Monday Morning: Incoming students react to funding cuts

Monday, April 14

Good morning, Penn.

I hope you’re having a great Monday! Summer break is only a month away, so let’s end the school year with a strong finish.

Around 40 Penn community members gathered for an interfaith vigil honoring the “martyrs of the Palestinian genocide” on Friday, and prospective students and their families visited Penn’s campus for Quaker Days last week.

But first, The Daily Pennsylvanian spoke with several incoming members of the Class of 2029 about their perspectives on 1968 Wharton graduate and President Trump’s administration decision to freeze over $175 million of Penn’s federal funding.

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TODAY'S TOP STORY

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Incoming Penn students express concern, confusion over Trump’s funding freeze

The Daily Pennsylvanian spoke with several incoming students in the Class of 2029 about the Trump administration’s decision to freeze over $175 million in federal funding to Penn.

According to a White House tweet, the March 19 decision to pause the funding was a result of Penn’s “policies forcing women to compete with men in sports.” The funding freeze comes after a Feb. 5 executive order from Trump that threatened to remove federal funding from universities allowing transgender athletes to participate in women’s sports.

The freeze came just eight days before the release of regular decision admissions decisions for the Class of 2029. A record-breaking 72,000 students applied to Penn during this admissions cycle.

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FIVE MORE BIG STORIES

Around 40 Penn community members attended an interfaith vigil honoring “martyrs of the Palestinian genocide” on Friday.

Nearly 4,000 prospective students and their families visited Penn’s campus for Quaker Days — a series of all-day welcome events for the Class of 2029.

Members of the Penn community gathered Monday to celebrate the restoration of Dinan Hall.

The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School dropped down from No. 4 to No. 5 in the 2025 U.S. News & World rankings for best law schools.

52 staff honorees were recognized for extraordinary contributions to the Penn community during this year’s Models of Excellence awards ceremony.

OPINION

Design by Kate Ahn

SENIOR COLUMNIST MIA VESELY discusses first amendment rights on college campuses amid student detentions and deportations.

IN PHOTOS

Photo by Devansh Raniwala

From the official announcement of Penn’s men’s basketball new head coach to the annual Stephen A. Levin Family Dean’s Forum, see how The Daily Pennsylvanian captured the past week at Penn.

SPORTS

Former five-star recruit TJ Power has committed to Penn, giving the Quakers their first five-star commit in program history.

Penn women’s lacrosse fell 10-9 to Yale in a four-overtime heartbreaker.

TODAY IN DP HISTORY

Photo by Jackson Ford

In 2023, the DP reported that five Penn baseball seniors would transfer for their final year of eligibility. Last week, Penn men's basketball earned its first ever five-star recruit when TJ Power committed to the Red and Blue.

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Click here to play this week’s edition of DP News Quiz, which was constructed by the DP Puzzles staff.

And click here to play today’s DP mini crossword, which was constructed by Doer He.

FROM UNDER THE BUTTON

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Today's newsletter was copy edited by Jessica Huang.

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