Seniors celebrate Oktoberfest to benefit the Penn Fund

Now an annual Penn tradition, seniors will have the ability to attend Oktoberfest without having to travel halfway around the world.

On Oct. 22, the Senior Class Board and Seniors for The Penn Fund are co-hosting Oktoberfest, a free festival featuring food, beer and a performance by Smokey Joe’s staple Kenn Kweder. The event is set to take place on College Green from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

The menu features a potato and sweet potato bar with unlimited toppings, gourmet macaroni and cheese, vegetarian chili and soft pretzels. Beverages will include India pale ales, light beers, seasonal crafts, hard cider, apple cider and water.

“Oktoberfest is a huge celebration for seniors by seniors to start giving back to Penn. It’s the first campaign for Seniors for The Penn Fund, which is our class gift drive. Basically, it’s a celebration of food, music and friends,” Class Board President and College senior Jesus Perez said.

Seniors who donated to S4TPF by the deadline of Oct. 20 will be able to cut the lines for food and beer with Fast Passes. Those who donated $20.16 or more will receive a gift of two whiskey glasses and a Penn custom business card holder.

Attendees are expected to bring both their 21+ IDs and their PennCards to the event.

S4TPF organized Oktoberfest, while the Class Board aided in promoting and marketing the event, Perez said.

“Seniors for The Penn Fund chose the food, the types of beer, the venue and the music. However, the Class Board has been super helpful in terms of getting the word out,” co-chair of S4TPF and College and Wharton senior Sebastian Negron-Reichard said.

According to The Penn Fund’s website, the Fund is the University’s undergraduate, unrestricted annual giving program.

The Penn Fund is mainly a fund to “cover the costs of undergraduate education and the things that complement it. The cost of attending college is much more than the $65,000 that we pay, so that difference is covered by The Penn Fund,” Negron-Reichard said.

“Approximately 62 percent of the funds for The Penn Fund go to undergraduate financial aid,” Executive Director of The Penn Fund Colin Hennessy said.

The rest of the funds go to student academic support hubs and the residential experience, among other things.

Ultimately, S4TPF aims for the senior class to become the class with the highest giving rate.

“We have a year-wide goal of getting 1,809 seniors to donate to The Penn Fund, meaning that we’d break the all-time record for class participation. You can donate as little or as much as you want, and it’d still count,” Perez said.

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