Opinion Columns
Ben Claar | Toy Story for presidents
BEN CLAAR is a College sophomore from Scarsdale, N.Y.
Shawn Srolovitz | Creating conversations on inclusive classrooms
Last week, I had the opportunity to attend a seminar on inclusive teaching, hosted by the Center for Teaching and Learning — the group on campus charged with helping Penn instructors with their teaching and generally improving the quality of education at Penn.
Calvary Rogers | Abolish the curve
I have never believed in a curving system when it comes to grading, and, similar to many, it was a rude awakening for me when I came to Penn.
Taylor Becker | All politics is local
How can college students achieve their policy goals in the era of Trump? An overlooked answer lies in pursuing policy preferences in states legislatures and governor’s mansions.
Emily Hoeven | On preparing for retirement at age twenty
I was struck by something Alec Baldwin said near the end of his talk at Penn on Friday. When asked what advice he would give to college students, Baldwin immediately replied that we ought to travel, to explore the world when we are single, young and free.
Cameron Dichter | Punishing students for peaceful demonstrations violates Penn’s principles
Every one of us, no matter our political views, has a campus issue that we’re passionate about.
James Lee | Beyond memes: The potential and limitations of UOPSCC
Like thousands of other students, I was added to the ‘Official Unofficial Penn Squirrel Catching Club” group on Facebook recently, and my news feed has since been flooded with memes about all things Penn.
Group Think | How to engage the Penn administration
GROUP THINK is the DP’s round table section, where we throw a question at the columnists and see what answers stick.
James Fisher | Never leaving Makuu: The power of cultural centers
I remember the spring of my senior year of high school visiting Makuu Black Cultural Center during Quaker days.
Emily Hoeven | Why we need to get serious about boycotting frat parties
In my Africana Studies class, we talk a lot about perspective: how things that seem acceptable or normal to a society at a given point in history can often seem incomprehensible to that same society several generations later.
Calvary Rogers | A silent war: substance abuse and its interference with wellness
Mental health. Two words every Penn student has heard before they set foot on Locust walk. We all know just how prevalent conversations about mental health have become and its relation to tragedy, campus culture and administration.
Michael Palamountain | The bittersweet need for cognitive dissonance
Last week the winners of the President's Engagement Prize were announced. I scrolled past the subject line in my inbox and clicked delete.
Joe Tharakan | Everybody's a jerk online
I spent a long time wondering what topic I should write on today. I found it very difficult to pick a stance on anything.
Taylor Becker | What it means to be pro-Israel
This past weekend, around 40 Penn students joined nearly 4000 campus activists from across the country at the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) annual Policy Conference in Washington, D.C.
Amy Chan | Expats excluded: On accepting the difficulty of integration
When I first arrived in Cambridge, I thought I would immediately integrate. I thought that I would make many British friends and that I would excel at every stereotypically British task I tried.
Shawn Srolovitz | Reframing the campus leadership conversation
Last week, my friend sent me a New York Times article about the value high school students place on leadership. Because of the perceived focus on traditional leadership in college admissions, students prioritize leadership in the vein of “political or business power” — defining leaders based on their authority and dominance.
Cameron Dichter | Unintended offense: dealing with racial insensitivity on campus
In the fall of 1993, Jahmae Harris, a then-senior here at Penn, received a frightening phone call to her dorm, the DuBois College House.
James Lee | What will we leave behind?
Who is Michael Zinman? The name might sound somewhat familiar to about half of the Penn population.
James Fisher | Let’s have a Kiki
This past Sunday, I released my first ever episode of The Kiki Podcast Series on black excellence and self-love.