Penn Alternate Rush | A new social scene

“When I chose Penn, I knew exactly the type of work hard, play hard environment I was going to enter. NSO didn’t shock me, but it left me searching for a social life more in line with my values,” said Clara Hendrickson, a College freshman living in the Quadrangle.

“I want to be around interesting people who are open-minded and thoughtful. I want to be part of a space that respects sexual consent and drinks to have a good time rather than to get trashed. I don’t hate the Greek system, I just want there to be an accepted and powerful alternative on campus for myself and everyone else who wants to inhabit a social space based on inclusion.”

Penn has 10,324 full-time undergraduate students, all of whom want to make the university a little smaller. The Greek system is wildly successful at this enterprise. Fraternities and sororities market themselves as friend-making machines and are often true to their word.

Entire social circles spring up bolstered by formals, Fling pinnies and 34th Street’s weekly Roundup. Sororities and fraternities give people the intimate communities they are looking for. While these qualities of the Greek system are alluring, other aspects are off-putting.

For some, fees make fraternities an impossibility. Ratios uncomfortably commodify our sexual relations at the frat house door. Hazing perpetuates friendships and wider social systems built on an asymmetrical power dynamic. Orders from above stifle individual values.

Academics contribute to this oppression as well. Many classes are graded on a curve, making it impossible to escape the inherent competition and hierarchy that exists all around us. Finally, when the entrance to a social world is blocked by a litany of trial-by-fires and a pressure to impress, a culture of cliques, superficiality and materialism can’t help but form.

The problem with Penn’s social life, however, isn’t necessarily the Greek system. The problem is that no well-known, accessible alternative exists. As ubiquitous as the happy Greek friend is the friend who confides in you that she never imagined herself rushing when she came to Penn but is doing so out of loneliness and a fear of being left behind.

Of course, social options exist for those who don’t go Greek. You can explore Philly’s art scene. You might stumble upon like-minded people in a class.

Too often, however, friend groups operate in isolation and building a support system feels daunting and too dependent on being in the right place at the right time. Penn was ranked the second most stressful campus in the United States. A lack of inclusive social spaces is partially to blame.

The Penn Intentional Community Network is spearheading an initiative to create an alternate social scene on campus. The idea of an intentional community is based on the concept that everyone’s voice has equal value.

At the moment, the network is comprised of the Penn Haven Housing Cooperative and the Happy House, two housing options that promote inclusion, open dialogue, creativity and community. Although the co-op has existed successfully since its founding two years ago and the Happy House has been thriving (and partying) since the ’80s, we want more.

We want to grow the network in order to meet new, interesting people. We’re publicizing it in the DP because we want the Penn Intentional Community Network to be a new Penn institution. We envision a social scene characterized by consent and inclusivity. We hope for an unabashedly anti-racist and non-heteronormative social scene — and one as well-known as the Greek system and accessible from the first day of NSO.

Tonight at 8 p.m., Penn Intentional Communities will throw a party at the Penn Haven Housing Co-op at 518 Woodland Terrace. We hope that it will be the beginning of a new type of social scene on campus. You’re all invited.

You can contact Penn Alternate Rush at laurenbee93@gmail.com.

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