By Kiera Reilly, C’93
The weekend of November 4-5, 2016 marked 79 weeks until the 25th Reunion of the Penn Class of 1993 (May 11 – 13, 2018)! The weekend also marked twenty-seven years since our first Homecoming at Penn – our Freshman year – November 4, 1989.
I saved the cover of The Daily Pennsylvanian Homecoming issue in my scrapbook, and I also found a version of the issue online from the Penn library (it is worth a look, especially to see the advertisements from the likes of Lee’s Hoagie House).
Cover of The Daily Pennsylvanian’s Homecoming insert for November 4, 1989
Searching through my old printed photos, I found only a few pictures from Homecoming.
The Penn Band in the Quad, waking everyone up before the Homecoming game, November 4, 1989.
There are a good amount of fans on the Princeton side of Franklin Field, so I imagine the Penn side was much fuller. I like that the benches were alternating blue and red.
The Princeton Band performs at half-time on Franklin Field, November 4, 1989
The Penn Band performs on Franklin Field on November 4, 1989
The Penn Band gathers at the far end of Franklin Field to perform during half-time, November 4, 1989.
Here is my only Homecoming photo with people that you can see. My freshman year roommate Lisa (Bardfeld) Shapiro is in the center carrying a tuba and a saxaphone!
The Penn Band walks to perform at half-time during the Penn-Princeton football game on November 4, 1989.
I do not remember anything about the game, so I searched online to find the final score. Penn lost to Princeton 30-8.
The back page of The Daily Pennsylvanian from November 6, 1989 – Penn loses to Princeton 30 – 8.
Then I also saw something about a Tiger mascot being attacked…which reminded me of an article I saved in my scrapbook – Penn fans attacked the Princeton Tiger mascots on the field and escaped with the tiger heads!
Here is the front page of the DP from November 6, 1989 with the full story (you can access archived issues of the DP online – here is the link to the November 6, 1989 issue).
The front page of the DP on November 6, 1989, shows the attack of the Princeton mascot
The front page article about the attack continued on page 9
President Sheldon Hackney wrote a letter to the editor of the DP about the incident.
Penn President Sheldon Hackney’s letter to the editor appeared in the November 6, 1989 issue of the DP.
I also found this story that printed in the New York Times about the incident which details that the heads were recovered with the help of the IFC President Garrett Reisman.
Does anyone else remember this? I was at the game but for the life of me cannot remember witnessing the attack on the mascot. I do remember the coverage in the DP afterwards.
Let us know what you remember from Homecoming our Freshman year – were you at the game? Do you remember the tiger being attacked?
Penn Class of 1993 Reunion Countdown
Join us we countdown the weeks to our reunion #93tothe25th:
- Do you have old photos or mementos from our time at Penn? Photos of Spring Fling? Football at Franklin Field? Classes at DRL? We are taking a trip down memory lane and would love for you to share your memories with our class in a future post. Please email us upenn1993@gmail.com!
- Follow us on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram.
- Classmates are invited to join our Facebook and LinkedIn groups.
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