PAC groups to start performing at basketball halftimes, UA says

The Undergraduate Assembly announced the first completion of a project this year, went over the administration’s response to their plan for international student integration and discussed improving communication with the student body.

PAC Group Performances at Basketball Games

UA Representative and College sophomore Daniel Kahana announced that the UA will start coordinating different Performing Arts Council groups to perform at basketball games in an effort to increase attendance.

Kahana said that the benefit was two-fold because it will increase attendance at sports games and give groups another opportunity to perform.

Kahana was in contact with Deputy Director of Athletics Alanna Shanahan and Athletics Media and Marketing Director Joshua Craggs for a month before sending out a form to PAC groups and receiving six signups. Kahana will follow up with other groups afterwards.

UA representative and Engineering sophomore Alex George recommended allowing non-PAC groups to perform at halftime as well. Engineering and Wharton junior Lukas Vacek suggested expanding the performances to other sporting events because the Penn Band already performs at basketball and football games.

International Student Integration

After discussing international student integration at a previous meeting, the UA received a response to their requests from International Student and Scholar Services Director Rudie Altamirano .

The Assembly of International Students and the UA have collectively been researching a possible pre-NSO orientation for international students, similar to the programs offered at peer institutions.

Altamirano told the UA that a separate orientation would be repetitive, and said that early arrival can be financially costly to students. Unless the separate orientation is required for internationals, they would likely not all agree to come to campus early which might create a disparity in experiences.

Instead of working on the UA and AIS’s proposed projects, ISSS is working to create an information portal for international students and added a program coordinator to its office, in addition to other initiatives.

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