Opinion Columns
Ana West | It’s time for children of privilege to grow up — and that means Penn kids too
The second best time to hold people like Northam accountable is right now, while we have the chance.
Joel Lee | Regardless of success or failure, Penn students should have self-worth
The very fact that we are students at Penn speaks to our intelligence. Some of us have never really felt overwhelming rejection or underachievement.
Christy Qiu | Coming to Penn made me appreciate Lunar New Year
Whether you are Asian, Hispanic, African American, or any other race, make Penn a new site for sharing stories about your culture and celebrating your family’s heritage.
Lucy Hu | Spending a semester at Cambridge made me love Penn’s pre-professionalism
But when I peeled back the layers of historical extravagance, I realized that while the Ivy League evokes less Harry Potter imagery than Cambridge or Oxford, the actual learning experience may be more worth the prestige than the English schools.
Sophia DuRose | How to treat yourself at Penn
If we fall into cycles of pushing yourself too far, burning out, and then treating yourself to copious amounts of whatever it is that makes you feel temporarily better about yourself, the cycle will never end. Temporary relief is all you’ll ever feel.
Julia Mitchell | What Birthright taught me about Judaism at Penn
At Penn, blocking out Jewish life altogether is nearly impossible, especially since about 17% of undergrads identify as Jewish, but I still managed to do it first semester.
Rebecca Alifimoff | A year after #MeToo, it feels like little has changed
The habits we form here at Penn — the things we chose to expect of our friends, the organizations we decided to be a part of, the behavior we tolerate on our campus — will shape the moral compasses that guide us through our infinitely more complicated post-graduate lives.
Sophia DuRose | Toxic masculinity runs deeper than the Gillette ad
Men need to be encouraged to reveal the more vulnerable parts of themselves normally hidden by the steely outer layer of toxic masculinity.
Ana West | Don't ignore the dangers of relationship violence at Penn
Many times, I’ve seen couples holding hands on Locust and thought about how perfect they must be together — that there was no danger there.
Kaliyah Dorsey | What Kiese Laymon’s ‘Heavy’ taught me about vulnerability
I am surrounded every day by high-achieving students at what is often coined “the social Ivy,” which means that vulnerability isn’t high on anyone’s list of priorities, though almost everyone has to have struggled juggling social, personal, and academic expectations.
Christy Qiu | I looked at my Penn admissions file, and you should too
What we need to fight for is transparency. While Penn doesn’t even have a rubric for interpreting admissions files, other schools have clear guidelines along with original comments attached to their files.
Joel Lee | We shouldn't call dining hall food 'disgusting'
We are all entitled to our own preferences, but we should do our best not to degrade the preferences of others, especially when it comes to food.
Ana West | Gendered organizations are a problem — even outside of Greek life
Gendered groups abound at Penn, and while it’s rare for anyone to take issue with that fact, maybe more of us should.
Sophia DuRose | Twenty-five percent of students are in Greek life. Penn should cover dues.
If Yale can allocate some financial aid funds towards sororities to help bridge this obvious gap between women who can afford sisterhood and those who can’t, Penn should too.
Kaliyah Dorsey | Acknowledge the narratives of black students at Penn
The art of being black at a predominantly white institution isn’t always pretty.
Rebecca Alifimoff | I’m in a sorority. Here’s what I wish someone told me before rush.
Don’t let the machinery of the process make you feel like you should be selling yourself to the sorority. In reality, the sorority should be selling itself to you.
Joel Lee | Not everyone shares the same ‘subtle asian traits’
It hurts to think that some Asians feel that they only have a meme page to voice their concerns. I don’t want anyone to feel like they have to satirize their concerns as a way to cope with them.
Sireesh Ramesh | Using CRISPR to create genetically engineered ‘superbabies’ is an ethical nightmare
This direct editing of the genome of future generations could eventually lead to parents paying for genetically engineered babies who could grow to have the athleticism of Lebron James athleticism or the IQ of Albert Einstein.
Christy Qiu | Penn, don’t normalize Juuling
Juuling is not cool. It’s not something to brag about on social media. It’s certainly not something to encourage other fellow students, friends, or family members to try.