Guster, Trustees visit Penn for Perelman Quad opening

Perelman Quadrangle was officially inaugurated Saturday evening with a spectacle of lights, music and pyrotechnics. The events were part of "No Place Like Penn" weekend and reached their peak with a concert by the bands Everything and Guster on the newly dedicated Wynn Commons in the center of Perelman Quad. Earlier in the day, University administrators joined with 1963 College graduate Stephen Wynn, a casino mogul and Penn Trustee, in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open the space named in his honor. Ronald Perelman, the Penn Trustee and cosmetics millionaire, who donated $20 million to the project was not present. Although he had been scheduled to appear -- and even play drums for Guster -- he could not come because he could not travel on the Sabbath, Wynn said. Provost Robert Barchi expressed the hopes of Penn officials that Wynn Commons will become the new social hub of campus. "I think that in years to come, the words on everybody's lips will be, OMeet me on Wynn Commons,'" he said. University President Judith Rodin, also present at the ribbon cutting, added her voice to Barchi's prediction that the space will become a campus hub. "Imagine, just a few hours from now, this place will be full of 2,000 students," she said, referring to the concert. Rodin went on to say that Wynn will be credited with transforming Penn and Philadelphia the way he is credited with transforming Las Vegas. "Your role in transforming Las Vegas is legendary. So, too, will it be throughout Penn and Philadelphia," she said, introducing Wynn. Following Rodin on the podium, Wynn spoke of how the Perelman Quad area had been, in his days at Penn, the main social center of campus. "Forty-one years ago, when I first came to this college and hung out in Houston Hall, this was the center of campus," he said, adding that the newly opened Perelman Quad will again bring activity to the area. Rodin and Wynn joined together to cut the ribbon strung across the complex, officially opening it. Just a few hours later, the tranquility of the ribbon-cutting was shattered as Everything and Guster brought a sell-out crowd of 2,000 to their feet. Everything, best-known for their song "You Got the Hooch," opened for Guster and took the stage at around 8 p.m. Guster then went on at about 9:30. The concert was accompanied by lasers, canisters of confetti and neon lights projected on the gothic College and Houston halls, making for a strange contrast of life in 1890 with life in 2000. Guster's sense of humor seemed to appeal to the gathered crowd of Penn students, as the band suggested that they lead a chant of "Cornell sucks," after they told the audience they would be heading there on Sunday. Students in attendance felt that the new paved area was a much better place for holding concerts than the grass-covered Hill Field. "I would say it's better because the acoustics are better," College senior Blake Martin said. "Unfortunately for the body surfers, it's a harder fall," Martin joked. The concert was part of the Social Planning and Events Committee-sponsored "No Place Like Penn" weekend. The weekend was intended to showcase Penn's various student groups, as it did with Saturday's performance by the comedy troupe Mask and Wig, as well as provide other forms of entertainment, such as the concert on Saturday and Friday's campus version of Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher.

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