Author: Sabrina S.
In honor of the construction on Locust Walk finishing and a beautiful fall day in anticipation of Homecoming Weekend, here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure. Hope to see you on campus this weekend!
Category Archives: Alumni Programming
Getting Excited for the Penn Gala
Author: Stephanie Y., C08
I am so excited to attend my first Alumni Award of Merit Gala during Homecoming Weekend featuring arts and culture this year. The Gala, sponsored by Penn Alumni, is a celebration of Penn’s most passionate and dedicated alumni volunteers, and awards are given for outstanding service to Penn.
The Alumni Award of Merit and Young Alumni recipients are chosen by Penn Alumni’s Awards & Resolutions Committee, which is comprised of former winners. These winners are always super accomplished and impressive, and they have contributed so much to the Penn community. Reading their bios always inspires me and reminds me there is always more to give back to the Penn community.
The Club Award recipient is chosen by the Global Alumni Network Advisory Board. Two years ago, the Penn Alumni Club of Philadelphia received this award, and those of us in Philadelphia are still excited about it.
The two awards that are near and dear to my heart are the Class Award of Merit and the David N. Tyre Class Communications Award. The recipients of these two awards are chosen by the Alumni Class Leadership Council. As a member of the ACLC, I have worked closely with many alumni classes during their reunion years, and it is a wonderful feeling to see classes receive recognition for their hard work. The Gala is open to the whole Penn community — alumni, family, students, faculty, staff and friends – and I hope to see you there.
The 77th Annual Alumni Award of Merit Gala
Friday, November 4, 2011
6-10 PM
Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
3680 Walnut St – Philadelphia, PA
Penn Alumni Travel goes to the Italian Lake District
By Kiera R.
In June, Penn Alumni Travel is once again offering a trip to the Italian Lake District. Travelers will stay in Chernobbio, a short boat ride away from the town of Lake Como (known for its movie-star resident George Clooney). While we can’t guarantee bumping into Mr. Clooney in town, we can promise a wonderful stay in one of the most beautiful parts of the world.
I traveled with a Penn group on this program in 2007 and was recently reminiscing about Lake Como with someone else who traveled there. We were both encouraging our dinner companion to visit.
Here’s why:
There’s water
Surrounded by mountains
The setting itself is breathtaking. It’s calming, it’s peaceful, it’s relaxing, it’s beautiful.
The town of Lake Como is small and charming – lots of people are walking around the streets, visiting the market, eating at outdoor cafes.
I always enjoy spotting Fiats – this is an old model sandwiched between more modern cars.
One day there was an excursion to Milan. We visited da Vinci’s “Last Supper” which was truly amazing, and I climbed up to the roof of the Duomo to get up close views of the statues on the roof and a wonderful view of the city.
We visited beautiful homes and gardens.
Villa del Balbianello was used as a backdrop for some scenes from Star Wars Episode II and Casino Royale.
And we visited Bellagio, charming with steep streets and expensive shops.
I haven’t even mentioned the wonderful food we had – risotto is a regional specialty and my daily habit of cappuccino and gelato was hard to break!
Our group thoroughly enjoyed our visit, and I encourage you to join us there next June!
Filed under Alumni Programming, Kiera R., Penn Alumni Travel, Photos, Travel
Of Storms and Books
Author: Lisa Ellen Niver, CAS’89
With Hurricane Irene this weekend, I have been reminiscing about my freshman year in the Quad and my first hurricane, Hurricane Gloria. Raised on the West Coast, I only knew earthquakes with no warning; the 48 hours of waiting to end up playing in the rain in our flip-flops was a new experience. While at Penn, I learned so much in and out of the classroom, but never imagined learning how to handle a hurricane would be one of my adventures!
Now back on the West Coast, it has been my honor to participate with other alumni in the Penn Club of Los Angeles. I am so excited that fellow alumnae, Rachel Friedman, will be joining our club for a reading of her book about travel and personal transformation. It’s called The Good Girl’s Guide to Getting Lost: A Memoir of Three Continents, Two Friends, and One Unexpected Adventure and I highly recommend it.
So, if you happen to be in the LA area on September 6, please join us at Traveler’s Bookcase at 7 PM to hear from Rachel, to meet other travelers, and to hear more about past trips and future travel dreams. This will be our third event since March and at each event, the group continues to grow. Read the details at www.wesaidgotravel.com or you can email me directly at for more information. I would love to hear your travel stories too if you would like to share them with me.
Want more? You can read my most recent article here and also view the Penn Club LA event listing here.
Filed under Alumni Perspective, Alumni Programming, Clubs, GAN, Penn Clubs, Travel
ACLC: Bringing Eight Decades of Penn Alumni Together
Author: Stephanie Y., C08
Everyone knows that Penn loves acronyms, and some of them can be quite long and confusing. In 2007, I joined the ACLC, the Alumni Class Leadership Council. Our acronym may be difficult to say, but our goals are straightforward. The ACLC is the governing board for the Penn alumni classes. We are a group of volunteer alumni leaders dedicated to strengthening ties between alumni and the University by acknowledging and reinforcing the importance of class affiliation. We mentor class presidents and reunion committees on planning their reunions, we help Alumni Relations plan Homecoming and Alumni Weekend, and we give out two awards annually to exceptional classes: the Class Award of Merit and the David N. Tyre Class Communications Award.
The ACLC has been a major part of my alumni experience, and my feelings about this incredible group were reinforced during our first annual ACLC retreat last Thursday. Our retreat began at 12 PM in Sweeten Alumni House with lunch and our guest speaker Dr. Santo D. Marabella. Dr. Marabella, also a Penn alumnus, spoke about “best practices” for boards of non-profit organizations. He had some good insights and recommendations that our board has already discussed implementing. Next up were group discussions and breakout sessions to discuss upcoming events and initiatives. Even though the executive board spent endless hours refining the agenda for the retreat, each session ran longer than scheduled because everyone was excited and engaged in the discussions. It was 5 pm before we knew it, which meant post-retreat celebration!
We walked over to Midatlantic Restaurant, one of my favorite restaurants on campus. Located at 38th and Market, Midatlantic is rarely packed. Students don’t often wander over to that area of campus, but they should. The food is delicious, the décor is unique, and the menu is always changing with seasonal specials (my favorite dish is the fennel soup). From our group’s three-course pre-fixe dinner menu, I ordered the corn soup, Midatlantic meatloaf with a side of creamy lima bean polenta and seasonal roasted vegetables, and Tastykake Butterscotch Bread Pudding. It was all delicious, especially the dessert. You can’t go wrong with Tastykake! The post-retreat dinner gave us an opportunity to get to know each other better. Some people even talked about non-Penn topics over dinner (wait, do we have lives outside of Penn?)
It’s rare to be able to interact with eight decades of people, let alone eight decades of people who have something in common, but the ACLC has brought together a wonderful group of Penn alumni volunteers who do not see age as a barrier. We benefit from the voices of alumni from all classes, and we hope to inspire other Penn alumni to strengthen their class bond through engagement, leadership, and their love for Penn.
Filed under Alumni Perspective, Alumni Programming, Food Fiends, Stephanie Y.
Still in Love with Penn
Author: Nicole Oddo, C’05
Like most of you, I love my time at Penn. Yes, “love,” not “loved.” While I graduated in 2005, Penn is still a part of my every day experience. I hope to share a bit from an enamored alumna’s perspective from the beginning.
I remember getting involved in the summer of 2005 with the Penn and Wharton Club of Arizona. I simply wrote an email that said:
July 19, 2005 ~10 AM
“I look forward to meeting alumni in Phoenix and would be interesting in helping out.”
In turn, I received a friendly response from the webmaster. Here’s his follow up email:
July 19, 2005 ~8:30 PM
“As it turns out, the timing of your e-mail was quite fortuitous — as you are a recent graduate, you probably fall into the category of young Alumni, and it came up in the meeting that we are in need of a Young Alumni Coordinator… Based on the enthusiasm of your e-mail, we’d love to have you assume this post.”
Fast forward to today, and I find myself going into my second year as the President of the Penn Alumni Club of Philadelphia. And I love it. Sure, like everyone else, my professional life is demanding and there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done. However, the rewards for being involved are seemingly endless.
I have been to private art exhibits, had dinners with professors, attended baseball games, met some of the most interesting people at events ranging from galas to cocktail parties, had behind the scenes access to restaurants like Lacroix, and celebrated Ben Franklin’s birthday in style. I’ve planned First September events in three cities and am truly looking forward to our Philadelphia 2011 party at Yards.
I can’t believe it’s been six years since I graduated and started my lifelong role as an alumna. It’s easy to get involved – wherever you are. Check out the regional clubs here or feel free to email me (especially if you are in the Philadelphia area).
Don’t wait to begin your alumni experience!
Filed under Alumni Perspective, Alumni Programming, Clubs, GAN, Nicole O., Penn Clubs
Penn Alumni Webinar: What Do We Know About Autism?
As part of Penn Alumni Education’s commitment to bringing intellectual and academic programming to alumni, Office Hours gives you the chance to learn about and discuss relevant issues with Penn faculty from your own home or office.
Next week, hear from Dr. Jennifer Pinto-Martin, the Viola MacInnes/Independence Professor of Nursing, and Interim Chair in the Bio-behavioral and Health Sciences Division, as she discuss what current sciences can tell us about autism, reviewing what is known about the causes of ASD and ongoing studies, including her CDC funded Study to Explore Early Development (SEED).
Over the past 20 years, the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has increased markedly, spurring increased attention, speculation and research about the cause. Significant media attention has been given to recently published data on the disorder’s genetic heritability, non-genetic risk factors, and risks associated with SSRI’s, one group of commonly used antidepressant medications (see below for links to recent articles in Time and The New York Times), all of which confirms that both genes and environment matter.
The webinar will be held on Tuesday, July 26 from 1-2 PM EST. Registration and additional information available here . It’s easy to sign up and be part on this timely and important discussion.
Filed under Academics, Alumni Programming, Lisa V.
Alumni Photos from Around the World
By Kiera R.
Each year, the Penn Alumni Travel program offers trips that send alumni all over the world. We often send a Penn representative on our trips, and ask our colleagues to take photos of the journey. Our travelers also bring their cameras as well. It’s always fun when you return from a trip to review your own photos as well as the other moments and scenes. This year we decided to ask our travelers for their favorite photos and enter our photo contest. The question was how to decide which photos were the best? Our Penn colleagues who have hosted trips in the past were asked to vote on their favorites. The categories were culture, nature, people and places.
We received some wonderful photos, and our judges enjoyed reviewing them, although they had a hard time picking their favorites.
Here are some of the entries in culture:
Katherine Converse, CW’63, CGS’95, submitted this photo from an Egypt trip
Ron, GR’70, and Marilyn, G’68, Slivka sent in this photo of culture:
Mark Whitcher, C’93, found some culture in Antarctica
Our judges selected Sue Endy’s photo of weaving from Lima, Peru as the winner in the culture category:
In our Nature category, Kate O’Neill recorded some bad weather in Rome
And Bruce Endy, C’66, caught a napping iguana in the Galapagos
But our judges couldn’t get over the zebras in the photo from Richard Vernick, C’63
In the places category, we enjoyed this photo from Adele Greenspun, ED’60, of the Pyramids and Sphinx in Egypt
Ron, GR’70, and Marilyn, G’68, Slivka sent in this photo from Morocco
But Rachel Wagman’s, C’93, photo from Tanzania took home the prize
In our people category, Sonya Fry entered this photo from the Danube River cruise last summer
Donna Glace included this group shot of Penn travelers at Peterhof Palace outside of St. Petersburg
And Penn professors Jennifer, C’91, and Joe, C’89, GR’96, Wegner sent in this photo of their son Alexander from Egypt
Peggy Weymouth won for her photo of this child in Petra, Jordan
Finally, Janelle Wiseley and I were tasked with choosing the grand prize winning photo. Our unanimous selection was this photo of Quito, Ecuador from Christine Turk.
You can see all of our prize winning photos and photo entries b y visiting our photo contest page here.
http://www.alumni.upenn.edu/travel/Photo%20contest%202011/index.html
And, we will be asking for entries again for trips this year, so if you haven’t joined us on a trip yet this year, we hope you do. There are many beautiful pictures waiting to be taken! See our remaining 2011 trip schedule at http://www.alumni.upenn.edu/travel/2011/index.html
Filed under Alumni Programming, Kiera R., Penn Alumni Travel, Photos, Travel
Homecoming 2011: Penn to Celebrate 40 Years of Black History at Penn
Author: Cecilia Ramirez, C’05, Sp2’10
John Wideman, C’63, Hon’86, first director of the Afro-American Studies Program. October 24, 1968
In 1971, the University of Pennsylvania welcomed its first academic program focused on studies of the African diaspora, the Afro-American Studies program. The program was led by its first director, John Wideman (C’63 Hon’86), a member in the English Department and the second black tenured faculty member in Penn’s history. Dr. Wideman, tasked with a difficult challenge, laid the foundation to successfully develop a much-needed academic program without any trained faculty members and few available courses.
Forty years later, the program, now known as the Center for Africana Studies (CFAS- through a merger with the Center for the Study of Black Literature and Culture), has flourished tremendously and now boasts over 50 affiliated faculty members and over 80 courses offerings for undergraduate and graduate students. CFAS also sponsors several co-curricular programs including: the Artist- and Scholar-in-Residence Programs, The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Lecture in Social Justice, The Africana Media Project, The Honorable A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr. Memorial Lecture, The annual Race and Sports program, and Brave Testimony: A Celebration of Poetry of the African Diaspora.
Africana Studies Summer Institute for Pre-Freshmen, 1994
Dr. Camille Z. Charles is the current Director of The Center for Africana Studies, the Chair of Penn’s Faculty Senate, Professor of Sociology and Education and the Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor in Social Sciences. When speaking of this historic milestone, Dr. Charles explains, “These anniversaries are truly milestones in Penn’s history. I am proud to help ensure that a once overlooked field of study has remained an integral part of the academy for forty years and continues to shape the educational experiences of all Penn students.”
This fall, the University will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the founding of Afro-American Studies at Penn and the 25th anniversary of the Center for Africana Studies Summer Institute for Pre-Freshmen, the first and, to date, only summer program of its kind and in the Ivy League.
On November 5, 2011 (Save the Date!) during Homecoming Weekend , the Black Alumni Society will join the Center for Africana Studies in a day-long series of programs and events in celebration of this milestone and in honor of Black History at Penn. The program series will include a brunch featuring the Black Alumni Society’s annual Honoring Leaving Legends program, a faculty and alumni panel, a reunion for past Summer Institute alumni and Afro-American or Africana Studies majors and minors as well as other exciting events and special guests. All alumni are invited to attend any of these historic events. For details, to RSVP, and to get involved please visit: The Center for Africana Studies Homepage or contact Michelle Houston at: mhoust@sas.upenn.edu.
Happy birthday, Africana Studies!
The Summer is for Traditions Too!
Author: Lex Ruby Howe, C’07
Penn is a place of year-round traditions.
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!
Filed under Alumni Perspective, Alumni Programming, Lex. H., Traditions, y-Penn
Frankly Penn 