Opinion Columns
Yomi Abdi | White Boys' Town
Columnist Yomi Abdi discusses The Daily Pennsylvanian's exclusionary history and ongoing diversity efforts, through her own experiences and those of former Black opinion columnists.
Jaden Cloobeck | How journaling helps me cope with uncertainty
Columnist Jaden Cloobeck describes the personal benefits of journaling, especially during uncertain periods in his life
Valerie Wang & Varun Saraswathula | Mackenzie Fierceton and the so-called “Penn community”
Columnists Valerie Wang & Varun Saraswathula argue that Penn's treatment of Mackenzie Fierceton should remind students that our relationship with the university is more transactional than we might think.
Liala Sofi & Allison Santa-Cruz | We believe you, Mackenzie, and Penn’s administration should, too
Columnists Allison Santa-Cruz and Liala Sofi press for Penn administrators to properly address their involvement in the case of former Penn student Mackenzie Fierceton.
Isabella Glassman | Undergraduates are not landlords — Penn, help Greek life housing
Columnist Isabella Glassman urges Penn to financially assist fraternities and sororities as they transition to upperclassmen-only Greek life housing.
Kayla Cotter | Fool’s Gold: Is the Four-Year Degree All It Seems?
Columnist Kayla Cotter argues that viewing the four-year degree as compulsory threatens to undermine other viable post-secondary pathways.
Lexi Boccuzzi | What happened to 'follow the science'?
Columnist Lexi Boccuzzi argues that the University’s choice to extend the mask mandate in classrooms failed to consider scientific evidence and opinions of a large portion of students and faculty.
Agatha Advincula | Dear Accepted Students: Here’s What to Expect at Penn
Columnist Agatha Advincula advises incoming college students on what they should know about Penn.
Otto Piasecki | Penn needs to value its diversity and internationalism
Columnist Otto Piasecki urges students to take advantage of the international diversity present at Penn.
Vinay Khosla | Why is humanity’s suffering so Instagrammable?
Columnist Vinay Khosla argues that social media culture has been pivotal in desensitizing people to issues across the world.
Jesse Zhang | Dear High School Seniors
Columnist Jesse Zhang shares his experiences and the lessons he learned from the college matriculation process.
Alex Eapen | What we need in Penn’s next provost
Columnist Alex Eapen writes that appointing a person of color as provost will allow Penn to better prioritize diversity and inclusion on campus.
Jaden Cloobeck | Senior societies should become more inclusive and transparent
Columnist Jaden Cloobeck argues that senior societies need to improve in social inclusivity and financial transparency by reflecting on his personal rush experience and by interviewing current senior society members.
Sam Zou | Why affirmative action is still needed in college admissions
Columnist Sam Zou argues for the positive role affirmative action has on achieving diversity, increasing intergenerational mobility, and equalizing wealth between Black and white students.
Lexi Boccuzzi | Stop treating secondary education as a necessity
Columnist Lexi Boccuzzi argues that higher education should not be viewed as a necessity, and in doing so we can improve the quality of our lives in college as well as our collective financial futures.
Isabella Glassman | ECON 001 is not a prerequisite to life at Penn
Columnist Isabella Glassman urges Penn students to more deeply consider whether an economics course is necessary for their academic career.
Allison Santa-Cruz | It's time to drop the mask mandate, required testing, and PennOpen pass
Columnist Allison-Santa-Cruz argues that it is time to return to pre-pandemic normalcy given current COVID-19 data.
Jesse Zhang | Force yourself to relax with a “mandatory pastime”
Columnist Jesse Zhang encourages the Penn community to participate in a non-academic and non-preprofessional extracurricular activity.
Joseph M. Squillaro | “The Great Penn Resignation” is happening. How will you take back your time?
Columnist Joseph M. Squillaro encourages you to join “The Great Penn Resignation,” discussing the paradoxical benefits of declaring “I quit.”