Monthly Archives: January 2012
Want to Win $10,000 and Save Lives by Using Your Cell Phone?
Author: Kelly Porter O’Connor
Thanks to the MyHeartMap Challenge team, an interdisciplinary group of Penn researchers, behind this six week long crowd-sourcing contest — now you can!
Led by Raina Merchant, assistant professor of Emergency Medicine and senior fellow in the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Eric Stone, C’99, WG’07, The My HeartMap Challenge team has developed a free app you can install on your mobile phone.
Participants will take photos and geotag these life-saving Automated External Defibrillator (AED) devices to collect data for an updated app linking locations of all public AEDs in the city with a person’s GPS coordinates to help them locate the nearest AED during an emergency.
The contest is just a first step in what the Penn team hopes will grow to become a nationwide, crowd-sourced AED registry project that will put the lifesaving devices in the hands of anyone, anywhere, anytime. The project is modeled after the DARPA Network Challenge, a crowd-sourcing experiment in which social media users raced to be the first to submit the locations of 10 moored, 8-foot, red, weather balloons at 10 fixed locations throughout the United States.
The stakes for the MyHeartMap Challenge are high: the person or team who finds the most AEDs during the contest will win $10,000, and their efforts could save lives in the critical minutes following cardiac arrest. Many of you have probably read about recent incidents in Philadelphia where the use of an AED device has saved someone’s life.
AEDs are located all around us in plain sight – at work, the grocery store, your Septa stop…All you have to do to participate is register online, download the app and start tagging. The contest and app launch at the end of January. With the launch close at hand, I encourage you to form a team to help kick-start this Penn based challenge, save lives and possibly win a huge chunk of change!
Check out the project’s website or friend them on Facebook to receive contest clues and learn more about the challenge and or find out more information about the value of these life-saving devices — used to restore cardiac arrest victims’ hearts to their normal rhythm.
Filed under Campus Life, Kelly P., Videos
My Trip to Columbia University
Author: Jonathan Cousins, SEAS’14
Last Friday, I went to see Penn Basketball play at Columbia. It is always a unique experience to watch your hometown team in another city. For one thing, the crowd is rooting against you. It is especially hard to deal with by yourself, because if there is only one of you, you stick out. At Columbia though, there were ten members of the Red and Blue Crew, and we were sitting right next to the Penn Band. Between the two groups, we basically owned a corner of the gym. And, it was fun to have a bunch of us cheering against the majority of the pro-Columbia crowd. I also noticed that there were a lot of Penn alumni present, especially in the section right behind the Penn bench.
Getting to and from the gym was an adventure. We took Bolt bus from 30th Street Station to Penn Station in New York, and then rode the subway from there to Columbia’s campus. However, the gym is underground, and once you step on campus, it is not easy to find. I bought the tickets for the group ahead of time, and so I had to be the one to pick them up at Will Call Office. I booked a bus that left at 3 PM and arrived at 5 PM, thinking that would give me plenty of time before the 7 PM tipoff. I didn’t anticipate that my bus would leave an hour late, and I found myself scrambling to get to the gym on time. In the end, I made it, arriving in plenty of time at 6:30.
The game remained close through the first half, with Columbia taking a small lead into the break. We surged back at the beginning of the second half, and led by nine points with two minutes to go. We watched the lead quickly evaporate due to poor fouls and turnovers. Columbia even had a chance to win the game with a three at the buzzes, but thankfully, it clanked off of the iron as the horn sounded. The final score was a close 66 to 64 with Penn winning. You can read the full press release here.
Tyler Bernardini hit four clutch free throws in the final minute Friday at Columbia. Photo courtesy Mike Mahoney.
On the way back home, our group stopped for pizza, and then took the long ride back to Philly. I really had a great time taking half a day and going on an adventure to another city. I got to get out of the Penn bubble, see another Ivy League campus and watch a Penn victory. I have also found that you get closer with the group of people that go on trips like this. In the future, I hope we find funding to send groups of students to the road games, Ivy or otherwise. Even if only 5-10 students went on each trip, if we took 3-6 trips a year, every season ticket holder would at least have the opportunity to go on one. This also discounts the bi-annual trips to Temple and La Salle, which are located right on the Broad Street Line. I hope these trips continue to exist, and expand in number, so that more people get to have the type of fun experience that we did.
Filed under Athletics, Campus Life, Jonathan C., Student Perspective
Getting Ready for Rush
Author: Christine Uyemera, SEAS ’13
Despite what the movies, Legally Blonde and House Bunny might make you think, sororities are not all fun and games. It takes a lot of hard work to keep an organization alive and vibrant for 150+ years. At the heart of that vibrancy are the influx of new members each year. Sorority rush, or “recruitment,” as we’re supposed to call it, is a crazy process that takes place for Penn at the very beginning of every spring semester. For four days of business casual and one day of formal attire, 500+ mostly freshmen or transfer students line up in the cold/rain/snow at each of the eight sorority houses and go through a speed dating process of girl flirting, where they are meant to make an impression in the 30/45/60 minutes they have. It’s pretty brutal on some people- many drop out and tears are shed – but, in the end, most participants find a place that is right for them.
Legally Blonde--the Hollywood version of sororites.
However, even crazier than recruitment itself is the behind the scenes preparation and processes that the current members of the sorority sisters go through. Sisters have to come back to school somewhere between four days and a week before classes start to begin workshops on how recruitment is going to be done at their house.
This was the schedule that my recruitment chair sent to us over our winter break for workshops and recruitment:
Workshops:
Day 1: 10 AM – 4 PM
Day 2: 9 AM – 2 PM
Day 3: 12 – 7 PM
Day 4: 2 -4 PM
Recruitment:
Days 1 and 2: 5 – 11:30 PM
Day 3: 9 AM – 6:30 PM
Day 4: 12 – 8 PM
Day 5: 6 – 11 PM
Bid Day: 7:30 PM onward
For fun, I totaled the time (not including Bid Day which has no end time indicated…) and that’s over 55 hours in about a week and a half dedicated to recruitment.Suddenly, I felt like I should be getting paid time and a half, not including the emotional damage I endured from missing meal times and NFL playoff games.
However, there is, in fact, a lot that needs to be done. In addition to the song-learning and decorating, figuring out how to move 40-60 girls at a time through a thin Philly townhouse that are built for 18 residents, and introduce them to some meaningful subset of girls (about 130) is no trivial matter. There are processes, lists, numbers, strategies, formulas.
I remember when I went through recruitment, every other girl told me that our Panhellenic Council and all the sororities have it “down to a science,” and I always laughed because everyone knows sorority girls don’t do science (I’m kidding, of course we do!). But I was so wrong. Behind the scenes, it’s much harder to arrange it all than it looks.
So, at the beginning of second semester while everyone else is dropping in and out of all their classes, partying and just generally taking advantage of the fact that school hasn’t really started yet, sorority girls are hard at work trying to find young women that will be the future of their organization and help the chapter to prosper. Or something.
The Penn version. Rho Gammas, or recruitment guides, hand out calling cards and information packets to potential new members at the start of formal sorority recruitment, from The DP, January, 2011.
Filed under Campus Life, Christine U.
The Image as Archive; Towards a Third Cinema
Author: Lisa Marie Patzer
As I walked up the ramp to the second floor gallery at the ICA, I immediately recognized the whirring sound of the slide tray advancing and the click of the next slide falling into place. Growing up in the 1970’s, I am nostalgic for all things celluloid, including 35mm slides. Imagine my delight when I saw not one, but four slide projectors, sitting side by side in the gallery, dutifully rotating, loading and projecting images at regular intervals. This is what I would call a little slice of cinephile heaven.
Still from "Sample Frames", 2011, by Alexandra Navratil
The four slide projectors are part of an installation titled Sample Frames, 2011 by Alexandra Navratil (born 1978) and is featured as part of the current exhibit Living Document / Naked Reality: Towards and Archival Cinema on display at the Institute of Contemporary Art Project Space.
The show is curated by Jennifer Burris, the Whitney-Lauder Curatorial Fellow. She states about the show, “Living Document / Naked Reality: Towards an Archival Cinema presents works by contemporary artists who explore cinema’s complex political, formal, and ideological history from the 1910s to the 1960s. Each project engages with the often contradictory responses to the question ‘What is cinema?’ Together, these works—which include video, found object, and slide installation as well as a series of ‘black box’ screenings and events—provoke both critique and nostalgia for the outmoded film technologies and abandoned utopias of a previous era.”
Alexandra Navratil addresses the question “What is cinema?” through synchronized projections of 81 images that were produced by Eastman Kodak Company from 1916 to 1927 as a series of “color guidebooks”. Kodak produced these slides in an attempt to demonstrate the correct way of tinting black and white slides. What is fascinating is the way in which the film material has decomposed over the years, negating their original purpose as “pure sample frames”. Instead, with the viewer sees are four variations of the same exact image, without reference to what the “true” or “correct” image would look like.
Accompanying the Sample Frames installation is an artist book designed by Navratil, Permanence Vocabulary. On each page, a single term from the “Imagining Materials-Permanence-Vocabulary” manual is printed and defined. For instance, the first word “Abrasion” is printed in dark gray and following the word is the definition.
Permanence Vocabulary, Artist's Book, by Alexandra Navratil
The ICA has several events planned in partnership with the International House, Temple University and Penn, to run concurrent with this show. See here for more information.
Filed under Events, Film, Fine Art, Lisa Marie Patzer, The Arts, The Arts at Penn, Uncategorized
I Remember…BYOBs
Author: Elizabeth Kimmelman-Schwartz, C’04
When I was a college student, I loved going to BYOBs in Philadelphia. In fact, one summer when I stayed at Penn, two of my girl friends and I would go to a different BYOB every Thursday night and we would bring a bottle (or three) of the finest White Zin that the State Store had to offer. By the end of the summer we had conducted what we considered to be a thorough taste test on all the White Zins in the liquor store and concluded that Gallo was the best. Just FYI.
I tried almost all of the affordable BYOBs in the city when I was at Penn and I loved them. Cheap food, good company, the ability to drink wine no matter what our IDs said*, and it got my friends and I out and exploring downtown Philly. We loved a lot of the small Italian ones and our particular favorite was a Mexican spot that was “BYOT – Bring Your Own Tequila.” We’d always go out to a BYOB with a large group before sorority formals. My senior year, the Greek Honor Society that I was a part of took over a downtown BYOB for our end of year dinner. Every table had it’s own box of Franzia! (Who says Penn students aren’t classy?)
I have such wonderful memories of all of these BYOBs, and I was so excited to move back to Philly in 2007 and go to all of them again. I soon found out that BYOBs are like a lot of college things that seem charming and fun when you are there – things like dorm rooms, sharing bathrooms, having your normal bedtime be 2 AM – that turn out to be horrible ideas in the real world. I wouldn’t go so far as to say my memories have been tarnished, but I will say that they have suffered.
So, that Mexican BYOT place? I last ate there in May 2009. The food and company was great, fun times were had, although my friends and I were the oldest people there by at least five years. I thought all was good. Until my friend wound up in the hospital with a horrible stomach bacteria. People had to wear hazmat suits to visit her! When she told them where she had eaten the doctors and nurses said they were not surprised and that they see a lot of cases of this after people eat at this restaurant. I sadly crossed that one off of my list.
Next up, those little Italian charmers. The last time I went to one of my favorite BYOB brick oven pizza places from college, there was a sign at the entrance stating, “Bottles of wine are limited to one for every two people.” I read this in a panic as I clutched my box of wine, waiting for two of my friends to show up (judge away, but some boxed wine really isn’t bad and it lasts longer). I spoke to the owner and told him, “I’m really sorry but I didn’t know about this policy. If you’d like, I can ask my friends to bring bottles instead.” He looked at me and kindly said, “Oh, ma’am, that isn’t directed to you. That’s directed to the crazy students who come in here.” Color me old, and appalled.
Finally, my FAVORITE Italian place from undergrad is about two blocks away from where I live now. I was so excited to have this be my neighborhood place – you know, that spot you and your husband go to when you are out of dinner ideas or want a quick and easy date night and where the owners know you by name and greet you warmly whenever you come in. What did I find there? Fast and borderline rude service, along with big, rowdy, loud groups of Penn students. As my husband glared at them for ruining our romantic date night, I said, both proud and ashamed, “You know, that used to be me and my friends.” We have since found another neighborhood Italian spot, one that the Penn students haven’t overrun…yet.
So, yes, my Penn go-to BYOBs are now a thing of my recent past, but I do have to give a shout out in general to the BYOB culture of Philadelphia. First, now that I am a “grown up”, I’ve found other, classier BYOBs here that I love going to. I’ve had some of the best meals of my life at BYOBs. A great BYOB is a must-eat-at destination spot for any out of town visitor. And, I’m happy to live in a place that has something for everyone, from your loud Penn student to your almost-thirty something married couple looking for a nice date night spot.
*The former lawyer in me would like to point out three things. One, I do not condone underage drinking. Two, I do not admit to underage drinking in this post. Three, I will not list any of these BYOBs by name so that today’s Penn students can still enjoy them.
Filed under Alumni Perspective, Campus Life, Elizabeth K., Food Fiends, Memories of Penn
Q&A with a Track & Field Master-Part II: Dee
Author: Nicole Maloy, W’95
(For my previous Q&A with World Masters Track & Field competitor, Ruth Greenfield, Nu’92, check out Part I).
Today, Deirdre Morris-Abrahamsson, C’93, GEd’94, is a Communications Specialist at Widener University in Pennsylvania, and serves as a freelance sports/events consultant. But I remember her as the athlete with whom I shared the high jump pit for two years as my teammate on Penn Women’s Varsity Track & Field. When I was doing my plyometric training, sprints, short-approach jumping drills, and literal attempts at greater heights, there she was. The difference was, when I was done training or competing for the day, she was on her way to work on another event.
Deirdre was a pentathlete indoors, and a heptathlete outdoors. The former includes the 60m Hurdles, High Jump, Shot Put, Long Jump and 800m; the latter replaces the 60m Hurdles with 100m Hurdles, then adds the Javelin and the 200m Dash. So, yeah, I’m feeling a bit inadequate right now. She is trying to convince me to join her in competing again in the Master’s division (35+). Lord help me, I might be swayed. Stay tuned…
Here we are at an indoor meet back in the day.
Q&A with Dee
4 years Penn Women’s Varsity Track & Field, Senior Co-Captain
Pentathlon, Heptathlon
Why did you join the track team at Penn?
I was successful in track at St. Francis Prep High School in Queens, NY and I was recruited by many colleges. I intended to continue competing, and I chose Penn over Dartmouth and Cornell, where I was also accepted.
High jumping at the Colonial Relays during her high school days. Even then, she wore the red and blue!
Why did you stay on the team for as long as you did?
Good question! I loved the sport and my teammates, and I couldn’t imagine not being a part of the team. I never thought about quitting, I always wanted to train harder, achieve more and see what I was capable of doing.
(Note: Deirdre was also President of the Penn Irish Club, and was involved in the West Philadelphia Tutoring Project.)
What was your proudest accomplishment in Track & Field at Penn?
At the end of my junior year, I blew my knee out in a freak long jump accident at the Ivy League Championships at Yale.
(Side note: I was there, and the sound of her scream is still echoing in my head. I just want the readers to understand the severity of the injury and the pain she was in so you can have some context for her recovery and subsequent return to competition).
I had knee surgery in May and wore a cast for two months. I was running again by October, hurdling by December, and ready to compete again by January.
I had my ups and downs that indoor and outdoor season. At the Indoor Championships at the Naval Academy, I hit a hurdle in the first event of the Pentathlon and finished last in the event- in a fog. However, I ended my Penn Track career at the Outdoor Championships at Princeton with a fifth place finish in the Heptathlon and a personal record in the 800m. I crossed the finish line with a smile on my face. I had been through so much, and I had accomplished a lot. And, I didn’t have to run an 800m race ever again!
Your favorite Penn Track & Field memory?
The Penn Relays, of course! I competed in them during my high school years, and then as a Penn Track member it was so awesome to have that event take place on our home track. It was great fun to be a part of the meet, to watch amazing competition and feel the energy of the crowd. I remember walking on the track one day, and there were some older guys walking ahead of me, talking about the “ghosts” on the track and their days running at the Penn Relays. It is true. Thousands upon thousands of people have raced and competed at Franklin Field, each with their own stories of success, defeat, and pride at having competed at the famous Penn Relays.
And the people – my teammates and the alumni of both the men’s and women’s teams. I have made such wonderful friends, and we will always have the bond of being part of such a storied athletic program. My coaches Betty Costanza and Tony Tenisci are life-long friends and mentors, and Charlie Powell, the head men’s coach who just retired, is someone that I admire immensely.
Deirdre competing for Penn as a junior.
What were your main activities and interests between your graduation from Penn and competing in the Masters division (including but not limited to sports)?
I was always surprised to hear from fellow athletes who stopped running once their competition days were over. I never stopped. I couldn’t imagine that. It was so ingrained in me and had been such a big part of my life for so long, that when I would be sitting at work and 3 p.m. would roll around, I always felt like it was time to head out to Track practice.
The year after college, I took up rowing. I learned to scull at the Philadelphia Girls Rowing Club. A recurring feeling that would come over me while doing a 10 mile row and watching runners race up and down Kelly Drive was: I’d rather be running! Plus, tipping my single scull and falling into the murky Schuylkill River didn’t help matters.
Rowing lasted for about a year, and then I started playing Ultimate Frisbee. I could not throw at all, but I could RUN. I joined a summer league team through the Philadelphia Area Disc Alliance, and I had a blast. It was tough, but so much fun. I played Ultimate for ten years, and in my career played at the Club level with Women’s and Mixed teams. I played in 3 US Championships, three World Championships (in Vancouver, Hawaii, and Germany), 3 Swedish Championships and numerous tournaments throughout the US, Canada and Europe. It is through Ultimate that I met my husband – an Ultimate playing Swede that I met at a beach tournament in Italy, south of Lecce. We met in 2001, lived in Salt Lake City until the end of 2002, and then in Sweden from 2002 – 2009.
Throughout this time I continued to run, and I competed in races from 5K to the half marathon. I have also continued weight lifting and I have really fallen in love with yoga. And Swing Dancing, did I mention Swing Dancing? I did this for several years in NYC and when I lived in Barcelona, and it is something that I really want to get better at.
Ultimate Deirdre
What prompted you to start competing in the Masters division? What did it involve?
I have always thought about competing again in track but never really knew how or where. (I actually didn’t think I would ever STOP competing in track, so it was inevitable to start up again.) Playing Ultimate was a big time commitment, not to mention work and then kids. But after moving back to the USA two years ago from Sweden, I got reconnected with many Penn teammates. Ruth Greenfield, Nu’92, was very active with Masters Track, and I was inspired by her participation and great success. She kept encouraging me, and others, to take it up again, and finally, I did.
What are your strongest memories of your first competition as a Master?
I have only competed in a handful of track meets so far. My first meet was the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships in June at Widener University. As a former heptathlete, I can do many events. The easiest to just step back into though, besides the running events, is the shot put. I showed up and there were about fifteen men and one woman there ranging from ages 25 – 70 competing, with their shot put shoes, measuring tapes, and all the typical paraphernalia. There was a nice camaraderie and lots of encouragement among the participants. I was very nervous, but I did fine – and actually surprised myself that my form and strength is still there (actually, I feel stronger physically after having had children).
It was also a great surprise to run into two former Penn Men’s Track athletes who are also very active and successful on the Masters Track circuit: Jason Costner, W’92, and Mohamed Ali, EAS’92. It was nice to hear them cheer me on when I very bravely ran the 400m.
And to top it off, after my first meet, I was ranked #1 in the US in my age group in the shot. That was a thrill. I know that several of my teammates would rocket to the top of the rankings if they started competing again.
At her first Masters Outdoor Track meet in May with fellow Penn Track & Field alumni, Jason Costner and Mohamed Ali.
In which events do you currently compete or plan to compete?
I really want to high jump and long jump again, but, even though I still run, it will take a lot to prepare my body for that kind of impact and to get used to doing it again. The muscle memory is still there though. I have tried high jumping, and it feels natural to do it. I just need to take it slow! I also want to run all of the events up to the mile and see how I do in each. And I will continue shot putting as I really want to see how much I can improve.
Your proudest accomplishment in Track & Field at the Masters level?
In December, I competed in my first meet of the indoor season. My goal was to throw over 30 feet in the shot put – and I did! I also ran the 800m. Like many heptathletes, I dreaded running the 800m as the last of seven events. Although I am slower now, I feel that I am mentally stronger, and I really pushed myself and kept focused. I look forward to running it again, and I aim to whittle my time down over the season.
How does being a mom affect your life as a competitive athlete? How have your children responded?
The other day, my four-year old daughter said to me, “You are the best mom in the world, and the best shot putter in the world.” Alert the presses! My kids know that I love track and field, and my seven-year old son has been to many track meets and has watched a lot of them on TV – especially when we were living in Sweden and they were on TV all the time. He watched Usain Bolt run at the Penn Relays two years ago. This past summer, he participated in his first track meet, and he racked up the medals and had a great time. He “practices” throwing hammer, javelin, and shot put in the yard. I am excited for both my kids to come watch me compete at a meet this winter, and I think that if I went head to head in the 800 with Gavin, he would beat me. In fact, his favorite event to run is the 800m – so he has the advantage.
Sports are such a big part of our family, and it is natural for all of us to be active. We go watch Pappa play in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament, mom run a 5K, Gavin play soccer, and Violet swims. We will see if they become Track & Field athletes, but if they don’t, it won’t be for lack of exposure.
Deirdre with her husband and two children.
What advice do you have for other women/former college athletes who might be interested in competing again?
Remember in high school (or middle school) when you first started doing track and this whole new world opened up to you? You would go and hang out with your friends at track meets, compete in the 55m, the 200m, the triple jump, the shot put (for a laugh) and then run a relay or two? Master’s Track has that vibe. At the meets I have been to, people run multiple events and throw in a field event for good measure. I swear, I am pretty sure this one guy did run ALL of the events at my last meet.
It is a lot of fun, and you would surprise yourself at what you can still do. I know for me, I still have a competitive streak and I want to do my best and keep getting better. But in Masters Track, I am only competing against myself and my own times. The other competitors are very friendly and supportive, and it seems like a close-knit community. Find a Masters Track club in your area, or just show up at meet. If you are not sure what to do, just jump into the 55m dash for a start. Don’t forget to stretch!
And since there are fewer competitors, the meets don’t take all day as they do in high school and college. You can get a few races in on a Sunday morning and then be home in time for lunch.
Anything to add about your experience with Penn Women’s Varsity Track & Field?
I am very proud to have been a member of the Penn Women’s Varsity Track & Team. We worked hard, all year long, and it was a huge commitment. After I graduated, I wanted to stay involved with sports, and I have worked primarily in the sports and event industries. I am a huge sports fan, but Track will always be my favorite.
Anything to add about your experience competing in Track & Field in the Masters division?
It will help with motivation to find some people to train with. I recently started working at Widener University and have become friendly with the track coaches. I have been able to attend some of their practices and get a few training and throwing tips. It is a great feeling to head down to the track and be around the athletes.
Two gold medals from her first master’s track meet. Nice job, Dee!
Again, to read an earlier post “Q&A with World Masters Track & Field” competitor, Ruth Greenfield, Nu’92, check out Part I).
Filed under Alumni Perspective, Athletics, Class of 1993, Nicole M.
The Mungermen
Author: Richard “Dick”Rosenbleeth, Class of ’54
On October 24, 2009, the Mungermen held their annual reunion brunch before the Penn-Yale football game. More than 100 people were there; 40 Mungermen plus family and friends. The Mungermen are those who played football under Coach George A. Munger (’33) from 1938 to 1953. They also include those who were an integral part of the Munger teams – assistant coaches, doctors, trainers, and administrative personnel. The reunions have taken place since 1956, always before a Penn football game. In the beginning, there were approximately 241 Mungermen and about 100 survive today.
I went to my first Penn football game in 1940 when I was eight years old. After that, I saw most games when I had a ticket and, later on, when I sold programs at Franklin Field. In 1950, I came to Penn and played freshman and varsity football under George Munger, graduating in 1954. So I have a clear picture of the Mungermen during the forties and fifties. I thought it would be timely to share the story of the Mungermen with others. Much has been written about George Munger and rightfully so, but little about the Mungermen as such.
The Mungermen have bonded together all this time based on shared experiences and the memory of George Munger who passed away 15 years ago. Although the range in Classes is 1939 to 1956, the age differential is of no significance. The idea for the reunions came from a meeting between George Munger, Jack Welch (’43), Bill Talarico (’49) and Bernie Lemonick (’51). Jack, Bill, and Bernie were Mungermen coaches and players. Bernie is the current very dedicated leader.
George Munger is a College Football Hall of Fame coach and, as an undergraduate, was a star in football and track and field. He was 28 years old when he became Head Coach and held that title for 16 years. He had a record of 82 wins, 42 losses, 10 ties and a winning percentage of .649. He left coaching in 1953 at age 44. Penn football was in turmoil then because of the collapse of President Harold Stassen’s “Victory with Honor” Program. He resigned because he and his long-time excellent assistant coaches Rae Crowther, Paul (PG) Riblett and Bill Talarico were blindsided by Penn’s decision to become part of the formal Ivy League. This not only impacted the coaches, but also the Mungermen Classes of 1954, 1955 and 1956.
The Ivy League Agreement banned spring practice and cut back on scholarships for football starting in 1953 and beyond. In addition, the rules were changed in 1953 banning two-platoon football. Games were already scheduled against the best teams in the country for the next three years. Despite all this, Munger and his staff stayed on for the 1953 season, his first and only losing season, but that was the end of the Munger era. After that, George Munger became Director of Physical Education and was never heard to complain about these events. He was a loyal Penn man to the end.
A “last hurrah” dinner honoring George Munger on his 80th birthday was held on November 22, 1974. The Dinner Program read:
“Here on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, we, his players, are gathered tonight with George Munger to celebrate the occasion of his 80th birthday.”
Football coach, role model, advisor, and friend to us all, he keeps the memories of the days when we wore the Red and Blue under his leadership fresh in our thoughts. Followers of Pennsylvania football will long remember his powerful single wing teams for their aggressive play and colorful performance.
During his 15 years as head coach, his teams were nationally recognized for their ability to play the best, and thousands came to Franklin Field autumn after autumn to spend an exciting afternoon of football.
We salute him in his 80th year for a job well done, for memories which are irreplaceable and for the unique pleasure of having been a “Mungerman” in a memorable era of Pennsylvania football.
This, in the main, explains why the Mungermen have stayed together all these years. But there is more to the story. George Munger had great affection for his players and that great affection was returned. My own personal experience confirms this. He was not the typical football coach. He was quietly articulate and inspiring; and preferred to be called George, not Coach Munger. He wanted his players to succeed as students, football players and after in their careers or professions. More than ninety percent of them graduated.
Each year before the last game of the year against Cornell, George told the team: “Fight like Hell, beat Cornell and no school [practice] Monday.” He would be pleased to know that his players still have “school on Monday,” even though it is only once every year.
The Mungermen[1] during their playing days won 9 unofficial Ivy League titles (no formal Ivy League existed until after 1956); competed against the best teams and best players in the country; led the nation in attendance year after year; and achieved a winning record. The best teams were: 1940 (6-1-1), 1941 (7-1) and 1947 (7-0-1). The most memorable games were: Cornell 1940 (22-21), Duke 1944 (18-7), Navy 1946 (32-18), Princeton 1946 (14-17), Army 1947 (7-7) and 1948 (13-13), Dartmouth 1950 (42-26), Wisconsin 1950 (20-0) and California(7-14), Army 1951 (7-6), Princeton 1952 (13-7), ending Princeton’s 24 game winning streak, Navy 1953 (9-6), Notre Dame 1952 (7-7) and 1953 (20-28), and 1953 Ohio State (6-12) and Penn State (13-7).
Harlan Gustafson (’39), Ray Frick (’41), Frank Reagan (’41), Bernie Kuczyski (’42), Bob Odell (’43), George Savitsky (’48, four times), Skip Minisi (’48), Chuck Bednarik (’49, two times), Bull Schweder (’50), Reds Bagnell (’51), Bernie Lemonick (’51), Gerry Mcginley (’52), Eddie Bell (’53, two times), and Jack Shanafelt (’54) were All-Americans. Odell, Bednarik, and Bagnell won the Maxwell Award. Some were All East, named to All -Opponent teams and played in post season All-Star games. A few are in the College, Pro-Football, Pennsylvania State, and Penn Halls of Fame. Others were good solid players, some were substitutes and some “meatballs” who came to practice every day and helped the varsity prepare, but all were important to the football program. These were the glory years of Penn football when Franklin Field was filled to capacity every Saturday in the fall. The Penn football games were the talk of the town and Penn was nationally recognized as a football power.
The Mungermen have served their country in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, and also served their communities. They have become successful doctors, dentists, lawyers, educators, artists, coaches, businessmen, executives and entrepreneurs. Quite a few have been active in alumni affairs as trustees and otherwise. Some have made significant financial contributions to the University.
In 1994, the Mungermen contributed 1.5 million dollars to establish the George A. Munger Endowment for Football at Penn. Our fine coach, Al Bagnoli, is currently the George A. Munger Head Coach for Football. Today a statue of George Munger stands at the West end of Franklin Field, erected with funds raised by the Mungermen. There was also a weight training room in Franklin Field funded by the Mungermen. All of these efforts were aided by contributions of Friends of the Mungermen.
This, then, is the story of the Mungermen, who have contributed so much to Penn football and to the University. I hope this has been a worthwhile trip down memory lane, both for those who are and are not familiar with this era of Penn football. 
Filed under Athletics, Campus Life, Guest blogger, Historical
From the Hill to the Hub
Author: Liz Pinnie
This weekend, my grandfather took the train from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia to spend time with my family. Saturday’s agenda included a trip to Penn. As we meandered through campus, I peppered my grandfather with historical facts, updates on exciting research happening at Penn, stories about student life, and tales of the Ben Franklin statues. As we reached the car, he remarked in his deep baritone, “Why Elizabeth, it seems like you really like the place.”
Now, I should be honest. Penn is not my Alma Mater (gasp!). I attended a teeny, tiny Hamilton College atop a hill in Upstate New York. The entire population of the school was smaller than the freshman class at Penn. The nearest Starbucks was forty minutes away. The average temperature in January was ten degrees. There were two dining halls on campus and two bars in town. There was no graduate school (or schools for that matter), no Ben Franklin statues, no coffee shops in the library. If you wanted a hoagie, you had to go to Subway- which is tragic.
Hamilton's skyline at dusk
However, for all of the obvious differences between petite and rural Hamilton and grand and urban Penn, I’ve learned that these schools share some essential similarities. Both value unique experiences, a diversified education, pushing ones boundaries and learning from the people- and world- around you.*
It turns out that my grandfather is right. Whether consciously or unconsciously, in the three short months I have worked at Penn, I have become a champion of it. Every morning when I walk to work, I marvel at the gorgeous buildings, and the relative peace and quiet of this city school. In the office, I love hearing the stories of the interesting alumni I meet and reading articles about the fascinating research and projects Penn students and faculty are involved in. I can’t wait to check out the sports scores, try out new lunch spots, and send out Tweets about weekend events for alumni. Though my love for Hamilton’s Buff & Blue will never die, it seems that it might have to scoot over a bit for Penn’s Red & Blue.
My new, favorite statue
*We also share perhaps equally quirky mascots. While Penn cheers for the Quakers, Hamilton rallies around the Continental, a revolutionary soldier. Like I said, “quirky.”
Filed under Campus Life, Liz P.
The Red and Blue Crew Travels to Columbia This Friday
Author: Stephanie Y., C’08
I was thrilled to hear today that the Red and Blue Crew is going to New York City for the Penn Men’s Basketball game at Columbia University this Friday. I just finalized my long weekend travel plans, which includes going to NYC to watch the Penn Quakers crush the Columbia Lions on Friday night. Tickets are still available on the Columbia Men’s Basketball website. Last year’s game was sold out, so buy your tickets today before they sell out! The Penn alumni community always has a strong presence at the Penn @ Columbia game because there are so many Penn alumni in the NYC area. I cannot wait to see Penn student and alumni faces in the crowd cheering on the Quakers this Friday night! In the meantime, see you tonight (Jan 10th) for the Penn vs. LaSalle game at The Palestra. Go Quakers!
Red and Blue Crew member sporting an awesome net-hat with the Penn logo. Where can I get one of these? Photo courtesy of The Daily Pennsylvanian.
Filed under Alumni Perspective, Athletics, Stephanie Y.
Frankly Penn 