GradFest move to fall ‘very successful’

This weekend, Penn’s graduate and professional students didn’t have to go to Las Vegas, Atlantic City or even Philadelphia’s new Foxwoods Casino to gamble. They just had to show up at GradFest.

Saturday afternoon, the Graduate and Professional Student Association hosted a “Block Party” in Houston Hall and the Perelman Quadrangle as part of GradFest, a festival designed to bring together students from all 12 of the graduate and professional schools at Penn.

GAPSA uses funds from the Vice Provost for University Life and other sponsors to put on the festival exclusively for graduate and professional students. Although GradFest traditionally takes place in the spring, when many graduate students are busy with finals and papers, GAPSA moved the festival to the fall semester for this academic year.

Engineering doctoral student and GAPSA Vice Chairman for Communications David Pietrocola called the move a “very successful decision,” as it allowed many more students to attend Saturday’s event.

Pietrocola, whose band performed at the Block Party, called it a “great event,” adding that he hopes GradFest will be the beginning of many students’ continued involvement in GAPSA’s programming.

The casino, set up in the Hall of Flags, was one of the most popular activities at the Block Party. First-year masters student Maddy Novich said the poker tables were her favorite, although no money was actually exchanged.

GAPSA Vice Chairwoman Suzanne Bratt, a fourth-year graduate student, commented that this was an “adventurous idea, and a successful one.”

In addition to the casino games, many graduate student organizations set up tables at the event. Other students played Guitar Hero, chatted in Houston Hall and engaged in a game of Quizzo.

GradFest kicked off Sept. 22 with the Schuylkill River Cleanup project, and will end Oct. 2 with a research symposium at the Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

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