All the city's a campus

Thousands of Philadelphia-area students are expected to swarm to the Ben Franklin Parkway this Saturday for a citywide college party.

The event -- called the Campus Philly Kickoff -- is intended to welcome students to the city and consists of a free concert, festival and free admission to 12 city cultural institutions with student identification.

"There's a lot going on in Philly that students don't know about," said Jon Herrmann, the executive director of Campus Philly. "We want to get students involved in what's going on downtown, in the region and on campus so that they have a good experience in the Philly area."

The city's Department of Commerce and Campus Philly are producing the event, and it is supported by about 30 area colleges, including Penn and Drexel.

Along with Herrmann, a 2000 Wharton graduate and former director of the Social Planning and Events Committee, many current Penn students are working on the kickoff.

College junior Rebecca Chin does various tasks for the business and marketing staff, including collecting prizes for raffles that will be held during the event.

"We're working together to make sure that everybody's not stuck in their own college bubble," said Chin. "This organization is basically the center that connects all the colleges in the region."

David Kwon, a Wharton sophomore, is the business coordinator for Campus Philly. He said that he is looking forward to the "rap/rock music, a DJ battle, electronic expo and other cool events" that will be happening on Saturday.

The kickoff is a part of a greater goal of Campus Philly to market Philadelphia to recent college graduates.

"We are encouraging students to make Philadelphia their permanent home after graduation. Once they come here and enjoy all of the amenities this city has to offer, we know they will want to stay," wrote Stephanie Naidoff, City Representative and Director of Commerce in an E-mail interview.

The concert will be held from noon to 7 p.m. on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

The museums and galleries offering free admission will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.

Buses will be looping on-site to the locations. There is a separate bus going to the National Constitution Center, and the other 11 institutions are on a single bus loop. The common stop is in front of the Rodin Museum on 22nd and Ben Franklin Parkway.

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