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How patents help protect Penn’s next big idea Patent filings on behalf of University inventors have climbed steadily since 2012 CAN DOGA BOLUKBASI Staff Reporter
Since September 2012, Penn has published nearly 5,000 patent applications, most of them related to medicine. But getting from the laboratory to a formally issued patent is a years-long, often-rejected, fivefigure process. The Penn Center for Innovation, launched in 2014, oversees that pipeline and decides which discoveries are worth the bet. PCI Managing Director Benjamin Dibling said in an interview that the center wants to “have the broadest impact possible out of the output of Penn’s research enterprise.” “When we think about commercialization, it’s a parallel path to traditional publication and dissemination of knowledge,” he added. The process begins when Penn researchers file an “invention disclosure,” required for any invention or discovery that may be patentable if federal or sponsored research funds were involved. Dibling said that once a disclosure is received, PCI starts asking whether the technology “has the possibility of becoming a new product or service, or the basis for a new business.” PCI may be interested in filing a patent because the technology is “inherently early-stage,” he explained. The incentive, he continued, comes from “being able to have an exclusive position in the marketplace for a fixed period of time,” so that “another unrelated company isn’t going to put an identical product on the market that competes with them.” According to PCI, the average Penn utility patent application spends roughly two years pending at the United States Patent and Trademark Office before the patent attorney receives written notice on whether the application’s claims were accepted as filed. Often, the initial application is rejected in an Official Action letter, prompting a written response from the attorney — a back-and-forth called patent prosecution that can drag on for several years. “Generally, the patent office likes to issue patents that are very narrow, and we often want patents that are quite broad,” Dibling said. The “best” patents are created by working with faculty and researchers at Penn, he added. See PATENTS, page 2
AMY LUO | SENIOR DESIGNER
The 150-year history of women at Penn AMY LIAO Senior Reporter
Barbara Berger had just become the first woman in the Ivy League to lead a coed student government when a local news anchor asked whether she would “argue calmly like a man” or “cry and scream like a woman” to get her way. Berger, who graduated from the College for Women in 1967, had been elected president of Penn’s newly merged men’s and women’s student governments. “I felt badly for the fellow I ran against because it was such an unaccepted idea,” Berger told The Daily Pennsylvanian. “It was just one step in the direction of recognizing that there are two bright groups of people who are going to make wonderful impacts on the world, and they should be considered equally.” Realizing that vision would take decades, as women continued to push for greater representation.
Berger’s experience — and that of dozens of others interviewed by the DP — offers a glimpse into the attitudes women have encountered since Penn admitted its first female student 150 years ago. *** In 1876, Gertrude Klein Peirce and Anna Lockhart Flanigen became the first women to enroll at Penn, taking courses as special students in the Towne Scientific School — now the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Four years later, Mary Alice Bennett graduated as the first woman with a degree from Penn, through the School of Auxiliary Medicine. Though the Board of Trustees pledged to establish a separate college for women once sufficient funding became available, Penn wouldn’t do so for another 50 years. Penn professor Jessa Lingel — who serves as
the director of the Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Program — said in an interview that the separation of men’s and women’s colleges reflected broader attitudes toward gender in the early 20th century. While she acknowledged that the division was partially rooted in a “paternalist narrative,” she said it also fostered “powerful experiences of solidarity and community among women.” In 1890, six female students founded Penn’s first sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma. Other women began organizing too, as journalists, athletes, and student advocates like Berger. An internal sense of community, however, did little to change how women were treated on campus. Sherry Luber Blumenthal, who graduated from the College for Women in 1967, recalled being See WOMEN, page 2
AI surge prompts more Penn professors to go no-tech
Penn UA unanimously calls for sweeping Title IX reform
Some faculty have scaled back technology use in the classroom, while others have embraced artificial intelligence’s potential to enhance learning
According to College senior and UA President Musab Chummun, the resolution ‘is only the beginning’
ALEX DASH Senior Reporter
Some Penn professors are radically reorienting their classrooms to meet the challenges of teaching in an era of artificial intelligence. The advent of large language models has forced instructors to adapt to a transformed learning
environment and reevaluate how they assign classwork and homework. In response, some faculty members have reduced the role of technology in their classrooms, while others have voiced optimism about See AI, page 3
Looking for a parlay? Soon, you can bet on Penn’s acceptance rate The prediction market platform Kalshi could soon open betting markets on admission rates at 22 elite institutions, including Penn ISHA CHITIRALA News Editor
Which party will win the United States Senate? Will OpenAI or Anthropic go public first? And now, what will Penn’s acceptance rate be next year? According to notices filed with its federal regulator this week, the prediction market platform Kalshi could soon open betting markets on admission rates See KALSHI, page 3
NEWS Penn reported $180K in third quarter lobbying spending, the lowest quarter so far this year
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The prediction market app Kalshi is displayed on a mobile phone.
NEWS Netter Center’s community service courses get Penn students out of the classroom and into communities
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CHRISTINE OH Senior Reporter
Penn’s Undergraduate Assembly passed a resolution Sunday calling on the University to overhaul its Title IX policies and formally involve students in the improvement process. The resolution identified “key problems” the UA gathered from meetings with various University offices, including communication and transparency, timeliness and capacity, fairness and survivor experience, outcomes and accountability, and policy and governance. The UA also organized its demands into three tiers based on the recommended implementation timeline. The sections highlighted a lack of public information about the “process, timelines, and outcomes” of Title IX investigations, the protracted timeline for case resolution with little communication, limited support for survivors, and a lack of clarity regarding disciplinary actions. College and Wharton junior Khalil ElBechir — who serves as the UA’s Community Engagement and Sustainability director — described the “current situation” at Penn as “unacceptable.” “Penn promised a national model. So far, students have gotten silence,” ElBechir wrote in a statement. “Survivors wait weeks for an update. Cases take months. According to HESMA 2024, most students who experience violence never contact a single campus resource. These are symptoms of a broken system that students do not trust.” Penn administered the HESMA, or the Higher Education Sexual Misconduct and Awareness Survey, in 2024. ElBechir is also leading the UA’s ad hoc Title IX committee, formed amid a national outcry over Cornell University’s handling of an alleged gang rape on the school’s campus in 2024. “The Cornell case reminded the country that OPINION The Daily Pennsylvanian Editorial Board explores the commodification of higher education
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survivors depend on their institutions for protection, for answers, and for accountability, and that a university’s process is often the only route they have to any of it,” ElBechir wrote. “Every student at Penn deserves to know that our system would protect and support them. That is the problem this resolution aims to fix.” The document was addressed to the Office of the President, the Office of the Provost, the University Board of Trustees, the Center for Civil Rights, the Office of the Associate Vice President for Equity and Title IX Officer, the Penn Violence Prevention office, and the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life. Fourteen organizations have signed the resolution as of publication. According to the document, the UA met with representatives from the Penn Women’s Center, the LGBT Center, Penn Violence Prevention, the Center for Civil Rights, and the Title IX Office, as well as the vice provost for University Life, to understand the most pressing issues regarding interpersonal violence. “It draws on over six months of research and conversations with campus offices and support centers, a review of Penn’s Sexual Misconduct Policy and the Center for Civil Rights, comparisons with peer institutions, and a fruitful collaboration with Abuse & Sexual Assault Prevention at the University of Pennsylvania (ASAP) and The University of Pennsylvania’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC),” the document read. College senior James Glomb, who serves as the president of SAAC, wrote in a statement that the organization “remains committed to working alongside students, student organizations, and See TITLE IX, page 3
SPORTS At the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta, Penn rowing finished first across eight events
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News PATENTS, from front page During the patenting process, PCI relies on outside patent counsel — attorneys from a range of firms with domain expertise. While the Office of General Counsel signs off on these collaborations, according to Dibling, the OGC does not get involved “in the vast majority of cases.” The OGC, he said, is more likely to get involved in the case of a patent infringement lawsuit. A patent application is resolved once the USPTO deems it allowable and agrees to issue a patent. The whole process — filing through issuance — can cost between $15,000 and $30,000, all of which is covered by PCI. According to PCI’s Commercialization Guide, which cites Penn’s patent policy, the University “owns the inventions created at Penn by Penn personnel” — which includes faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students supported by research grants. PCI “actively manages” licensing rights and takes “direct responsibility” for patent maintenance and protection. The University has been able to file patent applications on behalf of its researchers since Sept. 16, 2012, when the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act took effect. USPTO data shows that filings on behalf of Penn inventors have climbed steadily since that point — and have stayed above 400 a year since 2021. Only a handful of 2025 and 2026 filings are currently publicly visible, likely because applications stay confidential at first and typically are published 18 months after the initial provisional
WOMEN, from front page barred from wearing pants to class and forced to follow strict dormitory curfews — rules her male classmates never faced. “You try to protest in any way and people looked at you like you were crazy,” Blumenthal said. “Your role in life was to be married and to procreate.” Women interested in a professional career, she added, received little encouragement and felt an increasing pressure to prove themselves. “The problem at that time was that you had to be better than the men to get in,” Blumenthal said about her aspiration to enter medical school. “It was pretty daunting in terms of looking at that as a career, because it was antithetical to getting married, having children, and the life a woman ‘would want to have.’” Blumenthal got married a week after graduating from Penn and wouldn’t start medical school until her early 30s. She graduated cum laude from Thomas Jefferson University with a Doctor of Medicine in 1986. Over time, divisions between how men and women were treated at Penn began to narrow. In 1953, students from both the men’s and women’s colleges appeared together in The Record, Penn’s undergraduate yearbook, for the first time. The
filing. Most patents Penn has been granted since September 2012 fall under Cooperative Patent Classification section A, “Human necessities” — which includes medicinal preparations — and section C, “Chemistry and metallurgy,” which includes biochemical compounds. Within those categories, three subsections dominate: A61P 35/00, antineoplastic agents; A61K 40/11, T cells; and C12N 15/86, viral vectors.
Because patents can be classified in more than one section, the combined total of all sections exceeds the number of patents granted. A PCI spokesperson wrote in a statement that Penn securing a patent “in no way limits the academic freedom of the researchers at Penn to continue to use the patented invention for academic purposes.” Dibling acknowledged that the patent budget “is
not a bottomless pit,” which makes it worth asking whether the expense is “worth it.” Some faculty, he said, “don’t necessarily realize how expensive it is to file a patent application.” He also acknowledged that not every commercially valuable technology invented at Penn needs a patent. “These are all things that we might decide not to patent, but they still have value,” he said.
KYLIE COOPER | DP FILE PHOTO
Since 2012, Penn has published nearly 5,000 patent applications.
following year, Penn announced that women would be admitted to undergraduate programs at the Wharton School and the Engineering School. But gender was not the only barrier women encountered on campus. According to Lingel, “access to an elite education has always been bound by race and class as much as gender, or even more than gender.” For 1971 College for Women graduate Paula Whatley Matabane, much of her time at Penn was spent feeling out of place in more ways than one. Black women who spoke out about gender inequality, she said, risked being accused of “being a traitor to the race.” As Penn entered the latter half of the 20th century, efforts to address gender inequality increased. In 1973, students organized a four-day sit-in at College Hall in response to a series of sexual assault cases. Karen Goldstein, an assistant dean at the time, described the sit-in as a “turning point” for Penn. Goldstein, a 1977 School of Arts and Sciences and 1982 Wharton graduate, said in an interview that Penn’s head of security blamed the incidents on “provocative clothing.” “Of course, I was on the side of the students,” she recalled. Penn ultimately agreed to the protesters’ demands, and Goldstein was tasked with implementing the changes — including the launch of the Penn Women’s Center.
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In 1975, outrage again erupted on campus following the brutal killing of Penn microbiologist Susan Alexander Speeth. More than 250 students, University employees, and Philadelphia residents gathered for a candlelit procession to protest violence against women. The demonstration helped lay the groundwork for the Take Back the Night movement, which continues to raise awareness of sexual violence today. Activism also extended into the classroom. Around the same time, members of Women for Equal Opportunity at Penn proposed establishing a women’s studies department, arguing that their experiences and contributions had long been overlooked in traditional academic settings. Lingel said most students could complete their entire education without having a female professor or reading work written by women. “You would just take entire classes where every single name on the syllabus would be a man,” Lingel said. “And it’s not because those articles and books didn’t exist, it’s because men just didn’t assign them.” By 1976, Penn became fully coeducational. All 13 schools admitted men and women on equal terms, and women could pursue every available degree program. Women had also moved into senior administrative roles. By the 100th anniversary of women’s admission to Penn, five women served on the Board of Trustees, while others held various faculty and leadership positions across the University.
In a statement, Erika James — who in 2020 became the first woman to serve as Wharton’s dean — acknowledged that “countless women around the world still face roadblocks as they pursue their ambitions” despite the “tremendous impact” they have made. “If we want to make the most of the talent that exists everywhere, we must continue to provide opportunities for women to study and excel in whatever ignites their passion,” she wrote. In 1993, Judith Rodin became Penn’s president, making her the first woman to lead an Ivy League institution. A 1966 College graduate, Rodin was also the first Penn alumna to hold the presidency. She was succeeded in 2004 by Amy Gutmann, the second woman to lead the University. Nearly two decades later, Liz Magill became Penn’s third female president, serving until her resignation in 2023. Gutmann — the longest-serving president in Penn’s history with an 18-year tenure — emphasized in a statement that there is “so much to celebrate and at least as much still to achieve.” She highlighted the “talent, leadership, scholarship, and contributions of generations of women who expanded opportunities not only for themselves, but also for all those who followed.” “We made great progress, but we were never complacent,” she added. “We must not be complacent today.” Staff reporter Cynthia Nga contributed reporting.
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2026
NEWS 3
Penn reports $180K in third quarter lobbying spending The University‘s spending fell sharply from the $280,000 reported in the second quarter of 2026 MAHMOUD STAITIEH Staff Reporter
Penn spent $180,000 lobbying the federal government on issues related to international student visas, financial aid, and research in the third quarter of 2026. The disclosure, filed earlier this month, brings the University’s total lobbying expenditures for the year to $750,000. Penn’s spending this quarter fell sharply from the $280,000 reported in the second quarter of 2026 and was down 50% from the same period last year. According to the report, Penn lobbied on the “Save Healthcare Workers Act” and Medicaid funding under 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Other listed issues included workplace violence prevention, National Institutes of Health research, and “international students and visas.” A request for comment was left with a University spokesperson. The University’s first disclosure, filed on Oct. 19, indicated $100,000 in spending during the third quarter of this year. On Wednesday, Penn filed an amendment to its initial posting. Associate Vice President for Federal Affairs William Andresen and Penn Medicine Corporate Director for
AI, from front page AI’s potential to enhance learning. Most faculty members said they have limited the opportunities for AI use in the classroom by decreasing access to technology during lectures. For some, the solution has been to ban laptop and phone use entirely. Urban Studies Program co-Director Julia McWilliams wrote in a statement that she has gone “almost entirely analog in terms of assignments” for one of her classes, using field notebooks and printing readings for students. Russian and East European Studies professor Kristen Ghodsee said she has also gone “100% analog.” She asks her students to put their phones “into Faraday bags at the beginning of class,” which are then “locked away in a 1940s suitcase.” A Faraday bag prevents electromagnetic transmissions from passing through — blocking Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and other signals. Ghodsee provides students with pieces of paracord to practice tying knots “to give them something to fidget with.” Other professors have adopted a split approach, only permitting technology use during predesignated times. Criminology professor Maria Cuellar wrote in a statement that she does not allow the use of screens during the first half of her lecture and that all notes — including those related to coding — must be written on paper. During the second half of class, her students can use computers as they break out into groups to complete assignments. According to Cuellar, banning screens “helps during lecture, but during practice exercises I believe students should have access to computers for certain tasks.” “It helps to clarify when AI is allowed and when it isn’t, and when it is, I ask students to tell me how they
KALSHI, from front page at 22 elite institutions — including Penn. Users will be able to wager whether a college’s admission rate will be less than, equal to, or greater than a certain value. The process of approving the new markets with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission will take several weeks, according to a Kalshi spokesperson. A request for comment was left with a University spokesperson. The markets will only include options to bet on the total application numbers and total admissions rates — not specific early action or early decision results. The company plans to open markets for all eight Ivy League institutions and several peer institutions — including Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Wharton School professor Abraham Wyner — who studies probabilistic modeling — said in an interview that there is always possible insider trading
TITLE IX, from front page University administrators to foster a safer and more supportive environment for all members of the Penn community, both within and beyond Penn Athletics.” “We recognize that meaningful progress requires continued collaboration, open communication, and a shared commitment to strengthening sexual violence prevention, education, and response efforts across campus,” Glomb added. College junior Nicolina Monacelli and College senior Ashley Kim — the University Council representative and president of ASAP, respectively — similarly wrote that the organization assisted with the resolution “by providing background information and data on the rates of interpersonal violence on Penn’s campus.” “Increasing transparency and communication from campus leaders is crucial in supporting the student body,” Monacelli and Kim wrote. “We will diligently work to actualize the demands in the guidelines.” The resolution’s “Immediate Action” tier called on the University to take public steps by Dec. 1 to demonstrate an “intentional commitment to reform its Title IX process.” Those steps include redesigning the Title IX Office’s website to be more “concise” and to offer community members “easily digestible flow diagrams” of routes to take after experiencing interpersonal violence. The resolution recommended that the website outline “students’ and faculty members’ rights” and “the roles of relevant University offices” while distinguishing between confidential resources and those with mandated reporting obligations. Within the first tier, the UA also called on the Center for Civil Rights to make its “mission, vision, and role” clear to the broader Penn community during New Student Orientation and on its website. Another line urged the University to form a “consultative advisory board” to CCR involving student members, requiring the center to “respond in writing to the board’s recommendations.” Another short-term recommendation was that the University “expand equitable access to legal assistance” by offering students a public list of
Government and Community Relations Kristen Molloy were named as the University’s lobbyists. Between July 1 and Sept. 30, Penn allocated $130,000 to retain two external lobbying firms: BGR Group and Mehlman Consulting. Penn first contacted BGR Group — one of the largest lobbying firms in Washington — in May 2025 to advocate on its behalf with federal policymakers. The University paid the firm $80,000 this quarter for “strategic counsel and advocate on issues related to higher education and research appropriations.” Six BGR Group lobbyists represented Penn, including Managing Director David Urban, who graduated from Penn in 1994. Urban also served as a senior advisor to Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Sean Cooksey, who formerly served as Vice President JD Vance’s chief legal and policy adviser, is also a member of the firm. Penn paid $50,000 to retain the services of Mehlman Consulting, which lobbied the federal government on “health issues impacting academic medical systems,” Medicare and Medicaid, and the “Tax Exempt Hospital
Transparency Act.” The University’s lobbying efforts have shown a
used it,” she added. Wharton School professor Michael Roberts has deliberately incorporated AI into the learning process through his homework assignments. “There’s two types of problems. One where you shouldn’t use AI as a first attempt to solve it, but you can use AI as a tutor to help you with it,” he said. “And then there are AI-specific, finance-centric questions to build up their skills with using AI in finance settings.” He added that he generally has a “no electronics” policy during classes but still is “integrating AI into the delivery of the materials.” Earth and Environmental Sciences professor Alain Plante likened AI models to calculators, which can enhance learning capability in certain contexts. “There are basic functions of a calculator (addition,
subtraction, multiplication, division) that we can learn to do very accurately, quickly, and easily in our heads, and so why use an extra tool that might slow us down,” he wrote in a statement. “However, there are many functions that a calculator can do that we can’t do in our heads, so in those cases using a calculator can be productive and expand our capabilities.” He called generative AI “a tool that needs to be understood and used appropriately in partnership with real learning.” The effectiveness is also “context-, discipline- and goal-specific,” he said. Several professors voiced concerns that AI use could lead to cognitive offloading — or that rather than being used as a supplementary tool, AI would harm students by replacing the critical thinking process. McWilliams tells students that “your body doesn’t
CONNIE ZHAO | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
The United States Capitol on Feb. 14.
JACKSON FORD | DP FILE PHOTO
More faculty are adjusting their classes to no-tech in light of increasing AI usage.
risk that comes from introducing new betting markets. “Administrators are human beings, like everybody else,” he explained. “They will have a dangling opportunity, a shiny bright object that will attract them to think that they can make money.” Still, Wyner does not believe the risk of insider trading is all that great. Due to increased scrutiny on small betting markets, he explained that it will likely be hard to translate these markets “into a substantial potential profit opportunity.” “We have algorithms that will look for people who are betting oddly on odd events,” he added. “In other words, there’s a significant probability of getting caught.” Kalshi plans to use the Common Data Set — as colleges report individual acceptance rates through their institutional portals — and annual disclosures that universities submit to the federal government’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System to verify results. “This is just the gamification of America,” Wyner said. “Sometimes it’s just ridiculous. This one crosses into the ‘just ridiculous’ category.” “free or low-cost legal services” to provide guidance during the investigation process. The second tier of the resolution, titled “NearTerm Procedural Reforms,” listed improvements to be implemented by June 1, 2027. These recommendations focused on streamlining the investigative process and strengthening interim support for survivors of interpersonal and sexual violence. The resolution asked Penn, for example, to “implement trauma-informed questioning procedures that eliminate unnecessary and repetitive questioning during hearings.” Another line recommended that the Title IX Office and affiliated investigators “release the final investigative report within six weeks of the filing of a formal complaint.” The UA requested that the University “strengthen sanctions for confirmed cases of interpersonal violence” and ensure they are “survivor-centered” and “proportionate to the gravity of the violation.” The second tier also included recommendations to improve educational resources for the Penn community, such as the implementation of “mandatory annual interpersonal violence prevention training” by the Title IX Office for every undergraduate student, with specific modules for each class year. Titled “Structural and Ongoing Reforms,” the third tier of the resolution centered on the enforcement of long-term improvements. Many such requests were for periodic, publicized reviews of Title IX procedures and outcomes, including “an annual report on the Title IX Office’s staffing capacity, aggregate caseload, case processing timelines, and resource needs.” Another line called on the University to “conduct an independent review of the efficacy of the Title IX Office’s two-investigator model.” College senior and UA President Musab Chummun emphasized in a statement that the resolution “is only the beginning.” “We are looking forward to hearing from the Center for Civil Rights, Title IX, and other administrators on how they will incorporate our demands in order to improve the Title IX policies,” he wrote. Chummun added that it is “critical” for Penn students to “hold each other accountable” and “push each other to be better.” “Policy change is only as good as the community behind it,” he wrote.
marked decline since the fourth quarter of 2025, when Penn posted a record-high $510,000 in spending.
get the benefits of running a mile unless your muscles actually work to run the mile.” “We need attention, cognitive load/struggle, and community to learn,” she wrote. “Offloading that labor to AI is going to have long-term implications on critical thinking skills and brain development, and we cannot outsource that without consequences.” Fine Arts professor Joshua Mosley wrote that “idiosyncrasies” in student writing are “so important” because they allow faculty members to “sense how they think.” He also acknowledged, though, that AI allows for innovation in other areas — such as 3D printing — “that wouldn’t have been possible last year.” History professor Kathleen Brown explained that AI use makes it harder for her to identify a student’s needs. “How can I help them improve their analytical and writing skills if I can’t see what their own brains can do?” she said. “I can’t help correct a deficit if AI enables a student to hide it.” For Anthropology professor Katherine Moore, an AI-free environment “provides a place where students can engage and learn without the pressure of potentially knowing everything.” “I’ll be very interested to see the effect in 3 or 4 years where students enter Penn who have gone through middle and high school with a more intentional and limited use of classroom tech,” Moore wrote, referring to trends of technology reduction in K-12 classrooms. Earlier this week, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a statewide cellphone ban into law, joining more than two dozen other states. The law prohibits students from accessing their phones at any time during the day, including during breaks. The College of Arts and Sciences will soon offer technology-free study sessions. The first session is scheduled for Nov. 1 and will continue to be held weekly on Sundays. The College is also piloting free printing requests for course materials used at the sessions. Staff reporter Ryan Rucker contributed reporting.
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Editorial | The commodification of higher education
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In fiscal year 2026, Penn’s endowment swelled to a record $31.1 billion — a 27.4% return from the previous year. The enormous sum is more than five times the operating budget of Philadelphia, greater than the annual profit of many major financial institutions, and enough to cover four years of attendance for 80% of the student body. Both its utter amount and rapid growth tell a story of extreme financial success for our institution. At the same time, it highlights the historic and enduring trend of universities operating as businesses before centers for knowledge production. The commodification of higher education is nothing new and far from unique to Penn. Well-documented since the 1970s, the conception of higher education as a private investment over a public good was initially a response to decreased federal funding and the rise of a neoliberal market ideology. Institutions began compromising educational integrity in favor of profit, and they haven’t stopped; tuition has soared, administrative positions have multiplied, and STEM programs have proliferated at the expense of the liberal arts. Today, the structure of the typical American university, in many ways, reflects that of a corporate enterprise. Institutions are governed by boards of directors, managed by executives equivalent to CEOs, and reliant on investment offices that manage their assets. At Penn, our highest paid officials
— President Larry Jameson and Chief Investment Officer Peter Ammon — make upwards of $7 million a year. Salaries like these are inconceivable in any other sector of education, but elite universities operate under a commercial structure focused on profit over pedagogy. On top of this massive baseline compensation, Penn also issues performance-based bonuses, incentivizing its top officials to make decisions that maximize revenue over academic progress. When educational institutions become concerned with maximizing revenue, a central tension emerges. Universities have two competing missions: to educate and to make a profit. The two do not necessarily align and, in many instances, inherently diverge. Across the country, institutions have restructured their labor to cut costs. Stable faculty positions have been replaced by short-term lecturing roles that lack benefits and job security. In the past 40 years, the share of tenure-track faculty at universities nationwide has plummeted from 53% to 32%. This outsourcing of labor rids higher education of its defining value. Education is naturally labor-intensive and demands genuine dedication over shortcuts. The labor of teaching and producing knowledge simply cannot be optimized. As academia becomes a more precarious pursuit amid federal funding cuts, graduate students find themselves competing for
increasingly limited spots. Nationwide, we’ve seen an unprecedented cut in admission rates for Ph.D. programs by 15%, not only limiting the trajectories of aspiring scholars but also the dissemination of significant research. Penn, following national trends, has also cut its doctoral admissions rate by 20% in their 2025 cohort. The University prides itself on its “ecosystem of innovation,” but when presented with a decision to pass that opportunity forward, it cuts innovation off at its source. Penn might claim their lower enrollment was an unavoidable byproduct of financial insecurity, but it’s just another disinvestment in education framed as a business decision. While Penn is not unique in replicating the corporate structure of a for-profit company, it is an outlier in the sheer scale of its economic footprint. Penn finds itself in the unique financial position of controlling both a billion-dollar academic institution and a billion-dollar medical system, putting its annual revenue at over twice that of all other Ivies. Penn presents a particularly egregious case of this business mindset. Well-known for our corporate student culture, we pay comparably little attention to the way these attitudes are mirrored in, or perhaps cultivated by, the structure of our institution itself. Aside from its leadership, Penn is particularly beholden to its donors. It is no secret that in moments of pressure, Penn
has prioritized lining its pockets over its students. The administration’s severe response to student protest in 2023 came only after threats from donors to withhold tens of millions of dollars from the University. An institution that protects the interests of its investors is not one that can commit fully to the well-being of its students. Higher education has been descending a slippery slope in the past few decades, straddling financial motivations and academic objectives — never quite committing to either one. The rationale is simple: What makes a successful business does not make a successful university. While no institution can evade the need to sustain itself financially, doing so is possible without mimicking a corporate structure that puts profit above all else. These fundamentally conflicting values have and will continue to send higher education into a vicious downward spiral. Editorials represent the majority view of members of The Daily Pennsylvanian Editorial Board who meet regularly to discuss issues relevant to the Penn community. This body is led by Opinion Editor Ingrid Holmquist and operates independently from the newsroom. Questions or comments should be directed to letters@thedp.com.
Penn is too traditional CONTRIBUTION | Penn’s commitment to a standard undergraduate experience hinders more than it helps
LETTER SUBMISSION Have your own opinion? Send your letter to the editor or guest column to letters@thedp.com. Editorials represent the majority view of members of The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc. Editorial Board, which meets regularly to discuss issues relevant to Penn’s campus. Participants in these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on related topics.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The Land on which the office of The Daily Pennsylvanian stands is a part of the homeland and territory of the LenniLenape people, known to the original Indigenous people as “Lenapehoking.” We affirm Indigenous sovereignty and will work to hold The Daily Pennsylvanian and the University of Pennsylvania more accountable to the needs of Native American and Indigenous people.
CHENYAO LIU | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Columnist Viktor Wittner argues Penn needs to provide more academic flexibility to address the needs of a diverse undergraduate student body.
At Penn, the traditional undergraduate experience is unquestioned. Most students follow a path with little deviation: we graduate from high school and immediately matriculate. We take four to six classes for eight semesters, find internships for the summer, and spend each year walking to class from our dorms or off-campus apartments. Said out loud, none of this seems out of the ordinary. But for students outside of Penn, that culture isn’t the norm. The majority of college students in the United States are considered nontraditional, but at Penn you won’t find many. It’s not hard to figure out why. Many of these students don’t fit into the strict mold that Penn’s undergraduate experience provides. Speaking to friends at other universities, I was surprised to find out just how many students juggle full-time jobs while taking classes, take some semesters part-time or
online, and often don’t graduate in a clean four years. At Penn, that flexibility — the kind that allows nontraditional students to pursue an undergraduate degree — just doesn’t exist. After changing my major late into my undergraduate career, I found myself looking for advice, trying to ease my worries about fulfilling requirements on time. Every Reddit thread, Quora answer, and academic advisor meeting echoed the same sentiment: College is a marathon, not a sprint. In other words, there’s nothing wrong with taking an extra semester, or even an extra year, to graduate. I agree, but Penn doesn’t. For one, the social taboo of taking an extra semester without a master’s degree or second bachelor’s to show for it is enough to discourage most. What’s more, the eight-semester undergraduate aid policy means I can’t take a
ninth semester without also accruing more than $40,000 in student loan debt. What about summer classes? Well, the prerequisites are deep pockets too. Unless you’re highly aided — a classification that, from personal experience, isn’t even given to every Pell Grant recipient — be prepared to pay at least $6,000 for a measly one-C.U. summer class. And if you’re trying to avoid this cost, Penn doesn’t make it easy to take classes at other institutions either. A lengthy credit approval process is required, one that specifically states courses from community colleges, often the cheapest option, will not be approved. Not providing financial aid for extra semesters and summer classes is obviously not unique to Penn. However, Penn is unique in that, in tandem with its exorbitant price tag, it puts any kind of flexibility behind a paywall too steep for its aided
students to climb. When an extra semester at Penn is nearly the same price as four years at an in-state public university and one summer class can pay for six elsewhere, Penn students outside of the top 10% of household incomes have little room for error. It isn’t just finances stopping students from customizing their time at Penn, either. I initially liked the course unit system for its simplicity, but it’s easy to see how limiting it can be. With half-credit classes essentially limited to Wharton, there are almost no lower-commitment courses I can add to chip away at requirements as I could at institutions that use the semester-hour system. Add in a lack of credit for AP or dual-enrollment classes, and Penn creates a perfect recipe for unavoidable academic overload. When I was struggling with mental health issues, I was constantly told to take online classes for a semester and stay at home. But at Penn, that’s just not possible. Unlike almost every other university operating in 2026, Penn offers almost no online undergraduate courses; those that are online are restricted to students of the College of Liberal and Professional Studies or are only offered in the summer. That policy means a leave of absence is the only option for students who need to be away from campus for a semester. Penn prides itself on a diverse student body, yet it doesn’t seem to recognize how that diversity extends itself to the ways students pursue their degrees. The needs of the average college student have changed: Not every student can dedicate themselves to four years of uninterrupted study, and those who can shouldn’t have to fight to stay on track when life gets in the way. It’s easy to see how Penn as an institution has evolved since its founding in 1740. But its evolution matters little if it fails to change alongside the students who sustain it. VIKTOR WITTNER is an Engineering senior from Casa Grande, Ariz., studying computer science. His email is viktorw@engineering.upenn.edu.
THEDP.COM | THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2026
OPINION 5
Get rid of three-hour classes THE VITAL SIGNS | Extended lectures rarely benefit anyone There’s a particular kind of optimism that comes with sitting down for a three-hour class. The first hour is very manageable: My laptop is charged, my water bottle and coffee cup are full, and I’m energized and prepared to learn for the foreseeable future. The second hour rolls around, and by this time I’ve either drunk all my coffee or let it sit so long that it’s become mostly melted ice. But it’s no big deal; I have only shifted positions in my chair and checked my watch seven or eight times — that’s not too bad, right? I can definitely make it another two hours. I am always wrong. By the third hour, time slows. I have suddenly lost all ability to comprehend English, much less didactic instruction, and have begun to study the back of my eyelids more than whatever words are on the board. My inability to focus nearing the end of class is in no way related to the pedagogy of my professors, but I think I speak for more than myself when I admit to my struggle to sit at a desk and focus for three whole hours without growing the slightest bit checked out. Last week in one of my classes, I scanned the room during the third hour of instruction to see that of the 36 students present in class that day, only six appeared to be actively watching the board and listening to instruction. If you’re taking a three-hour class or two this semester, I encourage you to survey your classroom during the third hour and note how many students are alert and engaged in the content — just don’t be surprised if you can count them all on one hand. The solution might seem obvious: Just give students a break. But a five- or 10-minute intermission provides only temporary relief from the mental fatigue that accumulates during a long lecture.
Research suggests that although a traditional 10minute break can produce a rebound in performance during a long class, the improvements are short-lived and performance begins declining again almost immediately. There is a biological rationale for this. Maintaining attention for an extended period requires continued engagement of the brain systems responsible for executive control and arousal, and research consistently shows that our ability to sustain that attention declines with time spent on tasks. Brief periods of disengagement can help restore mood and alertness, but they merely manage cognitive fatigue rather than eliminate it. Essentially, your 10-minute stroll in the hallway charges your battery a little bit, but it doesn’t fully restore it. Some may argue that college students are in for a rude awakening upon entering the workforce if we cannot sit through a three-hour lecture. However, the issue is not whether students are capable of functioning for three consecutive hours, but rather, is three uninterrupted hours of the same type of instruction the most effective way to use that time? A typical workday for most is not an eight-hour lecture; employees move between meetings, conversations, independent work, and different endeavors throughout the day. There is a reason for this. Dividing work into distinct activities with higher levels of task complexity can accelerate an employee’s perceived passage of time, ultimately making long workdays feel short. The same principle should apply to universities: shorter classes that sustain engagement should be favored over three-hour lectures that attempt to maximize information delivery at the expense of meaningful learning. This is not to say that every long class in the course catalog should be shortened. As a nursing
MAITREY PRAJAPATI | DP FILE PHOTO
Columnist Joshua Daugherty argues that Penn should eliminate three-hour lectures in favor of shorter, more frequent class sessions.
student, I would never suggest compressing a chemistry lab or 12-hour clinical shift into 90 minutes. In these settings, the extended time serves a purpose: Students are engaging in hands-on learning. But when three hours simply means three hours of lecture, often stretching material that could be effectively taught in less time, length begins to feel less like a pedagogical necessity and more like a scheduling convenience. I can sit in a classroom for three hours. I can also stare at a PowerPoint while thinking about dinner,
laundry, and whether the hands on the clock above the whiteboard have stopped ticking. Endurance and engagement are not the same thing, and Penn’s course schedules should stop treating them like they are. JOSHUA DAUGHERTY is a Nursing junior from Farmington, Conn. His email is joshuacd@ nursing.upenn.edu.
Yes, your humanities major matters CONTRIBUTION | Numbers are not the only way to measure success
CONNIE ZHAO | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Contributor Carina Thomas proposes that the humanities are neglected because Penn students measure value and success primarily by numerical means.
In August, The Daily Pennsylvanian mapped out the distribution of majors among Penn’s Class of 2026. Among graduates from the College of Arts and Sciences, the three most popular majors were in philosophy, politics, and economics; biology; and economics. While humanities departments offer 46% of majors in the College, only 14% of degrees earned by 2026 College graduates belonged to a humanities field. That puts undergraduate humanities degrees for the Class of 2026 at 7% across the University as a whole. Researchers have worked to explain the overall decrease in humanities majors across United States higher education institutions. Some have cited anxieties related to job prospects and heavy
reading loads as the cause of this phenomenon. The national decline in literacy rates sure isn’t helping the humanities attract more students. Funding cuts to educational programs by the Trump administration also seem to have exacerbated this concern, as not enough funding is reaching students who require improvement in their reading levels to meet the standards of humanities workloads. While these explanations make sense, the issue of the humanities being overlooked is not only institutional — it seems internal. On campus, the unenthusiastic reactions I receive from peers when I reveal my plans to major in English or history reveal the humanities’ weak social reputation. These reactions point to a deeper
issue: Students frame meaning and success by numerical means, undermining the value of qualitative achievement. We’re relieved to see the word “Congratulations!” in the subject line of the email letting us know we got the 20-person internship. Hundreds of applicants were rejected. We overhear that our classmate got a 19/20 on the quiz; meanwhile, we got an 18.5. We promise ourselves to achieve nothing but a 20 on the next one. We have 500+ LinkedIn connections. Seeing that triple-digit number gives us some sense of preprofessional validation. Sometimes, we don’t even place importance on numbers based on how close they are to a certain goal or threshold, like the maximum test score or the ideal salary. As long as they are big enough, we are closer to being satisfied. And so, we grasp aimlessly for number after number without a clear idea of what “success” we are really trying to achieve. There has always been the saying of “quality over quantity,” but the overwhelming prevalence of metric fixation in our contemporary society celebrates the idea that quantity equals quality. The more, the better. Metric fixation can be closely tied to scientism, a concept that places a great amount of faith in the natural sciences, believing that technical knowledge is inherently objective and can be used to solve all societal problems. This way of thinking, however, can potentially lead one to ignore the nuances of reality — that is, the social dynamics that influence aspects of society that are difficult to measure quantitatively. Quantitative measurements are heavily utilized in STEM fields. In the humanities, however, qualitative techniques are employed to better understand our society. Because the humanities lack the quantitative values that our society perceives as invaluable and necessary, entire fields of study that promote qualitative approaches are gradually diminished in importance and overlooked in value. While in STEM, one solves problems to reach the correct answer, the humanities present a never-ending web of knowledge that spans multiple directions and doesn’t imply a clear end or answer. Knowledge
is prone to interpretation, a practice that catalyzes critical thinking. Because of the unstructured nature of the humanities, it’s easy to question whether what someone is studying truly matters as we continue to live in a society with a numbers-based approach to meaning. The value of humanities studies becomes much more visible only when the threat of neglecting them is revealed. Prominent figures in the technology industry today are labeled as geniuses because they flourish in numbers-based fields. Because of this high status they are granted, they develop a sense of superiority that leads to the belief that they are destined for authority and control. These figures are seen as leaders who exemplify the intelligentsia that “deserves” to govern society — dangerously putting an immense power into the hands of people who don’t always harbor the best intentions for the collective. A well-functioning society is one that promotes complex discourse and engagement of the people, not one that is led by someone seen as superior because of their unique ability to thrive in quantitative environments. The ability to think critically protects us from the dangers of oppressive ideologies and practices by supplying us with knowledge to identify and combat them. Effectively analyzing behaviors, past events, and social patterns through critical thinking exemplifies the very strength of humanities studies. To think more holistically is a central characteristic of any humanities major. The superiority that Penn students attribute to certain majors and academic disciplines, while the humanities receive little appreciation, reflects our society’s overwhelming conformity to the values of metric fixation and scientism. Penn students must see that meaning is derived from more than just numbers. In doing so, the humanities may finally begin to receive the recognition they deserve. CARINA THOMAS is a College first year studying history from Berkeley, Calif. Her email is carinath@sas.upenn.edu.
Sororities aren’t dumb, you’re just anti-woman CONTRIBUTION | How anti-sorority stereotypes are rooted in misogyny Every spring semester at Penn, hundreds of young women step out into the freezing Philadelphia air, excited and full of anticipation for formal recruitment. They spend weeks discussing their favorite sorority and perfecting their introductions, searching for the community that best fits them. For many women, rush represents an exciting milestone: a doorway to mentorship, leadership, and lifelong friendships in a high-pressure academic environment. Yet, almost immediately, campus criticism sinks its teeth into that excitement. The moment women express enthusiasm about entering greek life, they are met with a bombardment of condescension. Peers across campus love to casually dismiss prospective and current sorority members as superficial, shallow, or fundamentally “dumb,” disregarding the significance of sororities completely. Panhellenic sororities are routinely reduced to stereotypes of curated personalities and mindless conformity. This is not because they actually embody any of those critiques, but because they are female-dominated groups and are therefore devalued and minimized by the very society that created these double standards. This dismissal is rarely a serious critique of greek life. Rather, it is commentary deeply rooted in misogyny. When people label sororities as trivial, they are usually reacting to the structural limitations imposed on women’s organizations, such as “dry house” policies. The reality is simple: Sororities aren’t dumb, you just refuse to recognize how gendered power dynamics shape social life at Penn. To understand why sororities operate the way they do, you have to look at the physical and structural layout on Penn’s campus. Penn’s Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life recognizes 36 greek organizations in total, but just six Panhellenic sororities. This massive disparity is not a reflection of student interest, but historical institutional design. Penn was founded as an all-male institution in 1740 and only began allowing women to fully enroll in 1933. This gap left campus sororities nearly two centuries behind when searching for real estate, creating limited options and structural disadvantages that still persist today. This imbalance creates an intense social scarcity for
women. During recruitment season, hundreds of potential new sorority members compete for a drastically limited number of spots relative to their male peers. This shortage forces sororities to operate under immense pressure. Because demand is high and chapter opportunities are scarce, the council organizations must adhere strictly to national regulations and University guidelines to protect their charters. A single policy violation can lead to a chapter losing its house or being dissolved entirely, shrinking an already tiny pool of options. On the other hand, fraternities, backed by extensive alumni networks, larger property holdings, and sheer numbers, absorb operational risk with far greater resilience. A common insult leveled against sororities is that they “don’t throw real parties.” Detractors mock sorority houses for being boring or secondary to the weekend social scene, pointing out that female students only ever attend events hosted in fraternities rather than hosting themselves. What critics conveniently ignore is that sororities don’t host alcohol fueled parties because they are legally and contractually forbidden from doing so. Under National Panhellenic Conference rules, all sorority chapter houses across the country are strictly dry. This mandate is driven by risk management and astronomical insurance costs. This policy creates a clear, gendered power dynamic. By preventing sororities from hosting social events with alcohol in their own spaces, the current structure hands fraternities a complete monopoly over campus nightlife and social activity. Women are forced to navigate male-dominated spaces for weekend events, ceding control over environment and safety to fraternity members. Blaming sororities for this setup and labeling them as “dumb” for complying with safety regulations punishes women for a structural inequality that they didn’t create. This double standard extends far beyond party cultures and directly into professional life. On a preprofessional campus like Penn, fraternity brotherhood is routinely praised as a vital career vector — an engine for corporate networking, recruitment, and lifelong ambition. Yet, when women build identical structures of peer support, alumni outreach, and academic mentorship
HENRY LEE | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Contributor Pearl Johnson argues that negative stereotypes about sororities stem from misogyny rather than logic.
within sororities, those efforts are mocked as superficial or frivolous. Society naturally validates male bonding as strategic professional development, while trivializing female bonding as mere gossip or vanity. In reality, sororities provide the exact same social and academic benefits as fraternities, offering rigorous leadership roles, career connections, and grade point averages that often outpace the campus average. To value the fraternity network while dismissing the sorority network is pure misogyny. It’s easy to look at Penn’s social hierarchy and conclude that strict rules and stereotypes make sororities inferior to fraternities. But that perspective mistakes patriarchal privilege for actual value. Penn’s six Panhellenic sororities navigate a campus environment heavily tilted against
them, balancing massive demand with strict national oversight to build supportive, resilient communities. Dismissing these organizations as “dumb” ignores the structural barriers women face and reinforces the idea that female-dominated spaces are inherently less worthy of respect. It’s time to stop blaming sororities for the constraints placed upon them, and it’s time to start questioning the system that created them. PEARL JOHNSON is a College first year studying psychology from Philadelphia. Her email is pearlspj@sas.upenn.edu.
6 NEWS
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2026
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2026
THEDP.COM | THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN
NEWS 7
ABCS courses get Penn students out of the classroom and into communities The courses broadly address ‘universal problems as they’re manifested locally’ through partnerships across West Philadelphia, according to Netter Center Director Ira Harkavy AYAAN SESHADRI Staff Reporter
Through a different kind of coursework, Penn students are able to venture off campus to support local organizations. The Netter Center for Community Partnerships offers many opportunities to combine classroom learning with hands-on projects. Faculty and students involved in Academically Based Community Service courses work with organizations across West Philadelphia to provide institutional support and promote service experience. Ira Harkavy, the founder and director of the center, explained in an interview that the courses broadly address “universal problems as they’re manifested locally” through partnerships with organizations nearby. The center, which was formally created in 1992, develops partnerships between Penn and local University-Assisted Community Schools. He described the organization’s guiding principle as the idea that “every school should be the center of the community” — with universities contributing resources and building relationships to support that role. Harkavy emphasized that while Penn is seen “as the partner that could make the greatest difference” for local schools, these collaborations are also “good for universities.” “It’s the creation of mutually beneficial democratic partnerships,” he added, describing the “democratic” aspect as center’s commitment to working with and learning from the community. According to Harkavy, there are about 80 ABCS courses offered each year that enroll over 1,800 students. In URBS 1780, which he co-teaches, faculty and students collaborate to improve Penn’s relationships with the local community. Theresa Simmonds, the Netter Center’s training and technical assistance coordinator for post-secondary success programs, teaches the course alongside Harkavy. She explained that students complete a “problem-solving learning paper” to address community issues. They draw from class readings and weekly participation in Paul Robeson High School’s College Application assistance program to propose solutions. According to Simmonds, Penn students are expected to identify critical needs through their work with high school students and educators and develop proposals informed by those conversations. She added that students must create “an implementable proposal to help solve the problem that they identified.” “The key word there is implementable,” she said. “Some of the students do try to implement their programs in the semester after they take the course, but that is not a requirement.” College sophomore Sebastian Reed, who is enrolled in the course, discussed some of the class projects that have become ongoing community programs. He pointed to MathMates — a tutoring group he is involved with that works with middle school students at Andrew Hamilton School. The
initiative originated as a final project from the course and began operating in 2022. Other ABCS courses focus on the arts and promoting intergenerational exchange. Director of Arts, Culture, and Humanities Partnerships for UACS Suzana Berger and English and Africana Studies professor Herman Beavers co-teach ENGL 2222, which examines the work of August Wilson — a renowned playwright known for Black theatre. Students conduct oral history interviews and facilitate story circles at local community events in October and December before connecting their conversations with West Philadelphia’s residents to Wilson’s writing. At the end of the semester, the Philadelphiabased Black theatre group “Theatre in the X” performs scenes from Wilson’s plays. Students then lead small-group discussions connecting the performances to participants’ experiences. The course also works with the Paul Robeson
House and the West Philadelphia Cultural Alliance to plan the events. According to Berger, many members of the local community engage with the class on a regular basis. “Each year we have several people who are older than the typical Penn students taking the class just for interest,” she said, adding that those participants can bring their familiarity with Wilson’s work and own experiences to discussions. For School of Engineering and Applied Science senior Anya Stewart, community engagement is a large part of ASLD 1033 — an American Sign Language and Deaf Studies course. Stewart is the only student enrolled in the course this semester, which entails weekly oneon-one meetings with its instructor — American Sign Language Program Director Jami Fisher. She explained that these class sessions complement her weekly work at the Pennsylvania
School for the Deaf, where she assists a teacher with lessons in algebra and personal finance. According to Fisher, the course aims to “be part of the community” and “in support of the community.” At the end of the semester, students are asked to synthesize the information and research they collected and create “a community friendly briefing” that is delivered to their partner. Fisher emphasized the importance of “thinking with the audience in mind” and creating a product that they find beneficial. For Stewart, the course has also informed how she approaches the required classes in her major. She explained that working with deaf students has helped her to consider how engineering designs can respond to the needs of the people using them, adding that the course offers a “rewarding way to apply the theoretical principles that you’ve learned throughout your time at Penn into a community-centered project.”
CARYS HSIUNG | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The Netter Center on Sept. 26.
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8 SPORTS
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2026
Sports
THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM
Penn men’s soccer draws Harvard in 3-3 contest The team completed a comeback against the Crimson but surrendered a late-game goal DANIEL OBSTGARTEN Sports Associate
In a game as hard-fought as this one, fate wouldn’t have it any way except even for Penn men’s soccer. Penn and Harvard battled it out until the bitter end at Jordan Field, with the Saturday afternoon showdown ending in a 3-3 draw. The Quakers (63-4, 2-1-2 Ivy) scored three second-half goals, including junior forward Marco Bottene’s conference-leading eighth of the season, to come back from an early 1-0 deficit and take a late lead. Yet, Harvard defender Tim Langenbahn punched home an equalizer for the Crimson (4-6-3, 2-2-1) with 16 seconds left, sending Penn home with a tie.
“It’s encouraging to see the team … keep fighting and believing that they can put a game together like that,” coach Brian Gill said. “Probably the only disappointment across the board is that we didn’t see it all the way through.” The Quakers got off to a slow start, seeing very little control of the ball. Harvard took control of the match, setting themselves up for a corner kick nine minutes in, but the Crimson’s shot rolled just wide in the ensuing scramble. Penn couldn’t turn upfield, and Harvard took the opportunity to grab an early lead. A strong individual effort up the left side of the pitch by Harvard forward Adam Poliakov left
NOAH JEONG | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Sophomore midfielder Phil Pak kicks the ball in a match against Monmouth on Sept. 1.
FOOTBALL, from back page targeting personal foul on the tackle, moving the ball all the way to Yale’s 13-yard line. After having to throw it away on first down, Teodecki would hand it off to Williams, who found a hole up the middle, hit the jets, and punched into the end zone to give the Quakers a three-point lead at 24-21. “[I saw] green grass, touchdown,” Williams said. “Offensive line did a great job getting everyone out of the way.” After trading punts yet again, Yale would pick up a quick first down before the two-minute warning. Coming out of the timeout, Yale looked poised to drive down the field and put up points, but the Quakers defense would come up clutch again, as senior defensive back Devin Malloy won the man-coverage battle to pick off Reno, recording the Quakers’ fourth interception of the night. However, the Penn offense was unable to get a game-sealing first down, and the Quakers’ punt would put Yale near midfield, giving the Bulldogs 44 seconds to get into field goal range and tie the game.
teammate Andreas Savva open on the backdoor for a tap-in and a 1-0 Crimson lead. After surviving another Harvard corner kick shortly after, Penn started making its push upfield, with junior midfielder Michael Howard logging the Quakers’ first shot in the 28th minute. Their best chance of the first half came off a feed into the box by senior defender Joaquin Niehenke that was headed just over the top of the net by Bottene. Penn’s only corner kick of the half also provided a decent chance, but it did not convert, and the Quakers headed off down 1-0 for the second straight game. “It’s not something where I would say I’m totally dissatisfied with the first half,” Gill said. “It’s just about us doing better on the offensive moments and maybe doing a little bit better defensively.” However, just like its previous game against Kansas City, Penn wasn’t going to let a first-half deficit define its second-half gameplay. The Quakers won control of the kickoff and immediately made their presence known in the offensive half of the field. After the Crimson back line held strong for more than 10 minutes, the Quakers got their breakthrough moment: Freshman midfielder Isaac Tortola spun away from two Harvard defenders and blasted a shot into the bottom left for his first collegiate goal, tying the game 1-1. “At halftime, it’s a lot about … making [the team] understand that they can influence the game. Whether it was Isaac’s goal or just the way we played in general … I felt like the response overall was pretty good,” Gill said. Penn didn’t let up from there, but the Quakers were hard-pressed to take the lead. Two corner kicks in as many minutes from the Quakers bounced out, and two more shots from Bottene went high and wide. When Harvard got pressure going again, it made no mistake, as a high pass into the box found Poliakov behind everyone. Poliakov sent it to the opposite side on senior goalkeeper Phillip Falcon III, giving the Crimson another one-goal lead in the 73rd minute. It took Penn 57 minutes to respond to the first Harvard goal; it took one minute to respond to the second. A quick sprint up the field resulted in a ball fed through the box to junior midfielder Michael Howard, who teed it up for a Bottene header, tying
the game at two aside. The quick momentum swing seemed to suck the energy out of the Crimson and rejuvenate the Quakers, who went right back on offense. Two Penn corner kicks in the following six minutes weren’t converted, though, and Harvard went right back up the field. Falcon corralled a tough Harvard shot and punted it upfield to a waiting Bottene, who was hounded by two Crimson defenders. Bottene dished it across to junior forward Romeo Dahlen, who threaded it into the net to give the Quakers their first lead of the game. “Sometimes the game takes on a life of its own, so it’s where you need your leadership,” Gill said of the wild second half. “You need your most experienced players to come out and deal with the momentum swings.” With just over eight minutes to go, the now-trailing Crimson were desperate for an equalizer, and the Quakers were desperate to hang on. Harvard retained possession on the restart, and Poliakov quickly got another shot towards Falcon, who made the stop. Harvard’s corner kick got cleared out, and Penn got almost five minutes of play away from the danger of its own net. A foul on Dahlen with two minutes to go gave Harvard the ball back, and a quickly forming play off the free kick gave Harvard possession and a corner kick with a minute on the clock. The centering feed squirted out of the box, but the Crimson never lost possession. A feed into the box hit Langenbahn, who deflected it just past the outstretched hands of Falcon to tie the game with 16 seconds to go. The restart of play was merely a formality at that point, and both teams walked off the pitch with another conference-play standings point. The Quakers will play their penultimate game of the season at Rhodes Field at 7 p.m. this Halloween as they face the Columbia Lions (4-4-4, 0-3-2). “The message will not be one of disappointment, not be one of nervousness,” Gill emphasized. “It’ll be one of embracing our situation and one of confidence to go out there and represent the program.” Penn currently sits second in the Ivy League standings, tied in points with Yale but holding the tiebreaker. Cornell has already clinched the Ivy League regular-season title and will host the Ivy League tournament in November.
Yale’s drive got started hot, as Reno ran for two large gains that set up a 44-yard field goal attempt, which Yale kicker Noah Piper appeared to convert. But a miscommunication, possibly caused by the raucous Penn sideline, had led to a presnap delay of game on Yale, forcing the Bulldogs’ attempt back five yards. This time, Piper’s attempt fell just short, effectively sealing the win. “We adjusted to how we knocked the front over and got some different looks,” Santos said of his second-half defense, which held Yale scoreless in the final two quarters. The Penn sideline stormed the field and picked up a meaningless unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and Teodecki knelt out the final three seconds to cap off Penn’s first Ivy League victory of the season. “You should have seen the locker room … just pure joy and elation. I mean, I’m not going to lie, I was fighting back tears,” Santos said. The Quakers’ next game is at noon Saturday in Providence, R.I., against the Brown Bears (2-3, 0-2 Ivy). “You reap the benefits when you trust the process,” Santos said. “We have to repeat that effort and clean up some mistakes if we want to win next week.”
THREADS
C N N L A I B T
U I A U L E K I
N R E U M U S Y H C X E E F L U M C R I V C L A
S O T E C O C S
Instructions: To play Threads, search the grid for hidden words related to the provided theme. Each letter can only be used exactly once. Each game includes a “spangram,” which is a challenge word that connects two sides of the board and hints at the remaining words in the puzzle. This is not your ordinary word search: letters may be found horizontally, vertically, and diagonally for a single word! Play hundreds of more DP puzzles created at www.thedp.com/section/crosswords. Editor: Nira Goyal
TIME TO STUFF THE BALLOT BOX 10/28/26, 9:09 PM
ACROSS
10/21/26, 6:02 PM
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE
Theme: Shivers Down Your Spine
8 9 10 11 12 13 27 Pokemon city 57 Priest, at times 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 Desert plant for home to the Silph 60 Evil robot in 14 15 16 “2001: A Space which a national Company Head 17 18 19 Office Odyssey” park is named 30 Royal headwear 61 French 20 21 after 31 Yacht club flag pronoun 8 LEGO pieces, 22 23 24 25 26 34 Sanctify 62 Country singer perhaps? 27 28 29 30 35 Kanye, on the Lynn 11 Body part often dropped in 2016 presidential 63 Time pds. 31 32 33 34 ballot, for example, 64 See 22-Across surprise 35 36 37 or how to fill the 65 Horrifying 14 Progress 38 39 40 circled squares Thanksgiving 15 Germany 38 Ballet move amalgamation airport code 41 42 43 44 45 46 meaning “to bend” DOWN 16 Triumphant 47 48 49 50 40 Submit 1 Kidding around, shout, in soccer 51 52 53 slangily 17 Seals, as a crate 41 Notes, like in wine 2 Takes away 18 Winsome 54 55 56 57 58 59 43 Biblical region someone’s guns 20 With 60 61 62 3 Grande who “students,” some home to Jesus Christ may or may not Penn scholars 63 64 65 47 Throw hands have been with 21 “Jump” band 50 Dance or Erivo Van ___ 49 Job for a 23 Chick of jazz 36 Action 4 Described 22 With 64-Across, theatre, for certain Quaker? 24 Jack Hughes’ after positive 5 Freshmen’s letters between L example 53 Tentacled sea famous expregnancy test, 51 Bra component babysitters, and S monster girlfriend perhaps 52 Josh in “Drake familiarly 23 Pet store 54 Timid 25 Before, in 37 Japanese & Josh” 6 Penn URL ender poetry purchase 55 Simple twodemon 54 Shoos, as a fly 7 Carrie’s player card game 26 Led 38 Your prof’s superpower, abbr. 28 “___ OPEN 56 Ice bucket deg. 8 A sharp challenge disease, 29 Ginsburg of 39 Lucy or Simu ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE equivalent abbr. the Supreme 42 Awakens D E M E A N O R A R U S 9 2000s online 57 Savory PBJ Court 44 Gone by A P O L L O X I P H R A S E troll that we’re alternative 32 Finish on 45 Spain’s 1973 L I B E R T Y L O U T S E T never gonna give 58 Gehrig who 33 Like a certain Eurovision song GO V E CO L I up? had 56-Down queen entry B D A Y S Y A L L COME 59 Make 35 Flirty eye 46 “Yada, yada, A R R E CO T H E L J A R 10 “Be quiet!” a mistake yada” Y UM N E N A A R E T H A 11 Senior’s trigger gesture word, perhaps NO T NO B E L S R A 48 Illicit Philly S K I H A T C E L L I T S 12 “We’re ___ in drug C E R E L UM O S U A M O this together” I N E S C R OW M I L A N 13 Like Tiny Tim T O I L E A I R 19 God’s opponent Play this puzzle and hundreds more created by the DP at U P V O T E L I G E R E N T 21 Saying “bye!” www.thedp.com/section/crosswords. S H I R T S S T A R E S A T on the phone Authors: Danielle Gibson, Nira Goyal, Max Jiao, Seojin Lee, O I S K H E R E GO E S Charlotte Traub, and Andrew Zhang
JAIME PALADI | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Senior defensive back Kayleb Ervin looks for a pass against Yale on Oct. 23.
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FENCING, from back page and claimed yet another podium for the Quakers. “[Woo and I] are from the same club, so we know each other very well. And you know, it’s always fun coming up against guys you know,” Lo said after the meet. Though Lo initially fell seven touches behind his semifinal opponent, Andrea Zanardo of Penn State valiantly cut down Zanardo’s lead, bringing the score from 2-9 to 7-10. After pausing to be examined by medical, Lo was unable to shave Zanardo’s lead down any further and ultimately fell at 10-15, tying for third place and equaling his result from last year. In épée, all five fencers made it to the Table of 32, with senior epeeist Ben Serafin taking 12th place and sophomore epeeist Alex Moses claiming eighth before withdrawing from the Table of 8 for medical reasons. Sophomore épéeist Simon Lioznyansky, freshly returned from representing Team United States at the Casablanca World Cup, faced Penn State (and Egyptian national team) fencer Eslam Osama in the final bout. Osama pulled ahead in scoring early on, and though Lioznyansky managed to cut his lead down in half, Osama ultimately stayed ahead with the bout ending at 7-15. Lioznyansky claimed silver, an improvement from his bronze last year. “I missed the team aspect of Penn,” Liozansky said about his return to representing Penn. “The energy was great, so I was really happy to be back. I just really wanted to come out and have a good time. So, I think I had some, like, lighter fencing … and it was a good thing.” Like women’s fencing on the previous day, all six saber specialists of the men’s team made it into the first round of direct eliminations, with junior saber specialist Antonio Heathcock going undefeated in pools. Freshman saber specialist Govind Ramanan and senior saber specialist Gian Dhingra made it to the Table of 16, placing 14th and 15th, respectively. Freshman Nicolas Wang reached the semifinals in his collegiate debut, tying for third after being defeated at 10-15 by Wagner College fencer Flavio Vinci. Heathcock, who had also represented the United States at a World Cup a few weeks prior, faced Vinci in the final and pulled ahead by two points by the end of the first period. After the break, Vinci began to catch up to Heathcock, but the remainder of the bout was fairly tight
ROWING, from back page well in other races, winning gold medals in the women’s College Frosh/Novice Eights, women’s Collegiate Singles, women’s Club Championship Eights, and women’s Championship Eights. The teams rowed with great synchronicity and tenacity, which led to success on the water. “In our sport, you spend a lot of time rehearsing and practicing. I would equate it to dance,” Nase said. “You’re trying to get this group of people to move in coordination together and execute the race plan.” The teams started just past the Twin Bridges
scoring-wise. Heathcock ultimately won 15-13. He surpassed his silver from last year’s meet to claim gold, capping off this weekend’s meet with a 15th podium for the Quakers. Even when both teams were not competing, fencers from both men’s and women’s fencing could be found beside their teammate’s strips, hollering as soon as the scorekeeping machines went off with the tell-tale buzz of a touch.
SPORTS 9
“I was really excited to just cheer on our freshmen. I think that’s what was more memorable for me that was different from last year,” Hu said during the awards ceremony. “My teammates were here for me, even though they also had to compete, and I thank them a lot,” Heathcock said. As the Coach Nikki Franke Classic is an individual event, it does not count towards NCAA
points. “I have like big goals for myself both in NCAA fencing and also national fencing,” Paul said. “So, you know, the end goal is to go to the NCAA and place.” “It’s kind of test and warm up,” men’s fencing head coach Andy Ma said. “We know where we are. We can continue, go back to train ready for the real season.”
WEINING DING | DP FILE PHOTO
Penn fencing practices on Feb. 14, 2024.
and ended near Boathouse Row, with checkpoints at St. Joe’s and Three Angels Docks. In the Championship Fours, senior rower Georgia Sackrey, whose crew took second place with a time of 13:37.62, commented on the most mentally difficult section of the race. “Going from the island to where the Three Angels are is difficult because there’s not a lot of people cheering,” Sackrey said. “You feel like you can’t keep going, but you have to keep rowing for half more of the race, and you just have to sit in the pain.” This past weekend was also an exciting success for heavyweight rowing, with Penn boats claiming first place in the Championship Pair, Frosh/Novice Fours, Championship Eights, and Championship Fours. In the Championship Fours,
senior stroke seat Cole Bruen led the first boat to a 12:12.858 victory, while St. Pierre brought in the second boat with a time only six seconds slower. “It’s all about staying accountable to myself and my teammates,” St. Pierre said. “We’re getting up every morning, doing the same work together, and when we’re at the halfway point of that race, I’m always thinking to myself, if I can’t finish the race myself, I have to do it for my teammates.” For Bruen, this weekend marked his fourth and final win in the Head of the Schuylkill Championship Fours. “Can I put the cap on my college career in this event, and really bring it home,” Bruen said of his mindset before the race. “We had one practice
beforehand … and it was really about whether we can mesh as well as we can in a short time and make it hurt effectively.” Looking ahead, Penn women’s rowing and men’s lightweight and heavyweight rowing will compete this weekend at the Princeton Chase. Although heavyweight rowing did not achieve its goal of being top in every race, coach Monte said that this weekend is another opportunity. “You have to dream big … push hard and set high expectations,” Monte said. Women’s rowing is feeling the same excitement. “We’re using Navy Day, Head of the Charles, and Head of the Schuylkill as all rehearsals,” Nase said. “Now we get to see a little bit more of our league competition up at Princeton.”
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SPORTS
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA • FOUNDED 1885
PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2026
VOL. CXLII
NO. 26
Villanova to leave Big 5 next season The 2026-27 season will be the Wildcats’ last in the long-standing basketball tradition ALEXANDRA VAZQUEZ-GUTIERREZ Staff Reporter
JAIME PALADI | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
At Head of the Schuylkill Regatta, Penn rowing stayed ahead of the competition Penn women’s and men’s heavyweight rowing finished first across eight different events RACHEL BERLINER AND BRIANNA WANG Sports Associates
This past weekend, Penn rowing made a splash. In their own backyard, both women’s rowing and men’s heavyweight rowing took top places across multiple heats at the Head of the Schuylkill, an annual regatta featuring high school, alumni, and collegiate athletes. Penn has dominated the Head of the Schuylkill for several years, taking home the 2025 men’s, women’s, and overall Point Trophies. This year was no different. On Saturday, the Quakers competed across 12 events under prime racing conditions: flat water and a weak current. The teams credited communication among the coaches, rowers, and coxswains as a crucial part of their success.
“You have a two-kilometer stretch, and then you have a really big turn before you just hammer it home for the next 1,500 meters,” heavyweight junior stroke seat Oscar St. Pierre said. “It’s all about getting the boat up to speed after that first turn around the Columbia Bridge.” Despite the regatta’s demanding course, Penn uses it to understand local competition and engage with the Philadelphia rowing community. “I think we are so lucky to be part of such a robust rowing community in Philadelphia,” said heavyweight coach Al Monte. Women’s coach Tyler Nase agreed. “Out of anybody, we should have a very good feel for how to navigate the Schuylkill,” Nase said.
Penn women’s rowing continued its impressive start to the season after taking gold in the Championship Fours at the Head of the Charles Regatta just last week. In the women’s Championship Fours, in a field of 64 crews, the Quakers dominated with the four Penn crews placing first, second, fourth, and sixth. Penn’s winning crew consisted of sophomore stroke Eden Alfi, senior three seat Makeda Harrison, senior two seat Anna Johnson, junior bow Jemima Wilcox and senior coxswain Mehreen Khan. With a time of 13:17.36, they won the race by over 20 seconds. The Red and Blue also performed exceptionally See ROWING, page 9
The Big 5 is back to five teams. Villanova had been with the athletic association since its inception in 1955 and will depart after 72 seasons. In December, the Big 5 will host Villanova’s final Big 5 Classic at Xfinity Mobile Arena and the Palestra, marking the end of an era. Big 5 schools confirmed that the tournament will revert to a round-robin format after Villanova’s exit. The decision came after teams could not unanimously agree on how the program would be structured in the coming seasons — Villanova had advocated against road games. “Villanova University has great respect for the history and tradition of the Big 5,” Villanova Athletics wrote in a statement. “Villanova remains committed to supporting Philadelphia basketball. Ultimately, we must also balance what is in the best interests of Villanova Basketball for success in the modern landscape of college athletics.” In recent years, Villanova had driven revenue and rivalry competition. The institution believed it could no longer justify staying with the Big 5 from a financial and strategic standpoint. The remaining teams — Penn, La Salle, Temple, Saint Joseph’s, and Drexel — expressed their commitment to continue the collegiate basketball tradition. “These institutions are united in their commitment to preserving the history and enhancing the future of the Philadelphia Big 5,” Penn Athletics said in a statement. “The round-robin format represents a renewal of the competitive spirit that has defined the city’s college basketball landscape for more than 70 years, while also preserving the future of a partnership that is distinctively Philadelphia.” Last season, Villanova took both the men’s and women’s Big 5 titles. Villanova’s final Big 5 Classic is sure to be an important part of the Quakers’ non-conference season, as Penn men’s basketball looks to avenge its championship loss and the women hope to make it out of the consolation matches.
PEIZE WANG | DP FILE PHOTO
Then-sophomore guard AJ Levine at tempts to get past a Villanova defender at the Big 5 championship game on Dec. 6, 2025.
Fourth quarter heroics propel Penn football to first Ivy win
Penn fencing dominates in season opener, secures 15 podiums
The Quakers’ defense intercepted the Bulldogs four times in a 24-21 victory over Yale
Competing against local competition at the Coach Nikki Franke Classic, the Quakers showed out
DANIEL OBSTGARTEN AND GRANT HAN Staff Reporter and Sports Associate
With relatives traveling from all over for Penn’s annual Family Weekend, the Quakers wound up giving the cold shoulder to their Ivy League cousins. On a chilly night under Franklin Field’s lights, Penn football escaped with a 24-21 win over Yale. It was the first victory for the Quakers (3-3, 1-2 Ivy) over the Bulldogs (3-3, 1-2) since 2023. The Red and Blue were spearheaded by freshman quarterback Miles Teodecki, who threw for 156 yards and two touchdowns. Senior running back Sean Williams Jr. stepped in midgame to pick up 82 net yards on 14 carries in place of injured sophomore starting running back Tommy Lafayette. “It didn’t look good, but I do not have the final diagnosis,” coach Rick Santos said of Lafayette’s second-quarter injury. “Really, really proud of [Sean] and how we stayed on the course … he was ready for that moment.” Teodecki saw his first game action since facing Howard two weeks ago, when he suffered a knee injury midway through the second quarter. “Legs felt ready to go … just blessed to be healthy to go out there. As a competitive athlete, you have to be ready for every opportunity,” Teodecki said. The game started slowly for the Red and Blue, as the offense was held to a quick three-and-out on its first drive. Yale’s offense, led by quarterback Dante Reno and wide receiver Lucius Anderson, wasted no time getting on the board. A quick jet sweep to Anderson led to a 44-yard touchdown for the Bulldogs, putting the Quakers down seven early. Despite the setback, the Quakers’ spirit would not be diminished so easily. On the first play after the kickoff, freshman wide receiver Mason Page hurdled a Yale defender en route to a first down, energizing the sideline and the crowd. A huge run from Williams would set the Quakers up near the goal line; Teodecki would make no mistake on fourth-and-goal, finding junior tight end Jack Donnelly for a two-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7. The Quakers defense would step up, forcing a quick punt with a low snap, giving Penn excellent field position. A quick burst of Penn offense would culminate in the second straight Penn touchdown, via a three-yard reception by senior tight end Dante Barone. Sophomore kicker Mason Walters drilled the extra point, pushing the Penn lead to 14-7 at the end of the first quarter. After the teams exchanged punts, a promising SEND STORY IDEAS TO DPSPORTS@THEDP.COM
SOPHIA KANTSEVOY Staff Reporter
Quakers drive was stalled in Yale territory with a turnover on downs. The setback was only temporary, as sophomore defensive back Ezra Fearon picked off Reno on a tipped ball deep in Penn territory. Facing heavy pressure from its own two-yard line, the Quakers offense was forced into a punt. The Bulldogs would capitalize on the opportunity. A 34-yard rush up the middle for Yale running back Hugo Djeumeni Kemeni into the end zone tied the score at 14. After a series of three punts, the Bulldogs would tack on another touchdown before halftime, sending Penn to the locker room down seven. “Those were three huge plays and critical mistakes on our end,” Santos said of Yale’s first-half offensive output. The teams would trade punts again to open the second half, but a muffed punt from Penn put Yale in prime field position. Needing a huge stop from their defense, the Quakers would not be disappointed. With the Bulldogs at Penn’s six-yard line, another tipped ball from a broken pass would be nabbed by junior linebacker Derek McCrum in the back of the end zone. Penn, unable to capitalize on the turnover, would punt the ball right back. Yale, pinned deep in its own territory, was starting to force its way to midfield when Reno threw a third interception. This one, courtesy of sophomore defensive back Brock Cornell, gave the Quakers the ball near midfield. A big completion to Donnelly would set Penn up deep in Yale territory, but a sack and a penalty pushed Penn back. With the offense unable to secure the first down, Walters would come out and start the fourth quarter with his only field goal of the night to cut Penn’s deficit to 21-17. The Quakers defense would force another Yale punt, and with the game in their hands, it looked like the Red and Blue offense was feeling that pressure, as a tackle for loss set up a crucial thirdand-12. However, the offense would dig deep. Teodecki would scramble and go down just short of the line to gain, but a quarterback draw on fourthand-inches would secure the first down. “The guys around me were doing a great job. Sustaining a drive like that takes all 11 … working together cohesively towards one goal,” Teodecki said. After some more Teodecki scrambles, the Quakers faced yet another third down, but a Teodecki pass to sophomore wide receiver Isaac Lee led to a first down. The Bulldogs were slapped with a See FOOTBALL, page 8
Though their season opener came later than most, Penn men’s and women’s fencing are already proving a force to be reckoned with. From a freshman-on-freshman face-off for the gold in foil and a senior-on-senior épée final, to 15 podiums overall, the Quakers had a phenomenal start to their season during the Coach Nikki Franke Classic on Oct. 24-25. On the women’s side, fencers across both grades and weapons opened the season with a bang. In foil, all five fencers — three of whom sailed through pools undefeated — qualified for the Direct Elimination bracket. Freshmen foil specialists Allison Chen and Kaitlyn Tan, sophomore foil specialist Kimberley Jang, and junior foil specialist Malak Hamza all reached the Table of 8, with Hamza claiming sixth place and Jang claiming fifth, securing the Quakers’ first two podiums of the year. Chen and Tan each defeated a Boston College fencer in semifinals, facing each other in the final of their collegiate debut from opposite en garde lines. After Tan’s nail-biting 15-14 semifinal bout, the final had markedly different energy; teammates not embroiled in other weapons cheered on Chen and Tan equally. Near the end of the bout’s first two three-minute periods, both freshmen met in the strip’s center to tap each other’s blades, letting the clock run down to the scheduled breaks. Though they exchanged touches evenly for the first period, Tan began to pull ahead at the 5-5 mark and eventually won the rather amicable final with a score of 15-9. “Honestly, it felt exactly like practice. There were a few times where I actually almost forgot that it was, like, finals. Me and Allison, we fence all the time,” Tan said about her final bout. “But overall, I think we had a good bout, we both cried really hard, we were both really tired.” The women’s épéeists had a rather similar progression through the meet, though with fencers at the opposite end of their Penn journeys; all four fencers reached the direct elimination stage, with senior épéeists Grace Hu and Victoria Kuznetsov going undefeated throughout their pool bouts. Freshman épéeist Kira Bardin placed 14th in her collegiate debut. At their last-ever season opener for the Quakers, Hu and Kuznetsov faced each other in the final. Though Kuznetsov pulled ahead by two touches during the first period, Hu caught up soon after, and the score was a
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dead-even at 8-8 by the second break. Hu picked up extra momentum in the final period, winning the bout at 15-11, defending her first-place victory from last year’s meet. “I was pretty level-headed. I think I was going into it with the mentality of just doing my best and making the most of my last year. It’s my last chance to fence a Temple open, so I just wanted to have fun and do my best,” Hu said during the awards ceremony. All six sabrists also made it to the direct elimination stage, with senior saber specialist Leah Blum going undefeated in pools. Sophomore saber specialist Sophia Zheng was knocked out by fellow sophomore saber specialist Lila Paul during their Table of 32 bout, while junior saber specialist Amanda Li and freshman saber specialist Sophie Cao made it into the top 16, placing ninth and 16th respectively. Blum, along with sophomores Paul and Shi, made it into semifinals, with Blum and Shi tying for third place. With the other two weapons having already wrapped up for the day, all eyes turned to Paul’s final against Lydia Johnson of Boston College. Though Paul managed to claw her way back from a four-touch deficit to tie the score 4-4, Johnson ultimately pulled ahead again. Paul took second place as well, improving her result from last year’s meet by four places and claiming the Quakers’ ninth and final podium of the day. “That was like a big motivator for me to just keep pushing to try to make the semis and then to make the finals,” Paul said. “It was a motivator to kind of do better than I did … now being a sophomore, I feel a lot more settled into college, just like college life in general, and I also feel a lot closer with the team. So, hearing them cheer for me and being there for me and knowing what I need and what I’m trying to expect, I definitely feel a lot stronger and a lot more motivated and also supported.” On the men’s side, all four foil specialists qualified for direct eliminations (two going undefeated through pools), with sophomore foil specialist Alexander Wu and senior foil specialist Boris Chen placing 10th and 11th, respectively. Sophomore foil specialist Conrad Lo knocked out freshman foil specialist Christian Woo with a score of 15-12 in an energetic, infighting-laden bout during the Table of 8. Woo took fifth place See FENCING, page 9 CONTACT US: 215-422-4640