Gregory College House freshmen were pleasantly surprised as they walked into their Penn Reading Project discussion group on Sunday.
All was in order: lemon bars on the side table, hallmates awkwardly huddled on couches fidgeting with their name tags and Diet Coke tabs, and a silence punctuated only by the distinct sound of small talk.
However, one detail was out of place: Malcolm Gladwell, author of this year's PRP selection, The Tipping Point, sat poised to lead the group.
Gladwell, who has written for The Washington Post and The New Yorker, joined Penn faculty and students in an hour-long discussion of his book, which concluded the events of the 14th annual PRP. University President Amy Gutmann also conducted one such session.
The book, which Gladwell's Web site describes as "an examination of the social epidemics that surround us," discusses the ways in which a trend can quickly become a widespread phenomenon.
PRP and New Student Orientation Director David Fox said The Tipping Point is "really the first nonfiction, contemporary book we have ever done. It has a different kind of appeal and generates a different kind of discussion."
The discussion began with three lectures across campus in which prominent faculty members talked about the ideas presented in the book. Based on their living assignment, freshmen either attended a lecture by School of Social Work Dean Richard Gelles, Wharton School professor of Marketing Dawn Iacobucci or Fels Institute of Government Director Lawrence Sherman.
Engineering freshman Megan Liszewski enjoyed Iacobucci's lecture, saying that Iacobucci was "friendly, fun, easy to understand," and that she "brought up some good points."
While discussion groups were as varied as their leaders, Fox expressed delight that The Tipping Point was "overwhelmingly a very good book in terms of generating discussion," and was therefore right in line with the PRP's mission.
During NSO, "where so much time is devoted to meeting friends, logistics, getting situated," Fox said, "faculty and students getting together in a small group that isn't for a classroom assignment is a wonderful way of saying that this is an intellectual community."
Wharton freshman Andrei Vallejo, who attended the discussion group led by Gladwell, was not originally excited about the PRP. However, in between getting his copy of Gladwell's book signed and posing for a group picture with the author himself, he reflected, "This was a lot better than I expected -- that is, was a lot of fun."
Past PRP selections include The Quiet American by Graham Greene, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway.
