Category Archives: Class of 1993

By Kiera Reilly, C’93

Last week we looked at photos of Freshman Move-In this year. This week, we take a stroll down memory lane to moving in to Penn in the fall of 1989, our freshman year at Penn.

I saved the form for my freshman room assignment – 222 Franklin in the Upper Quad. I noticed that on most of my documents from college, my social security number is on everything (I obscured it here).

Classmate Christine Lutton Foster, C’93, who was traveling to Penn from California, shared some of her pre-move-in papers.

A packing list! Note that a computer or mobile phone isn’t on the list but a typewriter is (I lugged a typewriter from Texas)!

Here is a copy of Christine’s plane ticket. I share it mainly to note the cost of her ticket.

And here is a move-in card. It seems so old-school!

Here is a picture of Move-In day outside of the Quad in 1989.

Here is a photo from last week’s post about Freshman Move-In this year:

Looks almost the same, but there is less ivy and trees alongside the Quad.

Do you remember moving in to Penn in September 1989? Do you have pictures of your freshman dorm room or roommate? We are looking for photos of these memories or others from our time at Penn. Please email us upenn1993@gmail.com!

Last weekend, October 7-8, 2016, marked 83 weeks until the 25^th Reunion of the Penn Class of 1993 (May 11 – 13, 2018)! Join us we countdown the weeks to our reunion #93tothe25th: Follow us on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram. Classmates are invited to join our Facebook and LinkedIn groups.

By Kiera Reilly, C’93

I was on campus in late August and happened to be there for a Freshman Move-In Day. Penn was still Penn, but it was newer, cleaner, brighter, and seemed so different from what I remembered moving in to start our college days in the Fall of 1989.

Here are some of the sights I saw.

I arrived at 30^th Street Station, which has been refurbished and looks fabulous, and walked through the Drexel Campus to Penn. Drexel has been undergoing a building boom and transformation of late, and is really buzzing.

Drexel

Penn

I reached Penn at the southeast corner of 33^rd and Chestnut Street. And the new College House was right in front of me, on what used to be Hill Field. The 125^th Women’s Walkway cut across Hill Field a few years ago, but now there is this shiny new dormitory too. It is housing for Freshmen and had its official opening a few weeks ago.

Wow! This is a dorm. At. Penn. (For perspective, I’m standing on the east side of 33rd and Chestnut Streets)

The entrance to Penn’s campus from the east, after walking through Drexel’s campus. This is what used to be Hill Field (you can see Hill House in the back on the left).

Looking west on Chestnut Street, the new College House is on the left and a lane is blocked for vehicles dropping off students and their belongings for move-in.

Walking through Hill Field on the Women’s Walkway from 33rd and Chestnut Streets. Hill House is on the left. The new College House (not pictured) is on the right of the walkway.

With the new College House opening, Hill House is undergoing renovations. I don’t know if you can tell from this photo, but from what I could see, it looks like the interior is completely gutted.

Hill House

The new College House is on the right as I made my way on the walkway to the center of campus.

The entrance to the new College House as seen from the walkway. There were tents set up for maintenance issues, and for residential services to assist new students.

As I continued on the walkway, I saw this table for Penn Student Agencies. I worked for PSA all four years at Penn, so I stopped to talk to this current student about the services PSA offers today.

This is when I had my, “we are in the 21st Century moment,” as I saw this student wearing a t-shirt with, “Move-in Social Media,” printed on the back.

Move-In Social Media while approaching the intersection of 34th and Walnut Streets

Crossing to the central part of campus at 34th and Walnut. When looking east towards Center City, you see a new skyscraper being built (the Liberty towers are to the left of the new building). Fisher-Bennett Hall is on the right, with the Zeta Psi Fraternity and Hill House are on the left side of Walnut Street.

I walked up Walnut Street to the bookstore at 36th and Walnut. All the new Penn apparel looked pretty cool (I was glad to see there wasn’t any pink or green Penn branded items that I’ve seen displayed in recent years).

I heard the band playing behind College Hall, so I walked towards Houston Hall. Families were gathered on the Perelman Quadrangle benches that lead up to Claudia Cohen Hall (known as Logan Hall when we were students). Williams Hall is on the left.

There was a large tent between Houston Hall and College Hall. There were bins for bottles of water, Tasty Kakes and soft pretzels. The Penn Band played for the families.

Inside Houston Hall was a fare of services for students.

Later in the afternoon, new students and families gathered on College Green to hear Provost Price and President Gutmann. The Glee Club was singing a Penn medley while everyone waited for the Provost and President.

I walked over to Spruce Street to the Quad. There was some activity, but as it was later in the day, I think most of the move-in rush was finished before I arrived.

Crossing 36th and Spruce Street to the Lower Quad

Walking west on Spruce Street, I was surprised by the Wistar Institute building. For my last few visits to campus this was covered in netting and scaffolding.

It was nice to see the food trucks lined up outside the Quad (see our Food Truck post).

There were still some students and families moving in to the Quad.

While the carts seem nicer than when we moved in so many years ago, they seem to be the same basic structure.

The view looking east and then west at the corner of 38th and Spruce Streets.

The entrance to Upper Quad.

New students and families crossing Spruce Street after exiting Upper Quad.

I walked down Locust Walk. Classes had not started yet, so it was a bit quiet.

Ben on the Bench is still on campus, but he’s moved to the corner of 36th Street and Locust Walk. He sits on 36th Street, outside of Steinberg-Dietrich Hall. I heard that it’s a right of passage now for students to pee on the bench. Was that a thing when we were students?

As I continued down Locust Walk, I saw the former home of the Palladium. It was sad that the patio isn’t full of people sitting at tables, enjoying a drink and soaking up the beautiful day.

Do you remember moving in to Penn in September 1989? Do you have pictures of your freshman dorm room or roommate? We are looking for photos of these memories or others from our time at Penn. Please email us upenn1993@gmail.com!

Last weekend, September 30 – October 1, 2016, marked 84 weeks until the 25^th Reunion of the Penn Class of 1993 (May 11 – 13, 2018)! Follow along with us we countdown the weeks to our reunion #93tothe25th: Follow us on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram. Classmates are invited to join our Facebook and LinkedIn groups.

By Kiera Reilly, C’93

Last weekend, September 23-24, 2016 marked 85 weeks until the 25^th Reunion of the Penn Class of 1993 (May 11 – 13, 2018)! Follow along with us we countdown the weeks to our reunion #93tothe25th: Follow us on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram. Classmates are invited to join our Facebook and LinkedIn groups.

I recently discovered a Scrapbook I made of things from Freshman year. One item was the breakdown of tuition costs for the 1989 – 1990 school year.

I know that the cost of Penn has increased, but by how much? Thanks to Google, I found the tuition for this academic year pretty easily on the Penn Student Financial Services website.

Comparing the total cost in 1989 – 1990 ($20,850) with the total cost in 2016 – 2017 ($69,340), I wondered how that 1989-1990 academic year price tab would compare using inflation rates. According to this CPI Inflation Calculator, the amount of expenses in 1989 would be equivalent to $40,463.63 today.

Of course, all of this talk of tuition makes me think of one of my favorite Mask and Wig songs, “Tuition.” Here is a clip from Freshman Performing Arts Night in 2006.

Do you have any saved items from our time at Penn? Let us know! Last week’s post featured items from New Student Week, and we’d like to include more “artifacts” from our time at Penn in future posts. Please email us if you have something to share. Our email address is upenn1993@gmail.com

#93tothe25th

By Kiera Reilly, C’93

This weekend, September 16-17, 2016, marks 86 weeks until the 25^th Reunion of the Penn Class of 1993 (May 11 – 13, 2018)! Follow along with us we countdown the weeks to our reunion #93tothe25th: Follow us on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram. Classmates are invited to join our Facebook and LinkedIn groups.

New Student Week (NSW) for the Penn Class of 1989 was twenty-seven years ago this week, so we are looking back at the first week we were at Penn.

I do not remember much about NSW, but I do still have my NSW t-shirt and a NSW pin. Here I am sporting my NSW t-shirt (remember how our t-shirts had to be super long to be stylish?) at a Brooks-Leidy hall brunch in the Upper Quad.

Christine Lutton Foster, C’93, shared her NSW order form.

Amy Korn Duque, C’93, G’93, found the original NSW brochure.

Amy had a copy of the campus map from 1989. Notice building number 49 circled – Logan Hall. It has since been renamed and current students know it as Claudia Cohen Hall. Number 34 Hill House is currently closed for renovation, and across “Hill Field” is the new college house that opened this week.

Amy shared a brochure for Houston Hall. Have you visited Houston Hall recently? All of these stores are no longer there.

In contrast to these old documents, I looked for the New Student Week information for this year. It’s now called New Student Orientation, and all the events are listed on the web, but there was also a pretty colorful brochure online. Wow, look at all the offerings for new Penn students!

Things have definitely changed. It makes our New Student Week brochure look so last century (ack)!

#93tothe25th