Minority students get a taste of Penn

A New Jersey high school senior, Angela Gomez, came to campus this weekend and attended several events designed to give her a taste of Penn. "I'm really getting a feel for the campus," she said. And Anshu Jain, a high school senior from Kentucky, said he was surprised at how fast-paced the University is. "[There's] always something going on," said Jain, who was accepted to the College of Arts and Sciences as a member of the Class of 2003. Gomez and Jain were on campus for the Minority Scholars Weekend -- an annual four-day event designed to give prospective incoming freshmen who are minorities a feel for Penn. It is sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and various cultural groups on campus, according to Rodney Morrison, director of minority recruitment. The weekend was catered especially to around 200 accepted minority applicants -- mainly from the communities that are underrepresented at Penn, including African-Americans, Latinos and Native Americans. "We ask all the ethnic and cultural organizations on campus to be available [to the students to] expose all the wonderful things we have here on campus," Morrison said. The students arrived Thursday and throughout the weekend had the opportunity to visit classes, meet with financial aid representatives, take campus and residential tours and attend presentations for their respective schools. Other events included an intercultural dinner sponsored by La Asociacion Cultural de Estudiantes Latino Americanos and the Chinese Student Association, a student activities fair, a talent show sponsored by the National Society of Black Engineers and a party Saturday night sponsored by Kappa Alpha Psi. "I was amazed at how much stuff they put together [for the weekend]," Gomez said. "There's so many people from all different places," added Jimmy Chi, a New Jersey student accepted to the School of Engineering and Applied Science. The students who stayed overnight were hosted by Penn undergraduates in various dorms on campus. Around 200 students took part in the weekend's events this year, up from 150 last year. Morrison attributed the increase in attendance to the fact that the weekend events occurred in April, when the visitors knew they had already been accepted to Penn. Last year, by contrast, Minority Scholars Weekend occurred in February, when the high schoolers were still waiting to hear back about their admissions status. "Penn is certainly becoming a more popular place within the minority community and that's fantastic," Morrison said. Most of the students seemed to have only positive things to say about their experience this weekend. "This weekend has made me definitely lean closer to Penn," said Jessica Rodriguez, a New York senior accepted to the College. And Malcolm Brown, a Philadelphia resident accepted to the College, said he was impressed by the amount of freedom he had, noting that he was "respected as a college student already." He added that he was "99 percent" sure he will matriculate.