Monthly Archives: December 2014

Recently, the Penn and Wharton Alumni Club of Arizona met with Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton for breakfast at the law offices of Tiffany and Bosco, P.A.; organized by club Board members Alan Sandler and Chris Kaup, we started with Mike Tiffany and Mark Bosco, the founding partners of the firm, greeting the guests.

As soon as Mayor Stanton arrived, he worked his way around the conference room, greeting each group of attendees.

The mayor began by informing the group that once again Phoenix has passed Philadelphia as the 5th largest city in the US. The theme of the mayor’s talk was “Is the city set up for the future?”

Mayor Stanton reminded us that we are living in an international economy, and the city has an export readiness initiative, creating opportunities for small and medium sized businesses to learn how to trade. A Phoenix trade office has been set up in Mexico; trade will double in 5-years. The mayor also pointed out that Canada too conducts significant commerce with Arizona.

During the bulk of the presentation, Mayor Stanton reviewed his three major initiatives for the city:

EDUCATION – To ensure that Phoenix continues to provide a labor force that supports business growth, the city needs to work with and support the poorer schools.

WATER – we are in the midst of a 14-year drought, and need to adopt various conservation considerations now. Among other initiatives, Phoenix and Tucson joined in an agreement relative to water sharing issues; which was a major step for both cities.

TRANSPORTATION – The city needs to address and expand the rapid rail system.   Part of this is being driven by the rapid and considerable growth of Grand Canyon University.

The Mayor kept us interested and smiling, and we enjoyed a lengthy question and answer session following the mayor’s remarks. Before and after, there was plenty of time for networking.

Author: Katherine Cheng (W’14, C’14)

The Penn Club of Chicago brought the holiday cheer early this year with a fantastic event – the Penn Holiday Party! Attracting around 100 alumni to the Wicker Park- Bucktown area, the event reunited fellow Quakers from all different classes. Thanks to the generosity of Liane Jackson (C’93), who opened up her space, the Free Range Office for the night of festivities, the venue transformed into a Red and Blue/ Holiday/Winter Wonderland extravaganza. I was happy to be a part of the event planning committee, led by Alexandra Leska (C’13) and felt so proud of the immense school spirit and the “go-getter” Penn attitude everyone brought to make the event a total success.

Here are my 5 favorite highlights from the event (with collage style pics!):

1. Penn spirit

No matter where they have been and how long ago they have graduated (from since last may to the 60s), Penn alums bonded over the commonalities they shared from attending our beloved alma mater. The Penn culture was evident throughout the crowd – as the social, easy-going personalities intermingled and filled the room with laughter and lively conversation. It was heartwarming to see everyone come together like one big family.

2. Eclectic mix of activities

While cheerful jingles played in the background, alums gathered at the various stations of the room. Underneath the Penn flag was the wine/chocolate pairing table. A Penn-themed photobooth entertained various groups of alumni, who donned the Hey Day hat (probably first time since junior year) for a picture. Alums bought raffle tickets at the entrance for a chance to win Penn memorabilia and other prizes. A piñata hung in the center of the room, because why not? At the back of room was the beer tasting station, with a dozen various types of beer thanks to Eric Wu (W’04) and MillerCoors. It quickly became a popular hangout spot, which Quakers dearly nicknamed “The Beer Garden” at some point during the night. Hey, Penn is the social Ivy after all. Some things never change.

3. Philly cheesesteaks and hoagies

The main course at the party was a healthy combination of Philly cheesesteaks (provided by Mojo’s East Coast Eats) , hoagies, and pretzels. Nothing better to bring us back to our campus days than a large bite of chopped beef with Cheez Whiz on bread!

4. Raffle

Thanks to Laura Foltman (MS ’14) and the Penn alumni office, many people were able to win Penn memorabilia, including an antique Pennpoly 1st Edition game from 1991. There were also some one-of-a-kind prizes donated by alums, including a special architectural drawing by Peter Exley (MArch ’90), a Jazz trio with Eric Williams (C’89), and party space for 50 people at the Free Range Office from Liane Jackson (C’93).

5. Surprise Piñata!

One of the most exciting parts of the party was the piñata. Several Penn alums were called from the guest list to take a shot on breaking the piñata. The first swing was an honorable effort. We quickly realized that the piñata must have been made from really tough material, since the stick snapped in half while leaving the piñata unscathed. After several tries but to no avail, the final candidate finally ripped it apart, as sweets fell out onto the floor among a lot of laughter from the spectator crowd.

Overall, it was truly a memorable evening, thanks to the alums bringing the great energy to the party. One thing is for sure: once a Penn student, always a Penn student at heart!

By: Carolyn Boiarsky, CW’63

When I first arrived in Chicago 20 years ago, I attended several excellent events sponsored by the Chicago Penn Alumni Club, including a lecture at the Oriental Institute by one of the directors of Penn’s Museum. However, over the past decade few events were of interest to me, so last May when the Chicago Alumni Board issued an open invitation to attend its next Board meeting and help with programming, I took them up on their offer.

The result is that a new interest group has been established—The Sages, those of us who graduated in the 50’s, 60, and 70’s. And the Board is now in the process of planning the kinds of programs that are of interest to our generation. Thanks to the encouragement and support of outgoing Club President Michal Clements and some great marketing support from Laura Foltman and the Alumni Relations Office, our first program, “An Evening with Shakespeare” on November 6 was a great success.

Zachary Lesser

Serendipitously Penn’s Shakespearean scholar Zachary Lesser had been invited to Chicago to make a presentation at the city’s Humanities Festival on the weekend of November 9. He agreed to come several days early to present a lecture for us prior to watching a performance of King Lear at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

Luck continued to flow our way for finding a venue. The Chicago Shakespeare Theatre graciously provided us with a space for the lecture in their scenic lobby overlooking Lake Michigan and the giant Ferris Wheel. With the sun setting over the Lake rather than the quad outside College Hall as a backdrop to our lecturer, we studied various versions of some of the passages of Lear from two of the quartos. Our homework: to determine which of the quartos Barbara Gaines, the Director, had used for the final lines of the play. The lines in one quarto are spoken by the Earl of Kent, in the other by Edgar and sometimes a director splits the lines between the Earl and Edgar. Summoning those critical analytical skills that we acquired during our years at Penn, we watched intently as the final lines played out. To our amazement–and amusement–Gaines had split the closing lines three ways-the Earl, Edgar and the Duke of Albany.

Between the lecture and the performance, we had dinner at Riva on the Pier, our discussions ranging from Shakespeare to our classes at Penn to suggestions for the next Sage event. While most of us were Sages, we ranged from the class of ’63 to the class of ‘93. Some of us were single, like Esther Hershenhorn ’67, others came with spouses or partners, like Larry Feis, ’80 and his wife Brenda. Among the more recent grads in attendance were Liane Jackson, ‘93, who was recently profiled in the Penn Club of Chicago online alumni newsletter, and her mother and Maureen Buchholz, MBA, ‘92. As we Sages reminisced, the younger members gained some insights into Penn’s history: they had never known there was a separate College for Women or the Pennsylvania News.

And then the performance. The story was made more meaningful by the lecture, and Larry Yando as Lear was incredible. I’ve seen him in other plays, Prospero in “Tempest,” a quite different character from Lear, and he seems to simply become the character.

The evening was fascinating, educational, enjoyable. And the group warm and friendly. I read recently in The Wall Street Journal that those of us who have reached the point of being a Sage are more apt to look for friendships that are meaningful. Penn was a meaningful experience for all of us. It is good to be able to once again find meaningful experiences through that institution.