR FAVORITE FOOD? from me, and I was so sad. I used to steal strawberries too, when my mom

A FAVORITE MEMORY INVOLVING FOOD? “After I came back from my summer program in France, I bought a French cookbook. It was a risotto cookbook because I love risotto. Back home, I take out the cookbook; not only can I hardly speak enough French to know what it says, all of the measurements are in the metric system. They also wanted beaufort cheese, which doesn’t exist in the United States, apparently! After I started work on the recipe, I realized I didn’t really get some of the instructions e.g. ladle in some sauce… How much is a ladle?

A year later I looked at the recipe again and realized how much I missed in the recipe. It was a really interesting cultural immersion experience!”

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Iana Feliciano, College ‘15 Hometown: Manila, Philippines A FOOD WITH SPECIAL SIGNIFICANCE? “My mom would prepare the most amazing fondue meals As a kid, I loved it because I thought it was really fun to dip things in the pots. But fondue was our way of celebrating in the most relaxed way possible.”

A SIGNATURE FOOD FROM HOME? “We have a number of different Filipino foods, but perhaps my favorite is Lechon. It’s essentially suckling pig with liver sauce, and because it’s a whole pig, it’s really only served during weddings, family reunions, etc. It’s usually the highlight of the meal, and most of the time, the highlight of the night.”

Jáder Morais, Wharton ‘16 Hometown: Fortaleza, Brazil WHAT IS ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE MEMORIES INVOLVING FOOD? my family had prepared this lunch with all my favorite Brazilian dishes. I had this feeling that even though I didn’t live there anymore, everything was still the same.”

HAVE YOUR ATTITUDES TOWARD FOOD CHANGED SINCE COMING TO PENN? “Yes. [At Penn], most of my meals are merely study breaks and I don’t get to have a joyful time with friends and family.

I do have great memories involving food here at Penn, like when my roommate John Jimenez tries to make me try his moments get rarer and rarer.”

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THE Is Social DIGITAL Media IDENTITY Corroding DIVIDE Our Identities?

Written by Esther Yoon

T

he blaring warning signs concerning technology dependency are sprinkled throughout the modern backdrop of this

be greeted by a regiment of familiar glowing apples. Enter the Van Pelt Undergraduate Study Center in the wee hours of the morning and trod through a dimly lit grave of pallid faces staring the computer has become a vital accessory, academic tool, and by ourselves, to procrastinate. The issue, however, is not that technology has consumed college students to the point where we cannot experience the “real� world. Nor is it one of constant online identity management, a high paranoia surrounding the 10 / IMPACT MAGAZINE

presentation of self. The question we should be asking: Is social media truly the disastrous issue we say it is?

To be fair, there is good reason to be initially wary of social media use. The number of times college students check Facebook is overwhelming. Of the 90 percent of students who use social networking websites from a sample of 36,950 students from 126 U.S. universities and one Canadian university, 97 percent said they actively engaged on Facebook daily, according to data collected by the EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research (ECAR).

The frequency of students checking Facebook, nonetheless, has no direct correlation to whether or not social media has had a collective While psychological effects such as obsession with image or

is so different about a man passing by his ex-wife’s house every

Born into a society of budding technology dependency, most people of this generation understand that certain discrepancies may

social anxiety may ensue in some cases, it is hard to say that this affects the majority of all users. Born into a society of budding technology dependency, most people of this generation and online behavior. Once this becomes a premise, individuals, by being conscientious of such discrepancies, can interact with each truthfulness of one another’s differing behaviors.

Students at Penn also agree that technology and social media do not cause a problematic divide between real and digital identities.

“People have this tendency to say that they hate all social media and prefer face-to-face interaction because it’s more ‘real.’ I think it’s more of another aspect of one’s identity rather than a funneling of your real identity into the digital identity,” said College freshman Connie Yu. College sophomore Gina DeCagna added, “As long as someone knows what he or she is publishing or posting and has considered the possible responses or repercussions, both positive and negative, then social media is probably the most opportune method to disseminate information.”

Ruth Harper and the other by the Higher Education Research networking website use and college student engagement.

For instance, a higher percentage of frequent users of social networking websites participated in campus organizations than infrequent users. Additionally, more of the frequent users reported that they interacted face-to-face daily with close friends and felt strong connections to them. This stimulation of connectivity amongst users is one of the crucial points that makes social media a positive experience. The perceived usefulness of a platform networks, such as Facebook, the mere perception of building and maintaining connectivity is as fundamental as its actual usefulness.

Thus, the problem is not that we are paranoid about how we present ourselves through social media or that our online selves are impeding upon our real selves. If anything, we should be concerned about the way in which we use these platforms. For instance, Facebook stalking presents a major issue in social media use. Yu explained, “It implies a way of living. Stalking on Facebook parallels stalking in real life. It’s harmful…to general societal discourse because it trivializes stalking, which is an actual problem.”

The term “Facebook stalk” has been seamlessly integrated into our lexicon over the past few years. Taking the time to stop and examine some of its implications can be quite disturbing. What

offers us snippets of information about our friends, but also about strangers that we “meet” digitally. These snippets are often track of their accounts, and comment casually on their latest to something equitable to romanticization, leading to comments such as “Did you see her newest food album?” “She makes so much money,” or “It’s so awesome how she’s working out every day!”

We’ve already grown accustomed to having online identities and have found many uses to increase productivity and connectivity in communities. Now we need to reevaluate how we are using social media. College sophomore Nick Moncy mentioned that there is a need to examine this “in purpose and in practice.” He said by doing so, “we can do amazing things that bring people together and improve daily life.”

The problem isn’t whether or not we should be using social media at all— we’ve already grown accustomed to having online identities and have found many uses to increase productivity and connectivity in communities.

The prevalent idea amongst Penn students seems to be that social media, if used conscientiously and appropriately, is an apt method for communication and information sharing. It is also undeniable that social media is an integral part of college life. This and young adults have seized opportunities to utilize social media for professional networking or portfolio building. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have become more than simple outlets to “like” status updates and share photos to pass the time. Instead, these platforms have turned into tools that college students use for Penn group connections, career options, and networking. For instance, Moncy uses “Facebook to keep in touch with the groups [he’s] in, to branch out, or to promote [his] artwork.”

Though not without its muddles, social media is transcending its image as a sinking virtual hole responsible for this generation’s experience. Some may see online identities as devilish sons of Quasimodo, beastly and misshapen. However, looking past the exterior appearance of social media presences can allow us to see that our online identity gives us the opportunity to feel comfortable in a wide array of roles, gives us a platform to challenge opinions and form those of our own, and opens a new market for self-exploration. By not rejecting our online identities, we are able to learn how to protect and value them as extensions of ourselves. As we move forward, we should celebrate social media, but reexamine how we use it so that it can ultimately serve IMPACTMAGAZINE-UPENN.COM \ 11

BEYOND LOSS OF HOME:

GENTRIFICATION and

West Philadelphia

Written by Yuqi Zhang

A

neighborhood’s identity begins with its people. From grocery stores, restaurants, and banks to public safety, educational

residents move in and out, however, a neighborhood’s identity changes.

West Philadelphia’s identity has changed. And we, as West Philly dwellers, are a part of this change.

A CHANGED IDENTITY In 1965, the University launched Penn Home Ownership Services (PHOS), which has facilitated and subsidized Penn staff and faculty to purchase houses in West Philadelphia. Drawn by the policy, a higher-income population has settled down in the neighborhood, raising property values and ushering in a phenomenon that social scientists call . While this affected residents unequally.

The University supports Penn Alexander, a local K-8 school.

“It’s obviously more severe on a population that rents than on a population that owns its own home,” said Urban Studies professor Eric Schneider. Old homeowners face higher property taxes, but soaring rent is harder to parry. Low-income renters have no choice but to leave for a more affordable place.

According to the Philadelphia Research Initiative, University City’s African-American population has decreased over 20 percent between 1990 and 2010. Nearby West Philly neighborhoods have experienced similar trends.

Where do the displaced go? Out of town. In the last decade, has been an emerging issue across the United States. While

not equally reach all.

PENN AND WEST PHILLY IDENTITY Historically, West Philly has been a hub of hospitals, churches, and universities, and Penn has played a most notable role among these institutions. In recent years, Penn has initiated several hallmark projects for local engagement. Founded in 1992, the Netter Center for Community Partnerships integrates crossschool efforts, offering Academically Based Community Service (ABCS) courses in which students apply their knowledge to help the community in education, public health, environmental protection, and more. The Penn Alexander School, a kindergarten the University, was created in 2001 on 42nd and Spruce streets.

The PennSmiles Program, created by the Penn School of Dental Medicine, runs a mobile dental clinic in West Philly. New projects that connect the University with the community emerge every year.

Through all of these actions, Penn is making contributions to its surrounding community, yet controversies continue. As Schneider explained, “There is a legacy of suspicion that the University has to overcome.”

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But why?

The problem is that while the new population and changes in the neighborhood seem to foster a more dynamic and safer living For instance, dramatic increases in housing prices within Penn Alexander’s catchment zone have predominantly made it “a school Daily Pennsylvanian editorial last year.

Even the added safety protects residents unequally. Schneider, who specializes in urban crime studies, explained that the police treat African-American teenagers in the street differently than white Penn students. In fact, far more low-income residents of wealthier neighbors.

However, these inequalities are not particular to Penn and West Philly. Rather, theorists argue that they are evident of America’s post-war economic philosophy of neo-liberalism, which encourages free competition, deregulation, and dismantlement of larger societal trend: while the rich get richer, the poor get poorer.

BECOMING ONE COMMUNITY Penn the number one “Best Neighbor” among the nation’s colleges and universities. Penn is also widely regarded among peer

institutions as an innovator in community engagement. But as the “legacy of suspicion” still stands, we have to ask: are we doing enough?

conversation between West Philly and the Penn community is the way to eliminate misunderstanding. To do so, Penn students need to break the bubble.

For a Penn student, a $10 salad lunch and 24/7 Fresh Grocer snacks are regular consumptions, while in the neighborhoods westward, residents live in a food desert, where greasy fast foods prevail over a scant supply of fresh groceries. While Penn educates its students to embrace the whole world as their stage, children living just a few blocks away may never see the possibility of college.

“I have met so many students who do not take advantage of [being in] West Philadelphia,” said College freshman Kathryn DeWitt disappointedly, who tutored six hours a week at a public school on 60th and Pine streets last semester.

“Penn is a campus where students come to learn about the world, but in some ways, many of us are ignoring the world just a few blocks away,” DeWitt said. At the end of the day, if we want to change the community, we have to be the change. We need to step out of the bubble and embrace a larger community.

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A BALANCING ACT: FINDING YOUR INNER AMBIVERT

Written by Jordyn Horowitz

W

hen understanding how individuals operate on a daily basis, it is crucial to recognize that there are no absolutes. People are not always kind or always malicious. of overlapping dispositions where people same approach applies to introversion and extroversion. There are no absolutes.

In a discussion about introverts and extroverts, however, there are often of each. In her book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, Susan Cain explains that contrary to popular belief, introversion is not synonymous with shyness. Shyness is fear of social judgment, while the difference between introverts and extroverts lies in how individuals react to external stimuli. Extroverts require higher levels of stimulation to be at their “best,” whereas the threshold for introverts is 14 / IMPACT MAGAZINE

lower. Extroverts are more impulsive, are generally more assertive, and derive their energy from interactions with a wide variety of people. Conversely, introverts tend to speak, and feel most energized when they are deeply focused on a particular subject individuals.

Many courses at Penn are tailored to the extroverted student, emphasizing class participation, presentations, and group work. College and Wharton sophomore Dami Rosanwo comments that she dislikes the style of the Management 100 class, which she feels is based on participation for the sake of participation. “The class makes it seem like the best leaders are the ones that speak all the time,” she says. She remarks that there is not enough emphasis placed on the notion of the introverted leader and comments on her interactions at Penn in general, claiming that many conversations she has “feel like networking rather than the start of a real relationship.”

College and Wharton junior Donna Hahn explains that because the class focuses on simulating the way work places operate, extroverted students are able to more quickly establish their place within the basis for determining who is the leader early on, and those titles are held throughout,” she says. Hahn notes that some of the more soft-spoken students were able to assert themselves in a more extroverted manner as the semester progressed, but she expresses concern that the TAs might not pick up on “the more subtle changes in the team dynamic” that appear as the group spends more time together.

The preference given to extroverts also impacts our social and working worlds.

When involvement in a group relies on a short chat or interview, small talk can prove cumbersome for introverts who aren’t predisposed to immediately verbalizing the more personal aspects of their character. Perhaps a symptom of Penn’s pre-professional driven atmosphere, the

emphasis on networking and the loquacious expectations of this community seem to cater to the extroverted student.

However, in a survey adapted from Cain’s book in which 143 Penn students responded, 47 percent of respondents self-

the student body?

2013 Wharton MBA graduate Lindsay Miller worked with Wharton professor Adam Grant, who conducted a study titled “Rethinking the Extraverted Sales Ideal: The Ambivert Advantage.” This study examined which type of disposition makes the most successful sales person.

There is often a stigma attached to the term introvert, and Miller stresses that ideally, our society will reach a point where even the most extroverted of people can recognize and feel comfortable expressing their own introverted tendencies. “People can dig deep and focus on their more introverted side when they really need to work through

something, and focus on their extroverted tendencies when that becomes necessary,” she says. Although both parts are there, people often feel as though they have to emphasize their extroverted side to appear well-adjusted.

Additionally, Grant’s results quantify Cain’s conclusions, which assert that extroverts do not necessarily make better leaders than introverts. In the aforementioned study, Grant demonstrated that neither introverts nor extroverts yield the as explained through Grant’s writing, is a person who possesses personality traits of both an introvert and an extrovert. In his paper, Grant explains that “because they talking and listening, ambiverts are more enthusiasm to persuade and close a sale but are more inclined to listen to customers’ interests and less vulnerable to appearing

ambiverts. Cain quotes psychologist Carl Jung, who claimed that “there is no such thing as a pure extrovert or a pure introvert.

Such a man would be in the lunatic asylum.”

Due to the nature of extroversion, however, it makes sense that our culture appears to be more centered around extroverts.

Miller holds that Penn, and college in general, can be a great time for more introverted students. “You can dive deeply into one subject like you might not have been able to do other times,” she says. “It’s a unique time to tailor your experience a little more to the way you prefer to learn and work.”

While balancing between two sides of a personality can be tricky and stressful at Penn, being aware of the varying degrees of introverted and extroverted behavior within each one of us can bring great reward. environment that is conducive to your own temperament is crucial to individual growth and success.

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Written by Taylor Hosking

DIVERISTY AT PENN: Overcoming Our Self-Segregation

D

uring New Student Orientation, I went to a fraternity party where someone encouraged my friends and me to go to a “black party” that was happening elsewhere. This new development fragmented the group I was with because my nonblack friends thought they weren’t invited. When we arrived at the party, there were indeed almost only black people there, and I was quickly introduced to the idea that race can play a real role in forming social groups in college. I am of African-American heritage and come from a small, predominantly white high school where friend groups formed based on personality types instead of surface level characteristics such as race.

At Penn, there are 58 clubs and organizations on campus that directly associate with a particular cultural heritage or nationality.

Much of the social scene revolves around Greek organizations that are also largely segmented by race. Strong communities Casa Latina and the South Asian Society. I personally enjoyed the welcoming enthusiasm as I attended Makuu events at the start of the year. While Penn’s diversity numbers may sound impressive (48.1 of American undergraduate students in the fall into diverse friend groups on campus. I never thought that would be a concern of mine, considering I made non-black friends easily in high school. Even so, I found myself having awkward conversations with black friends at the start of this year about

helped me realize that, although strong minority communities exist at Penn, there is a lack of intercultural learning outside of those communities that inhibits the way students interact with one another.

Across interviews, students commonly shared that some spaces were not designed for them to inhabit and that minority groups create spaces of their own to be with each other. As College sophomore and Chinese international student Joy Ting Zhang explained, “If I go to a student group meeting [for a culture of which I am not a member], even though I’m very interested in learning about different cultures, sometimes it can feel intimidating.” On the other hand, College freshman segregation: “Oftentimes [if people notice a black person is part of the black community] they assume that you only want to hang out with black people and they don’t bother to get to know you.” This intimidation and reluctance arising from

how we could make more non-black friends because, for some reason, it was not happening naturally. I was more aware of my racial identity than ever before, and I wanted to learn more about how race impacts other students’ experiences at Penn. I with their cultural communities to ask them what they thought the root of this separation was and where they thought we should go from here.

Almost everyone I interviewed said that their cultural group reached out to them immediately upon arriving at Penn, giving them a quick way to start building a home here. College freshman Carlos Couce, who is Cuban-American and a member of La Casa Latina, said, “You can’t expect people to leave home, come here, mix with all these different cultures, and not want to feel part of what they felt they were back home, when they were part of a community that accepted them and knew their customs.” Many people expressed that they have become closer with people of their cultural background because of the kinds of activities they enjoy. Engineering junior Mordy Fried, who was raised in Brooklyn by an Orthodox Jewish family and is now involved in the Hillel community, said, “On Friday night, I probably wouldn’t be going to a concert or going downtown.

I would probably be going to services, having a meal, and hanging out afterwards. By spending that time together, your friendships from those situations become stronger. I personally think that friendships are based on time and values.”

College junior Victoria Ford said, “It’s important to make a distinction between separation and segregation, because separation isn’t negative. Separation occurs from marginalized groups of people who feel they don’t have power that band together to leverage their power. I think when you get to this mentality where you feel like you can’t have dialogues that cross racial boundaries, that’s when it’s segregationist and bad.” Ford

feelings: all students were excited and open to sharing their cultural heritage with me. Would conducting interviews during group meetings rather than one-on-one in Houston Hall feel any different or more intimidating?

Another major contributor to racial separation at Penn seems to be the fact that some people are made more aware of their racial identity than others, which means the whole community is not progressing together. College and Wharton sophomore and IMPACT writer Nicolette Tan, an international student from Singapore, felt like she wasn’t connecting to the American Americanized already because in my high school I was part of the group that talked about American shows quite a lot,” she said. “But when I came here I realized that my hall was talking about all these other things that I didn’t necessarily know about. It was really hard to make friends.” In situations like Tan’s, students become aware of unexpected cultural barriers.

A crucial tenant of the idea of white privilege is the ability to navigate in society without thinking about race, being able to see oneself as a person before a member of a race if one so chooses. Minority students make decisions about their levels of involvement with their cultural communities on campus and balance multiple social circles, some of which may have cultural bases. In addition, Ford, an African American, said,

There is a lack of intercultural learning outside of strong minority communities.

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you feel when you really talk about share cropping, slavery, and the deaths of Jordan Davis and Trayvon Martin.” For various reasons, students have different levels of awareness about the impact of race on our community, but it seems as though minority students feel it is being left up to them to address these their racial identity. Through genuinely reaching out to diverse students and creating inclusive conversations, people who don’t often think about race could help ameliorate the feeling that there is something less comfortable about participating in social circles outside of one’s own. After all, it makes sense that people who are less aware of the issue would be doing less to tackle it, but community building is a two-way street, and we must all acknowledge this separation if we want to change it.

moments when their friends said something they fould racially insensitive, they hesitated to interject because they thought it likely that their friends did not mean to be offensive, didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable, or didn’t want their friends to stop speaking openly with one another.

There are groups on campus, such as the Race Dialogue Project, that work to create an environment where students can have open dialogue about racial and cultural issues in a setting not dominated by any cultural group. College sophomore and Race Dialogue Project board member Brittany Marsh said, “As human beings, I think we need to speak about our racial and problems on a global, societal, and interpersonal level.” The Race Dialogue Project holds many discussions and collaborations throughout the year. Some of their events include One Mic:

Community building is a two-way street, and we must all acknowledge this separation if we want to change it.

Intercultural learning in neutral environments could be the way study done by psychologists Thomas Pettigrew and Linda Tropp in 2006 concluded that increased contact between racial groups in a constructive setting decreases prejudice. While I did not come across prejudice as being behind this lack of integration, it does seem as though students are making assumptions about the type of people they would get along with. College freshman Flora Morgan said, “If you surround yourself with people that look like you, sure, you’ll come across a lot of other differences, but you won’t be getting the experience of talking to someone that comes from a different background but is very similar to you.”

A budding social entrepreneur, Zhang also noticed this issue and created a website called PennWorld where people are matched up with other Penn students who have different cultural backgrounds to get lunch or dinner, make a new friend, and learn about a different culture. PennWorld has already had around 660 sign ups, made around 330 matches, and is developing more ways to pursue its goals through events and student outreach. Much of the genius behind this initiative is the idea that PennWorld creatively introduces two people from different backgrounds and allows them to meet in spaces not controlled by either culture.

In Beverly Daniel Tatum’s book Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria, he concludes that we need to learn how to have constructive race conversations. Students I spoke with outside of the formal interviews expressed that in

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Tell Your Story, art exhibits, and speed mingling events. RDP is looking for more people to join their movement, and it would their conversation.

At the interpersonal level we can all be leaders on this issue.

College senior and President of Alpha Alpha Ike Onyeador touched on the importance of personal agency. He said, “It’s all about the individual at the end of the day. The cultural support groups will always be there to support you no matter what, so if you feel like you need help you can always come back.” I’ve found after spending time with people from different cultural backgrounds that if we allow ourselves to be vulnerable, ask ourselves learning, laughing, and understanding more about the similarities between cultures. Yes, it can be more comfortable to enjoy the company of those we already know; some cultures and some people are just busy. Even so, college synthesizes the world around us. We have the opportunity, as Gandhi said, to “be the change we want to see in the world.”

Don’t allow yourself to make assumptions about which students you have something in common with. Leadership involves making critical interjections on misguided behavior.

Make the extra effort to have inclusive conversations with all individuals in the room. Keep in mind that racial barriers are a false illusion, and we can make the diversity of Penn count as more than a number, but as experiences, love, and friendship.

HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES The State of Class at Penn Written by Rosemary Santos

“

The question of socioeconomic class is probably among the last major areas where students are simply not having a dialogue... Almost everyone chooses to ignore it.

– Penn Student, Class of 2014

President Barack Obama recently claimed that income Washington D.C.’s most impoverished neighborhoods. When “so many children are born into poverty into the world’s richest nation,” how does income inequality fare in the Ivy League?

The estimated cost of attendance at the University of Pennsylvania for the 2014-2015 academic year is $64,200.

Fifty-four percent of the undergraduate student body receives no aid from the University. In a campus of 10,319 undergraduates, well over 5,000 students pay more than $250,000 for a bachelor’s degree from Penn. A study by Georgetown University, “Separate and Unequal,” highlights the lack of socioeconomic diversity in American universities.

Fourteen percent of students from the nation’s most competitive schools come from the lower half of the income bracket, while a mere 5 percent come from the bottom quarter.

These alarming statistics beg the question: does economic diversity affect student life on campus? Campus groups, such as the Race Dialogue Project and Penn Check One, discuss various aspects of racial and ethnic dynamics on campus, yet it seems there isn’t a space where students can voice their thoughts on the issue of class. Because income disparities are so prevalent at Penn, it is crucial to explore how they might affect our student body.

An anonymous survey was recently circulated to examine how prevalent this issue of class really is on our campus.

The survey asked a variety of questions, seeking to uncover perceptions on how socioeconomic backgrounds affect different aspects of a student’s life at Penn.

”

Nearly all respondents wrote that social class divisions exist on our campus, with 55 out of 62 noting that social class plays a role in the identities of students. Out of the 59 that claimed these divisions exist, 50 believed that social divides are most apparent outside of the classroom.

“Considering the atmosphere, food, and program content of the ritzy events that Penn puts on, it appears that we are all being groomed for the lifestyle of the upper class.”

“I think it’s less about people with more money looking down on people with less money, but more about people with more money being unaware of the things they take for granted in terms of always being able to go out to bars and restaurants…. There’s also an for various things besides tuition, like rent and textbooks.”

More than a quarter of undergraduates are involved in Greek life, and 44 out of 62 respondents stated that they themselves, or someone they knew, had felt discouraged to join the Greek community because of an inability to pay dues or partake in social outings.

“There is a socioeconomic segregation culture at Penn; this is most evident in Greek life. If you’re not rich and going to the downtowns, among other events, then you’re not a part of a certain group that dominates the Penn party scene.”

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“The Greek community is actually very vocal about the “affordability” of joining and the effort that will be put into working with each members’ situation. While there are options and people are understanding, at the end of the day, it does have to get paid.” coverage Kenneth Jones, the program coordinator Life, recognizes that many students may feel discouraged from joining the Greek especially due to the mandatory fees.

However, he urges interested students responsibilities and ask questions before rejecting the opportunity to be involved in Greek life. Jones acknowledges that the “Penn Greek community is very aware of the differences in the community [regarding class, race, and other social factors],” but believes that these assumptions “can be turned to general knowledge, if people take some time to really get to know [our] Greeks.”

Engineering sophomore and transfer impressions regarding class dynamics at Penn.

“Coming from a community college that serves mostly low income students, I would say I was defensive. I was afraid of becoming attending an elite school was going to change me, and now that I’ve been here several semesters, I’ll say it has. In some ways

good, and in some bad. But coming here highlighted different instances of class that I didn’t expect. Particularly because Penn is not a bubble. The university staff certainly Philadelphia, and that’s a complex situation to deal with coming from my background.

It’s a daily reminder of the forces at play outside of the school that students here sometimes forget about in their daily grind.”

Although Beato admits the professional nature of Penn is to be expected, as our business, engineering, and nursing schools essentially serve as career tracks, the degree “professionalism on campus” struck him most. “But what truly stuns me no matter

Because income disparities are so prevalent at Penn, it is crucial to explore how they might affect our student body. how many times I think about it,” he says, “is that half of undergraduates that gain or consulting.”

The general sentiment among most respondents regarding social life and employment prospects is best described in the quote below: “I think social class differences become most evident in a) social settings (e.g. when a group you’re in doesn’t care about the price of the BYO it is considering for a board event), and b) in the and does not necessarily affect one’s quality of life (you can survive without that BYO), but the topic is of higher importance. For example, you can see students of higher social classes not even going through the standard application procedures because they already have things

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“arranged” for them by their parents. Or consider the following sequence: ability to pay for fraternity opportunity to bond with older members of said fraternity opportunity to contact them when they graduate higher chance of getting selected for an interview and getting a positive evaluation higher chance of getting a job.” coverage How can we ensure that students of lower socioeconomic classes have access to the same rich network of job opportunities as their upper-class peers? Though this varying job prospects between students with networks and those without are worth noting. students form their identities at Penn.

Financial capabilities, familial networks, social activities, and general comfort in engaging with students from other backgrounds all work together to form the identities students will leave with when they graduate from Penn. Though the university has made great strides in ensuring an affordable college education for all, it is true that the education received in the classroom

students’ identities. The friends they keep, their networks, and the activities they engage in are what will ultimately identify them among others. Students who cannot attend the BYOs, the downtowns, the networking the country leave Penn with a very different experience than many of their peers.

At a campus as diverse and as innovative as Penn, how can we bridge the socioeconomic gap among our students? How can we ensure students without access to capital feel fully integrated and comfortable with the complex class structure built into the higher education system?

One way of addressing the issue is through event planning. An increase in social events that encompass the entire student body, in addition to NSO and Spring Fling, can reduce the number of weekends students feel the need to head downtown.

These events are a great way for students to connect and bond with one another without having to break their bank accounts.

Another way of tackling the issue of class is by raising awareness. According to Amy Gutmann’s biography, Gutmann students from low-income, middle-income, the university.” This is a great improvement, and it deserves recognition. However, the enrollment of a more economically diverse student body requires greater effort from both the University and student body in making these students feel comfortable beyond the classroom.

In order to amplify the message, students and interested faculty members can form a “Bridging Gaps” campaign. The campaign

would raise awareness concerning issues of class division and promote dialogue through various outlets, such as social media messaging, print media, and posters or banners on Locust Walk with simple messages like: “Who’s in your social circle?”

“How diverse is your friend group?”

“Let’s break barriers at Penn” “Greek life is for everyone” “More potlucks, less BYOs” “Let’s BYO our potlucks” Walt Whitman once wrote, “We contain multitudes.” As Penn students, let’s create a culture of awareness around our complex identities. Let’s eliminate the stigma. Let’s eliminate the silence. Let’s celebrate our diversity, and take the time to recognize how the other half lives.

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DIAGNOSING

STUDENT DISTRESS: The Causes and Symptoms of the Penn Struggle Written by Leora Mincer

T

his semester has been a challenging one for the Penn community. Two student suicides and two other student deaths sparked a campus-wide discussion about mental health. The university announced that it would be hiring additional staff for Penn’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and would be forming the Task Force on Student Psychological Health and Welfare, focused on making recommendations about the overall state of mental well-being at Penn. The deaths spurred a conversation in the pages of The Daily Pennsylvanian, on Facebook, and in blog posts.

These tragedies seem to have prompted students to wonder, “What’s wrong with Penn?” Is there something about this place that creates unendurable mental distress? Are stress, anxiety, and depression integral and unavoidable facets of the Penn student identity?

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?

IS THIS NORMAL? Everyone seems to be speculating as to what it is about Penn that damages mental health.

But Penn may not be as unique as we think.

There has been a nationwide increase in demand for college counseling centers in the last decade, according to CAPS Director of Outreach and Prevention Meeta Kumar. The suicide rate among young adults, ages 15 to 24, has tripled since the 1950s, and suicide is currently the second most common cause of death among college students, according to the American College Health Association. In fact, the Suicide Prevention Resource mental illness.

Psychology professor Dianne Chambless, who specializes in studying anxiety disorders, explained that the transition to their families and are suddenly both more responsible for their own well-being and less likely to have others notice that they’re struggling.

Big life transitions are commonly known to cause mental distress. Many Penn students’ struggles are normal developmental issues.

But on a college campus these “normal developmental issues” can spiral into crises.

Students might struggle to deal with ordinary challenges when they have to simultaneously juggle the various demands of college life. “Yes, you’re dealing with a breakup,” Kumar said, “but you have to show up for class, you have to take your midterm.”

And the stress can be exacerbated by how students react to it.

We all have a seemingly unlimited number of things to take care of in a limited amount of time. It comes down to prioritizing what we will actually get around to doing and what we will neglect. With tests, extracurriculars, and social demands, we might just have to skip that trip to the gym, sleep fewer hours, or scarf down some quesadillas from Wawa to help us study. “All the things that we tell people are important,” said Kumar, “those so many demands. It’s hard to prioritize self-care.”

Furthermore, the symptoms of serious mental illnesses such appear between the ages of 18 and 24, right around the time when an organization devoted to improving and promoting the mental health of college students.

Even if those symptoms appeared before a student arrived at school, the conditions of college life can often deeply aggravate these mental illnesses.

Chambless explained that many different anxiety disorders can be affected by the transition to college and the independence that comes with it. “Increased responsibility tends to kick off higher levels of anxiety.” Dealing with many new peers, approaching intimidating professors, and being separated from important people in one’s life can all negatively impact those already prone to anxiety disorders.

Are stresses and pressures on our mental health simply an inevitable part of being a college student?

WHAT IS IT ABOUT PENN? It would be both overly simplistic and wrong to reduce a student’s mental health or the tragedies that have happened on campus to Penn’s “culture.” However, there are legitimate factors that have a serious effect on the general well-being of the student population, and exploring these mental pressures can aid us all in combatting them both alone and collectively.

When you talk to Penn students about mental health or about the Penn identity in general, certain trends emerge pretty quickly.

STRAIGHT-A STUDENTS Penn students are not just your average American college kids.

Almost everyone experiences the transition from “top of the class” in high school to “middle of the pack” in college. If you’re a Penn student, chances are you were accustomed to excelling in and out of the classroom, in part through innate skill, but

IMPACTMAGAZINE-UPENN.COM \ 23

also through hard work. You had always been on a high-achieving track. You worked hard, you got the grades, the internship, or the position as editor of your school paper, and you advanced.

Engineering senior Harrison Mace commented that Penn students are expected to be smart, capable, and able to handle whatever responsibilities they take on. And Penn students take on a lot. “Laziness at this college does not come close to laziness at some other place.”

The trouble comes when things end up being different than many of us are used to measuring our self-worth or success by grades, explained Kumar.

And we often feel we’re on our own facing this struggle. Students frequently come into counseling convinced that everyone around pressure. However, the fact of the matter is that we all struggle to

LOST IN A SEA Both in numbers and in culture, Penn can feel big and disconnected.

Penn has the second highest number of undergraduate students

and third highest number of graduate students of any Ivy League school.

College sophomore Mira Taichman arrived at Penn after a year at Oberlin College, a small liberal arts school in Ohio. She said that was hardest for her was that Penn seemed large and impersonal.

“Penn can be a really lonely place,” she said. “I think I’ve had really excellent professors who’ve made a point to make themselves I could just knock on their door anytime.”

Political Science professor Lia Howard claimed that it’s not that Penn professors don’t want to be invested in students, but that at a large research university, the focus winds up being on research and grants, for both professors and students. Everyone at Penn, Those who are consciously trying to handle the pressures of college oftentimes struggle at Penn because it is so large and decentralized. Howard has been trying to address issues of stress in her classes, but says that it can be hard to do so on a wider scale when Penn has no real central communication system. There is “no one way to tap into student culture,” said Howard. Kumar said that this is one of CAPS’ greatest obstacles. “It can be really challenging hold an event that feels accessible to all students on this campus?”

GOTTA GET RECRUITED Regardless of what we are studying, we students are prone to added stress from the pressure to embark on a rewarding, “There’s a big ‘change the world’ feeling here,” said Howard.

And while it can be inspiring to work on big goals, those aspirations can become overwhelming.

College sophomore Gloria Huangpu, who transferred from only on thinking about your career after college, but on the need to compete with your peers to reach that career. “It wasn’t quite as cutthroat or emphasized at Penn State. [At Penn, it’s] either you get this job or I get [it].”

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And “OCR (on-campus recruitment) culture” can do even more than create a more competitive environment on campus. When you see college as a means to an end, to a career, you lose something else.

College senior Aaron Wilson has begun omitting his GPA from his resume when submitting job applications. “Everyone cares a lot about [his or her] grades,” he explained. “Jobs and learning become so strongly connected that people lose sight of the point of college being to pursue what you’re passionate about.”

“I don’t really feel like I go to a liberal arts school, I feel like I go to a pre-professional school,” said College senior Eliana Machefsky, a political science major interested in education. The general sentiment that permeates campus is: “You should be making money, and here’s how to do it.” Machefsky noted that Goldman Sachs is one of the top three employers of Penn graduates.

Wilson pointed out that even professors are affected by the student culture. The vast majority of professors devote part of

In such a decentralized school, the drive to address mental health needs to also come from the many smaller spheres that exist within the greater Penn community. Students spend much of their time outside the classroom in various student groups. Machefsky noted conversations she’s had with friends who are leaders of some groups and are hoping to change the way meetings are conducted.

“You can have decentralized communities, but then they have to be communities,” she said. “They have to be a place where you can be your whole self.” Rather than getting straight down to business, leaders might incorporate some time to talk to their members simply about how they’re doing in their personal lives.

Additionally, there is clearly a need to break down the stigma surrounding mental health. “Our students don’t feel comfortable coming into CAPS, so we are always looking to go out and become part of the community,” explained Kumar. Various student groups are working to raise awareness about mental health issues.

Active Minds is a student organization that has recently garnered

be determined. Wilson sees that as skewed priorities. “Why do we not speak primarily in terms of what the goals are in terms of learning?”

which students can post anonymously. Many already have, writing candidly about their mental health issues and even suicide attempts while at Penn. “We hope our blog will inspire people to realize that it can happen to everyone,” said College junior Changhee Han. Active Minds is hoping to give people both solace in the idea that they are not alone, and the courage to speak up about their struggles. College junior and Active Minds President Victoria Ng added, “It’s just like everything else. You’re telling me that you’re sick, you have pneumonia or pink eye, but why aren’t you telling me about your depression? I think it should be talked about.”

Perhaps that is where we have to begin as a community. The stigma against mental illness and counseling is one we acknowledge intellectually, but not emotionally. We can accept that there are people out there who need help, but we don’t want to accept that we ourselves may not be able to handle everything on our own. We want to be supportive friends, but when a friend seems like he or she struggling with something more serious, we become unsure or scared. In our minds, therapy or mental illness become not just an

WORK HARD, PLAY HARD Known as the “Party Ivy,” Penn students may feel they need to live up to that aspect of their identity. They believe that as much as they need to study, they need to party just as hard, said Howard.

At Penn, it’s not enough to be successful academically. This means that time dedicated to unwinding from academic work can itself become a source of stress.

The irony is that the “work hard, play hard” refrain may be affecting the Penn student culture when many students don’t even really identify with it.

Wilson said he believes that only a small minority of students actually enjoy the party culture. Everyone else “is just sort of do?”

Machefsky added that while only about 30 percent of the campus joins a fraternity or sorority, Greek life dominates Penn’s social sphere. Religious, spiritual, or intellectual groups might be well known, but are considered peripheral groups and don’t really have a broader impact on Penn social life.

WHAT’S BEING DONE CAPS is currently testing various programs that try to increase awareness among students. The department also tries to train Penn personnel to handle issues of mental health, especially those who work closely with students in both academics and in student life.

CAPS hopes to get people to identify struggling students early and encourage them to seek help.

or her stand apart.

Appearances and labels often seem entrenched in our daily lives at Penn. We want to be the smartest students in the classroom, the wildest partiers on the weekends, and the most on-track for our high-powered careers post-college. And admitting that we or our friends have some kind of “weakness,” whether it be depression, anxiety, confusion, or simply loneliness, can seem like a terrifying chink in our armor.

It’s time for us to willingly shed that armor, learn how to transcend the “Penn identity,” and embrace who we really are and what the pressures of college life may or may not be doing to us. Perhaps about the pressures and stresses on our individual identities, we will who supports, and yes, who struggles.

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WHEN YOU’RE WORRIED ABOUT A FRIEND

WHEN YOU’RE STRUGGLING

Take the Time to Talk Sit down and have a conversation with your friend. “It’s

feel that you are struggling and no one is noticing.

“Present the data in a caring way and say, ‘I’m noticing something, I feel concerned.’ Ask what’s going on.”

There Are Many Options Kumar explained, “CAPS is just one of the resources.”

A friend can encourage someone to talk to a close family member or advisor.

You Can Make the Difference “It’s important for friends to break down some of the stigmas [around counseling]…many times friends walk friends over to CAPS.” It’s important to make the effort, Kumar said, even if a friend doesn’t seem receptive to getting any help. Kumar recounts the many times that students come into CAPS and cite a conversation they had with a friend weeks or months earlier, which was the But Don’t Become A Crutch Chambless cautioned students about becoming “overinvolved in trying to hold together a roommate or a friend who’s having serious psychiatric problems.”

Students may believe that it would be disloyal to tell somebody like the RA, call the counseling center, or say to the friend, ‘Look, this is really beyond me. You need to get help.’ A student’s college experience could be really damaged by the fact that they’re doing something for which they’re really not trained.

In such a situation, Chambless recommended that a person “insist that your troubled friend needs to get help or be honest with the people who they are already seeking help from.”

From left to right: Psychology professor Dianne Chambless, Political Science professor Lia Howard, and CAPS Director of Outreach and Prevention Meeta Kumar

It’s important to take some kind of action.

Psychology professor Dianne Chambless encourages students to do whatever is necessary, including: • Talking to an RA • Calling CAPS • Just talking to friends to understand if they’re going through similar things.

• “It can be good to even get on the web and read about the problems that you’re having.”

Website devoted to issues of mental health (and • • • •

The Jed Foundation – www.jedfoundation.org ULifeline – www.ulifeline.org Half of Us – www.halfofus.com Pennsive: Penn’s Mental Health Tumblr – www.pennmentalhealth.tumblr.com

Ask yourself: Are these issues affecting my daily functioning? My ability to cope with school? Do I feel unable to focus on a regular basis? Am I having trouble engaging socially as usual? Am I experiencing strange disruptions, like constant anger or disturbing thoughts?

How Long Is Too Long?

“Two weeks is usually a window,” said CAPS Director of Outreach and Prevention Meeta Kumar. “If you’ve been dealing with something for two weeks, you should pay attention to that.”

Make Your Mental Health a Priority “There can be students who might be struggling with a mental illness but that’s not one of their main focuses.

They don’t have time to focus on their mental health,” Active Minds President Victoria Ng said. “They think about their physical health. Everyone talks about how many hours of sleep you had every night, but not how many hours you had to just relax or calm down.

Everything is academics or extracurricular activities. I don’t think students make it a priority to just relax.”

As one website on college mental health put it, “If your foot was hurting days or weeks on end, you’d go to a doctor to get it checked out. It’s just as important to be proactive about how you’re feeling and to get support for your emotional health. If making that call or setting an appointment is too overwhelming, talk to a friend or better.”

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I

born into a body in time into a body of people I began to try and understand

Written by Isaac Silber

heard in the expression hidden within words a language universal being of sound buried in plain ear sight felt always listening

in

sound

I

learned to sound in word clarity a self I did not yet know words could mold

I inside a

out center

and seal

felt hardens fast upon being pressed pain with every scalding shift in shape This as red veins a lens through which taste stained red blood present speaks to mind I call bled on bare skin home I cried tears and fear as scents was real. trigger but arms held body close mind and I and love is comfort feel the rest with each breath of your embrace brush like cold I grow deeper into self wind against wax I saw it with watching seems we eyes patterns I are to be from mirror the all I can see way of us

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I am a body a ripple

Actionless

a culmination of every thought that

into river not river The Way I remember play to be

ever been tossed out into the swelling expanse of knowing

melting deep into center through seal I see with bright eye glowing from center to seal I see being and remembering being remembering being in remembering I return through remembering to body being and accepting being and accepting being in accepting I return through accepting into body from seal I see echoes past in present molding echoes sound substance melding answers with questions what is at center what is at center what is at center what is at center is being in center I return to follow in exhale moments of movement glowing I listen

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Faith in Flux: Navigating Religion Through College L Written by Aaron Wolff

ast November, the Penn Secular Society displayed a series of posters challenging various traditional religious beliefs. One poster listed a series of obscure deities and posed this question: “Given all the Gods no one believes in anymore, what is one more?” Another provided quotes from the scriptures of various religious groups meant to demonstrate the patriarchy embedded in these venerated texts. Over the span of two weeks, the Secular Society’s posters were defaced a grand total of four times. The vandalism provoked condemnation from a wide variety of people, a series of op-eds in The Daily Pennsylvanian

As these events illustrate, religion is an issue that evokes deep emotion and serious disagreement. But it is also much more than that. Religion can be an integral part of a person’s identity. It is something with which some people struggle, and it is also something that can provide people with comfort. It is a major time commitment, an added struggle at a university like Penn where people are chronically short on time. It is a lens through which people observe the entire world, and it may be hard for someone who is not religious to fully understand the centrality of a faith in the life of its adherents. For example, one commenter on the DP website, posting under the pseudonym “Secularist,” pointed to what he or she saw as a double standard. Many people condemned the vandalism of the Secular Societies posters, but said they “understood why [the vandalists] would do it.”

Secularist claimed that “if any Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, etc. poster were to be defaced, it would be decried as intolerant.” Perhaps the poster was defaced, though, not because it was secular, but because the vandals viewed the poster as an attack on people’s identities. Those who claimed to understand the motive of the vandals may have perceived this admittedly subtle distinction.

While the Penn Secular Society is perhaps the most obvious challenge to a person’s religious identity on Penn’s campus, it is far from the most challenging. To get

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a better perspective on some of those challenges, I spoke to University Chaplain Reverend Charles Howard in his holding several volumes of ornate Bibles, the chaplain explained the power of religion at our age. “This kind of window between 18 and 22 is an important time for certainly true of religion and spirituality.” Howard went on to describe that it is an age of coming into belief.

Questions arise, observance declines, but people come back to religion. Usually, by their late twenties when they start to build their own families or by middle age when they start to think about mortality, they return to the observance of their youth. But right now in college,

and public intellectual Charles Taylor, in his 2007 work A Secular Age, outlines several different connotations of secularism. One is the idea that “faith… is one human possibility among others.” Not only is faith only one possibility among others, but, at Penn, it is quite obvious that each faith is only one possibility among Islam, Buddhism, Baha’ism, Sikhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Judaism, secularism, and Paganism. This plurality of faiths is a real challenge for some students who have never been seriously exposed to this type of diversity.

Chaplain Howard told me that students of all faiths routinely come to him with their struggles: Orthodox Jews struggling with the prohibition of listening to a woman singing, Muslims failling in love with hip-hop, Christians struggling to understand how their non-Christian friends can end up in Hell. Assistant Director of the Newman

Catholic Center Jeff Klein reports a similar experience.

“People who don’t have strong faith struggle with being in a diverse community,” he said.

Not all students struggle with the pluralism at Penn, though. College freshman Aaron Schweitzer, an Orthodox Jew who was wearing a black felt yarmulke when we spoke, said, “Seeing people from different backgrounds makes me realize that I have a unique voice on campus and my religious beliefs are as important as anyone else’s. I would say that it makes me stronger in my beliefs because I am the representative to Penn for my religion and my beliefs, so it motivates me to learn more about my religion junior and co-chair of the Penn interfaith organization PRISM (Programs in Religion, Interfaith, and Spirituality Matters) Josh Chilcote insisted that students come away from interfaith dialogue stronger in their beliefs. “It’s like building muscle in the gym,” he opined. “You need to break down muscle before you can build more.” Several Muslim students I spoke to in the subterranean Student Religious Center echoed Chilcote’s sentiment. College sophomore Fahmida Sarmin felt she “learned a lot from other faiths,” and College sophomore Habeeb Suara said such dialogue really “opens your mind.”

Some religious students struggle with Penn’s diversity, to the dynamics of religious identity as a whole. Religious identity itself can be both enriching and comforting, but it can also be a source of struggle and angst. College and Wharton junior Seth Koren, founder of Penn Secular Society, explained that many of the organization’s members come from religious backgrounds. “Some members’ parents excommunicated them,” he said.

Similarly, some students, while still passionately religious, struggle with the mores of their communities. Nursing freshman Ian Jeong, a Presbyterian Christian, told me that while being gay is not a sin according to his church, homosexual intercourse is. When he came out to religious

leaders, they suggested he live a life of abstinence, advice he resents. Other religious communities take similar stances, complicating the relationships of LGBTQ+ students with their faith traditions and communities.

In addition to being a cause of intrapersonal confusion, religion has been described by some (usually pejoratively) as a crutch. However, College and Wharton sophomore Nichols Zaraa, a devout Catholic and pro-life advocate, insists that “religion is a crutch for us all.” Religion is an important source of relief from the constant stress of campus life, both because of the community it provides and because of the spiritual dimension into which its adherents can retreat. Still, it behooves us to remember that it can be a shaky crutch. At a time when the university is reevaluating its approach to mental health, it is important to remember that religion is a huge part of the lives of many of Penn’s students. Therefore, so are the confusions and struggles that come with it, futures indeterminate. Still, despite the pain that the struggle inescapably entails, or perhaps because of this pain, it is worthwhile. So no matter where you are in your spiritual journey, take a moment to think critically about

University Chaplain Reverand Charles Howard

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FACULTY SPOTLIGHT

KATHRYN WATTERSON IDENTITY, CULTURE, AND INCARCERATION Interviewed by Taylor Hosking

K

athryn Watterson is a writer, social justice leader, and professor in the English department at the University of Pennsylvania. Three of Professor Watterson’s books have been chosen as The New York Times’ notable books of the year. Her books include: Not by the Sword: How a Cantor and his Family Transformed a Klansman (winner of a Christopher Award in 1996), You Must Be Dreaming (the basis of the NBC movie Betrayal of Trust), and Women in Prison: Inside the Concrete Womb (the basis of ABC documentary Women in Prison). Professor Watterson has also published a variety of short stories, essays, and articles in newspapers such as The New York Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer. At Penn, she teaches graduate and undergraduate writing courses that emphasize race, class, justice, and storytelling. We sat down with Watterson to speak about important topics in her own work and experiences that deal with identity, bridging cultures, and how the realities of incarceration and the prison system affect identity.

IMPACT: What are some of the most important things you’ve found about bridging identities with others?

WATTERSON: We have really big systemic issues, but I feel that so many things are solved by people coming together. Just like that [American cultural anthropologist] Margaret Mead quote: “A small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world.” The more we connect with each other and the more we break through our own internal barriers, it seems the more possibility there is for people actually joining together to make it a kind of world we’d like to leave our children. That thing we always seem to forget: that we’re going to die and if we’re lucky the world’s going to still be here, but only if we treat the world better and treat each other better. For me, I think I always had a longing both for freedom and for justice. Even as a child, when really unjust things happened I felt like I had to act on it.

IMPACT: with social justice and bringing people together?

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WATTERSON: I was in the South during the Civil Rights Movement and what I saw got me, down to my toes, and this kind of slow uncovering went on from there. That’s where it really came into me. The only thing I ever thought I could do is teach writing because I’m a writer. I started tutoring some boys going into ninth grade in the basement of this African Methodist Episcopal Church.

It became a class of 40 kids. We met every morning during the summer, and it was such an education for me. I ended up informally teaching at the black high school because the system in Florida wouldn’t hire a white teacher to work at a black high school. It was much more of an education for me than for them.

IMPACT: What were some of your biggest lessons from the books that you’ve written and people whose stories you’ve told?

WATTERSON: Women in Prison. I was so upset about what I thought the FBI was doing to black leadership, and I couldn’t get anybody to write about that or believe it. It seemed to me that there was a targeted thing against black leadership

going on. I wanted my newspaper to look at it in the different cities. I’d seen it in Florida, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Camden, New York. They were just arresting black leaders constantly. There were informers.

Stuff that I could see was happening. If it was happening here, it had to be happening all over the country. But nobody was interested in it at that point. I felt like I had to do something, so I ended up teaching at [Holmesburg] prison… It ended up being for the most dangerous men in maximum security. I had no idea what I was walking into. I ended up teaching a workshop every afternoon. I learned so much about what was going on in the prison system. Because of that, I ended up investigating the state prison system. Nobody had ever investigated the prisons from the prisoner’s point of view before. I learned a lot about the legacies of slavery in our prison system. Then I was asked to do a magazine article on women in prison. Then I was asked to do a book, and then I got to go all over the country.

IMPACT: Was there anything in particular that the women you interviewed for Women in Prison said that shed light on what they really wanted to be conveyed?

WATTERSON: The thing that I saw in the prison system that I think is the most important thing to convey is that 99 percent of the people in prison are poor, or they wouldn’t be there. There are statistics and things you would never know because middle-class white people and upper-class white people are not even stopped and every point in the system. If you think about the discrimination, it starts in kindergarten. more often than white children, usually for more subjective reasons like aggression or attitude. White children are punished for actually hitting somebody, not just for

that’s too many. Slavery By Another Name, by Douglas Blackmen, talks about the whole criminal system that was put into place [after emancipation] to keep black men working, oftentimes on their own plantations. It’s easy to read and totally well-researched and documented. Michelle Alexander’s book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in a Time of Colorblindness is another important book on this topic. It’s just mind-boggling.

IMPACT: Having spoken with many people that have found themselves in upsetting or desperate positions, what do you think is important to know about moving toward positive change from a negative place?

WATTERSON: I think that it’s like a wound. It has to be exposed to air and light to be healed. Our inside wounds have to have some air and light, too. One of the most helpful things to do sometimes is to write about it without judgment for yourself.

You don’t have to show it to anybody, but you have to acknowledge it or it’s not going to heal. Everything about our bodies is made to heal. The psychic wounds and the learn from and let go. Sometimes it can be just comforting ourselves or saying, “Boy, that was really hard and you survived.” Learn how strong you are. Learn how beautiful you are inside and how your heart beats and your breath comes in and out. It’s a lot of work to be human beings and I think that part of the job [of being human] is to have compassion for others as well as ourselves. We’re all make divisions, divide ourselves off, or feel superior or inferior, and we’re not. We’re all here and we’re all breathing the same air. There’s so much room for compassion

all through school. More black children are kicked out of kindergarten. That in many ways determines who’s in prison. Blacks represent 13 to 17 percent of illegal drug users in this country, while whites represent 77 percent, and yet 80 percent of the new drug admissions are black. That’s insane.

That’s not justice.

When I wrote [Women in Prison], I thought, “If people just knew what prison was…” because people don’t know what prison is.

People don’t really know what it feels like.

Everything is controlled. All you have with you is your inner mind and that’s hard to hold onto in the face of every single day being told when to get up, when to eat, what to wear, how to stand. It’s a soul-crushing institution, and there [are] 2.5 million people in it right now.

IMPACT: What do you think should happen to the future of the prison system?

WATTERSON: I think that the prison system as it is in the United States of America should be eliminated. If you were really dealing with just violent people you could have one prison for the whole east coast.

Prison administrators used to say to me that they thought if we were really dealing with the people that need to be incarcerated, it would be two out of ten, and I think even IMPACTMAGAZINE-UPENN.COM \ 33

instead of competition and for caring and sharing our resources rather than blaming and shaming each other.

IMPACT: What are some important things to keep in mind when trying to understand the meaningful world of another person?

WATTERSON: Listen without anticipation of what you want to say. Sometimes have a set-up with friends where it’s not a conversation, where you just have going on with you because there’s so much people don’t hear in each other’s experiences, or they want to deny it. We need to be able to see what is before we can change it. We project a lot on other people.

When somebody’s yelling at you, you may feel shame or blame or whatever, but it’s important to realize that they’re not really talking about you. People usually talk about themselves and often project on you what they’re afraid of, and the closer people are, the more they tend to do that.

IMPACT: What are some of the most important aspects of your own identity?

WATTERSON: I’d say I’ve lived my whole life trying to take in my whole identity. I got married young and I took my husband’s name, which was Burkhart. So when I started writing I was using this name, which is the way a lot of people in Philadelphia knew me. Kathryn Watterson is my maiden name that I had avoided by using my nickname, which was Kitsi, and my married name, Burkhart. The day that I said, “We’re not married anymore,” and the bus pulled out, I felt like the skin was pulled off my face towards him. Later, I realized that was my mask. He was a normal person who was grounded and knew how to operate in the world, whereas I didn’t. But that was a really huge thing for me. I felt like a brand new person the next day. I felt like myself. Part of that was going back to my maiden name, Watterson. That was one struggle. Part of what I struggled to come to terms with was that I had a fairly traumatic childhood.

That’s been part of my search for my identity, not just as a rebellious child, but as part of what I went through, which helped me become who I am. It also gives me compassion for people who have been victimized by anything. I was also very mad from the time I was little about women. I really didn’t want to

house or under the rule of a man. I thought I would die before I got married. Before I got married I told my husband, “Don’t ever call me ‘wife’” because it’s too impersonal. [laughs] IMPACT: Would you be able to describe what your personal philosophy is like?

WATTERSON: I guess it’s “speak your truth.” It’s scary to do, but you have to do it. When you see an injustice, stand up against it. Respect others. Know nobody’s higher or lower than you. Don’t be a bully and don’t accept a bully. Never let anybody hit you.

Never let anybody put you down. You don’t have to expectations of you. Don’t try to conform yourself to what you think others want of you. Sometimes it seems easier to give in to what you feel is social pressure even if it goes against you. When it goes against you, listen to yourself.

IMPACT: What would you say to people who want to be respectful of others but also speak out against injustices?

WATTERSON: I think one of the strongest ways to speak out is to speak for yourself rather than trying to speak for anybody else. That’s one of the things that I think is powerful about speaking out against oppression: giving your experience or helping other people to do that. One of the assignments I give my students is to describe an experience of bigotry that they’ve either experienced or witnessed. Sometimes witnessing bigotry or oppression is a very powerful teacher, too. I think it’s the stories that help people grow their hearts. I think that’s the most powerful place to stand. If you look at Audre Lorde or James Baldwin, people who have really had an impact on the way that we think, they’ve spoken their truths.

They’ve spoken their vision.

Kathryn Watterson is getting to the bottom of how racial, socioeconomic, and gender identities affect people’s navigation in society. She is an inspiring example of what and speaking truth can bring to this world.

FEMINISM A Global and Collegiate Introduction

Written by Saraf Ahmed

F

opposite of feminism, which then raises the question: What exactly is feminism and who are feminists?

Feminism, then, affects everyone.

The movement toward gender equality has always existed in some slumbering

emale superiority.

Revenge for…what, exactly?

Rape culture.

Screaming on street corners.

Hairy and unhygienic.

Can’t take a joke.

Femi-nazis.

Something about dismantling a patriarchy? But, like, men and women are equal now…right?

These are just a sampling of common misconceptions that people use to describe feminism. But these ideas are exactly the

A feminist is a person of any gender who pursues and advocates global rights and equality of all people and studies the nature of gender inequality. Feminists examine the lived experience and social roles of all genders, such as women being trapped as homemakers or the expectation for men to be breadwinners. The very word “feminism” also serves as an umbrella term for a myriad of gender-based social and humanitarian disciplines, including such topics as hunger, poverty, and the sexual assault of women and children around the world .

century with motions towards universal suffrage, with New Zealand sparking the and the United States following within the next forty years. Feminist movements in the West declined in postwar years but saw a hefty resurgence both in popular and intellectual movements in the 1960s onward.

Today, feminism has expanded beyond the general equality of all humans to focus on a multitude of gender-related issues,

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A feminist is a person of any gender who pursues and advocates global rights and equality of all humans and studies the nature of gender inequality.

including workplace discrimination, rape culture and sexual violence, women’s issues as determined by race, and the breakdown the issues. According to the 2012 U.S. Census Bureau, women earn 77 cents to each dollar earned by men. Women Organized Against Rape (WOAR) reports that one in three American women will be the victim of sexual assault or physical abuse in her lifetime. In the face of these facts and many The movement has especially taken root in college campuses throughout the world. The University of Pennsylvania is consistently viewed as one of the most feminist-friendly universities in the United States. A multitude of student organizations exist that address various aspects of feminism, some of which are Penn Abuse and Sexual Assault Prevention (ASAP); FWord, Penn’s premier feminist literary magazine; 1 in 4, an all-male organization focusing on peer-education to prevent sexual violence; and the Vagina Monologues, with the mission of fostering

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dialogue regarding violence and double which culminates annually in the February 14th V-Day campaign, One Billion Rising, in order to bring awareness to the fact that nearly one billion women globally are affected by violence.

Penn feminism especially focuses on the dismantling and prevention of rape culture, or the social elements (including sexual

The University of Pennsylvania is consistently viewed as one of the most feminist-friendly universities in the United States. blaming) that both directly and indirectly normalize, trivialize, and even condone rape. The discussion often includes breaking down stereotypes and expanding awareness

and education of the diversity of voices that make up the feminist movement. “A common misconception within rape culture [is] that survivors are only straight, white, cisgender, able-bodied women,” as told by College sophomore and ASAP member factor of modern-day feminism is that it tries to incorporate intersectionality into its politics, which is what we aim to do in spaces like ASAP.” Discussions in student forums center around a multitude of topics, including body image, and racial and ethnic sex-positivity, which holds that it is a woman’s choice to have as much or as little sex as she pleases with whomever she wishes. Campus-wide events such as the annual spring “Take Back the Night” rally, a global march focused on raising awareness of rape culture, have been hugely successful not only in spreading awareness of sexual assault prevention at Penn, but also in spreading awareness and securing involvement from Drexel, Temple, and the broader Philadelphia community.

Dozens of students and citizens alike also take part each October in Philadelphia’s “SlutWalk: March to End Rape Culture,” which is only one of hundreds held globally.

But why does feminism at Penn and other colleges primarily focus on sexual assault and abuse education? This is due to the closer attainability of collegiate-feminist goals for our age group. “Issues surrounding sexual violence and alcohol are probably more immediately relatable to us than are issues that broader feminism advocates, such as systematic workplace discrimination or irresponsible popular culture,” writes Imran Cronk, College sophomore and member of 1 in 4. “These issues are important, but Penn students may feel more compelled to advocate on issues that directly impact their friends right now.” Laurelli agrees,

noting that college feminism is “much more campus-focused,” but points out that internet activism and feminism, which covers “is also aimed at people within our own age group.” However, recent years have seen an uptick in the exploration of feminist issues outside of the collegiate bubble; students have voiced interest in exploring these other issues pertaining to feminist education at Penn. Cronk adds, “Two of my friends recently started Penn for Reproductive Health and have already gained the support of the university administration in making resources available to students.”

I ask each and every one of you to stand up on behalf of not just every woman in your life, but on behalf of every person of every gender. If you are male or female, young or

old, stand up on behalf of all individuals who deserve to see their fathers treat their mothers with respect, who deserve to live an innocent, carefree childhood, who deserve to see themselves and each person around them have the same opportunities for love, security, and happiness. Call yourself a feminist. Feminism is not simply a passing fad that bursts and ebbs, but a shift towards social change and empowerment to make this world a little better for all seven billion of us. From small victories in every day life to historical moments, feminists are working towards the goal of equality for all humans regardless of gender, race, culture, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic background.

In essence, feminists are not simply a category of humans, but the kind of human every person should strive to be.

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Written by Brennan Cusack

BREAKING THE BINARY: Reformulating Our Concept of Gender G

rades and extracurricular activities get the freshmen admitted to Penn, but on the

group’s girl-to-guy ratio is what gets them into the parties. After 10 PM, they hit the streets with a couple girls to every guy looking for a taste of the quintessential college experience.

Britt Gilbert’s ratio was good. Yet the frat brothers at the door looked at Britt and another person in the group and said, “You look like lesbians. You don’t count.” Not girly enough for the night’s standards and without potential to be a pledge, they were turned away.

Britt has tousled auburn hair that’s cropped right under the chin, a slender frame, and green eyes. Britt is bi-gender and learned within 24 hours of arriving to college that not adhering to a gender binary could close doors on a campus. But it’s not just Britt who is limited by the expectation to be “boy” or “girl,” it’s everyone at Penn.

It starts with a sifting process. Check a box on an application and half the freshman class is eliminated from being a possible roommate. dress and understand where to take a morning shower. Go to the club fair and know not to give your email to the groups for students who used a different bathroom that morning.

Play a coed intramural sport and the league dress scores. Join a coed dance group and get split up by male and female to decide leading and following. Pledge a coed fraternity as an alternative choice outside the “traditional” options.

College sophomore Kate Campbell was looking for a club before coming to Penn in the fall of 2012. There were many focusing on sexuality, religion, and race, but none focused on questioning gender identity. So Kate reached out to the LGBT 2016 Facebook group to see

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if anyone was interested.

People responded, forming a community where people could discuss relationships with gender identity: Penn Non-Cis. Two years later, Kate and Britt are now looking to tackle the taboo of gender on campus. It’s not always that students outside Penn Non-Cis are opposed to the club’s conversations. “It’s that they don’t know these conversations exist or they don’t know how to have them,” says Britt. This might be because many people believe gender is genetic.

But gender isn’t anatomy.

An X or a Y chromosome determines a newborn baby’s sex. Sex becomes gendered when a baby is presented as a son or a corresponding expectations like naming, dressing, and even picking the color of a blanket or bedroom.

Female anatomy, though, does not mean the baby is biologically drawn to the girl’s section of a clothing store. However, being called a are taught to shop in the section with the dresses.

Thus, sex and gender are only linked by society. What separates trans people from those who aren’t? Not biology. As Kate explains, “[It’s] how comfortable you are with the roles you’ve been given.”

Kate has long blond hair, glasses, and wears jeans and a sweatshirt almost everyday. It’s a neutral style that distances itself from gender markers. Kate is agender and expresses identity outside societal expectations. For Britt, expression is affected by peers and if surrounded by people who don’t respect gender, Britt “falls back to expressing in a

more female way.” Britt has noticed this after spending two years in Wharton.

In business school, professionalism breeds certain norms. Students are taught that success in business comes with how you present yourself. This means Britt “can’t get away with not wearing skirts.” There’s a dress code to business and the pressure to be professional results in suppressed gender expression. So Britt wears a skirt because “you have to pick your battles.” She believes it’s not the time to launch a worldwide campaign demanding businesses to be less gendered. It’s more effective to start at a micro level. To start with something achievable: awareness.

Before Penn Non-Cis, nobody had created an organization at Penn to question gender because questioning gender rocks some of the foundations on which our school’s culture is built. But why shouldn’t it be rocked?

The current culture suppresses many opportunities to reevaluate identity outside societal norms. Kate believes that if people “thought critically about their gender,” they might not identify in such a polar way.

However, our system makes it impossible to stop and question: What is gender? And how do I relate?

It’s hard to break out of social restraints if no one talks about what creates them. As a result, a gendered culture continues to be reinforced until someone speaks up.

“Respect pronouns!” says Britt.

Britt and Kate have chosen “they” as their preferred pronoun. Since many people already use the term “they” to refer to a singular person in colloquial speech, it’s not that alien of a transition. Not everyone, though, is comfortable with pronouns. For some time, Britt didn’t want to be referred to as “she” but

was unsure of a preferred pronoun, so Britt asked to be called simply by name.

So when meeting someone, instead of guessing what they prefer, refer to the person by their name or as “they.” Later, they may tell you their preferred pronouns, or if the opportunity arises, you can ask, but don’t assume gender expression is linked with identity. Someone who is transgender and wants to be read as a woman might dress in feminine clothing.

However, for Kate, having long hair is not indicative of a feminine marker. Kate just likes the look of long hair. And when it comes to make-up, Kate says, “It’s important to not be like ‘Oh Kate, you’re wearing make-up today.

Are you a woman now?’” Little things like hair length or cosmetics are built into societal concepts of gender but are not conclusive markers of how people identify.

The student body needs to respect different identities because as Britt says, “people’s relationship with their gender can change and might change based on how comfortable they are with their gender and who they’re around.”

No one is biologically tied to the gender they were assigned at birth. But it’s hard to rethink gender on a university campus when a student’s path is so affected by a box checked freshman year.

There was a moment when you stepped on this campus when everything was new. You when you could choose to identify yourself by anything. In the face of campus culture, some of us fell to what was comfortable.

It’s time to reevaluate our culture and think, how comfortable are you with the roles you’ve been given?

Without “boy” and “girl,” there’s only you and me and they and we.

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MODERN DAY SLAVERY

Written by Mayookha Mitra-Majumdar

The Realities of

I

n 1998, Nebraska policewoman Kathryn Bolkovac enlisted with DynCorp, a private military contractor International Police Task Force (IPTF) in post-war Bosnia. It was on this task force that Bolkavoc exposed one of the

for a wide range of activities that qualify necessitate that the person is being physically moved,” Jen Horwitz, director of policy and advocacy of Women’s dealing with issues affecting women

thrives because of the many faces it has. It can take the guise of massage parlors, street prostitution, strip clubs, residential brothels, and pornography.

While many people who enter into these industries do so willingly, sex

within their family’s own home. It’s that there has to be an act, a means, and a purpose.” These terms are incorporated laid out in the 2000 United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and the sexual exploitation of others.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that human trade, is the second-largest international criminal industry; the $32 billion trade is the fastest growing in the world. Despite this alarming statistic, no consistent and exist across international boundaries. misconceptions surrounding what is

Women and Children. It states: the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.

sexual services due to force, fraud, and coercion. These three factors constitute the means, as outlined in the United Act of 2000. Understanding the means can elucidate common confusions or smuggling. Prostitution becomes sex fraud, and coercion to control the prostitute and her earnings. Smuggling generally lacks these three factors; the individual being smuggled is complicit in the crime, has the choice to back international boundaries. ethnicities, socioeconomic backgrounds,

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victims in vulnerable populations, such as migrants, at-risk youth, and marginalized groups. Bolkovac’s work in Bosniaof these factors yields fertile ground for sex War saw a new level of destitution, resulting from the explosive combination of familial

displacement, a shift in the ethnic balance, and a history of female subordination.

and from those populations, no group is inherently safe from the threat of sex

situation, further fueled by the introduction

The United States government estimates

who had few options for leisure. Although these facilitative factors are more common in certain populations than others, thus

across international boundaries annually, United States. According to the National

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States are pimp-controlled prostitution, commercial-front brothels, and escort services.

While Pennsylvania does not fall into the top 20 percent of states with the most reports

of services necessary for the victim’s recovery.

The bill passed through the Pennsylvania Senate in December of 2013. If passed by the House of Representatives, Senate Bill 75 would laws and enforcement in Pennsylvania.

referring to the movement of girls through the state. Philadelphia plays a unique role in the national trade due to its central location. “On the East Coast, we have the I-95 corridor, and it links major metropolitan areas, all the way from Florida to Canada,” Horowitz explains.

“Because Philadelphia sits on the I-95 corridor, and because it also connects to the Pennsylvania Turnpike and to other interstates that pick up just outside the Philadelphia area, it’s a great place from the perspective transportation options such as Amtrak and Greyhound buses, cheap motels and other consumer base which supplies high demand for services. The convergence of these factors makes Philadelphia an optimal space for the

as an issue that transcends simple prostitution or smuggling is key to combatting the problem.

Local, national, and international resources do exist for people who have been victims of sex get involved. The organizations listed below provide tangible ways to engage with human only a few of the numerous organizations that law enforcement relies heavily on civilian tips about suspicious situations that potentially something suspicious, please call the National A simple phone call can make an enormous difference to someone in need and to the

Currently, Pennsylvania is one of two states that does not have comprehensive noted by the 2013 state ratings assigned by the Polaris Project, Pennsylvania lacks even

IMPORTANT RESOURCES

Senate Bill 75, introduced by Republican State Senator Stewart Greenleaf, aims to change

Girls Educational and Mentoring Service www.gems-girls.org

www.catwinternational.org

establishes the Council for the Prevention of

The Polaris Project www.polarisproject.org

Somaly Mam Foundation www.somaly.org

procedures to coordinate and deliver the range

42 / IMPACT MAGAZINE

Save a Sex Slave (Penn oragnization) saveasexslave@gmail.com

Coalition Against the

Resource Center Hotline1-888-373-7888

VISIT THE BLOG.

Keep the conversation going.

online @

www.impactmagazine-upenn.com

PLEASE RECYCLE. Help us limit the negative impact on our environment.

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