Some Indonesians are urging Penn to revoke a scholarship that was apparently granted to School of Social Policy & Practice student Erina Gudono, the daughter-in-law of the country's president.
Gudono, who is enrolled in the school's nonprofit leadership program and is married to the youngest son of Indonesian President Joko Widodo, announced that she had received a scholarship to attend SP2 in an Instagram post on July 28. Since then, several Indonesians have taken to social media — including the platforms X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram — to voice concerns about her apparent acceptance, alleging that her privileged background makes her an undeserving scholarship recipient.
Gudono and SP2 did not respond to requests for comment.
Users have tagged Penn in the comments of Gudono's post and the captions of their own critical ones, calling for the University to reconsider their decision. Critics have also allegedly started a mass email campaign demanding the removal of Gudono's scholarship.
"I didn't expect that Allah SWT would be so kind in providing sustenance for children and going to college at the same time in one year of marriage," Gudono wrote in the post, which was originally written in Indonesian.
In the post, which has over 100,000 likes, she added that her parents both moved to Pennsylvania after their marriage — referencing them studying, working, giving birth, and raising children in the state. Gudono has since disabled comments on the post.
Columbia University graduate Patricia Kusumaningtyas told The Daily Pennsylvanian that some of the outrage surrounding Gudono's alleged scholarship stems from her "very lavish lifestyle" and lack of comment "on the political unrest and protests happening in Indonesia."
Specifically, Kusumaningtyas took issue with Gudono's lack of comment on the ongoing crisis relating to a recent ruling by Indonesia's top court. The ruling stated that political parties would not be required to have a minimum representation of 20% to field a candidate, which loosened the requirements for political participation.
Less than a day later, the Indonesian Parliament introduced an emergency motion to overturn these changes, which was met with widespread criticism and concern over local elections becoming uncontested.
In the following days, Indonesian citizens protested in Jakarta — the country's capital — against the proposed motion, which would preserve the existing political system and benefit Widodo and his successor, President-elect Prabowo Subianto.
“There were a lot of protests — all my friends protested and then got tear gassed," Kusumaningtyas told the DP. "It’s not fair that so much oppression is maintained by the Jokowi administration, and Erina gets to be so tone deaf.”
She added that she — and many others — feel that Gudono should be free to pursue her education. However, she encouraged Penn to "think about applicants in the future who have a hand in disrupting human rights issues [and] democracy issues in their own country" when considering potential scholarship recipients.
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