Last night, over 300 Penn students and their friends crowded into Houston Hall's Hall of Flags to eat.
And a few also came to watch the New England Patriots beat the St. Louis Rams in the Super Bowl.
Organized by the Social Planning and Events Committee, the event supplied the campus with its biggest alcohol-free, University-sponsored party for this year's big game.
The second-annual Super Bowl party is part of SPEC's "Philly Week" celebration and was organized with the hope that the Philadelphia Eagles would be playing in New Orleans this year, according to SPEC Vice President Christina Chiew.
Some in attendance were hardcore sports fanatics, like College senior Robert Hong, who, at least at the beginning of the evening, firmly believed that "the Rams [were] going to kick ass."
More apathetic viewers, like College freshman Marian Al-Shanna, to whom "it [didn't] really matter one way or the other" which team won, said she came because "it seems like the thing to do."
However, despite their varying degrees of enthusiasm or team allegiance, fans could agree on one thing -- the food.
The food was the event's main attraction according to students like College freshman Dan Levin -- who declared himself a Patriots fan because "I like [the team] colors" -- and "very disappointed" Eagles fan College junior Micheal Foelster, who both agreed that the food was the evening's true winner.
But not even the free food could force a few Eagles fans into swallowing their team's loss.
College freshman Mike Egnal declared the Eagles loss to the Rams last Sunday "a fluke" and insisted that, had his home team won, "I'd make everyone come," to the Super Bowl party.
College freshman Barbu Mateescu shared similar feelings and viewed the game rather apathetically, saying, "I'm not rooting for anybody... I wanted [the Eagles] to be here." Mateescu proceeded to watch the game without enthusiasm, too disheartened even to notice the complimentary half-time cake.
16 six-foot hoagies and a couple of hours later, few but the most determined of fans were still watching the game.
Following the Patriots' dramatic victory, Patriots fan and College junior Seth Schreiberg proceeded to relentlessly noogie his friend and Rams fan Wharton junior Ethan Kay.
Schreiberg pronounced the game "the best Super Bowl ever" while Kay could merely remark between noogies that "I'm speechless and depressed."
One tireless Eagles fan did in fact stay until the end. Robert Carancel, who was at the event with friends from Penn, said "I wanted to see the Eagles... I wasn't even going to really watch the game."
But aside from a few distraught Eagles fans, SPEC Special Events Co-Director Nina Kleaveland, a College sophomore, viewed the response from students about the party as "very positive" and said she was "very satisfied with the event."
Chiew, a College senior, also pronounced the event a success, saying it was a "great turnout, more [people] than we expected."
Judging by the outcome of the Super Bowl party, one of only many events scheduled for the coming week, Chiew said "Philly Week as a whole looks good."
