Elijah Ramirez | Fish-ing for the first-year experience

When you Google search “The University of Pennsylvania,” the first images to pop up are stunning pictures of the famous first-year dormitory known as the Quad, as well as the iconic College Hall located behind Benjamin Franklin’s monument. Unfortunately for the Class of 2028, our experiences in these buildings are very different from years prior.

When I told my friends I’d be living in Fisher-Hassenfeld College House this fall, they asked me if that was “the castle” that Google had referred them to. I won’t even lie; I was stoked to be living in what was supposed to be the most social first-year dormitory. However, the Quad experience has been extremely underwhelming. 

While I couldn’t wait to move 2,000 miles away from Texas into my new home at Penn, my transition has been quite stressful. To be frank, I was completely unprepared for my new life in Philadelphia. It should be the duty of Penn Residential Services to be more transparent with incoming Quakers so that every student has a clear understanding of how their campus experiences will be as they move in. This will provide us with vital information that will better equip incoming Quakers for their first year.

In years prior, first-year Quakers got to live in either Riepe, Ware, or Fisher. While these college houses are technically separated, all three have always been connected socially because of their classification as members of the Quad. Having all three houses connected allows students to branch out and build friendships with fellow students in the Quad. The biggest issue that residents of Fisher, and Riepe, are now facing is the construction of Ware. While the Quad was once the hub of socialization for many first years, there is now a major disconnect for residents who live in Fisher and Riepe.

The Quad being disconnected isn’t ideal, but a more pressing issue is the subpar living conditions that residents of Fisher have to endure. During move-in, I spoke to Penn's Facilities and Maintenance department to help me loft my bed and move around some furniture. Some of the Facilities and Maintenance workers had relayed to me that none of the furniture that is currently in Fisher would be used after the renovation, which is set to begin in the fall of 2026. This meant that current Fisher residents missed the cutoff to receive new furniture by just two years. To make matters worse, the construction of Ware has now limited Fisher residents to only one entrance point. Baldwin, the hall I live in, is inconveniently located the absolute farthest you could get from that one entrance. The additional walk all the way around the Quad to and from this one entrance adds a minimum of 10 minutes to any commute I make on campus. 

While the Quad renovations are necessary and have been long overdue, Penn should not have given Fisher residents the short end of the stick. There are over 400 residents who have to live under these conditions before renovations are set to begin. Had I known that the construction would be playing such a pivotal role in the experience of living in the Quad, I likely would’ve picked somewhere else to live. 

Looking back on it now, I essentially jumped in blindly to the entire process of picking which dormitory I wanted to live in this fall. Luckily for me, one of the most helpful resources that aided in my decision making was campus celebrity and student Diana Lim’s popular YouTube video which gave the inside scoop on all things first-year housing. With the help of Diana, and a program community that led me to believe I’d be grouped with others interested in the same major, I was confident Fisher was the house for me. However, I would soon learn that what Diana’s now 2-year-old video couldn’t prepare me for was the significant construction that would get in the way of everyday life. To make matters worse, I learned that the majority of students on my floor had applied to be a part of the program community only because they wanted to boost their chances at getting a room in the Quad.

While Penn has already provided me with some of the greatest educational opportunities, the lack of assistance that I received from Residential Services was frustrating. Moving forward, Residential Services and the University as a whole owe it to their students to be more transparent and follow through with the information they provide. Having program communities on campus sounds like it would greatly benefit first years. Hopefully Residential Services can reform their operations to properly inform incoming first years and create spaces that foster friendship and community.

ELIJAH RAMIREZ is a College first year studying political science from El Paso, TX. His email is elijah11@sas.upenn.edu.