Wharton Alliance hosts ScrewBall as part of QPenn

Tonight, 66 lucky lesbian gay bisexual transgender students will have the chance to either screw or be screwed.

ScrewBall, a matchmaking event hosted by the Wharton Alliance, is one of many events that are part of QPenn, Penn's annual LGBT student-pride and -awareness week.

For ScrewBall, students were asked to submit several names of fellow students who they trust to set them up on blind dates.

The event's organizers picked the six most-named people to be in charge of all matchmaking.

The participants will dine tonight with their blind dates at Beijing Restaurant, located at 3714 Spruce St.

Though this year the couples are all same-sex, President of Wharton Alliance, Lambda Alliance Vice chairwoman of Political Affairs and College and Wharton junior Baylee Feore said the event will hopefully expand and improve over the next few years to include many different types of pairings.

Tonight's successes will be marked by the couples' reactions to each other.

"Either it will go well and you're screwed," Feore said, "or it will go poorly and you're screwed."

Though this event is primarily social, much of QPenn is intended to be an educational experience, said Bob Schoenberg, director of Penn's LGBT Center.

He emphasized the importance of such discussion topics as what it is like to be LGBT in the workplace, issues LGBT people face in health care and the importance of obtaining equality in general. The week is also aimed toward raising awareness about Penn's LGBT community.

Events similar to QPenn have been held on campus for the last 25 years or so, though by differing names, Schoenberg said. In this time, the scope has definitely changed and expanded as social and political issues have progressed.

Lambda Alliance Chairman and College junior Dennie Zastrow added that the week is a way to make the LGBT community highly visible while simultaneously highlighting its issues and celebrating its diversity.

"It's a week of blasting the campus with LGBT visibility," he said. Though the preparation for the week can be exhausting, the week "energizes the community," Zastrow said.

"One of the best things about QPenn is seeing new people attending events," he added, "and so far, there has been a strong positive response to the events on campus."

Schoenberg added that though on a less supportive campus, hosting the events may be more challenging, campuses across the country host similar events, albeit with less moral or financial support.

QPenn events - including a gospel concert on Thursday, a drag show on Friday, "Kinky Karnival" on Saturday and the Penn Athletes and Allies Tackling Homophobia's Pride Games on Sunday - conclude the week.

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