As students, I’m sure that you have strolled along this major pedestrian thoroughfare at one point on another. Now, the walkway is under construction starting with the 3600 block this summer and will continue to the 3800 and 3900 blocks this fall.
Locust Walk is the place to go to bump into other students and peers. It is more than a walkway; it serves as a social and interactive path between college houses (a.k.a. dorms) and classrooms. Each and every time during my senior spring semester I would run from my house on Sansom and hop on the Walk to get to my either my Linguistics or Business Italian class in Williams Hall, I would see several of my classmates and friends. We would catch up on last week’s cast party or make plans for that weekend, and I would be inevitably late for class. Yet, my Penn classmates and I weren’t the only things traveling along the walk. The renovation includes the replacement of underground utilities and the paved surface. In addition to the thousands of students, faculty and staff that traverse the 20 and ½ foot wide Walk, electricity, gas, water, telecommunications, and sewage all passed under our feet. This infrastructure will be improved during the renovations as well.
For now, though, the intensity of the work in a confined space requires that students, faculty and staff to be re-routed from the work area. The temporary walkways provided by the contractor for safety, will have to serve as the major social conduit through campus.
For more articles about the Locust Walk Renovation, visit:
Most Penn students arrive for their freshman year at the tender age of eighteen. They are questioning, seeking—naïve in some ways perhaps, often idealistic.
When Aaron Heller arrived at Penn he was twenty-two, like many students of his time. He had spent the past three years overseas, part of the enormous clash of humanity that was World War II. They were a different kind of student—more serious in some ways, better able to put life into perspective—but still seeking, and determined to take advantage of the GI Bill to get a good education.
Today, Aaron asserts that he is still seeking. He and his wife Rita (CW’48), voracious readers and lifetime learners, have traveled the world to see works of art that they read about in Proust. He has also become a painter as was his older brother, Samuel.
The following excerpt is from an essay entitled “Coming Home” which Aaron wrote his freshman year at Penn, nearly sixty-five years ago:
He was short in build, this overseas returnee, and his face was flushed. His hat was sitting at an indeterminate angle. His overcoat was unbuttoned and flapped disturbingly as he ran to the ticket window.
The scene in the railroad station became indelibly imprinted in the mind. Fur coats, arms and legs, natural and man-made hues gradually resolved themselves into an intelligible impression. The complacent fat jowl above the camel-hair overcoat pierced the scene and sickened him.
“How much to Philadelphia?” he asked the ticket seller.
“Two dollars and thirty cents.” The voice that spoke was monotonous and unconcerned. It disturbed him even more when he could find no moral reason to attach to his disturbance.
Every eye was watching him and his face flushed. He was clumsy while he placed his baggage on the rack and stammered apologies to an indifferent woman. His mind slowly perceived that this woman with wrinkled face and arthritic legs was in her own petty world. He looked at the other passengers to discover that they dwelt in a circle that used the width of the body as a diameter.
A few times a week during my undergraduate years at Penn, I would run along a curved, “J”-like path, hurl myself backwards over a long, horizontal bar, and land – poof – in an undignified position on an enormous, dusty, blue cushion. Then someone would either cheer for me or yell at me (usually the latter) and I would do it again. And again. And again. Such is the life of a high jumper.
I always look so anguished mid-jump, but hey, whatever got me over the bar. If you really want to see a show at your next track meet, watch for the pre-jump ritual dances. All jumpers have one. Home meet at Franklin Field, spring 1993 (sophomore year).
But why do it?
You know, that is an excellent question. High jumping is not exactly a useful skill. There was a TV movie in the ‘80s about legendary American athlete Jesse Owens, whose epic, four-gold-medal-winning performance in Berlin’s 1936 Olympics shattered Hitler’s hopes of proving Aryan supremacy at the Games. Towards the end of the movie, a kid steals a lady’s purse and runs. Nearby, an older Jesse Owens takes off after the kid. Who knows if this was based on a real incident, but I still remember seeing the kid struggle to climb over some pile of debris and keep running. Then, there was the Jesse Owens character, in a business suit, hurdling that same pile in slow motion. The moral of the story? Hurdling is both cool and potentially useful. And don’t run from Jesse Owens.
Penn’s Varsity Track & Field Team Captains are each given a baton at the Penn Relays. Penn’s illustrious Chaplain, Chaz Howard, C’00, keeps trying to trick me into giving him mine. Sorry, Chaz!
I’ve tried to come up with scenarios where being an ex-high jumper might come in handy. Here’s what I’ve got: I’m being chased by someone evil. Up ahead of me is a fence, and there are walls on either side, so there’s no way out but over. And the walls are far enough apart that I can run my “J.” And the fence is lower than 5’ 9 ¼” high. And on the other side, there is a big stack of mattresses.
Yeah. I accept that high jumping knowledge doesn’t transfer well. But what I love about my event, and Track and Field in general, is that it’s raw. It’s about the body and what it can do, just because, end of story. How far can you throw? This far. How fast can you run? This fast. How high can you jump? This high. Next question? Few tasks or results in life are so clear, so easily measurable.
Front and center with fellow Team Captains, Maggie Morrow, C’95 and Monica (McCullough) Walker, C’96 in the 1994-95 team photo
The student-athlete experience adds something else to the mix: a special kind of school spirit. On the track or on the field, you are your team, you are your school, and you are identified from afar by your school colors. Student-athletes wear those colors on behalf of their entire university, and the team members who came before them. There’s pride at stake. I became sensitive to certain shades and color combinations within the Ivy League, and it took me years to get to the point where I could wear some of them in public without feeling like I was wearing the uniform of an opposing team.
Other than temporary allergies to rival school colors, what did I learn from my days as a high jumper?
Sometimes there is no middle ground. Either the bar stays up or it doesn’t. Sometimes the wind knocks it over, but usually it’s the jumper. What could I do better next time?
Sometimes you do get a second chance (and a third), but it’s better not to need it. You get three attempts at each height. Room for error is nice, but doing it right the first time saves time and energy for the harder jumps to come (FYI: the bar supports on each side are called “standards,” so the officials are literally “raising the bar” and “setting a higher standard” with each new round. That’s one to grow on).
Sometimes you are capable of more than you think you are. A good coach – or set of coaches – will see where you are able to go, equip you for the journey, challenge you until you arrive, and be there to celebrate with you once you get there. I showed up as a freshman walk-on to the team with a personal best of 5’4”. I left as a Senior Co-Captain with the school record of 5’ 9 ¼”. Who knew? They did. NCAA Division I coaching is nothing to sneeze at if it could get me 5+ inches higher in the air.
Sometimes it’s out of your hands. The outdoor season was always my favorite, though that blasted wind would often mock me by taking down the bar just steps before I reached it. Rain made running on the “J” curve an adventure in trusting the spikes in my heels to keep me from skidding (distinctive to a high jump shoe for this very reason). And you haven’t lived until you’ve landed in the “pit” (the big dusty cushion) after an hour of rain. The weather was out of my control. All I could do was my best to get to – and over – the bar.
Sometimes it’s all in your hands. When conditions are perfect, you’re feeling good, and you have three attempts ahead of you, it’s just you and that bar. It’s personal. However many people are watching, the results of the jump are entirely up to you. Will you rise to the challenge? If so, how high?
You know, maybe high jumping has more transferable knowledge than I gave it credit for.
In my Penn Varsity sweater at Homecoming 2008. These red sweaters with blue felt “P” haven’t changed much over the last century, so it’s quite a bonding moment to run into different eras of alumni wearing the same sweater with just as much pride.
Hats off to Adria (Ferguson) Sheth, C’97, seated far left in the back row of the above team photo. That super-fast underclassman grew up to fund Penn’s first women’s varsity coaching position endowed in a woman’s name in honor of former Head Coach Betty Costanza, who founded the Women’s Track & Field program at Penn. Let’s have a rousing, sports movie slow clap for Adria. To Betty and Assistant Coach Tony Tenisci, I love you both forevah for putting up with me, and for teaching me to fly, a few seconds at a time. Thanks for pushing me to push myself harder. Thanks also to Dick Fosbury for being the good kind of crazy. Enjoy this Visa commercial narrated by Morgan Freeman about the radical “Fosbury Flop” method of high jumping that revolutionized the sport. Aside: if the “Go World” Olympics ads don’t move you, you have no soul. This is the one that gets me every time. OK, and this one. And this one, this one, and this one. But anyway, back to Dick Fosbury….
Second semester of my senior year, I had the best time of my life and was also an emotional wreck. I was distraught at the thought of the inevitable end to college and saying goodbye to Penn (if you’ve read my commencement article, you know this culminated in a tear-filled hysterical graduation). With a couple months left to go senior year, there was this article in the DP about something called “Facebook” coming to Penn. I remember thinking, “What a stupid name for a website, the facebooks are those things we got freshman year” and then I pretty much ignored the article. This said a lot, considering that I was a second semester senior and all I did during class was read the DP.
A few weeks later, facebook hit Penn. I didn’t immediately sign up for it because it just seemed so weird. Why would my roommate have to be my facebook friend when I could just walk next door to her room and say hi? What was the point? A few days later, my friend, appalled with what I had been missing out on, bluntly told me, “Elizabeth, this thing is awesome. Just do it. And it’s only at Ivy League schools, so it’s really exclusive and cool” (watch the movie, The Social Network. The exclusivity thing was a marketing tool for them and it totally worked). I added in my own argument that it might be a nice way to stay in touch with people after graduation, and, by the end of the day, I had an account. Madness ensued.
Do you remember when you signed up for facebook for the first time? Remember how much fun it was to find your (real) friends and how neat it was to connect with someone you hadn’t seen for years? Imagine all of this becoming available to you a month before before college graduation. What better way to cope with your anxiety about graduation than “friending” every person you ever met at Penn. Wondering what will happen to the cute guy from music class you figured you’d never see again? Facebook friends! Nervous that you’ll never talk to one of your good acquaintances once you move to L.A. and she moves to NYC? Facebook friends!
Once you became friends with someone, you’d look at all of their friends and find even more people who weren’t actually your friends and realize you HAD to be facebook friends with them. It became absolutely necessary to be “friends” with every girl in your sorority, every single person from your classes (you could sort by class in the early days), anyone who lived in your dorm freshman year, etc. Every time I opened my email, there were at least 20 unread messages with friend requests.
Some people tried to make rules like, “I won’t request friends, I’ll just accept requests” or “I won’t join until after I graduate.” Those rules lasted about a day. Facebook was a tidal wave and everyone got swept up in it.
It seems silly now that facebook was such a big deal, especially because back then it didn’t really do anything. There was a profile, relationship status and you could “poke” someone (a concept I still do not understand). There were no walls to write, no photos to upload, no groups, fanpages, or newsfeeds. Yet, it was fascinating. There was something so captivating about connecting with all of these people I went to school with for four years. I have 803 facebook friends. I promise you, I’m not that cool. I just happened to be part of this wave that swept Penn for a month back in 2004.
The first iteration of Facebook. See? Not much to it.
When I started working in Alumni Relations, I tried making another one of those silly facebook rules – that I wouldn’t be friends with my volunteers. That rule lasted for a few months, until I realized that facebook was a vital part of my job. We use group pages and fan pages to build class unity and promote our reunions. We ask questions like, “Who was your favorite professor?” so that classmates can easily start up conversations for the first time in twenty-five years. We get our playlists for reunion parties by starting facebook discussions about music they want to hear at reunion. I think the connections that alumni are making on facebook now are so much more meaningful than the frantic “GRADUATION IS COMING” connections that were forged during my senior year. People genuinely want to talk to each other and get back in touch. Maybe even with that boy they had a crush on from their music class…
Class of 1986's Facebook Page for Their 25th Reunion
This past Saturday, I volunteered for the morning shift at PennMOVES. The goal of PennMOVES is to help Penn students find a home for items they can’t take with them when they leave campus at the end of the school year. The program does this in a way that is socially responsible and environmentally aware. PennMOVES collects usable items, such as clothes, furniture, kitchen gear, and non-perishable food items in order to help West Philadelphians and other nearby communities in need. This year, Penn collaborated with Goodwill Industries, and all of the proceeds from the sale went to support Goodwill’s local job training programs. Since its inception in 2008, PennMOVES has collected close to 300,000 pounds of items. Imagine all that stuff in a landfill!
The sale was scheduled to begin at 10:00AM. Admission was free, but bargain hunters could pay a $5 early bird admission fee to get in between 8:00AM and 10:00AM. I arrived at 7:15AM for my 7:30AM shift, and shoppers were already lined up outside with their personal shopping carts.
At 8:10AM, we started to see some activity, but not much was happening in the checkout line (AKA my post).
A Quiet Start
By 8:36AM, it was packed.
Full House
This was the 4th year of PennMOVES. I volunteered two years ago when the sale was at the Penn Ice Rink, but this year, the sale was moved to a warehouse at 3401 Grays Ferry Avenue. Initially, I was skeptical about this new location because the Penn Ice Rink is huge and is in such a convenient location for staff, volunteers, and shoppers. However, as soon as I showed up at 3401 Grays Ferry, I knew the move was genius. One major improvement was the addition of a clothing room. The organizers did such a great job sorting all of the clothing. The room looked like it could be a real store.
The left side of the clothing room
Right side of clothing room
By 10:45AM, the main room had almost cleared out. I couldn’t believe how many items had already sold.
Quiet Once Again
I can’t wait to find out how much money PennMOVES raised for Goodwill. It’s never easy waking up early on a Saturday morning, but it was worth it to see all the happy faces leaving the sale and to see items quickly disappear from the warehouse. PennMOVES turned trash into treasures and helped the community and the environment at the same time. Now that’s what I call shopping for a great cause.
One of the perks of my job at Penn is that I get to meet and learn about some of our very dedicated and generous proud Penn alumni. Every other month, I interview one of our Ivy Stone Society members for the Society’s newsletter, the Ivy Stone Insider. Every interview reveals fascinating details about the individual including why they came to Penn and why they give back to the University. Today, I am happy to share one of these profiles with you!
Name: Caroline Finger School/Class Year: C’07
Where Are You Now?
I currently live in New York City and work for an affordable housing redevelopment non-profit. I’m also working towards a Master’s degree in Real Estate at NYU’s Schack Institute of Real Estate.
What made you choose Penn when you first enrolled?
Choosing Penn was a simple decision. As a legacy, my positive experiences stretch as far back as I can remember, and I had the Penn wardrobe as a child to reflect that. However, my decision to ultimately choose Penn was far more individualized. As a prospective student-athlete, I knew Penn would provide the perfect balance between top-notch academics and competitive athletics, with an administration, faculty and coaching staff that took both pride in and supported their student-athletes. This coupled with the University’s location within one of the nation’s most celebrated cities made my decision to choose Penn extremely easy.
Your history of giving definitely makes you a Proud Penn Donor. When did you first start giving to The Penn Fund and what prompted you to make The Penn Fund a priority?
My first gift to The Penn Fund was made as part of the Class of 2007’s gift drive. The beauty of Penn is that it is an expansive University with a diversity of experiences to be had by all students. Rather than focus all of my giving towards the particular experiences which positively benefited my time as an undergraduate, I find it important to support The Penn Fund, whose mission is aligned with the overall undergraduate student experience.
What has inspired you to continue giving every year?
Although I’ve graduated, the University continues to afford me many services and opportunities, and my connection to Penn continues to grow. I view my giving to The Penn Fund as not only a thank you for the University’s continued support but also as a personal pledge to current and future Penn students and graduates to help provide them with the benefits that have been made available to me.
What is your favorite memory of Penn?
It is impossible to pin-point a singular favorite memory of Penn. Aside from attending my first basketball game at the Palestra at the age of 4, other memorable moments were my first regular season game freshman year at Franklin Field wearing the Penn uniform as a member of the Penn Women’s Lacrosse team, my summer semester abroad in Florence and living in such close proximity to all of my closest friends. However, of all of those memories, it is hard not to include the graduation ceremony for the College of Arts and Sciences where the large screen flashing the name and major of each graduating student froze on mine for approximately 10 minutes.
What advice do you have for current students at Penn?
College has its stressful and challenging moments, but it should not be defined by those moments. If, for whatever reason, you find yourself overwhelmed, pull the lens back and realize that you are at an amazing university, living in a remarkable city and among life-long friends. Your undergraduate years should not be entirely about the books, so try to absorb as much of the full Penn experience as possible to ensure you have the best time. Be mindful that in a few years you will undoubtedly wish you could do it all over again, so make sure to enjoy it while it lasts.
How would you advise Penn students to give back and how would you stress the importance of it?
First and foremost, giving to Penn is not measured by a dollar amount. There are many different ways to give back to the University and each way is just as important as the next. It is evident that Penn’s support systems have been largely provided to its students and graduates through the generosity of its alumni; and as recent graduates it is imperative to continue and build upon that mission.
From the Econ Scream to Hey Day, these traditions fill up the days and nights of our undergraduate students. The summer is no different – traditions abound – and the good news is that our alumni can delight in them too.
Each summer, Penn’s regional clubs across the U.S. host annual events – or traditions – to excite their members. Many of these clubs host send off receptions for incoming freshman, welcome receptions for recently graduated seniors who are landing there after a summer vacation. Added to that are the multitude of networking opportunities run every year by the Trustees Council of Penn Women.
This year, Penn Alumni and the Young Penn Alumni (y-Penn) program are starting traditions in Boston and Washington D.C. On June 11, D.C. will host one of the signature alumni events known as the “HighBall” – and they’re expecting over 200 people to turn out and reunite. Boston young alumni are borrowing a campus tradition – the famous wine-tasting preceptorials – and are throwing an “Arts & Wine Night” at Boston’s International Poster Gallery.
If you’re looking for something to do, check out the alumni website for more information on these. Worst case scenario, if you can’t make any of the events, think about throwing toast at your next board meeting! Happy summer!
The other day, my parents drove in to Philly in my dad’s pickup truck, a trailer in tow, to help me pack away most of what I own for moving. I pointed out my toenails to my mom. The night before, I had painted them a shiny royal blue (taking up time I could have used for packing…). She said, “Those make you look like a city girl to me.”
Six years ago, I was amidst my complex search for the “right” college. Part of the challenge in this quest was trying to find an institution that would allow me to pursue a major that was neither common nor clearly defined. I wanted something to do with computers, and graphics, but not too artsy since I rather lack talent in that area… Also, I wanted to be part of a marching band. During high school, I played in one and only grew to love that experience more and more. It became a must-have college criterion.
I didn’t have too many other preferences in college features, except I was sure I did not want to be in a city environment. Having spent my whole life in one house in a small town, surrounded by nothing much but other small towns (and some shopping centers), city life seemed to be a big, scary, and unsafe experience.
Flash forward to this past spring. It’s freezing cold, and I’m late. Stalwartly positioned on the familiar corner where Locust Walk becomes Locust Street, I peer up 40th Street, hoping to see for the golden display on a city bus reading: “40 2-LOMBARD.” Over time, I’ve learned that certain SEPTA buses are off schedule sometimes, but I’m hoping one might be coming soon. I’ve made an amazing number of trips on SEPTA now: buses, trolleys, and subways. I haven’t patronized a wide variety of routes, but navigating those I do take has become second nature. In fact, I’ve just purchased my June 2011 monthly pass, demarcating completion of my first full year of regularly riding SEPTA.
Every day, I swipe and step onto a SEPTA vehicle of some kind; crossing paths with numerous other city dwellers. “City dweller.” Is that who I am now? Penn provided my fledgling urban living experiment. It wasn’t an easy road: my first subway ride into Center City was made on the command of a friend, who dragged me to Chris’ Jazz Café because I had to see and write about a live jazz performance for the Jazz Style & History course I was taking. I realize now that my ventures off campus over the years remained relatively few in number and limited in scope.
Nonetheless, the Penn environment was the stepping stone I needed. I was (and still am) in love with the beautiful campus area surrounding Locust Walk. There, I felt protected from the streets when I so desired. But the bounding streets (34th, Spruce, 40th, Walnut) were of course just a block away in any direction, and I crossed them daily.
For the past year after graduation, I resided with fellow Penn students/grads of my same year, just a couple blocks west of campus. Starting June 3 though, I will be a new resident of Center City. Leaving University City for Center City feels like the final step in detachment from Penn — certainly not that I want to be away from it. But one of my key motivations for staying (i.e. living and working full-time) in Philadelphia was to explore the city much more fully than I had done while living on campus. I have since made some progress and am eager for more; settling in this new spot will be one more step along the way.
So, am I a city girl now? I don’t think I can totally claim that title yet (and perhaps not for awhile). But I do know that I am truly enjoying the process, and am grateful for the critical part that my Penn experience has given me.
For some reason, people often think that university staff members are awarded the same vacation time as professors and students. As much as some of us may daydream about this myth becoming a reality, the truth is that we work hard all year long! While we are recovering from Alumni Weekend 2011, we are certainly not resting. There is still much to be done to wrap up what we have accomplished this year – and we have already long been planning for Alumni Weekend 2012! Classes that end with a 7 or a 2 – you’re next!
We are enjoying taking the time to reflect on this past Alumni Weekend through the many wonderful pictures taken throughout the weekend. These are just a few from Saturday’s picnic. A little – or rather, a lot – of physically manifesting weather didn’t even stop our faithful alumni from coming out and chowing down on a hot dog… or five.
This future Quaker seems to be enjoying the rain more than us folks who worked at the registration tents. It’s a good thing we had so many buckets full of Penn buttons to deter those leaky spots!
Enjoying the day despite the rain
A little red and blue cheer goes a long way
Our Quaker Mascot made the rounds at all the reunion tents
Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!
Proud Penn alumni from the enthusiastic Class of 2006
The Alumni Weekend Picnic was some good old family fun. We look forward to seeing everyone next year
Alumni Weekend 2011 was a huge success! The rain held off for Saturday’s parade, and I partied the night away at the Class of 1971’s 40th reunion. I even set a personal record on Saturday: between the picnic, Taste of Penn, and the 40th reunion, I ate five types of mac ‘n cheese that day. All-around success!
As I toted around my blue and red Penn Alumni bag, I started collecting Penn Alumni buttons around campus. First, I got the “I Met My Best Friend at Penn” button. Since their debut, the “I Met My…” buttons have been a huge hit with the alumni. Everyone met a best friend at Penn, right? (Great idea, Elizabeth!)
Best Friend Button
I received two more buttons at the Penn Admissions Open House: a Button button (you know, the Button in front of Van Pelt-Dietrich Library) and a University of Pennsylvania Alumni Representative button. I started pinning the buttons to my name tag lanyard until I decided I would look silly with three buttons hanging around my neck (this coming from the same person who wore the Locust Walk Homecoming Run medal during all of Homecoming Weekend 2010. What can I say – I bleed red and blue, and I love medals). On Saturday, I picked up a Proud Penn Donor button at the picnic on Hill Field. Button count up to four.
Button Collection to Date
Now that Alumni Weekend is over, I need a creative way to display all of my Penn buttons. Any suggestions?
Frankly Penn 