Department of Education issues Penn demands after finding University violated Title IX
The April 28 announcement includes a ‘Resolution Agreement’ from the Offce of Civil Rights that gives Penn 10 days to ‘voluntarily’ enact three demands
ANVI SEHGAL, NORAH FINDLEY, AND VALERI GUEVARRA
Content warning: This article contains instances of misgendering that may be disturbing and/or triggering for some readers.
The Department of Education announced that Penn violated Title IX by allowing transgender
Staff Reporters and Sports Editor
athletes to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and issued three demands to the University on Monday. In its April 28 announcement, the Education Department included a “Resolution Agreement”
Former Board of Trustees Chair Scott Bok discusses resignation, attacks on Penn ahead of book release
Bok refected on his departure, his forthcoming book release, and the federal government’s campaign against higher education — which he said ‘started at Penn’
JASMINE NI AND ELEA CASTIGLIONE
Reporter
Senior
News Editor and
Sixteen months after his highly publicized resignation as chair of the University Board of Trustees, Scott Bok sat down for a wide-ranging interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian ahead of the release of his new book. Bok’s book — titled “Surviving Wall Street: A Tale of Triumph, Tragedy, and Timing” and set to be published on May 6 — spans the course of his life, including his undergraduate experience at Penn, his career on Wall Street, and his tumultuous tenure as board chair. In a 90-minute interview with the DP, Bok reflected on the events that led to his departure, discussed the forthcoming release of his book, and offered a candid assessment of the federal government’s campaign against higher education — which he said “started at Penn.” Bok — who has not publicly spoken on these topics aside from a Dec. 12, 2023 op-ed in The Philadelphia Inquirer after resigning — said he didn’t think the situation at Penn could “be easily folded” into “sound bites or even short articles, or even a quote here or there.”
The final two chapters of Bok’s book provide a detailed account of what unfolded behind the scenes in the weeks and months leading up to his and former Penn President Liz Magill’s resignations on Dec. 9, 2023. Bok likened the donor retaliation, calls for Magill’s resignation, and heightened political scrutiny at Penn to another “boardroom situation,” similar to the “tough decisions and real crises” he faced throughout his career on Wall Street.
get control of the board.”
In the book, Bok describes serving on a board as usually either “boring or scary.” Throughout his career — which included serving as chair of the Board of Trustees of the American Museum of Natural History — he explained that “almost every board ends up having a moment that’s scary.”
However, Bok noted that nonprofit and university boards are not well equipped to handle crisis situations like the one that unfolded after the Palestine Writes Literature Festival in September 2023 and subsequent campus discourse surrounding the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
The controversy over the Palestine Writes Literature Festival was the first major flashpoint in a semester of turmoil at Penn. Though the festival was not officially sponsored by the University, its use of Penn venues and inclusion of speakers accused of antisemitism provoked outrage from some Jewish groups, alumni, and national organizations.
Donor and trustee backlash escalated after the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, with several major donors pulling their support from the University and calling for Magill’s resignation over what they perceived as Penn’s insufficient response to antisemitism.
Bok said that it would have been “unprecedented” for Magill to cancel Palestine Writes or to exclude specific speakers. In the book, Bok recalled his private conversations with donors and trustees about the festival, including individuals who publicly denounced the event.
Bok explained that the events leading to Magill’s resignation felt like a “corporate takeover.” More specifically, he described it as an “activist shareholder situation” where stakeholders — many of whom were from Wall Street themselves — used “various tools and tactics to See BOK , page 3
“One of the ironies that I make very clear in the book is that … some people who were the most staunch
Federal government reactivates
Penn afliates’ immigration statuses
The reactivations come as the Trump administration walked back its cancellation of over 1,500 student visas nationwide on April 25, following weeks of ongoing legal action to halt the revocations
AYANA CHARI Staff Reporter
The federal government reactivated the visas and immigration statuses of all seven Penn affiliates whose statuses had previously been terminated, according to a University spokesperson.
On April 25, a University spokesperson told The Daily Pennsylvanian that three of the seven Student and Exchange Visitor Information System accounts of Penn affiliates that had previously been terminated were restored. As of April 27, the remaining four SEVIS profiles had been updated from “Terminated” to “Active.”
The reactivations come as the Trump administration walked back its cancellation of over 1,500 student visas nationwide on April 25, following weeks of ongoing legal action to halt the revocations.
An April 25 announcement from International Student and Scholar Services stated that Penn confirmed that three SEVIS records were “updated to ‘Active’ status” on April 24. According to ISSS, Penn first learned of the terminations through a check of SEVIS — an online database managed by the Department of Homeland Security that tracks the records of international students studying in the United States.
from the Office for Civil Rights that gave Penn 10 days to “voluntarily” comply with three demands: issuing a statement affirming compliance with Title IX, restoring accolades to “female athletes
See TITLE IX , page 2
Amid sweeping revocations across the country, Penn has been conducting twicedaily routine checks of SEVIS and notifying
See VISAS, page 7
Penn research associates, postdocs file petition to unionize with National Labor Relations Board
Of the 1,500 postdoctoral researchers at Penn, 1,000 signed authorization cards in support of forming Research Associates and Postdocs United, according to the group
DANIYA SIDDIQUI Staff Reporter
Penn research associates and postdoctoral researchers have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board on April 24 to form a union.
Of the 1,500 postdoctoral researchers at Penn, 1,000 signed authorization cards in support of forming the union, Research Associates and Postdocs United, according to the group. The research associates and postdocs are part of a national wave
of academic researchers pushing to unionize, as well as a broader increase in union organizing taking place at Penn.
RAPUP will represent Penn’s postdoctoral researchers and research associates in bargaining with the University, if a majority vote in favor of unionization. Organizers say they aim to negotiate
See UNION, page 3
PHOTOGRAPHER Research Associates and Postdocs at Penn rallied on Jan. 30 to announce its union formation.
SADIE SCOTT | STAFF
ETHAN YOUNG | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Penn Washington names Celeste Wallander as inaugural executive director
Wallander will be responsible for the programmatic leadership and operational management of Penn Washington, a newly launched initiative that establishes a physical hub for Penn in Washington
LYAN CASAMALHUAPA
Contributing Reporter
Provost John Jackson Jr. and Vice Provost for
Global Initiatives Ezekiel Emanuel announced the appointment of Celeste Wallander as the inaugural executive director of Penn Washington, effective June 1. As executive director, Wallander will be responsible for the programmatic leadership and operational management of Penn Washington, a newly launched initiative that establishes a physical hub for Penn in Washington. Her work will include advancing Penn’s academic mission and connecting the University’s
TITLE IX, from front page
… misappropriated” by transgender athletes, and sending individual letters to the affected athletes. According to the statement, OCR informed Penn President Larry Jameson of the demands on Monday.
The announcement and demands came exactly one week after Penn motioned to dismiss a lawsuit filed on Feb. 4 by three former Penn swimmers that alleged Title IX violations stemming from 2022 College graduate and transgender woman Lia Thomas being allowed to compete for Penn women’s swimming and diving in the 2022 Ivy League championships.
Thomas represented Penn women’s swimming and diving during the 2021-22 season.
If Penn does not comply with the demands, the University risks referral to the Department of Justice for “enforcement proceedings.”
A University spokesperson declined multiple requests for comment. The White House, and the Education Department did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
“UPenn has a choice to make: do the right thing for its female students and come into full compliance with Title IX immediately or continue to advance an extremist political project that violates
research to real-time policy discussions across a wide range of issues.
“I am excited to join the University of Pennsylvania to advance the public service mission inherent in education,” Wallander told Penn Today. “Penn Washington will be a resource and partner for current and future U.S. leaders navigating our complex world by connecting them to Penn faculty who are tackling these very same challenges in their research and seeking the answers we need.”
Wallander brings to the role more than two decades of experience in the federal government and over 30 years in academic research and policy engagement. Her public service roles includes assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs at the Department of Defense, special assistant to the president and senior director for Russia and Central Asia on the National Security Council, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia policy, former president and CEO of the United States Russia Foundation, and founder of the Program on New Approaches to Russian Security.
She has also held faculty positions at Harvard University, American University, and Georgetown University.
“Dr. Wallander brings deep experience to Penn and Penn Washington at a critical moment. Her wide expertise in shaping foreign policy and building programs and institutions will be invaluable as we expand the work of Penn Washington in the years ahead,” Jackson told Penn Today.
Penn President Larry Jameson and Jackson announced the creation of Penn Washington in June 2024, positioning it as Penn’s hub in the nation’s
federal antidiscrimination law and puts UPenn’s federal funding at risk,” Education Department
Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor wrote in the announcement.
On Feb. 5, 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring transgender athletes from women’s sports and promising to “rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities.”
The White House announced on March 19 that it would freeze more than $175 million in federal funding to Penn, citing the University’s alleged failure to bar transgender athletes from women’s sports.
At the time, a senior White House official wrote in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian that the funding freeze was not a result of the Title IX investigation into Penn but rather an “immediate proactive action to review discretionary funding streams to … universities.”
A Penn spokesperson wrote in a March 20 statement to the DP that the University has “always followed NCAA and conference policies regarding student participation on athletic teams.” The spokesperson added that Penn does not have its own policy “separate from its governing bodies” in regards to “transgender athletes” and pointed to policy revisions made by the NCAA and Ivy League in response to Trump’s February executive order.
capital.
According to the University of Pennsylvania Almanac, Penn Washington aims to unite three key initiatives: the Penn Franklin Initiative, a new set of programs focused on domestic policy; the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, which advances global policy work in partnership with Penn Global and Perry World House; and a
“Penn is in full compliance with this most recent change,” the spokesperson wrote. “The University’s athletic programs have always operated within the framework provided by the federal government, the NCAA and our conference.”
2022 Engineering graduate and former Penn swimmer Paula Scanlan told Fox News she was “excited” by the announcement but concerned about whether or not Penn would comply with the Education Department’s orders.
“I’m skeptical that my alma mater will take meaningful action,” Scanlan said. “They have had years to address this issue and apologize to the female athletes affected, yet they have chosen not to.”
2022 College graduate and former Penn swimmer Grace Estabrook told Fox News that she is “grateful” for the Education Department’s finding and hopes to see a “bulletproof policy” implemented by the federal government to bar transgender athletes from women’s sports.
“Future generations of girls and women must be safeguarded against the hideous emotional and sexual harassment that my teammates and I endured at Penn,” Estabrook told Fox News. “The current policy which Penn and the NCAA are now trying to use to cover their tracks and put this issue behind them is inept, and it continues to leave women vulnerable.”
Estabrook joined former Penn swimmers and 2024 College graduates Margot Kaczorowski and
broader platform for the Penn in Washington program, designed to support the longstanding Penn in Washington program and expand the University’s presence in the capital.
The program will be led by Emanuel, who will serve as faculty director, with Associate Vice Provost for Global Initiatives Amy Gadsden stepping in as deputy director.
Ellen Holmquist in filing a lawsuit against Penn, alleging Title IX violations for allowing Thomas to compete on the women’s team. Last week, Penn filed a motion to dismiss the case.
Estabrook previously told the DP that her biggest goals in filing the suit were “to see his records taken off of women’s record boards” and to receive “an apology from the University for the abuse that they allowed us to undergo, and for nominating him for the NCAA Woman of the Year award.”
Holmquist also previously told the DP that she is looking for an apology from Executive Director of the Ivy League Robin Harris and Penn’s T. Gibbs Kane, Jr. W ’69 Director of Athletics and Recreation Alanna Wren for “the damage they’ve done” by allowing Thomas to compete.
In February, Kaczorowski also told the DP that “it’s always bothered me that those records are still on the board.”
While representing women’s swimming and diving, Thomas collected multiple accolades on the conference and national stage — including an NCAA championship win, two standing individual Ivy League records, three individual Ivy League titles, and three standing individual program records.
All of Thomas’ titles and records are at risk of being reallocated or eliminated from the record books following the Education Department’s announcement.
PHOTO FROM PENN TODAY
Wallander will serve as the inaugural executive director of Penn Washington, effective June 1.
improvements in wages, benefits, job security, and institutional support — especially for international scholars.
The petition comes shortly after 1,600 postdoctoral researchers at Johns Hopkins University filed for union recognition. Both efforts are affiliated with the United Auto Workers, which represents more than 120,000 higher education workers nationwide.
Postdoctoral researchers cited a range of concerns driving the union campaigns, including lagging wages compared to peer institutions, inadequate health care coverage, and limited workplace protections. International postdocs raised additional concerns about visa support, travel, and reimbursement policies.
Konstantinos Plakas, a postdoctoral fellow in Penn’s Department of Radiology, said that he wants to form a union “to ensure all postdocs have equitable access to benefits.”
“It is shameful that a leading research institution will not provide 401(k), commuter benefits, or maternity leave,” Plakas told The Daily Pennsylvanian.
Bridget Begg, a postdoctoral fellow in biochemistry at Penn, echoed a similar sentiment.
“We’re people in our 30s who are trying to sort of establish careers and lifestyles and things like that,” Begg said. “And yet, at Penn, we don’t really get the same benefits as most …staff researchers.”
Begg explained that postdoc fellows work on appointment letters, which are subject to change at any time.
“There’s just a sort of baseline level of protections that we’d really like to see in a contract,” she said.
Eleven state and local elected officials sent a letter to Penn President Larry Jameson on April 30 in support of the unionization efforts.
2013 Engineering graduate and Pennsylvania state Rep. Rick Krajewski (D-Philadelphia), Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, and Pennsylvania state Sen. Nikil Saval (D-Philadelphia) joined other officials in signing the letter.
“We have stood steadfast with higher education workers across the city in support of the right to unionize without delay or opposition from their employers,” the letter read. “We will similarly stand in solidarity with RAPUP-UAW workers until a fair and transparent election agreement is reached for all postdoctoral scholars and research associates at UPenn.”
On April 23, RAPUP organizers at Penn also delivered a letter to University administrators that was signed by over 100 postdoctoral researchers and research associates, urging Penn to remain neutral during the unionization process and commit to a “fair and efficient” process for verifying majority support.
“We hope that moving forward, Penn will respect the democratic will and self-determination of university employees and not interfere with our efforts to unionize,” the April 23 letter read.
advocates for free speech … were the ones who suddenly flipped and wanted to constrain speech,” Bok told the DP.
The final chapters of the book also describe groups of Trustees holding discussions behind Bok’s back to push Magill out after her congressional appearance — even though Bok and Magill had already independently decided that she would resign.
What people did not know, according to Bok, was that the “decision was already made, [but] I was not going to tell anybody.”
As external pressure from political figures and elected officials increased on Penn, Bok said the situation within the Board of Trustees “develop[ed] like a fever.”
He said that while Magill was “highly respected” by the Board of Trustees, the situation was “chaotic” and that Penn’s Trustees were looking for anything to take the pressure off Penn and “calm things down” — which made some people “desperate to get President Magill to resign.”
The DP previously reported that the Board of Trustees was largely supportive of Magill during a meeting two days after her testimony, and that both parties decided to resign independently of the Board of Trustees.
Bok also discussed the role that social media played in last year’s controversy, which he said fed into “one of the most preposterous misconceptions that came out of this whole saga.”
Having received three degrees from Penn, Bok said that he was personally familiar with the preprofessional culture of the school — and noted that “no one should confuse 2020s Penn with 1960s Berkeley.”
“People want to spin a tale — which I think a number of people across America are inclined to believe — that [Penn] students are mostly radicals,” Bok said. “It just could not be further from the truth.”
Bok added that he believes donors “should have, frankly, very little influence over how universities are run.”
“In the business world, the mantra is that litigation is almost never worth it. You’re almost always better off trying to find a way to settle,” Bok said. “I understand that mentality, because I’ve seen it forever in the business world, and I tend to agree with it in that context. But I think some things are more important than that.”
Sixteen months later, Bok said that he doesn’t “harbor any ill will, anger or frustration, unhappiness about any aspect of what happened.” The one exception is that he believes “what happened was not fair to Liz Magill.”
“For [Magill] to be the one that bore the burden, bore the blame for this, I just think it’s unfair, and there’s nothing that can be done to undo that,” Bok said. “But I do think the University and the Board [of Trustees] owes her a better send-off.”
Even if belatedly, Bok called on Penn’s leadership to pass a resolution of gratitude that the Board of Trustees “passes every time a president is done with her tenure.”
In his limited public statements after resigning, Bok said that in the fall and winter of 2023, Penn’s “campus [had] never been more closely watched.” He described what happened as a “battle for the soul of the University, maybe, of all of the universities.”
Looking at “where the world is right now,” Bok said, he realized “you know what, I was absolutely right about
Bok
that.”
“I think anyone on either side of the debate would agree with that,” Bok said. “They would just have a different view as to what the outcome should be.”
Since 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office in January, higher education institutions have faced a firestorm of executive orders, federal funding cuts, and governmental scrutiny.
Bok described the current situation universities across the country are confronting as a “crisis” that is “fair to say started at Penn.”
A key point Bok made in his book — and emphasized in the interview — is that criticisms of Penn regarding concerns of campus antisemitism were, in some instances, a “backlash against DEI and so-called ‘woke.’”
“I don’t think that was clear to a lot of other people, but it was clear to me early on, as you can see described in the book, and it’s become more and more clear as time has gone on,” Bok continued.
Bok explained further that while antisemitism is real, “evil,” and “should be addressed and condemned,” his concern is that the “agenda was so much bigger, and now you see that playing out.”
On Feb. 6, the Department of Education launched an investigation into Penn alleging Title IX violations for allowing 2022 College graduate and transgender woman Lia Thomas to represent Penn women’s swimming and diving
during the 2021-22 NCAA swimming and diving season.
In March, Trump’s administration announced that it would be freezing over $175 million in federal funding to Penn, citing the University’s failure to bar transgender athletes from women’s sports. According to a White House tweet, the decision was a result of Penn’s “policies forcing women to compete with men in sports.”
“I actually think the charge made against Penn and withholding the research funding makes even more clear that what is being done is really more about politics and control and culture in a backlash against woke,” Bok said about the recent federal actions against Penn. Bok said he hopes that Penn President Larry Jameson — and the University as a whole — will “strongly resist any inappropriate attacks on Penn.” He added that one of the reasons he wrote the book is because he “want[s] to be engaged and involved in this debate,” describing himself as a “cheerful warrior on behalf of academic freedom and free expression.” With a “more conservative administration in charge,” Bok asserted that “speech has probably never been so constrained” in his lifetime.
LEASING
& dryers
“I think Penn is an institution that embodies some core historic values that aren’t always adhered to in the best way, but those core historic values are still here,” Bok concluded. “That’s the Penn I love, and that’s the Penn I will continue to advocate for.”
ETHAN YOUNG | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
pictured during a Board of Trustees meeting on Nov. 3, 2023.
When I clocked into my work-study job on Jan. 21, I hadn’t remotely anticipated the inauguration of President Donald Trump to impact my $3,000 work-study award. I thought it had all been guaranteed to me — by the University, the financial aid office, and the program that hired me — that I would earn every penny of that $3,000 underlined in my financial aid letter. In other words, I thought the University had my back.
Two months later, I received an email from my boss stating that, after the week of March 24, I would no longer be able to claim the remaining work-study money left in my award, thanks to the University’s ongoing department and program budget reviews due to the Trump
administration’s freezing of $175 million in federal funding to Penn. I had lost all the remaining money left in my work-study award and my job.
I’ve personally witnessed my program coordinator frantically running in and out of their office to meet with Penn’s Business Services, who were “running [them] line-by-line regarding the program’s expenses” and finding ways to preserve resources in spite of a Universitywide funding cut toward departments and programs. My program’s faculty director, who wished to stay anonymous, said that many programs and departments had “expected the funding cuts to take place in the next fiscal year starting on July 1 and [were] spending
their budget as such.” March through April is usually when most programs and departments invoice for work-study, faculty salaries, graduation, and end-of-year student celebrations. However, program and departmental budgets were haphazardly cut by 5% by the University during the most expensive time of year, advertised as preemptive action against potential Trump endowment taxes or federal funding cuts.
“Simply put,” my faculty director said, “the money still exists, but the University is pretending it doesn’t exist. It’s clogged.”
So unfortunately, my work-study job had to go, because the program contributed 50% of my salary. And so did the food and drinks for the program’s 2025 graduation commencement. This wasn’t just limited to my program — the McNeil building fell eerily silent the morning Penn announced a budget review process was to take place, with faculty directors from the departments of Urban Studies and Sociology to the behavioral science masters program sharing the same frantic story.
Penn is basing its speculation on uncertain potential endowment taxes or future federal funding cuts, knowingly or unknowingly preventing money from reaching the student population during a crucial time for them. The money is still there, but the University is pretending it doesn’t exist.
Don’t get me wrong, the threat of an endowment tax or further federal funding cuts is real.
However, preemptive action shouldn’t start by cutting departmental funding by 5% effective immediately. Instead of using the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze as an excuse to play poor and cut funding during one
of the most consequential times of the year, I implore the University to consider one place where its discretionary spending has quietly ballooned — administrative compensation. In past financial crises, such as the COVID19 pandemic, Penn took a similar approach in announcing a hiring freeze and program budget cuts. Penn also issued then-Penn President Amy Gutmann, who refused to take a pay cut despite a sizable financial impact, a $3.7-million home loan. The University had even cited monetary constraints when explaining why it cannot provide more financial aid to students, despite its $23-million payment to Amy Gutmann in 2021.
Current Penn President Larry Jameson has not yet gone on record to say he would take a pay cut, despite the financial crisis Penn is going through right now and despite making over $4.5 million. This is only part of the executive compensations “of current officers, directors, trustees, and key employees,” totaling over $53.2 million, according to Penn’s Form 990 for the fiscal year 2023. It confounds me how Penn is balancing its budget on the backs of students and staff rather than on its top administrators.
We deserve a University that honors its commitments — not just to its donors and trustees, but to the students it was built to serve.
DAVID TRAN is a College first year from Fort Worth, Texas studying urban studies. His email is ddtran@ sas.upenn.edu. Sorry, do I care?
In the last few weeks, how many times did you receive a text message or have someone walk up to you asking for your vote? When you cast your ballot, how many of the candidates’ platforms did you know? Did you even recognize the names on the ballot? At least in my experience, many of the people who approached me were unfamiliar — I didn’t know who they were, what they stood for, or what they had done during their last term. I’m not alone in this.
Student elections here at Penn have chronically low turnout. In this year’s spring election, 887 first years voted out of a population of 2,415, a turnout of around 35%.
Admittedly, this year’s vote totals dwarfed previous cycles, but they’re still not enough. If Penn were a country, our voter turnout rate would make us fourth to last among the world’s presidential democracies. We rank behind countries like Haiti and Afghanistan, which don’t have democratic governments. Penn’s student population is politically aware and has opinions — they just don’t seem to translate at the student ballot box. Ultimately, the issue with Penn isn’t that the system is bad — in fact, the use of electronic voting via PennKey makes voting rather easy.
| The system’s fne, but we need better campaigns
The issue is the campaigns themselves. Penn Student Government needs better campaigns — campaigns that inspire students to care, not just Instagram reels, Insomnia Cookies, and debates designed to be conducive to abstract monologues and intangible answers. There are those who argue student government doesn’t do much, so it doesn’t matter if campaigns are dull. I would argue it is the opposite. Because campaigns are dull and the election faces a lack of participation, student government does not have the popular legitimacy to fight for students. This, in turn, gives PSG a sense of idleness in the eyes of the general student body, leading them to write off an essential institution. Just to be clear, I am not saying the candidates don’t care or aren’t trying. Running for office, even for less than a month, is hard. You have to juggle classes, meetings, and a personal life while trying to connect with a disparate student body that really isn’t interested in your elevator pitch. Too often, well-intentioned efforts get lost in the noise of a busy campus or don’t fully break through to students outside close social circles. It’s not a question of passion or effort, but rather one of strategy, accessibility, and a vision that will
inspire progress and campus discourse. Looking back at successful electoral campaigns in history, one thing sticks out: they all had vision. Former President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected in a landslide in 1932 because he painted Americans a picture of successful life post-Great Depression. John F. Kennedy did the same in 1960, as did Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama in 1980 and 2008, respectively, promising a bounce back from economic turmoil. Similar parallels can be drawn in Taiwan, where its former President Tsai Ing-wen’s campaign successfully redefined what it meant to be Taiwanese and put Taiwan on the world stage. In South Africa, Nelson Mandela projected a vision of reconciliation and racial harmony in 1994, not only winning an election but also turning an apartheid state into a constitutional democracy. I’m not saying every Penn candidate should be putting up ‘Change’ posters or inspiring the next great generational movement — that would be unrealistic, and frankly, cheesy. But campaigns for student politics should at least be centered on tangible and specific issues that students care about. If you are running for an
Undergraduate Assembly representative position, talk about what viable improvements you want to bring to Penn Dining if you were to sit on the Dining, Housing, and Transit Committee. If you are running for first year class board president, talk about your plans for Econ Scream and how to improve on past experiences. We are not reinventing the wheel here; there are already those who run this type of campaign based on substantive issues. But there needs to be more. There are 68 elected positions between the UA and class boards. Let us demand better campaigns until we have at least 68 interesting ones, if not more. College has always been a breeding ground for democratic activities, a lesson for good civic citizens. In a democratic climate rife with bad actors, let us not lose another bastion of genuine political discourse. Make student campaigns great again!
EDEN LIU is a College first year from Taipei, Taiwan studying philosophy, politics, and economics. His email is edenliu@sas.upenn.edu.
Code switching: An act of sincerity or supremacy?
SOSE’S STANCE | We all do it — but what are we really doing when we code switch?
The Penn janitorial employee wipes down your table after you and your friends finish lunch in Houston Market, clearing the mess you left behind. You, seemingly the only one in your group to acknowledge this person, look up and quickly say, “Thank you.” But your voice is different. Somehow, the valley-girl lilt you’ve had your whole life slips away, and in its place, your words take on a rhythm and tone that mimic the accent of the person you’re speaking to. Your usual crisp enunciation softens. You don’t really know why you did it. Were you being considerate — or just condescending?
That moment is a small but striking example of code switching: a strategy people use to alter how they speak, act, or present themselves depending on the social setting. It happens more often than we realize and for many reasons. But the question is: Is code switching an act of empathy, or an unconscious, or perhaps even conscious, performance of superiority? To even begin answering that, we have to understand that code switching goes far beyond words — it’s about belonging, identity, and power. Most code switching is subtle. You adjust your vocabulary when emailing a professor versus texting a friend. You shift your tone for your grandparents versus your classmates. These are quiet performances of self-tweaks we make to fit in, be understood, or protect ourselves. For many, it’s just social navigation. But for others, especially those from marginalized communities, code switching can be about safety, acceptance, or survival. It’s not just polite — it’s essential. But not all code switching is innocent.
There’s a fine line between adapting and performing superiority. Think of someone who slows their speech dramatically or simplifies their vocabulary unnecessarily while talking to a non-native English speaker. These behaviors might seem helpful but can feel deeply patronizing. The subtext becomes “I’m above you, and I’m doing you a favor by stepping down to your level.” Even if the shift is unconscious, it still reinforces hierarchy. It doesn’t bridge; it divides. And yet, code switching can also be kind. Someone softening their tone for an elderly relative or using simpler language to put someone at ease isn’t performing dominance; it’s trying to reduce it. The same gesture that might be condescending in one moment could be comforting in another. That’s what makes code switching so complex: It’s not just about what’s said — it’s about why. Historically, code switching has been a lifeline for those navigating systems built against them. For immigrants, Black Americans, and others outside the dominant culture, adapting how they speak or behave has long been a way to gain access and respect. It’s not about fitting in; it’s about being allowed in at all. Meanwhile, privileged groups often code switch without risk. A white professional mimicking slang to seem relatable may be praised for charisma, while others risk being seen as unprofessional. That’s the double standard: For some, code switching is optional. For others, it’s expected — and exhausting. Few places make this dynamic clearer than Penn. Here, unspoken code words like “SABSing,” “sceney,” “Hunts,” and
“Stommons” signal that you’re in the know at Penn. Students shift how they speak and dress to match the campus culture. Even fashion — Longchamp bags and Canada Goose jackets — becomes a form of code. It's subtle, but it’s signaling: I belong here.
In preprofessional spaces, the pressure only builds. Some Penn students find themselves dumbing down recruiting talk for friends at less career-focused schools, or polishing their speech around classmates from wealthier backgrounds. It’s not just social, it’s strategic.
For underrepresented students, that strategy often comes with a cost. Adapting tone, dress, or behavior to seem “professional” or avoid being judged isn’t about fitting in, it’s about surviving. But constantly filtering yourself leads to burnout, imposter syndrome, and emotional exhaustion. If institutions care about inclusion, they
need to ask: Why do some people feel they can’t be themselves? And what needs to shift so that authenticity isn’t a risk, but a right? So, is code switching empathy or supremacy? The truth is, it can be both. What matters most is intention and impact. Are you switching to connect, to protect, or to perform? Who are you trying to comfort, and who are you trying to convince? In a world full of performances, maybe the most radical thing we can do is notice the switches we make, and ask why we felt we had to flip them in the first place.
SOSE HOVANNISIAN is a College junior from Los Angeles studying communications. Her email is sosehova@sas.upenn.edu.
KATE AHN | SENIOR DESIGNER
Columnist Sose Hovannisian explores how code switching exposes underlying power dynamics in daily interactions.
CHENYAO LIU | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Columnist David Tran anecdotally discusses the student impact of Penn’s funding cuts resulting from Trump’s budget freeze.
May 1 marks the deadline for the roughly 3,500 high school seniors admitted to Penn to decide if they’ll be joining us in University City this fall. For most of them, this decision — whether obvious or agonizing — centers around a single factor: prestige. On that basis, Penn is certainly an enticing option. We have a reputation for excellence reflected in those 3,500 admits: 99th-percentile scorers, published researchers, and nonprofit founders, all invited into a world defined by its exclusivity.
But if these students are already so exceptional, do they really need Penn to succeed?
That question forces us to rethink how we value the United States’ “best” colleges. Penn and its Ivy League counterparts are lauded for enrolling classes with sky-high SAT medians, boasting single-digit acceptance rates, and producing high-earning, powerful alumni. Essentially, these schools take only a handful of the United States’ most accomplished students, and they leave “accomplished.”
Why are we rewarding universities like Penn for the fantastically easy job of starting with the “best” and ending with the “best”? If a hospital were to treat the healthiest patients, we wouldn’t praise it for its recovery rates — we would question its inability to help those who need it most. When a college’s input is indistinguishable from its output, how much influence does it really have?
If we truly valued educational impact, we’d celebrate the colleges that welcome students whose success may seem less cemented. These schools do the very real work of opening the door to prosperity, not just holding it ajar for those already poised to walk through.
Take a look at The Pennsylvania State University. The school has a median SAT score of 1310 and an acceptance rate of 54%. In comparison with schools like Penn, Penn State is objectively giving a wider range of students a chance to succeed. In turn, Penn State students receive access to an engineering program that outranks Penn’s and one of the largest and strongest alumni networks in the world. Penn State isn’t the most exclusive, yet it certainly knows how to churn out graduates ready to thrive.
Beyond the question of a student body’s likeliness of success, which is admittedly hard to measure, we have to talk about the larger driver of life outcomes: wealth. When it comes to promoting social mobility, the United States’ “top” schools falter. At Penn, while only 3.3% of our student body comes from the bottom 20% of households by income, 71% live in the top quintile. Elite schools are not just composed of high achievers, they’re filled with the world’s most affluent students.
These wealthy students are pre-positioned for wealth post-graduation. In fact, over 80% of children with parents in the top 20% remain in the upper two wealth quintiles as adults. It’s no wonder
that Penn alumni have such a high median income: Many were destined for wealth, with or without Penn.
While U.S. News and World Report might place Penn and its peers at the top of its annual rankings, their failure to serve low-income students pushes them far below the top 200 colleges when looking at social mobility. So, who shines under this much more meaningful metric? The Economic Mobility Index, which ranks colleges by how well they improve outcomes for low-income students, puts universities like the California State University system, City University of New York colleges, and of course, Penn State’s satellite campuses, at the top. These schools are highly affordable, deliver strong median earnings for their graduates, and
enroll a large share of Pell Grant recipients. For instance, according to the EMI, at the top-ranked school — California State University, Los Angeles — the 66% of students who are classified as lowincome pay less than $15,000 for their education and graduate with a median salary roughly 51% higher than the California median for those with a high school degree. Through actively enrolling low-income students, colleges like Cal State Los Angeles offer a true path to upward mobility. Penn, sitting at 554th, can’t say the same.
Of course, Penn is more than just a high-achieving student body. It provides access to everything from Nobel Prize-winning research to a name that carries weight on any application. My point isn’t that a Penn education is worthless, but rather that when you look at input versus output, it simply isn’t
the most effective. Yes, we produce talented graduates, but they arrived at Penn already talented. Yes, we turn out wealthy alumni, but many of them came to Penn already wealthy. Other colleges take on the much harder task of pushing their students farther from where they started. That’s something to applaud. So, maybe it’s time our perception of the best schools centers a little less on an Ivy League name like Penn and a little more on schools like Penn State.
INSIA HAQUE | DESIGN EDITOR
Columnist Jesse Van Doren criticizes Penn’s weakness in supporting social mobility.
Penn
that threaten academic freedom,” to take legal action to restore lost funding, and to “protect international scholars who are targeted for removal under dubious pretenses.”
Penn faculty delivered the letter as universities across the country, including other Ivy League institutions, have taken public stances against action from the Trump administration.
“The assaults on American universities threaten bedrock principles not only of our university but of democracy itself, including freedom of thought, expression and association,” the letter stated.
Penn Hepburn Professor of Physics and Astronomy
Andrea Liu — who authored the letter — has been at Penn for over two decades and described herself as “very committed to Penn” in an interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian. She added that part of her job as a faculty member is to “ask Penn to live up to its ideals and to step up when it needs to step up.”
“[We need] to stand up and say publicly, the federal government has no right to interfere in how a university is operating,” Liu said. “There’s very strong support for this among the faculty.”
Liu pointed to Penn’s “principles of academic freedom,” governance structure, and admissions as matters “up to the University” without any need for guidance from the federal government.
In March, $175 million of Penn’s federal funding was frozen by the Trump administration. The decision, according to the White House, was due to Penn’s “policies forcing women to compete with men in sports.”
In February, $240 million of Penn’s funding from the National Institutes of Health was also jeopardized after the NIH issued a directive capping “indirect costs” — which fund overhead expenses like laboratories and support staff — at 15%. In response, Penn joined 12 other universities in filing a lawsuit to pause the decision.
In addition to the demands listed in the letter, Liu said that the University “could be covering legal expenses” for international students and scholars who are affected by the visa revocations. She mentioned the financial burden for some students who may have “paid rent already” but now are being forced “to leave the country.”
“These are all things that the University could do to have their backs,” Liu said. “I haven’t heard of the University doing any of these things.”
She also highlighted that Penn’s lack of financial and legal support for international students raises “serious questions about whether legal process is being followed.”
“I would hope the University would … protect the students and scholars who work here,” Liu said. “We benefit enormously from our international students and scholars.”
On April 7, International Student and Scholar Services informed international students that the federal government had revoked visas and terminated immigration statuses for “at least three” Penn students.
Currently, eight Penn affiliates have been affected by ongoing visa revocations and immigration status terminations at the hands of the Trump administration. Of the eight total affiliates, seven had their SEVIS status terminated, including one undergraduate student, five
CHENYAO LIU | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
An open letter addressed to Jameson was delivered to College Hall on April 22. graduate students, and one alumnus on a sponsored visa.
One additional Penn affiliate had their visa revoked. The open letter concluded with a quote from Penn founder Benjamin Franklin.
“We must all hang together, or assuredly we will all hang separately,” the letter read. “Now is the time to act together with other universities, before it is too late.”
unobtrusive jumbotron. Leede Arena is housed within the larger Berry Sports Center, but the center’s wood finishing is a nice touch that helps give it a distinctive, storied feel.
The Big Green also rank near the bottom of the conference in fan volume, ranking sixth in combined basketball attendance with a 1,611 average.
6. Cornell — Newman Arena Times visited: Penn men’s basketball at Cornell on Feb. 28
The home of the Big Red follows the same vertical banks structure as Leede but possesses one distinct difference that was highly material in my one-game sample size: student zones along the baselines.
During Penn’s visit to Ithaca earlier this year, the Quakers’ basket was packed with vocal Cornell supporters who produced significant volume for such a compact area. Penn shot 2-12 from three in the first half and trailed by 36 points at the break in that game. That said, the crowd is not typically a factor in Big Red games, with Cornell ranking last in the conference in combined attendance with 1,293 average attendees between men’s and women’s hoops.
Apart from that, Newman is rather standard, holding 3,500 and offering a combination of captain’s chair and bleacher seating. The Big Red’s collection of banners, honoring everything from Ivy League championships to NIT appearances to fellow Ivy League schools also give the arena a historic feel.
5. Columbia — Levien Gymnasium Times visited: Penn men’s basketball at Columbia on March 1
Nestled in the urban center of New York City, Levien Gymnasium is the league’s only underground arena. It is also one of the conference’s smaller courts, with entry doors located just a few feet from the baseline and the closest spectator restroom location upstairs in a shared restaurant and study area.
That said, Levien utilizes its space well, stacking 2,700 seats along its vertical banks and creating a closeknit feel. Another atmospheric plus of the building is its stellar accenting, with each surface and wall outfitted in the Lions’ signature shade of blue.
The Lions also have strong home attendance. On the women’s side, the first-place Lions drew a leagueleading 1,602 spectators per home game, while the men reached an average of 1,216 despite finishing last in the conference table. Their combined figure of 2,818 was good for second in the conference in the 2024-25 season.
4. Harvard — Lavietes Pavilion Times visited: Penn men’s basketball at Harvard on Feb. 24, 2024
Hosting the smallest seating capacity in the conference, Lavietes Pavilion features a similar layout to Leede Arena, with no seating along the baselines and vast banks on either sideline.
However, where Lavietes separates itself is with its highly unique skylight roof, a rarity in arenas across the nation. This feature makes the arena feel significantly larger and creates a unique aesthetic for day and early evening games.
The pavilion also features a four-sided jumbotron, with screens angled down at spectators to further induce a sense of larger scope, and a neat lobby and ticketing area that was renovated in 2018. Additionally, though it holds just 1,636 people, Lavietes’ intersection of a limited capacity and decent nightly attendance (2,182 combined average) results in a solid home-court advantage for the Crimson.
One year later, Bryce Louie reflects on senior year as an NCAA champion
Last year, senior foilist Bryce Louie was Penn’s frst NCAA national champion in fencing since 2013
KRISTEL RAMBAUD
Senior Sports Reporter
Every college athlete dreams of the moment when their years of early-morning practices and sacrifices pays off, the one where the lights shine the brightest. They all dream of hoisting the NCAA trophy.
On March 24, 2024, senior foilist Bryce Louie did just that. In a bout against teammate and now-senior foilist Blake Broszus, Louie proved victorious in a 15-9 bout to become Penn’s first individual national champion in
The International Student-Athlete Association strives to create
a family away from home
As international student-athletes travel to a new country for college, the ISAA is there to ease that transition
HANNAH CHANG AND VIVIAN YAO Sports Associate and Former Sports Editor
Throughout its nearly 100-year-old history, the Palestra — also known as the Cathedral of College Basketball — has hosted many things: the most number of NCAA basketball tournaments, NBA teams, high school basketball championship games, wrestling competitions, and volleyball matches, just to name a few. But perhaps the most endearing moments come during the lulls in action. On March 27, a handful of athletes playing “H-O-R-S-E” and knockout in the evening help embody what the Palestra means for Penn’s athletes who call it home. Of the 10 athletes there, only three were basketball players, with the other seven hailing from a variety of athletic backgrounds ranging from track and field to squash. But that didn’t matter, as smiles were traded easily around the arena and music blasted, setting the vibe as one of positivity. Noticeably missing from the scene was the sense of intense competition that typically accompanies any event
hosted at the Palestra. The athletes moved loose, with no urgency, no burning desire to out-play, out-hustle, or out-cheer the other team. After all, the event was the International Student-Athlete Association’s open basketball night, and the focus was more so on finding community than anything else.
The ISAA brings together athletes from all over the world and gives them a chance to bond as students who share similar struggles of living in a foreign country.
ISAA’s three co-presidents shared similar sentiments on its role in the Penn athletics community. ISAA CoPresident and men’s squash senior Oliver Green called it a “support network,” while ISAA Co-President and women’s basketball senior guard Stina Almqvist called it a “better Penn community” and ISAA Co-President and sophomore distance runner Gabrielle Jones deemed it a “welcoming space.”
3. Yale — John J. Lee Amphitheater Times visited: Penn women’s basketball at Yale on Feb. 17, 2023
The term “amphitheater” is rarely used as a moniker for a sports arena, but Yale’s venue earns the distinction. The Bulldogs’ home court features wood seating, elevated spectator banks from the court, and a set of seats overlooking the action along one baseline, making for a game environment that feels one part sport and one part Shakespearean play.
The amphitheater also features Yale-blue accenting and a 2,532-person capacity. While the arena does not possess a jumbotron, its auxiliary screen located among the overlook seats does the job. The gymnasium itself is also located within the larger Payne Whitney Gymnasium, an ornate building with a gothic exterior to match the feel of the venue itself.
The facility is also conveniently located on Yale’s campus, integrating seamlessly into the New Haven architectural aesthetic.
2. Princeton — Jadwin Gymnasium Times visited: Penn men’s basketball at Princeton on Feb. 10, 2024, 2023 Ivy Madness, Penn men’s basketball at Princeton on March 4, 2023, Penn women’s basketball at Princeton on Jan. 16 2023
On paper, Jadwin should be one of the Ivy’s worst places to take in a game; it shares its indoor space with a track, three of its four seating banks are extremely limited, and its expansive height and width make it feel like the game is being played in an airplane hangar.
But when you actually take in a game on the Tigers’ home court, it is one of the most electrifying environments the conference has to offer. Princeton’s league-leading average combined attendance of 4,134 people across men’s and women’s basketball certainly plays a part, but so does the gym’s unique structure, including its mammoth sideline bank and capacity to amplify sound.
The other aspects of the facility are state of the art, with
fencing since 2013 and first in foil since 1997.
It was a picture-perfect moment for Bryce Louie, achieving victory in front of his older brother Brennan Louie and for a program that has given him so much. Ever since he was eight years old, Bryce Louie had fenced in the backyard in the shadow of Brennan Louie. During one of the biggest moments of Bryce Louie’s career, his brother, who saw him every step of the way in his fencing journey, was on the sidelines as a Penn assistant coach.
The blood, sweat, and tears paid off. Louie was officially the champion.
But, as the saying goes, heavy is the head that wears the crown.
“Something that I didn’t really anticipate was the year after being the champion. It’s so much pressure,” Louie said. “And there was so much intense pressure [that] I put on myself that was not needed at all.”
Louie had the mindset that he had to go back-to-back. But this mindset limited him on the strip. He fenced conservatively and risk-adversely compared to his normal standards. During the NCAA regional championships, Louie underperformed and didn’t know if he would make it to the NCAA championships.
In the wake of the performance, Louie took to Instagram story posts to talk about his underperformance. In it, he said his sports psychologist made him realize that he had three ways to look at the results: He could let it define him, destroy him, or strengthen him. As he waited to hear if he had a bid to the NCAA championships, Louie knew his mentality had to change.
“Why am I saying all this? Why am I putting all this pressure on myself?” Louie recounted asking himself.
“It’s because I want to live up to everyone else’s expectations of me. But does that really matter, right? Is that really fulfilling for who Bryce Louie is? No. I do this sport for myself, and I have to be selfish with it.”
This time around, with a title defense on the line, Louie went back to his roots: Just enjoy the moment and ignore the expectations.
The change in mindset worked. Louie finished fifth at the NCAA championships to cap off his collegiate fencing
That Thursday evening, all three looked to be true as basketball, squash, and track and field athletes lined up behind the charity stripe to take turns shooting the basketball. In a particularly sweet moment, as Almqvist taught a men’s squash player her signature move, the rest of the group crowded around to cheer him on.
Quite simply, it looks like a family.
The ISAA brings “athletes together from different teams that would have otherwise probably not crossed paths,” Jones said.
Coming to the United States is challenging, and there are things that international students have to get used to that American students may not realize — things such as getting a new phone number, opening a bank account, and getting a Social Security number.
“It’s the little things that can add up into the big things,” Jones said.
All of that was challenging for the three co-presidents. But they are determined to make it easier for the incoming freshmen.
“I want them to feel at home right from the very beginning,” Jones said.
To accomplish that goal, they put together a document with a lot of practical information that Penn coaches have access to. The ISAA had its first “Friendsgiving” event in November 2024 so that international students, who don’t have enough time to go back home and also never really celebrated the American holiday of Thanksgiving growing up, could spend the break with one another.
“It was a really good time to have people around in times where internationals will be feeling a little bit lonely
a 2017 lobby renovation making for a professional-level entry area. It also features program legends along each wall and a large tiger statue in the center, contributing to an overall venue that is sleek and modern while maintaining an Ivy League feel.
1. Penn — The Palestra Times visited: Numerous In the hallowed halls of college basketball history, the Cathedral of College Basketball stands alone. No venue has hosted as many games, and no other Ivy League arena compares to the legacy and stature of Penn’s home court. First, there is the size. The Palestra holds nearly 9,000 people, and though it rarely reaches that number in the modern day, nights like Penn men’s basketball’s upset win over Villanova in 2023 (6,723 attendees) demonstrate a ceiling that no other Ancient Eight arena can match. With more seats, the Palestra features seating banks on every side of the court, and its even inclines on every side mean there isn’t a bad seat in the house.
The Palestra’s additional features, like its large windows and high-arching ceiling, also frame the Ivy’s grandest stage. The court has been home to basketball legends like LeBron James and Wilt Chamberlain and integrates itself in the Philadelphia community by hosting local high school championships. Few arenas in the world are iconic enough that their silhouette alone is recognizable. Count the Palestra among them.
The Ancient Eight has a rich basketball history, and its arenas are home to some of the nation’s oldest programs. But as far as comparisons go, none compare to the Palestra.
WALKER CARNATHAN is a College junior from Harrisburg, Pa. studying English and cinema and media studies. He is also a former DP sports editor. All comments should be directed to dpsports@thedp.com.
career. It was not a title defense, but Louie still left with his head high and does not shy away from talking about the final results — especially to his 7,000 followers.
In the year after his victory, Louie started posting on his Instagram, typically short-form reels mainly surrounding fencing. The reels are usually comedic bits that feature his teammates and friends. He has posted several collaborations with fellow Penn athletes, including one with junior high jumper Kampton Kam and senior breaststroker Matt Fallon. And despite what other people may say, Louie doesn’t care about critics of his posts.
“I feel like there is a stigma that I shouldn’t post because ‘I’m cringy’ or ‘I’m nervous about that,’” Louie said. “You being your unapologetic self matters more than what other people think.”
In addition to his fencing comedy, Louie talks candidly about his performances, even the underperformances. He wants his account to be a safe space for athletes and to start a dialogue about the rollercoaster of emotions that comes with competing.
“Many people, when they think about the competition and the nervousness, [they think] they shouldn’t be feeling like this: ‘This is bad. This is bad,’” Louie said. “In reality, we’re human, and that’s a fine feeling to have and be nervous for it. Let’s break that down.”
Like most seniors, Louie will continue the next chapter of his life after he walks the stage at graduation. He will continue fencing full time on the international senior circuit and hopes to qualify for the United States Men’s National Fencing Team.
But he will leave behind the fencing family that has supported him from before he stepped foot on Locust Walk. Out of everything collegiate fencing has given Louie over the years, the family he’s gained has been most important — even more important than the championship ring.
“Next year, when I’m on that senior circuit, it’s going to have to be me reminding myself [that] I’m part of that Penn family and I’m representing the people that love me throughout my whole career,” Louie said. “Even though I’m not in college anymore, I’m still going to be a Quaker.”
during that time because everyone’s off campus during that week,” Green said. “It’s so nice that this club has made people realize that you aren’t alone.” The athletes had a meal together and put on some Penn games so that they could watch and support their “other family members,” according to Jones, who could not make the event because of matches. ISAA members often watch and support each other’s games, so not only are athletes exposed to other athletes, but they are also exposed to other sports as well.
“Games are so much more fun when you have people that come support you,” Almqvist said.
There are currently around 70 members in the ISAA from a variety of countries, including Latvia, Sweden, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. Under Almqvist, Green, and Jones’ leadership, the club has started to become more active through events like Friendsgiving, open basketball night, and picnics. But they hope to become more organized and effective. Next year, they hope to form a board. And even though Almqvist and Green are graduating this year, they hope to stay connected through an alumni network they hope the ISAA will start.
“It’s really what you make of it,” Almqvist said. No one is forced to join or forced to come to events, but they want all international student-athletes to know that ISAA is there for them. Especially during a time when immigration policies are changing under the new Trump administration, ISAA has focused on supporting anyone who has concerns or questions.
“When people are far away from home … we can just build a little community here.”
KENNY CHEN | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Louie reflected on his career at Penn.
KARA BUTLER | STAFF DESIGNER
Jewish members of the Penn community react to recent federal actions targeting higher education
The Daily Pennsylvanian spoke with several Jewish students and faculty about their reactions to recent federal policies targeting higher education institutions
FINN RYAN Senior Reporter
Members of Penn’s Jewish community remain divided about federal actions taken by the Trump administration.
Since 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office, his administration has enacted sweeping changes to higher education — oftentimes in the name of combatting antisemitism on college campuses.
The Daily Pennsylvanian spoke with several Jewish students and faculty about their reactions to recent federal policies targeting higher education institutions, including immigration changes and funding cuts.
Jewish members of the Penn community expressed concern for the “attacks” targeting American colleges and universities, while others lauded Trump for “simply upholding federal law.” 2024 College graduate Eyal Yakoby — who has continually called for Penn to be defunded on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter — took issue with the characterization of Trump’s executive actions as “attacks” on Penn in an interview with the DP.
“I think calling it an attack is a mischaracterization,” Yakoby said. “President Trump is simply upholding federal law and the terms that every institution needs to abide by when they receive billions of dollars in taxpayer funding from the federal government.”
Yakoby emphasized the financial relationship between higher education institutions and the federal government does not allow “a University like Penn” to “break federal laws” and continue being “subsidized by the federal government.”
On March 19, the federal government announced that it would freeze over $175 million in federal funding to Penn, citing the University’s failure to bar transgender athletes from women’s sports.
While Yakoby called the cut to federal research funding a “tragedy,” he said that “all blame rests on the minority of professors who thought it would be a good idea to shut down campus last spring in order for them to erect an Intifada encampment in the middle of it.”
In spring 2024, pro-Palestinian demonstrators pitched tents on College Green for a 16-day-long Gaza Solidarity Encampment to protest the University’s ties to Israel. The encampment was met with threats of disciplinary action from Penn’s administration, along with opposition from pro-Israeli counterprotesters and some Jewish community members.
Wharton and Engineering senior Noah Rubin shared a similar gratitude for the Trump administration’s “strong stance” against what he described as “targeted violence and extremism” in a written statement to the DP.
“Jewish students have been harassed and assaulted while universities don’t punish the perpetrators,” Rubin wrote. “Universities have also become hubs for spreading antisemitism, degrading American values, and promoting violence.”
A College sophomore and member of Penn Chavurah — who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation — “reject[ed] the direct causation” between the federal crackdown and activism in an interview with the DP.
“I think if it wasn’t Palestinian activism, it might be something else,” the student said. “The University is a place where people are able to organize, or at least just freely share their thoughts, and kind of a rare place of free speech in the U.S., and the government’s trying to eliminate that space.”
The student also rejected the idea that “Palestinian activism and people caring about stopping a genocide have anything to do with Jews and Jewish identity.”
“The Jews are the excuse,” the student said, “and they’re the loudest supporters, too. … It’s a cover for repression.” Yakoby disagreed, pointing to an “irony” within how free speech is defended on campus.
“The topic of free speech is only brought up when there’s a crackdown on students and professors who were supporting terrorist organizations,” Yakoby said. “But once it was cracking down on simply having an opposing view from the ideological monolith that Penn produced, no one seemed to care.”
He described the solidarity efforts as “violent protests that support terrorist organizations” that received disproportionately more attention when
VISAS, from front page
individual students whose immigration statuses are affected.
On April 17, the DP reported that eight Penn
with
they were shut down then when “Mike Pompeo’s speech was shut down, when the Prime Minister of India — Narendra Modi — was barred from speaking on campus, [and] when Ben Shapiro was barred from speaking on campus.”
The College sophomore also spoke on student free speech at Penn, referencing the University’s 2023 decision to deny Penn Chavurah’s request to screen the documentary “Israelism.”
“[That was] a movie by a Jewish group directed by Jews, and it was canceled,” the student said. “Were we surprised? No, that’s just how it is, right? Pro-Palestine activism … has been always policed and under-attack. Now people are being kidnapped for it and deported.”
An April 7 email from International Student and Scholar Services to the international Penn community announced that “at least three” student visas were revoked by the federal government.
According to ISSS, Penn learned of the changes to the students’ immigration statuses through a check of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program database — an online system managed by the Department of Homeland Security that tracks the records of international students studying in the United States.
Although the federal government has since reactivated the visas and immigration statuses of all seven Penn affiliates whose statuses had previously been terminated, uncertainty surrounding international students’ immigration statuses has rained.
“There’s no comparison to Ben Shapiro,” the College sophomore added. “The state wants to silence voices who are critical of their support and their complicity in a genocide over the last two
affiliates had either their visa or immigration status revoked, with seven revocations initiated through SEVIS record terminations. A University spokesperson later confirmed that the SEVIS records belonged to one undergraduate student, five graduate students, and one alumnus on a sponsored visa. An additional Penn affiliate had their visa revoked by the Department of State.
years. And they also want to show that no matter how fancy the school — if you go to Columbia, if you go to Tufts — it doesn’t matter.”
“Jews always remember that … they were victims of fascism,” the student continued. “The modern scapegoats and marginalized groups right now are immigrants, particularly Muslim immigrants. … The targets are different, but it’s the same thing happening.”
Creative writing professor Anna Badkhen also referred to the “genocide in Palestine” as a point of concern for the Jewish community.
Numerous human rights organizations and experts — including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the United Nations — have called Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide of the Palestinian people.
“As a Soviet Jew and a former war correspondent who has survived one totalitarian (and truly, officially anti-Semitic) regime and documented dozens of others, I can say that the biggest danger at this point lies not with the Trump administration,” Badkhen wrote.
She added that Penn’s “biggest threat” is the people who “refuse to acknowledge … what even Amnesty International has now described as
live-streamed genocide in Palestine — and who all too willingly throw to the wolves their colleagues and students who speak against Zionism.”
Penn Hebraica Library Specialist Dainy Bernstein similarly emphasized the University’s “clear obligation to resist the federal government’s directives built on Orwellian redefinitions of terms like antisemitism and policies like Title IX” in a written statement to the DP.
“We’ve been told that invoking comparisons with Nazism loses its power when we do it too often,” Bernstein wrote. “But perhaps the way to see it is that if the comparison makes sense so often, we’re dangerously close to falling off the precipice and should do everything we can to turn back.”
Both … and Bernstein were among the dozens of Jewish Penn professors to sign an open letter — titled “Not in Our Name” — last month. The letter called on University leaders across the country to resist recent federal actions targeting pro-Palestinian organizing on college campuses and denounced “anyone who invokes our name — and cynical claims of antisemitism — to harass, expel, arrest, or deport members of our campus communities.”
CHENYAO LIU | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
The DP talked
members of Penn’s Jewish community about federal actions taken by the Trump administration.
Baseball clinches Ivy tournament berth for third-straight year despite 2-1 loss to Columbia
The Quakers look to fnish the season strong in their quest for an Ivy League championship three-peat
SONAL SUKHATME
Sports Associate
Going into the last weekend of conference play, Penn baseball has already secured its spot in this year’s Ivy League tournament — giving it a chance to compete for its third Ivy title in a row. The team is currently 12-6, having swept Harvard, Cornell, and Princeton but dropped two games
each against Dartmouth, Yale, and Columbia.
The team had a rough start before the Ivy season began, losing series against Florida State, Troy, and Delaware. But that wouldn’t define its season, and it began its conference season with a bang, sweeping Harvard. The following week was tense
RELAYS, from back page
No. 1 on the NCAA Division I outdoor high jump leaderboard — battled it out with Penn State jumper Isaac Osifo to win the college men’s high jump championship on day three of the Penn Relays.
Kam seemed to be living in his revenge era after coming in last place in the 2023 Penn Relays college men’s high jump championship. Justice was served, as Kam ultimately took first place this year with a jump of 2.20 meters and fewer failed attempts than Osifo in the previous rounds. The Nittany Lion provided stiff competition for Kam, boasting a collegiate personal best of 2.15 meters and currently holding the No. 10 spot in Penn State’s men’s outdoor high jump record book. Senior jumper Conrad Moore and junior jumper Mark Hellwig also competed in the championship, landing in 11th and 12th place, respectively. Hellwig placed eighth in last year’s championship.
Kam also won the 2025 Ivy League Heptagonal Indoor Track and Field Championships with a personal best height of 2.21 meters, and he placed first in his event at the Philadelphia Metro and Penn Classic earlier this season after clearing heights of 2.16 meters and 2.15 meters. With one year remaining as a Quaker, Kam is building a strong legacy for himself and every future jumper at Penn.
3. Junior sprinter Fore Abinusawa finishes in second place by 0.02 seconds in the college women’s 100m dash championship
While other runners were dragged down by the torrential downpour on day three, junior sprinter Moforehan “Fore” Abinusawa paid no heed to the rain and raced in the college women’s 100m dash championship. The event was a two-woman race: Abinusawa was just a hair behind Texas Christian sprinter Iyana Gray, who clocked a final time of 11.42 seconds. Abinusawa finished in 11.44 seconds, coming in second place in her first outing in the championship of this event.
Abinusawa sought to win on her home turf, but with Gray — who sought a three-peat — to her left, the odds were stacked against her. Gray set off in a blazing fury, barely keeping Abinusawa off her back to defend her title.
A force to be reckoned with for the Red and Blue, Abinusawa currently holds four Ivy League indoor heptagonal championship titles — the third most in program history. She also made her international debut at the 2024 African Games as part of the 4x100m relay for Nigeria.
Penn junior sprinter Christiana Nwachuku also qualified for the event on day two but did not run in the final.
4. Quincy Wilson runs a record-breaking 43.99second split in the high school boys’ 4x400m Championship of America relay
The crowd’s energy increased tenfold when the clock struck noon on day two of the Penn Relays.
Four American high schools and five Jamaican high schools took their places on the track for the most anticipated event of the day: the high school boys’ 4x400m Championship of America relay. The top time of the event in the heats was held by Bullis School — anchored by Quincy Wilson, the youngestever track and field Olympic gold medalist. Bullis School came into the title race with the opportunity to become the first American team to claim the title in over a decade.
The school’s biggest competition would come from three-time defending champions Kingston College, which entered the field with a field-best, season-best event time of 3:07.46. With three wins already under its belt, Kingston College was looking to become just the second school to win four straight 4x400m relay championship titles. As the opening pistol sounded, the crowd immediately rose to its feet.
Even while setting a new national record in the 4x400m relay, it simply wasn’t in the cards for Bullis School. Wilson’s blistering 43.99-second final leg — which helped the team cross the finish line with a time of 3:06.31 to finish in second place — ultimately was not enough to catch Kingston College, which finished in 3:05.93. Wilson’s 43.99-second last leg beat the Penn Relays record that he set one year ago. Unfortunately for Wilson and Bullis School, they will have to wait another year for a new opportunity to earn that elusive Penn Relays championship watch.
5. Penn track and field commit Jessica Oji wins her second-straight high school girls’ shot put championship Penn track and field commit Jessica Oji dominated the competition on day three at the high school girls’ shot put championship. Oji, competing for Livingston High School of New Jersey, wore bib number one — foreshadowing her finish atop the podium and her second title at the Penn Relays.
Her competition did not come close to her mark. In the field of 15 competitors, Oji posted a mark of 15.53 meters — more than a full meter farther than the next closest throw. She was the only athlete to throw over 15 meters. Her sixth throw was her best of the day at 15.96 meters.
That day marked an improvement over her 2024 outing, when she won with a throw of 14.12 meters. Next year, alongside illustrious Penn throwers like junior Angeludi Asaah and senior Scott Dochat, Oji will continue to make strides in her career as a Quaker — and her greatness is just beginning.
for the Quakers, as they dealt with a loss against Saint Joseph’s and two losses against Dartmouth, before they returned to take the final game of the series. That game, where the team won 5-1, kicked off a nine-game-long win streak, in which it beat Lafayette, swept Princeton and Cornell, and won its first game against Yale.
“We like to meet as a team a lot and just kind of remind ourselves of, you know, where we want to be at the end of the season and how we’re going to get to that goal with the championship. … It’s moments where we’re really reminding ourselves of that and then just remembering to kind of have fun, play for each other and just like, play the right way,” senior pitcher Will Tobin said. “It’s good momentum too, and momentum is everything in baseball, so we’re looking to get back on one of those soon.”
In its first matchup against Yale, in which one game went to the 10th inning, senior pitcher Noah Millikan was integral for the win. In 7.1 innings, he only allowed one run and three hits and struck out six batters.
Unfortunately, Penn baseball was unable to win the series, losing 4-7 and 4-8 in the following doubleheader. The issue wasn’t a lack of opportunity: It was the struggle to convert opportunities to scores. At multiple points throughout the day, there were players on base without a hit to bring them home.
“[The loss] was more by our own doing than anything. You know, Yale is a really good team; they basically just made less mistakes than us. We kind of let some energy slip and just let little things slip up. And you know, kudos to them for not slipping up,” Tobin said. “Hopefully, when we see them again in the tournament, inevitably, we’ll come at full force and at 100% and kind of remember two weekends ago and how it made us feel afterwards.”
An interlude from Ivy play provided yet another strong win for the team, as it beat Rider 20-16. But a tough series against Columbia followed, where
it was only able to take the middle game of the series.The third game was particularly disappointing, which Columbia won 11-3.
Even though the series didn’t go the team’s way, it had its positive moments. Four players had multi-hit games: junior Jarrett Pokrovsky, sophomore outfielder Gavin Collins, sophomore infielder Nick Spaventa, and freshman catcher Ernie Echevarria. Echevarria also hit a home run, his second of the year, in the second game. Pokrovsky reached 21 doubles on the year, putting him one away from tying the program record.
The Quakers can’t put the Bulldogs and the Lions behind them yet, however, as all three teams have secured their spots in the playoffs.
As its third year in the playoffs, the team is familiar with playing challenging teams.
“Kind of the same thing as last year, we got slapped around by Columbia in the regular season, and we lost two more series: Princeton and then Cornell also. So we’re kind of in the same boat,” Tobin said. “Obviously that’s not where we want to be, but at the end of the day, we can learn a lot from the losses we have. You know, it’s encouraging after these two past series losses, the guys are still excited to get back to practice.”
But before the team can focus on achieving a three-peat at the tournament, beating Brown is the more immediate concern. While its spot in the tournament is already guaranteed, a sweep this weekend would give them a better seed.
“It’s just a great weekend to go in there, get a sweep, and get a ton of momentum going into the tournament. Because, you know, you want to be playing the best baseball and you kind of want to have the hot hand going into the tournament,” Tobin said.
The team is traveling to Providence, R.I. for a three-game series that begins on Friday, before preparing to face Yale, Columbia, and the currently undecided last team to qualify for the Ivy League Tournament.
when competing alongside his Quakers teammates. Unlike his career, his final words for the Red and Blue were simple: “Go Penn.”
FALLON, from back page
WEINING DING | MULTIMEDIA EDITOR
Fallon pictured posing with a blackboard on April 14.
WEINING DING | MULTIMEDIA EDITOR
Senior catcher Asa Wilson pictured celebrating a run against St. John’s on June 1, 2024.
Top five biggest moments from the 2025 Penn Relays
Here’s everything you might have missed during this year’s races
The 129th edition of the annual Penn Relay Carnival was filled with action-packed heat last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. While every athlete had their highs and lows, here are five major moments that took the cake as the most crowd-rousing, exhilarating races of the competition.
1. Nia Akins wins the Olympic Development women’s 800-meter elite race 2020 Nursing graduate and 2024 Paris Olympian
Nia Akins made a triumphant return to Franklin Field in the Olympic Development women’s 800-meter elite race on day three of this year’s Penn Relays. In the first 200 meters of the race, Akins led the pack behind pacer Kassidy Johnson, who stepped off, allowing Akins to move ahead. Akins built a sizable lead over the rest of the race, winning with a time of 2:00.49 — two seconds ahead of the rest of the pack. Akins has demonstrated her prowess in this race since her time at Penn. As a Quaker, her personal
End of an era: Senior breaststroker Matt Fallon closes out his time with the Red and Blue
En route to qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Fallon broke 2:07 to set an American record in the 200-meter breaststroke
VALERI GUEVARRA Sports Editor
It’s the end of an era for senior breaststroke specialist Matt Fallon.
On March 29, the flashing lights on the collegiate stage shined on Fallon for the last time as he took to the blocks for his final collegiate swim. At the wall, Fallon finished runner-up for the second year in a row in the 200-yard breaststroke and collected his third first-team All-America honor in the event. The event was arguably the biggest upset of the meet, with Indiana breaststroke specialist Jassen Yep collecting the crown. Fallon had the fastest time heading into the final.
“[The NCAA swim brought] so many emotions, because it feels like I’ve been swimming for Penn for so long, so quickly,” Fallon said. “I remember my first dual meet. It’s all gone by pretty quickly. I went out how I wanted to. I didn’t win, but I definitely was happy with my performance. I can’t really ask for any more.” Penn has been part of Fallon’s life for a long time. Both his parents swam for the Red and Blue, and in Fallon’s first season, his brother was a senior on the men’s swimming and diving team. His father and brother also completed the same rigorous academic program — a dual degree in Wharton and Engineering.
“It’s been a journey that I’ve been happy to take. I’m happy to follow their footsteps, and it’s just exciting to finish it out,” Fallon said.
However, his swimming career has reached much bigger heights than his family members. Last summer, Fallon became the first American Penn swimmer to make Team USA, and in American record-breaking fashion, broke the 2:07 barrier in the 200-meter breaststroke. He went on to finish 10th at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Fallon was projected to medal but fell ill on race day. In the lead-up to the Olympics, Fallon went part-time in order to focus on his training. As a result, Fallon’s graduation plans will be delayed by a full year. However, because Fallon competed for Penn each of the last four years, under Ivy League policy, which only grants an athlete four years of eligibility, Fallon’s time wearing the Red and Blue has come to an end.
Fallon has had an untraditional road to the top — missing the World Championship trials in 2022
due to final exams, an injury that led to an absence at 2023 NCAA championships, and the aforementioned illness while competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Fallon has consistently persevered. Later in 2023, Fallon made his first senior international team and took home a bronze medal at the World Championships.
“The ability to be more in tune with myself and understand what I need, and understand how I get better, the space that I need, what I really want to work for, and understand, like, what I kind of want to leave behind,” Fallon said, “that’s what’s been the main aspect of my growth — understanding what I need to do and how I need to get there.”
While Fallon has consistently been the only Quaker to reach the national and international stage, coach Mike Schnur has been there every step of the way — from his first NCAAs in 2022 to the 2024 United States Swimming Olympic Trials to his final collegiate swim at NCAA championships in 2025.
“It’s definitely been amazing to have this last chapter of swimming with [Schnur],” Fallon said.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better coach in my college career. He’s definitely pretty much everything I’ve ever wanted out of a coach for college.”
“Him and I, obviously we’re not completely in sync, but we can eventually get it down. And I think we can, in the long term, bond over everything that we’ve gone through,” Fallon added.
While Fallon closed the book on college swimming, just a couple days after the 2025 NCAA championships, Fallon competed at the TYR Pro Swim Series stop in Sacramento, Calif. He won the 200m breaststroke there and notched the sixthfastest time in the world in the event.
“[The] Pro Series was just like to kind of dip my feet in the water for a long course and see where I’m at there,” Fallon said, noting that he hasn’t trained long course since the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Fallon again was the only swimmer to represent the Red and Blue on that stage. A Penn swimmer who stands arguably alone at the top representing the Red and Blue, Fallon describes his last day at the 2025 Ivy League championships as “magical” See FALLON, page 9
record in the 800m race was 2:00.71, and she was recognized as the national runner-up at the 2019 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Championships in this race. At the 2024 United States Track and Field Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., Akins finished first with a blazing time of 1:57.36. Last summer, Akins finished 10th at the 2024 Paris Olympics in her signature race. Most recently, she was victorious in the same event at the 2025 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Akins was last at Penn for the opening of the Ott Center for Track and Field, during which she took part in the ceremonial women’s mile race.
2. Junior jumper Kampton Kam wins the college men’s high jump championship In a story for the record books, Penn’s own junior jumper Kampton Kam — who recently jumped 2.25 meters to set Singapore’s new national record and place
Carnathan | Ranking all eight Ivy League basketball arenas
From Philadelphia to Ithaca, N.Y., each Ancient Eight venue has its own charm
WALKER CARNATHAN Former Sports Editor
The Ivy League is one of the nation’s most storied conferences, and that tradition extends to the venues the Ancient Eight’s teams call home. During my time with The Daily Pennsylvanian’s sports department, I’ve had the chance to cover Penn’s basketball teams at each school in the conference, allowing me to appreciate the unique aspects of each campus and arena.
Let’s break down each of the Ancient Eight’s homes for hoops, including the pros and cons of each spot.
8. Brown — Pizzitola Sports Center Times visited: 2025 Ivy Madness, Penn women’s basketball at Brown on Feb. 18, 2023
Like most mid-major conferences, many of the Ivy League’s smaller venues are more reminiscent of high school facilities than the mammoth homes of high-major programs. The Pizzitola Sports Center, a 2,800 seat arena that plays home to Brown, fits that bill.
While the list has to have a No. 8, “The Pitz,” as Bears fans lovingly call it, is not without its merits. Its smaller scope makes for many solid spectator vantage points, and its additional features such as concessions and restrooms are up to par. Its location also provides a number of convenient parking options on the surrounding streets.
That said, the Sports Center has neither the glossy aesthetic of a more modern arena or the traditional mystique of other Ivy League venues, while its layered seating area on one sideline hinders the feeling of a cohesive crowd. Its exterior is also inconspicuously connected to a number of other athletic facilities, which is
