Good morning, Penn.
Wind has swept across Locust Walk, blowing students toward and away from their classes — and, hopefully, blowing them into this morning’s edition of DP Daybreak.
Penn’s new $69.3 million track and field center is set to open to the public on Dec. 6, and several Penn administrators — including Interim Penn President Larry Jameson — attended a pop-up exhibit about the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel.
But first, Penn Faculty for Justice in Palestine held a vigil for Indigenous Peoples’ Day — and several Penn students voiced discontent with related closures for security purposes on campus.
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Photo by Chenyao Liu
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Palestine solidarity vigil prompts street closures
The Indigenous Peoples’ Day Palestine Solidarity Vigil led to the temporary closure of Walnut and Chestnut streets between 33rd and 34th streets as well as the shutdown of Locust Walk from 34th to 36th streets.
The vigil, attended by over 250 people, was held to mourn the Palestinian, Lebanese, and Syrian lives lost in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Speakers also condemned the University’s ties to Ghost Robotics, a Pennovation Works company that develops and sells four-legged robots that pro-Palestinian groups allege are being used by the Israeli military.
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Students upset by campus closures
Several paths around Penn’s campus — mostly in the areas directly around College Green and Van Pelt-Dietrich Library — have repeatedly been closed this fall as Penn attempts to contain demonstrations. Following yesterday’s vigil, some students voiced discontent, alleging that the closures have harmed their ability to access campus buildings.
“The barricading has made Houston Hall and Van Pelt almost inaccessible and is causing major inconveniences to many students, including myself,” one student told The Daily Pennsylvanian.
The increased security, including barricades in the College Green area that have been present since Penn’s Gaza Solidarity Encampment was disbanded in the spring, comes after Penn implemented temporary open expression guidelines over the summer.
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FOUR MORE BIG STORIES
 Interim Penn President Larry Jameson and several other administrators attended a pop-up exhibit at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History about the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel.
 Eugene DePasquale, the Democratic nominee for Pennsylvania attorney general, recently spoke at an event hosted by Penn Democrats.
 Gwen Walz, the wife of Minnesota Gov. and Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, spoke in Philadelphia as part of an initiative to mobilize LGBTQ+ voters.
 Penn’s new Jane and David Ott Center for Track and Field is set to open to the public on Dec. 6.
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Photo by Sanjana Juvvadi
COLUMNIST WILL KELLY highlights the way Penn students talk about themselves to others and what they can do in response.
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SPORTS
The lawsuit challenging the Ivy League’s ban on athletic scholarships was dismissed by a federal judge, allowing the conference to maintain its current model.
Sports Editor Vivian Yao breaks down how special team play ultimately helped decide Penn football’s recent game against Bucknell.
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Photo by Max Mester
In 2014, the DP reported that then-Penn President Amy Gutmann would be one of the “big thinkers” presenting at ThinkFest, a conference aiming to mobilize people to solve issues within Philadelphia. In August, the DP reported that Gutmann would return to Penn as a professor in the Annenberg School for Communication after resigning from her position as the United States ambassador to Germany.
And, if you look in the bottom-right corner, you can see Interim Penn President Larry Jameson before he assumed the presidency!
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Click here to play today’s DP mini crossword, which was constructed by Clarice Wang.
And click here to play today’s Password puzzle, which was constructed by Ethan Plague.
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Today's newsletter was copy edited by Garv Mehdiratta.
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