Author: Janell Wiseley
Congratulations to the Class of 2014
Author: Janell Wiseley
Alumni Weekend: One Student’s Perspective
By Kaitlin Meiss, W’15
Alumni Weekend is always one of the highlights of my year. Especially after my stressful finals, it is the perfect reminder of why I love Penn. The reason for Penn’s success is its alumni who strive for the continuation of excellence. The last two years I have worked with the Old Guard Reunions (60th, 65th, and 70th Reunions). The Old Guard is the epitome of dedication to their alma mater. I am amazed by their lifelong commitment and love hearing their heartwarming memories from their time at Penn. I hope that I can be half as dedicated as them. My favorite part of the weekend is the Parade of Classes. The Penn spirit is really palpable.
I cannot wait to help out this Alumni Weekend and then help plan my own reunions in the future!
There are so many great events going on but, I can’t wait to attend this panel; it should be phenomenal!
_____
Friday, May 16: 4:00 – 5:15 PM (please note time changed from 3:30 PM)
Defining Success at Life’s Milestones and Beyond
Benjamin Franklin Room, Houston Hall, 2nd floor
3417 Spruce Street
Is success defined by your professional achievements, philanthropy, volunteering, fulfilling relationships, thriving children, or getting to level 70 in Candy Crush? How does success evolve over time? When you look at the balance sheet of your life, is it filled with more joy than regret? Despite setbacks, how do you define success and find peacefulness along the way? Join this inspiring group of classmates and faculty for a conversation about getting underneath one of life’s Big Questions: What is success?
Join Richard Shell, Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics and Management, Gary Lauder, C84 W84, Randi Hutter Epstein, C’84 and Robert Wolf, W’84 for an engaging and interactive conversation.
Filed under Uncategorized
Advanced Moving Screening for Penn Alumni
Want to see Blended before it hits theaters and learn how it was made? Make the movie part of your Alumni Weekend experience!
Friday, May 16: 4:30pm-7pm
Rave Cinemas University City 6
230 S. 40th Street
Join producer Mike Karz (C’89, W’89) for a screening of his new Warner Brothers movie, Blended. The film, a PG-13 romantic comedy, marks the third collaboration between stars Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. Stay after the screening for a Q&A session with Mike, whose credits include “New Year’s Eve,” “The Nut Job”, and “The Jamie Kennedy Experiment”, and Peter Decherney, Penn Professor of Cinema Studies and English and Director of the Cinema Studies Program.
Filed under Alumni Weekend
What’s a Hashtag?
Join Alumni Education and two members of the Class of 1984 during an Alumni Weekend workshop to find out!
Saturday, May 17: 9am-10am
Golkin Room, Houston Hall
#WHAT’S A HASHTAG?
Social Media in the 21st Century: Find out what everyone’s talking about!
Social media has democratized the way in which everyone conducts business in the 21st century. Find out how you can utilize social media in your business ventures, volunteer positions and your personal life.
This one-hour workshop will provide an entertaining introduction to the world of social media, explaining what social media is, how it used, the basic tools of social media and why it’s helpful to understand the basics. Workshop basics include an overview of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Google Plus.
Presenters:
Gwen Shields Hoover, ENG ’84
Vice President, Client Relations, Altitude Marketing
Gwen Shields Hoover, a 20-year PR veteran, joined Altitude Marketing in 2008 as a partner responsible for the firm’s public relations practice. Today she is responsible for client relations and account management as well as public relations, social media and digital marketing operations. A valued leader of Team Altitude, Hoover manages the strategic and tactical aspects of corporate identity, marketing, advertising, digital marketing and media relations in the various industries in which her clients conduct their businesses.
Karen Glass, C’84, W’84
President, Glassworks Entertainment + Marketing
Karen Glass is a seasoned entertainment and media executive with over 20 years of experience in the distribution, marketing, development and production of films and television. Currently, Ms. Glass runs Glassworks Entertainment + Marketing, a full service film, television and marketing enterprise. She is currently working as a marketing consultant to pluto.tv, a new curated digital video platform.
Filed under Alumni Weekend, Alumnni Education, Alyssa D.
West Philly Blooms – Spring 2014 Edition
By: Stephanie Yee, C’08
Spring is finally here! Enjoy the beautiful West Philly blooms of spring 2014.
Caught this beautiful corner in West Philly on my way back from the Clark Park Farmer’s Market
Purple perfection
My favorite tree
Have you ever seen such unique flowers?
Filed under Uncategorized
Fight On Penn Lacrosse!
By Kiera Reilly, C’93 @KieraReilly
TODAY
Penn Women’s Lacrosse vs Canisius
4:00 PM EST
The Women’s Lacrosse team, Ivy League Champions for eight straight years, plays today at 4 pm EST in the first round of the NCAA tournament against Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion Canisius.
Penn is the Ivy League’s automatic entrant into the NCAA Tournament via a 9-6 win over Princeton in the Ivy League Tournament championship game last Sunday, their eighth consecutive NCAA tournament – the sixth-longest active streak among Division I schools. The Quakers (11-4) will play the Golden Griffins of Canisius at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex at the University of Maryland. The Terrapins are the tournament’s top seed, and the winner of Friday’s game will advance to play the Terps on May 11.
To read more about the Women’s Lacrosse team, click here and in an article from The Daily Pennsylvanian.
SUNDAY
GAME 15 – #9 PENN (11-3) vs. #12 DREXEL (12-4)
NCAA Championship first round
Sunday, May 11, 2014, 3 p.m. EST
Franklin Field (Philadelphia)
TV: ESPNU (Mike Corey, Matt Ward)
The University of Pennsylvania men’s lacrosse team makes history this Sunday, when the Quakers host neighborhood rival Drexel in the first NCAA Championship game played by Penn at Franklin Field since 1988 (a 12-9 win over Loyola). The Red and Blue is looking for its first NCAA win since that same year (a 12-9 win over Loyola), and just the third in program history.
Read more about the team here and in an article from The Daily Pennsylvanian.
If you’re in Philly, come to Franklin Field on Sunday to cheer for our Quakers!
Follow both teams via their twitter handles @PennWomensLax and @PennMensLax, and look to www.pennathletics.com or Facebook for game updates.
Filed under Athletics, Kiera R., Penn Athletics
The Netter Center Presents: Skills and Drills Basketball Clinic with the Class of 1979 and Annual Alumni Panel
The Netter Center for Community Partnerships is very excited for Alumni Weekend 2014! Join us for several fun events on Saturday, May 17!
Our Annual Alumni Panel will take place 4:30-6:00 PM in Skirkanich Hall (210 S. 33rd Street). Hear from Associate Vice President and Founding Director of the Netter Center, Ira Harkavy (C’70, G’79), as well as from a graduating senior from the Class of 2014, and alumni representing the Classes of 79, 89, 94, 99, and 09! Learn more about the many aspects of Penn’s engagement with West Philadelphia schools and other community organizations. CLICK HERE to Register (Free – registration encouraged but not required). A light reception will follow the program.
Early that day — Anthony Price, Captain of the Penn 1979 Final Four basketball team and founder of “Paying the Price Foundation” partners with Penn Alumni fa
milies and the Netter Center to host the first annual Skills and Drills Basketball Clinic for children of Penn alumni ages 8 – 18. Join us 9:00-11:00 AM at Pottruck Gym. CLICK HERE to Register for this event. Cost is $15 per participant, and all proceeds from this event support West Philadelphia youth after school sports clubs.
The Class of ’89 and the Netter Center are hosting a Community Service Project. From 9:30 – 11 AM at Sweeten, members of the Class of 1989 and their families will record audio books for children at local schools and CHOP.
For more info on any of these activities, contact Rita Hodges (C’05), ritaa@sas.upenn.edu
Filed under Uncategorized
Penn Museum Lecture Series
Author: Emilie C. K. LaRosa
One of my favorite things about working for Penn is the access to world-renowned scholars. At Penn Alumni Travel, we find that that is also one of our travelers’ favorite things about touring with us: access to a Penn faculty host during the trip. With over 4,400 standing and associated faculty at the school, it’s difficult to narrow down our list of travel host prospects. Luckily, there are many ways to hear from and learn about a Professor’s work and research. The Penn Museum’s annual lecture series in one such way.
Every year, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology holds a thematic lecture series that takes place every first Wednesday of the month during the academic year. This isn’t the first time I’ve blogged about this lecture series (see my February 2013 post) and, over a year later, I’m still a fan. This year’s theme is “Great Voyages: Travels, Triumphs, and Tragedies.” (Last year’s theme was “Great Battles: Moments in Time that Changed History. I’m excited to find out what next year’s theme will be!)
The lectures take place in beautiful Harrison Auditorium and span such topics as Ferdinand Magellan, the detours of Ibn Battuta, and Gilgamesh. They are an excellent opportunity to learn about something new and hear from some of our best Penn professors in the fields of archaeology, history, and classical studies.
At a Penn Museum lecture earlier this winter.
There are two lectures left this year: “Searching for the Golden Fleece with Jason and the Argonauts” with Professor C. Brian Rose and “Darwin’s Beagle Voyage” with Professor Michael Weisberg. Both professors are also hosting Penn Alumni Travel trips this fall. Professor Rose is traveling with our group to Turkey and Professor Weisberg with our group to the Galapagos.
If you have some free time tonight or on June 4th, consider spending it at the Penn Museum. I think you’ll find it was worth the effort to come to campus and return home a little later than usual. And, at $5/person, these talks are a great deal. Click here to register for either Penn Museum lecture.
Filed under Alumnni Education, Emilie, Penn Alumni Travel, Penn Museum, Travel
Locust Walk Talk: Road Tripping with Craig Carnaroli, W’85
Author: Casey Ryan, C’95
“How many miles did we actually drive?” asked Tara, Director of Penn Alumni Regional Clubs.
“The Enterprise receipt clocked us in at 601.”
The Menger Bar in San Antonio
***
We landed in Houston on a Sunday morning and headed straight to our hotel to get our supplies and we embarked for the River Oaks neighborhood of Houston. Our hosts, Kathleen Kopp, CW’74, PAR’16, and Alfredo Perez, PAR’16, were warm and friendly. They decorated their home in Penn Red and Blue and made sure that there were touches of Philadelphia throughout the house.
Craig Carnaroli in Houston event
The club and its members were so thrilled to meet Craig. After an hour of socializing, Craig started his program – highlighting the Penn Compact 2020: Building on a Decade of Progress. The Penn Compact 2020 takes the tenets of Dr. Gutmann’s original Penn Compact and transforms them into a sustainable plan for the next decade focusing on the ideas of inclusion, innovation and impact.
The Board of the Penn Club of Houston
The crowd of over 60 alumni and friends were enthralled with the stories that Craig told to highlight the pillars of Penn vision for the decade:
- Four freshman engineering students who entered PennApps and designed a mobile application with great potential in the classroom.
- The eight year old girl who under the care of Penn professor, Carl June, had a lentivirus injected into her to carry modified t-cells in to her system to fight her leukemia.
- The undergraduate student from rural Pennsylvania who is the first in his family go to college and thought that Penn was only a dream until he realized that he qualified for financial aid and made his wish reality.
Taco Cabana, a true taste of Texas
After his talk, Craig did us the honor of delivering the 2013 Alumni Club Achievement Award to the Club for their outstanding work in transitioning club leadership.
Bob Weidman, President of the Penn Club of San Antonio and Craig Carnaroli
We drove Interstate 10 to San Antonio as the sunny day turned rainy, but ended as overcast. We made it to our hotel, the Hotel Menger, across the street from the Alamo. We stopped by the Menger Bar for a soda, so we could read up on Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders who would recruit from the bar. Onward to Paesanos in Lincoln Heights for a delightful evening with club, including a current student and his parents.
The Penn Club of San Antonio with their 2012 Alumni Club Award of Merit plaque
The traffic between Alamo City and Austin was horrendous due to SXSW, but I drove like a local on the frontage roads to bypass the congestion as we approached the Capitol and then University of Texas. Our hosts in Austin, Jay Srinivasan, WG’96, and Jakes Srinivasan, WG’94, promised Saltlick BBQ and a taste of what “Keep[s] Austin Weird.” Our Penn Austinites were inquisitive about the plan for the South Bank of as a dynamic, mixed-use incubator.
The event in Austin
Finally, we entered Dallas, as the end of our epic travels to the home of Laurie Suttenberg Corson, C’82, W’82, PAR’17 and Charles Corson, PAR’17. En route, we drove past Dealey Plaza and the former Texas School Book Depository building. The crowd of nearly 70 alumni and friends showed Craig their hospitality and were inquisitive about the great vision for Penn.
Craig in Dallas
At all of our events, our Texas alumni were so excited to have Craig visit with them and take the time out of his schedule to make these events happen. The exuberance was palpable and it infected all three of us. Traffic didn’t stress us. The poor weather wasn’t a bother. The long journey went by so quickly. We were energized because we couldn’t wait to meet the next Club of Penn Alumni because the last one invigorated so much.
Some Texas souvenirs – pink cowboy hats!
It was a fantastic trip to the Lone Star State and we were so grateful to meet so many of our Texas Penn Alumni.
More Texas souvenirs, in a rest stop in Italy, TX
Filed under Casey R., Penn Clubs
Smilow Center for Translational Research
By: Stephanie Yee, C’08
I have been spending more and more time in the Smilow Center for Translational Research for work. I always try to stop for a moment to admire the Time to Shine wall.
Incredible wall showcasing Penn’s Time to Shine: Making History Campaign
The wall is a must-see in person. Trust me, the photo does not do it justice.
Great lounge area in the lobby next to the coffee stand
Filed under Uncategorized
Frankly Penn 