One university, split along lines of two schools

At football games, loyal Penn fans sing "The Red and the Blue" and throw toast onto Franklin Field after the third quarter.

On Friday nights, eager freshmen migrate en masse from the Quadrangle to shove their way into frat parties.

But come Monday morning, as one undergraduate walks into Steinberg-Dietrich Hall and another continues down Locust Walk towards College Hall, distinctions among the student body become perfectly clear.

Students from both the College of Arts and Sciences and the Wharton School agree that there is a distinct culture for each school, creating a tension even Penn administrators admit exists.

The differences in curricula and size of the undergraduate populations illustrate the inherent division between the two schools. With an enrollment of about 6,400 undergraduates, the College purports to provide students with a broad-based liberal arts education. Wharton, with an undergraduate population of about 1,800, focuses on pre-professional programs, placing students on a business-oriented academic and career track.

This cultural division is further enhanced by the lack of a distinct College identity. While Wharton students sport the Wharton logo and name, College students associate more with the University as a whole.

"I think of myself as a student at Penn," College senior Ashley Hellinger said. "Being in the College is not much of my identity at Penn."

But for Wharton students, the notion of branding themselves with the name of one of the nation's best business schools is much more profound than the notion of a College identity.

"Often when I hear people telling someone where they go to school they will say the Wharton School rather than the University of Pennsylvania," Wharton sophomore Ari Meisel said.

But Penn administrators emphasize that the purpose of the College is to provide students with a broad-based liberal arts education -- not to foster a separate College identity.

College of Arts and Sciences Dean Richard Beeman said the College is a distinct part of the University, but still encourages interaction with the other divisions.

"I want College students to identify their experiences here as the Penn experience, not the College experience," Beeman said. "We encourage students to go outside the College and to augment their education with classes in Engineering and Wharton."

Although Wharton and College students are encouraged to take courses in each other's curriculums, Wharton sophomore Ruby Majumdar said that Wharton's distinct identity can give College students the impression that Wharton students are highly competitive and "over achievers."

School of Arts and Sciences Dean Samuel Preston said unlike Wharton students, College undergraduates do not consider themselves as a distinct entity within the University.

"We have been promoting the idea of Penn and the College," Preston said. "The image is not as powerful as Wharton because the experience is much more diffuse."

Wharton has a more solidified and distinct culture -- from a separate logo to facilities and student groups that cater solely to Wharton students.

Wharton Vice Dean and Director of Wharton Undergraduate Division Thomas Dunfee said that if divisions between the two schools do exist, it is due to unfair stereotypes on both sides. Through more interaction between Wharton and the College he hopes to see them reduced in the future.

Putting all stereotypes aside, students in the Huntsman program -- an undergraduate course of study that incorporates a Wharton business education and a liberal arts education in the School of Arts and Sciences -- have the benefits of both worlds, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from the College and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Wharton.

Undergraduates in the program, such as senior Candice Lei, say they associate more with Wharton than the College.

"When people ask me outside of the school I usually say U. Penn or Wharton," Lei said. "I do not bother to actually explain the program."

The average liberal arts major does not have the ability to choose between two identities, and some struggle to find a definite direction upon completion of their undergraduate education.

But College senior Anu Yerramalli said this is not necessarily the case, and many College students do have definite plans upon graduation, noting that liberal arts majors choose fields "of little or no interest to Wharton students."

With an increase in the number of College seniors frequenting Career Services this semester, however, Beeman said a lack of definite career path provided by the College is a reason for some of the tension between College and Wharton students.

"Wharton students seem to be very sure of where they are going," Beeman said. "We purposely create a educational environment in which we create uncertainty. It allows you to follow your passion and study what you love."

Preston said that in the long run, the difference between a degree from the College or from Wharton is practically nonexistent, and surveys conducted by Career Services show little income difference between graduates of the different schools. Barbara Hewitt, Career Services associate director for Wharton, said the difference between College and Wharton students has to do with the fields of study they are entering rather than the difference between a College and a Wharton education.

"If you take a College and a Wharton student going into the same industry, they will pay the same regardless," Hewitt said.

For College students, however, Wharton, despite its prestige and vast resources, does not make itself accessible to the entire student body. One major complaint is that all computers in Steinberg Hall-Dietrich Hall are restricted to Wharton students.

Although mostly Wharton classes are taught in the building, it is used for other University related purposes -- from studying for finals to hosting seminars and student activities meetings.

College students become frustrated when they are unable to check their e-mail or print out a paper, yet they have to pay the same tuition as a Wharton student.

"I think it should be open to all students even though it is a Wharton building," College junior Susan Goodman said. "They do not have computers that are as good in DRL or McNeil or in Meyerson at all."

Wharton students admit that they have resources at their fingertips College students cannot tap into.

Lei said this is because Steinberg-Dietrich is primarily for students taking Wharton classes and "if you are not there for classes there are other computing labs in the school which you can utilize."

But Beeman said that adequate resources, specifically computers, should be available to all Penn undergraduates throughout the various buildings on campus.

"I am aware that Wharton facilities are limited, and I wish there were some Wharton educational opportunities to which College students had greater access," he said.

Aside from separate facilities and resources, College students find it difficult to take courses in Wharton. Goodman, who took a course in Wharton's legal studies department, said there was a definite division between Wharton and College students in the class, which makes Wharton classes unattractive to College students.

Frustration among College students arise over the grading system in Wharton classes -- known as the Wharton curve -- because it is more rigorous than the standard numerical grades given in liberal arts courses.

"You always hear about the awful Wharton curve," Goodman said. "And if you are not in Wharton, you do not want to be there because of the way they act toward you."

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