Author: Casey Ryan, C’95
Homecoming starts tomorrow. I can’t believe that we are more than half way through semester and soon it will be Thanksgiving. And, it’s been five years of Homecoming, featuring Arts and Culture at Penn.
But before we’re feasting on turkey and sharing time with family, we are invited to return home to our alma mater.
From Wikipedia:
Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni of a school. It most commonly refers to a tradition in many universities, colleges and high schools in the United States. It usually includes activities for students and alumni, such as sports and culture events and a parade through the streets of the city or town. The NCAA recognizes the University of Missouri as the birthplace of homecoming.
Traditionally the crux of Homecoming is the home football game usually against the School’s rival. This year, the game is Saturday at Noon against our more recently acquired rival Princeton. (In yesteryear, the rivalry for Penn was against Cornell.) General admission tickets are $15 or you can register in person on College Green for a Blue Quaker Pass which includes a GA ticket.
Outside of the big game, here are my top Penn picks for outstanding Penn programming this Homecoming weekend:
10. New College House Celebration
Friday, 12:30 – 2 PM
Tent on Hill Field
Come join this picnic for the Penn community with live entertainment, delicious food, give-a-ways and more… Rain or Shine. Presented by Amy Gutmann, President, University of Pennsylvania and David L. Cohen, Chair, Board of Trustees.
9. Exhibit: Audubon’s Birds of America
Friday, 8:30 AM – 9 PM
Saturday, 10 AM – 9 PM
Sunday, 10 AM – Midnight
Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, First floor
3420 Walnut Street {Entrance off of College Green}
The Penn Libraries is pleased to announce a new permanent exhibition case devoted to the display of John James Audubon’s spectacular Birds of America (1827-38). Penn’s double elephant folio set of the Birds was a gift of Edwin H. Vare, Jr. in 1957-59. The page opening from the volume on display will be changed on the second Wednesday of every month.
8. The Circuit: 750 Miles of Regional Trails
Sunday, 10 AM – 12 PM
Widener Visitor Center
Morris Arboretum
100 E. Northwestern Avenue
Cost: $20
The Circuit: 750 miles of Regional Trails is a lecture by Bob Thomas, AIA, C’69,GAR’73, life-long Philadelphian, noted architect, planner, and Penn alumus. Learn more about the Philadelphia’s 750 mile regional trail system and its pending expansion. Tours of the Morris Arboretum are available after the presentation.
7. Rugby Alumni Game
Friday, 7:30 PM – 10:30 PM
Penn Park
Football isn’t the only sport that brings our Pennsylvanians back to West Philadelphia. The Penn Rugby Alumni Board cordially invites you to attend the Ninth Annual Homecoming Alumni Game Friday evening at Penn Park. Join us to cheer on the Penn alumni rugby players. After the game, take part in a special alumni reception at Penn Park. Please contact Michael Reno at mreno@upenn.edu to RSVP.
6. PennGALA Speed Mentoring
Saturday, 2:30 PM – 4 PM
LGBT Center
3907 Spruce St
Penn students and alumni are welcome to join PennGALA’s Speed Mentoring event at the LGBT Center. LGBTQA alumni will connect with each other and current LGBTQA undergraduate and graduate students in a series of short one-on-one conversations, to discuss career-related issues such as job-search techniques, industry-specific topics, and professional life as an LGBTQA individual in the working world. Alumni, you are encouraged to indicate your career background here.
5. Exhibit: Ormandy in China: The Historic 1973 Tour
Friday, 8:30 AM – 9 PM
Saturday, 10 AM – 9 PM
Sunday, 10 AM – Midnight
Eugene Ormandy Gallery
Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, 4th Floor
3420 Walnut Street {entrance off College Green}
The 1973 tour of China by the Philadelphia Orchestra marked an important milestone in relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China. Following on the heels of Richard Nixon’s trip to visit Mao Zedong in 1972, the tour was a successful attempt at cultural diplomacy–the first visit to China by an American orchestra. In recognition of the fortieth anniversary of this historic tour, “Ormandy in China” reexamines the ten-day visit and places the tour in the context of the political and cultural climate of the time.
4. Blutt Band Slam
Saturday, 3 PM – 5 PM
College Green
Whether you love jazz, classical music, or good old-fashioned rock and roll, you will find something to get your toes tapping at this engaging and spirited competition on College Green. Band members will compete in a wide range of genres and styles. Meet up with friends at the Quaketacular Spectacular Beer Garden and watch the show.
Penn alumni, student musicians and singers! More information here!
3. 79th Annual Alumni Award of Merit Gala
Friday, 6 PM – 10 PM
Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
3680 Walnut Street
Join fellow alumni, friends and guests, at the 79th annual installment of a Penn tradition. The Gala honors those alumni who have demonstrated commitment and dedication to the University, helping to make it shine more brightly than ever. Hosted by new Penn Alumni President, Julie Beren Platt, C’79, the Gala will recognize individual alumni, class and club honorees. Board of Trustees Chairs, David L. Cohen and President Amy Gutmann invite all alumni to attend this splendid occasion.
For more information visit, www.alumni.upenn.edu/pennalumni/aamgala or call 215.898.7811. Cost is $75 per person/$55 for alumni graduates, 2003-2013.
Alumni Award of Merit
L. John Clark, W’63, WG’68
Mindy Halikman Heyer, C’79, W’79, WG’80
Helen Frame Peters, Ph.D., CW’70, G’74, GR’79
Steve Roth, W’66
Young Alumni Award
Farnia Fresnel, ENG’98
Andrew J. Rosenthal, C’06
Creative Spirit Award
Mary Ellen Mark, FA’62, ASC’64, Hon’94
Class Award of Merit
Class of 1978
David N. Tyre Award for Excellence in Class Communications
Class of 2008
Alumni Club Award of Merit
Penn Alumni Club of Metro New Jersey
2. Classes without Quizzes: Dining and Lovemaking in Pompeii
Friday, 6 PM – 7 PM
Penn Museum,
Widener Lecture Room
“Dining and Lovemaking in Pompeii” Dr. C. Brian Rose, Curator-in-Charge of the Mediterranean Section, Penn Museum, James B. Pritchard Professor of Archaeology, University of Pennsylvania The destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 A.D. allows us to reconstruct extensively the nature of daily life in an Early Imperial Roman town, especially the residents’ attitudes toward food and sex. This lecture presents an overview of those attitudes by examining the archaeological discoveries in both cities, including the wall paintings, mosaics, dining rooms, and food remains. Topics include cookbooks and dinner parties as well as prostitution and same-sex relationships.
1. The film screening, Head Games
Presented by Penn Alumni Film Festival
Saturday, 5:45 PM – 8 PM
Claudia Cohen Hall
G17 Class of 1969 Lecture Room
249 South 36th Street
Inspired by events from the book Head Games written by former Ivy League football star and WWE wrestler Christopher Nowinski, and featuring interviews with Nowinski, Bob Costas (NBC Sports), Keith Primeau (NHL All-Star), Cindy Parlow Cone (Olympic Gold Medalist, Women’s Soccer), and many more, Head Games exposes viewers to one of the leading public health issues of our time, concussion. The film features several of Penn’s leading scientists and clinicians interested in providing evidence-based treatments and improving the lives of those who have experienced lasting effects from a traumatic brain injury.
Stick around after the documentary for a panel discussion with medical experts. Panelists include:
- Dave F. Meaney, PhD, Chairman, Department of Bioengineering, Solomon R. Pollack Professor Bioengineering, Associate Director, Penn Center for Brain Injury and Repair
- M. Sean Grady, MD, Chairman, Department of Neurosurgery, Charles Harrison Frazier Professor of Neurosurgery, Perelman School of Medicine
- Douglas H. Smith, MD, Director, Penn Center for Brain Injury and Repair, Robert A. Groff Professor of Neurosurgery, Vice-Chairman for Research & Education, Department of Neurosurgery
- Rahul Kapur, MD, Chief Medical Physician, Penn Athletics Kelli Williams, PhD, Director of Neuropsychology and Co-Director, Concussion Clinic, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
I hope this selection of Homecoming programming makes you excited for the weekend as much as I am! See you on campus.
Frankly Penn 