Monthly Archives: May 2011

May 10, 2011 · 2:43 pm

Skimmers off to the Old Guard!

Author: Jason Strohl

Cane March, Lower Quad, 1941

Next week, thousands of expectant seniors will graduate from Penn, marking a milestone in every Quaker’s life as they begin new lives as citizens of the “real” world. Fifty years from now, in 2061, many of these same young people will return to Philadelphia to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their graduation from Penn, and in doing so, become inducted into one of the University’s most-lauded alumni groups, the Old Guard. This year, will see the return of hundreds of Old Guard alumni for Alumni Weekend, including a group celebrating their 75th reunion (that’s a graduation date of May 1936 for those of you keeping track).  Let’s take a look at what was transpiring at Penn and throughout the world when these dedicated Pennsylvanians experienced their own graduation.

Class of 1936 (75th Reunion)

Penn Women's Basketball team, 1936

In 1936…

  • Burt Reynolds, Mary Tyler Moore, and Robert Redford are born.
  • The first building covered completely in glass is completed in Toledo, Ohio.
  • The first helicopter makes it’s maiden flight.
  • The Summer Olympics opens in Berlin and marks the first time  live television is used to broadcast a sporting event.
  • Construction on the Hoover Dam is finished.

Class of 1941 (70th Reunion)

Penn Field Hockey players, 1941

In 1941…

  • Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Faye Dunaway are born.
  • The average price for an automobile is 925 dollars.
  • The United States declares war on Japan after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
  • The breakfast cereal Cheerios makes its first appearance as “CheeriOats.”
  • Citizen Kane makes its premiere in New York City.

Class of 1946 (65th Reunion)

In 1946…

  • Sylvester Stallone, Candice Bergen (who briefly attended Penn), and Andrea Mitchell (Penn Grad, NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent) are born.
  • ENIAC is unveiled at Penn (see newsreel above.)
  • Gasoline is priced at 21 cents per gallon.
  • The first meeting of the United Nations is held in London.
  • Bikinis make their debut in Paris.

Class of 1951 (60th Reunion)

Penn varsity basketball team, 1951

In 1951…

  • Kurt Russel, Gordon Brown, and Bonnie Tyler are born.
  • I Love Lucy premieres on television.
  • The average annual salary in $4,200.
  • The Catcher in the Rye is first published by J.D. Salinger.
  • The world’s first nuclear power plant opens in Utah.

Class of 1956 (55th Reunion)

Skimmer Day, 1956

In 1956…

  • Paula Zahn, Teena Marie, and Joe Montana are born.
  • The Woodland Avenue Trolley on Penn’s campus was buried in order to create Woodland Walk.
  • Elvis Presley appears on the Ed Sullivan Show.
  • Minimum wage is one dollar an hour.
  • Trans-Atlantic telephone cable service begins.

Please join us in congratulating the Old Guard as they return once more to Penn in 2011!

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Filed under Alumni Weekend, Jason S., Memories of Penn

May 9, 2011 · 7:41 pm

I Remember…1986

Author: Leigh Ann P.

1986 was a very special year, and not simply because it was when this blogger celebrated her 5th year of being alive (the most noteworthy occasion of an otherwise fabulous year for yours truly, of course).  A wonderful class of 1986 Penn graduates emerged from Commencement as Penn Alumni, and this weekend they will celebrate their 25th reunion during Alumni Weekend May 13-16 with nearly 600 in attendance.

I considered doing a reflection of world events in 1986 for this post, but who really wants to read about Chernobyl or the Challenger?  Not you, and certainly not me.  Let’s talk about pop culture!

When the Class of 1986 graduated, the box office rankings looked like this.  I am tickled that Steve Guttenberg makes multiple appearances on this list, but the fact that any Police Academy film ever outranked Pretty in Pink is just criminal.

  1. Short Circuit
  2. Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling
  3. Fire with Fire
  4. Blue City
  5. The Money Pit
  6. Dangerously Close
  7. Legend
  8. Wise Guys
  9. Critters
  10. Gung Ho
  11. Police Academy 3: Back in Training
  12. Pretty in Pink

Now, if there’s anything I love more than the early ‘90s pop musical oeuvre, it’s the mid-‘80s.  Dare say you, what could possibly be more audibly enjoyable than Color Me Badd?  I know.  I know.  I give you: Whitney Houston times two with a splash of “Walk Like an Egyptian.”  Let’s take a look back at the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 1986!

1. “That’s What Friends Are For”…..Dionne & Friends

2. “Walk Like An Egyptian”…..Bangles

3. “On My Own”…..Patti Labelle & Michael McDonald

4. “The Way It Is”…..Bruce Hornsby & The Range

5. “You Give Love A Bad Name”…..Bon Jovi

6. “Greatest Love Of All”…..Whitney Houston

7. “There’ll Be Sad Songs”…..Billy Ocean

8. “How Will I Know”…..Whitney Houston

9. “Kyrie”…..Mr. Mister

10. “Kiss”…..Prince & The Revolution

And lastly, who was People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive in 1986?  Hellooooo, Mark Harmon!!!

Congratulations to the Class of 1986 and to all of the Penn alumni celebrating their reunions this weekend!

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Filed under Alumni Weekend, Leigh Ann P., Memories of Penn, The Sweeten Life

May 6, 2011 · 2:18 pm

Proud Penn Voices

Author:  Kelly Graf

Alumni Weekend 2011 is just a week away and the buzz on campus is both hectic and exciting. Tents are starting to pop up on Hill Field; golf carts are whizzing around delivering supplies; and the meetings, oh the meetings!

With four Alumni Weekends under my belt, I often find myself simply ‘going through the motions’ and not really thinking about what this day means to Penn and its proud Penn alumni. Until Saturday. Every year, as I step onto campus the Saturday morning of Alumni Weekend, I am immediately filled with a sense of pride and anticipation. I man The Penn Fund booth at Penn Fair on College Green and I ask any alumni passing to share their stories with me.

This is Proud Penn Voices – a video project using Flip cameras and curious staff members (including yours truly) to document the memories of our Penn alumni. The results are always either hilarious, touching, meaningful or all of the above. I have heard stories from our Old Guard alumni about lighting trolley tracks on fire (yes, there was once upon a time a trolley that rode right through campus). I have listened to couples reminisce about going on their first date to Smoke’s or a fraternity dance. I have even heard young alumni refer to faculty members who motivated them and inspired them to be greater than they thought possible.

These are the moments when I realize how special Penn truly is. These people share their stories with me out of the kindness of their hearts and their love for Penn (ok, we give them a free t-shirt too). And the stories they tell – whether meant to be funny or sincere – are never less than inspiring and are always full of Penn Pride.

To check out some of The Penn Fund’s Proud Penn Voices videos, visit here.

Want your own free Proud Penn Voices t-shirt? Visit The Penn Fund booth on College Green during Alumni Weekend and share the love!

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May 5, 2011 · 5:25 pm

I Remember…AOL Instant Messenger

Author: Elizabeth K., C’04

When I started my freshman year at Penn, the only thing I used the internet for was AOL, and all that was good for was e-mail, instant messenger and (nerd alert) checking out The X Files fan page. Before school started, I got a Penn email address and I thought it was really cool to have e-mail that wasn’t an AOL account. Penn even gave me six choices for my email address. Unfortunately, both my first and last name were too long for their eight-character limit, so I went with “ehk2” because I thought it sounded nice and was easy to remember. Turns out, you can never get rid of your Penn email account. Not even if you come back to Penn five and a half years after graduation and join the administration. Thanks, 18-year-old self, for my less than professional work email address. Anyway, when I got this sparkly new ehk2 email, I had no idea how you would check email that wasn’t on an AOL account, or how the internet existed without AOL and a telephone line. To me, AOL was the internet.

While I was setting up my dorm room, an IT guy came by and explained our cable internet access. I didn’t understand and asked him how I would get online. He patiently explained that I was always online. I still didn’t get it and even my technologically-clueless Mom had to chime in and help him. The poor IT guy needed to see so many students that day, and here I was, needing my Mom to explain to me how the internet worked. I asked him how I could access my AOL X Files fan site, at which point he just gave me the phone number for the help desk. Sooner or later (probably later) it clicked, and I felt like I had won the lottery! No more weird staticky dial up noises while waiting to hear “Welcome! You’ve Got Mail!” Email arriving on my computer screen whenever it wanted to! And, best of all AOL INSTANT MESSENGER.

AIM Sign in screen

AOL Instant messenger, or AIM, was the chat part of AOL, except you could access it without signing onto AOL and be on it all of the time, except when you turned your computer off. You could also leave status messages. So, when you went idle your name would appear in italics and your status would say, “In class” or “Dinner with Terri.” A lot of people (not me) would leave AIM up all night long, with the status, “Sleeping.” It seemed absolutely necessary that your AIM friends should know where you were at all times. Another great thing about AIM was building your chat list as you met more and more people. A key part of a new friendship with someone was exchanging AIM names.

The Buddy List

AIM was great, but it also meant that you had to use your email name from your AOL email. I got my AOL account in 8th grade, and my name was “PBGiggle.” At fourteen, I thought this was brilliant, and I don’t have nearly enough space here to explain why. Suffice it to say that by 20, I felt like an idiot. So, I made a bold move junior year and changed my AIM name to “EdashLiz” (E-Liz, get it?). Because AIM was so omnipresent during college, our AIM names became part of our identities, and changing from PBGiggle to EdashLiz was like growing up. A lot of my college friends still call me “Edash.” AIM names also taught you things about people. For instance, my friend JUDE831 loved the Beatles and to this day I still remember that her birthday is August 31st. Another friend’s AIM name was fish3333, because she loved to swim (a habit she didn’t keep up in college). I probably never would have known of her swimming past without her AIM name. So much information in just seven to ten characters!

Eventually, when jobs and “real life” hit, AIM fell to the wayside, but I still miss it. I miss the excitement of seeing a boy I liked or a friend I hadn’t talked to in awhile sign on. I miss everyone’s colorful, fun status message for Spring Fling (“Flinging!” “Spring Fling!” “Fling, baby!”) It seems like students today use facebook chat, which I understand – it’s probably easier and you don’t need to remember some weird iteration of someone’s name in order to talk online. Plus, I’m part of the Facebook revolution (more on that in the next blog post) so I think it’s hypocritical to complain about it. But, part of me is sad that today’s students won’t experience the magic of AIM. After all, what would I call my best friend from Penn if she wasn’t “TBelle?” Not by her actual name – that’s just ridiculous.

AIM Chat

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May 4, 2011 · 6:54 pm

A Real Penn Education

Author: Matt Gould, W’14

Whenever I have the opportunity to sit down with somebody new I ask them, “What do you want to accomplish while at Penn?”

I have a lot of faith in this question. It is tricky and frankly, I judge people based on their response.  In my eyes, there are multiple ways to answer the question correctly, there is only one to answer it incorrectly.

Way too often, people tell me that during their time at Penn, they hope to become knowledgeable in insert subject here.  Although I agree that at the end of our four years, we should have worked to earn a diploma, I feel that every student who believes their college experience is about that diploma is selling himself or herself short.

It is students like Megan Schoenberg and Genevieve Deutch who wanted something of their own and founded their own fraternity, Alpha Delta Phi Society at Penn or students like Chadwick Prichard who, outside of the classroom, designed his own Facebook app.

When I become a Penn alumnus, I don’t want to reminisce about what I learned in my finance courses, but rather I want to be able to look back and say, “I can’t believe I did that!” Knowledge and experience—that’s what makes a Penn education great.

P.S. My experiences at Penn includes cheering on our athletic teams to victory as the Quaker mascot…

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May 4, 2011 · 6:08 pm

Working at Penn Can Be Tough on the Waist Line

Author: Emily Siegel

It’s 4 PM on a typical Tuesday afternoon.  I’ve managed to eat well all day.  I’ve faithfully ignored the candy dishes around the office that call my name as I pass by.  I’ve avoided diving into the homemade treats that seem to show up every day on our free-for-all counter.  Just a little bit longer and I can make it home to the safety of my temptation-free kitchen.  I look at my calendar and see that I have one last obstacle:  Finals Study Break with our PASS & Linking Legacies students.

I psych myself up to avoid whatever chocolaty-goodness this event is bound to throw my way.  In my head, I hear Bob and Jillian telling me to “focus on the people, not the food.”  But then they arrive.: a stack of four pizza boxes filled with warm, delicious cookies.  And not just any ordinary cookies…Insomnia Cookies.  Bringing with them all of their straight-from-the-oven, gooey on the inside, and perfection on the outside wonderfulness.

My only hope now is that the students ordered four boxes of sugar cookies (not my favorite). Those,  I could easily ignore.  But no, they were filled with all of the favorites temptations:  chocolate chip, M&M, chocolate-chocolate, and peanut butter.  Obviously, my plan changes from ignoring them to having just one.  But who can do that?  If I have a chocolate chip cookie, I need to round it out with a peanut butter cookie.  But then my pallet misses the chocolate already and wants a sample of the M&M.  And then, before you know it, I go from eating no cookies, to devouring three of them in 10 minutes.

Luckily, I am never alone in this.  The students and other staff at the event are always right along with me.  And really, who can blame us for giving in when cookies look this good…

Good to the Last Crumb

This may be the cookie coma talking, but Insomnia Cookies might just be my favorite start-up by our Penn alumni yet!

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May 3, 2011 · 12:02 pm

Fisher Fine Arts

Definitely the prettiest library on campus – Fisher Fine Arts Library. The inside is breathtaking, but I’ll save that for another day. I spent about 10 hours a week here my first semester not because I was a fine arts student or needed any of the amazing art books there, but because I’m vain and think I work better in aesthetically pleasing places.

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May 2, 2011 · 9:39 am

Year of Games

Author: Aimee LaBrie

Since Penn has announced the fall 2011-12 Penn Reading Project text, Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World by Jane McGonigal, we’ve been trying to brainstorm here in Alumni Relations about how we might use this idea for programming for Homecoming Weekend featuring arts and culture (save the date if you haven’t already: November 4-6, 2011).  Obviously, there’s the natural tie-in with the football game, Quakers vs. the Princeton Tigers, but we want to think of other programming/ideas/games that we could integrate into the weekend that centers around games. It could be cerebral stuff, like discussions about game theory and the gaming culture.  Lisa V.. who is the director of alumni education at Penn Alumni, has already come up with a few topic possibilities for classes: robotics, sports in history, sports and the economy, gender and equality in athletics–just to name a few of her initial thoughts. But we could also maybe do something with actual games–a human checkerboard, an interactive treasure hunt across campus, flag football between alumni classes…Anyway, I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas about what you’d like to see or do for Homecoming Weekend that’s related to the idea of games. Also, take a look at the new website for Year of Games. It’s really awesome.

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Filed under Aimee L., Alumni Programming, Alumnni Education, Homecoming Weekend featuring arts and culture