Pictured here at a campaign rally in Manchester, N.H., President Donald Trump has undoubtedly become Penn's most notable alumnus.
Credit: Ilana WurmanThree days after his inauguration, President Donald Trump was missing from Penn's list of “notable” alumni involved in government.
As of Jan. 23, he was omitted from the University Archives and Records Center's list of alumni heads of state or government. Trump's name was added on Jan. 24, after The Daily Pennsylvanian Opinion Board reached out to him about the issue.
In an email to the DP, University Archivist Mark Frazier Lloyd wrote, "With so many lists of distinguished Pennsylvanians to maintain, our web audience is often quicker to point out the need for an update than we are in making the update. I think that best describes the circumstances in this case."
He added, "I should also emphasize that the lists of distinguished people associated with the University of Pennsylvania are not and do not hold themselves out to be 'official' in any way. They represent the best judgment of the staff at the University Archives and Records Center and may therefore differ from or even at odds with any 'official' list you may find elsewhere on the web."
Trump’s initial exclusion from this list of notable alumni involved in government is the latest in a series of interactions between the 1968 Wharton graduate and the University.
President Amy Gutmann was not one of over one hundred university presidents from around the nation to sign a letter urging Trump to reject hateful attacks that were linked to his name. However, over 4,000 Wharton alumni signed an open letter repudiating Trump’s candidacy, noting that he does not represent Penn’s values.
Trump is the first U.S. president to have graduated from Penn, but he is not the first alumnus of the University to become the head of a nation. Penn alumni have gone on to become the president of countries such as Nigeria, Ghana and Panama.
Correction: A previous version of this article attributed Mark Frazier Lloyd's quotation to University spokesperson Stephen MacCarthy. The DP regrets the error.
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