A Return to Dear Old Penn

Hatif Alavi, inaugural Associate Director of Penn First Plus, holds an information session with students in the Penn First Plus (P1P) Center, which opened in September 2020. Today, the Center is ready to welcome and counsel students who represent the first generation of their family to attend college and/or come from lower-income households. The advice students gain and community they build at the P1P Center can be pivotal in their ability to navigate the college landscape and set paths to fulfilling undergraduate experiences.

A staple of New Student Orientation is the Hub@Penn Student Resources Expo and Campus Express. Representatives from Penn’s schools, centers, and student-facing programs were on hand to share details about their units as well as opportunities across the University, including work-study and other jobs on campus. Visitors to the Penn Libraries table could learn about the vast collections of scholarly materials in its holdings as well as exciting resources available at the Vitale Digital Media Lab.

International students are a vital part of Penn’s diverse student population. Special programs during New Student Orientation were geared toward welcoming them, including an information session at Perry World House. After a presentation by peers, Penn’s newest international students were able to ask questions and discover the myriad resources available to meet their unique needs as they acclimate to Penn and Philadelphia.

President Amy Gutmann poses with the Penn Quaker and the Penn Band outside of Lauder College House. The festive atmosphere helped set the tone for the fantastic years in store for the Class of 2025. Completed in 2016 and formally dedicated in 2019, Lauder was Penn’s first building specifically designed as a College House, the University’s residential system that brings together undergraduates, faculty, staff, and graduate students to form shared communities.

Students and their families gathered on College Green to enjoy a special audience with President Amy Gutmann and Interim Provost Beth Winkelstein, followed by dinner on Penn Commons. Since last year’s incoming class held the first semester virtually, a special effort was made to engage with second-year students and their families to welcome them formally to Penn.

These first-year students already have their skimmer hats and canes ready as they look forward to their futures at the Penn Traditions Highball to Hey Day event. Presented by Penn Alumni Relations, the event brought the newest Quakers together to learn Penn songs, sign their class banner, and get excited about the celebration that symbolizes the transition from junior to senior year.

It was a year of countless audibles and safety concerns, but Penn Football is back! After watching all-time Penn great Justin Watson, W’20, win a Super Bowl ring with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in February 2021, the Quakers are ready to take their rightful place atop the Ivy League standings this season, which includes the 127th matchup against Cornell for the Trustees’ Cup—the sixth-oldest rivalry in NCAA Division I history—during Homecoming Weekend (November 5–7). In the background, the Pavilion casts a striking profile as Penn Medicine nears completion of the 500-bed hospital.

The image of Penn Residential and Housing Services bins being shuttled across campus is a familiar sight. Less familiar, but just as welcome, is New College House. Located on 40th and Locust Streets, New College House is the latest living-and-learning community at Penn. With 452 bedrooms and the Quaker Kitchen, a dining facility that serves a restaurant-style dinner four to five nights each week, the New College House’s spaces and programming will promote community and inclusion. In addition, its common green, native tree species, rain gardens, and green roofs reflect Penn’s commitment to sustainable design.

President Gutmann greeted staff and mingled with students—safely—at the inaugural Move-In Day at New College House on Friday, August 24. The day saw 143 second-year students—many of whom did not get to spend their first year on campus—make their homes at Penn. “It’s so surreal,” said Yune Kim, a second-year student in the College of Arts and Sciences from Knoxville, Tenn., who is living on campus for the first time.

After spending much of the past year in remote learning environments, the Class of 2024 celebrates their first time being together as a group in person. With New College House West offering more on-campus living spaces and a University-wide emphasis on enhancing the Second-Year Experience, they will find many opportunities to build community during their time on campus.

The Class of 2025 came together to form their class year on Franklin Field in a grand celebration of camaraderie and cooperation that is evidence of the excitement Penn students feel about being on campus again.