Jacob Schutz | Getting past 43rd Street

As the Class of 2012 arrives on campus, they will be thrust into a bewildering new environment with little to no operational knowledge. What food trucks to go to (Yue Kee and Magic Carpet), what classes to take (Creative Writing) and where - or more importantly where not - to go within West Philadelphia?

As usual, the University has provided information on this last question to incoming freshmen through an imposing presentation of the Penn patrol zone.

Couched in terms of public safety, and surely done to assuage the fears of anxious parents, Penn demarcates our community into rival factions. Many nervous freshmen will hence label the areas past 43rd Street as a no man's land.

Students seem to already have subscribed to this dichotomy. Wharton freshman Andrew Roberts said he felt safe on Penn's campus but had yet to make it farther west than 42nd Street.

"I would probably never go without a big group of people," he told me.

I had the same view as a freshman, new on Penn's campus after growing up in a Colorado town of 2,500 people. I remember approaching "The Boundary" at 43rd Street as if it were the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. I would stand with a pair of binoculars, trying to catch a glimpse of the chaos and confusion that surely permeated any area without the protection of unarmed walkie-talkie operators in neon yellow vests (i.e., Penn security). Thankfully, I soon met an upperclassman who divorced me of my ridiculous views. He complained that too many Penn students view campus and the few surrounding blocks as a playground - a fun area to stumble through while inebriated - but not a living, breathing community deserving of one's transformative time and energy.

It's not just NSO security presentations that contribute to the idea of Penn as a fortress against the forces of a real-life Gotham City. Parents too often warn their kids, in the tone of Oz's Dorothy, "You're not in Manhattan anymore."

No, you're not. And such a comparison speaks to a failure of imagination.

This summer, I decided to finally contribute to the change I wanted. I taught in a summer program at West Philadelphia High School. It was an immensely rewarding experience, and it made me feel like I was helping the area. Or more correctly, the area was helping me.

For although I was woefully inadequate as an educator, the experience helped me gain a small amount of knowledge of West Philly's challenges and successes. I know I will now follow news of WPHS with a certain amount of involvement and passion. My experience tied me to the community in a way that was mutually beneficial.

College junior Jamie Tomczuk, associate director of Community School Student Partnerships, says she has seen similar epiphanies in others. Penn students sometimes forget to realize West Philadelphia is someone's home, Tomczuk said. Volunteering makes "students realize West Philadelphia is a community."

Although I mocked Penn's security presentations, the University is justifiably recognized as one of the most community-friendly in the country. Penn's Netter Center for Community Partnerships was the umbrella organization for my summer job, and they provide an amazing amount of resources to improving Philadelphia.

Tomczuk's CSSP runs fantastic after-school tutoring projects at local schools. Civic House is another obvious stop for those looking to get involved. And for those religiously inclined (see: uncorrupted freshman) there are plenty of organizations on campus - from the Catholic Newman Center to Hillel - that offer service opportunities.

Beyond the actual work, this summer I found more interesting places to go outside of our hallowed patrol-zone than within it.

Abyssinia on 45th and Locust has some of the best Ethiopian food in the city, and the microbrews at Dock Street Brewery on 50th and Baltimore makes a night of jungle-juice-based inebriation even less enticing.

So go out, change our world, and grab yourself a beer. You just may, like me, fall in love with our little hamlet.

Jacob Schutz is a College junior from Monument, Colo. His email is schutz@dailypennsylvanian.com. The MacGuffin appears every Monday.

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