Cheers and Jeers | Fall 2011

CHEERS

• To Penn for meeting the $3.5 billion “Making History” goal a year ahead of schedule

• To the University for developing an Action Plan for Faculty Diversity and Excellence that asks each school to develop its individual goals

• To English professor Peter Conn, Dean of Admissions Eric Furda and Director of Student Financial Aid Bill Schilling for recognizing the need to increase economic diversity among the student body

• To the legal system for sentencing 1983 Wharton MBA graduate Raj Rajaratnam to 11 years behind bars

• To the Quidditch team for bringing magic to campus

• To Penn Admissions for extending the Early Decision deadline due to snow

• To Housing Services for getting rid of community living

• To Tania Chairez for sharing her story and putting a name and face to undocumented students at Penn

• To 1987 College graduate Jon Huntsman Jr. for running for office

• To students and faculty participating in the Occupy movement for opening a dialogue and encouraging the Penn community to confront its economic and educational privilege

• To Penn Park for furthering eastward expansion, adding 24 acres of green space for athletics and recreation and aiming to reduce crime around the city

• To the Battle for I-95 for bringing NBA superstars to Philly and some hometown pride to the Palestra

• To Raymond and Ruth Perelman for giving the largest-ever donation to Penn and their continual support

• To the dining area in McClelland Hall for adding a much-needed amenity and to the Neural-Behavioral Sciences building for keeping us excited about future construction

JEERS

• To Locust Walk for taking way too long to complete much-needed renovations

• To professor Max Cavitch for overreacting to glitches on the new Penn Course Review website and using the English undergraduate listerv as his personal diary

• To Undergraduate Assembly leaders for making some new members feel uncomfortable during last year’s initiation and for failing to uphold the higher standards expected of elected student leaders

• To Amy Gutmann’s office for using everyone’s favorite font in her holiday party invitation. Go for a serif next time.

• To con artist Eugene Tinsley for betraying students’ trust

• To snow in October for ruining everyone’s Halloween

• To Penn for repeatedly violating animal welfare guidelines

• To the Political Science department for an inexcusable oversight in failing to cancel the late professor Henry Teune’s class

• To the loss of food on campus after Marathon Grill and Philly Diner closed down

• To the Occupy Student Debt Campaign for failing to tackle the rising cost of higher education and diverting energy and attention away from tangible change

• To the miscommunication that arose between Wharton and Eric Cantor’s office that deprived students from hearing the House Majority Leader speak

• To Penn Athletics for failing to bring people out to the Line this year

• To the unavoidable six extra days of school that current freshmen and sophomores will have to endure in 2013

• To people who confused Penn and Penn State in light of the sex scandal that happened at State College

Think we missed something worthy of cheering or jeering? Add it in the comments below.

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