When Freshman Class President Matt Klapper got word that he could spend an evening in women's cheerleading attire, it was an opportunity he couldn't pass up.
Klapper, along with dozens of other students, came to Franklin Field Friday night ready to cheer on his class in Penn's first ever class-versus-class powder puff football game.
The event, which was sponsored by the Sophomore Class Board, pitted women football teams from each class against each other, while men cheered on the sidelines. Penn football players coached and refereed the games.
Female fans said the cross-dressing spectacle was too good to pass up.
"Any chance for me to see guys dress like girls is a real opportunity," College freshman Andrea Brem said. "And I think women should be on the field anyways."
Explained Klapper, "It's not every day you get to dress like a Penn cheerleader."
Fans piled into the less-than-packed stadium, segregated by class, to witness what organizers hope will become a homecoming staple -- and what proved to be an exhibition of intense yet silly class rivalry.
"We want it to be a Penn tradition," said Katherine Lee, a member of the Sophomore Class Board. "Every year, [we hope] everyone gets so psyched about the powder puff game."
First to play were the senior and freshman teams in an intense battle that ended with a senior overtime victory. Then the sophomore and junior classes duked it out. The juniors prevailed as the victors in this match, which also went into overtime.
The junior team was then able to defeat the seniors to win the championship.
Upperclassman fans were not bashful about hiding their excitement over the early elimination of their underclassmen peers.
"I'm glad the lower classes aren't playing," College junior Juli Siebert-Johnson said during the championship game. "It's good to see juniors versus seniors since they're the only two classes that count."
But despite the junior victory, the freshman class was definitely the most animated.
Decked out in skirts, wigs and carrying pom-poms, some of the more spirited freshman cheerleaders got the crowd hyped through unconventional cheers, including a game of leap-frog.
And Klapper was proud of his class' enthusiasm.
"Our class had by far the largest turnout," he said. "I think that says something good about this year's freshmen."
Though the sophomore class had a smaller population of cheerleaders, they would not let the freshman cheerleaders beat them in the area of maturity. The two sophomores, sporting body paint and energy as opposed to women's attire, proved to have a few tricks up their sleeves.
In a classy move, Sophomore Class President Jason Levy threw ice up into the crowd of junior fans during the sophomore-junior game, prompting cheers and applause from the crowd. And later on in the event, Levy encouraged the sophomore fans to taunt the juniors with their keys, signaling to them that it was time to hit the road.
But the sophomores were forced to exit before their elders, which left some powder puff participants less than thrilled.
"I though it was hard-fought, we were very competitive," said Engineering sophomore Anyika Barnes. "We were just a little upset that we didn't win, but it was fun."
Barnes, who scored a touchdown for her team, added that the event was a good way to get more people involved in athletics.
"It's a good idea to get people that aren't involved with sports that are still athletic to do something for homecoming," she said.
