Some are graduate students. Some are middle-aged and balding, their college days long behind them. Others are running for political office, but their T-shirts and moptop hair appear more fit for a Grateful Dead concert than the campaign trail.
When it comes to this motley crew, only one thing's for sure - Karl Swinehart and his comrades are tired of going to the polls and choosing "which rich bigot gets to represent us."
On Thursday night, Penn's newly formed chapter of the International Socialist Organization held its second meeting - with about 15 in attendance - on the ground floor of Williams Hall.
The group is trying to gain a foothold at Penn, the previous socialist group having petered out years ago.
Among those in attendance were graduate students, Philadelphia residents and Mike Rosenberg and Dave Baker - candidates for state assembly and Congress in the Green Party, with which the socialist group is allied for this fall's elections.
The new group's formation is due in part to the efforts of Swinehart, a first-year doctoral student in the Graduate School of Education.
On a campus where there are already vocal Democratic and Republican student-groups, Swinehart thought there was room for some socialism, which pushes for greater social welfare programs like universal healthcare.
So upon his arrival in Philadelphia, he worked with like-minded graduate students to revive socialist activities on Penn's campus.
It's been six or seven years since membership in Penn's last socialist student group fizzled out, Director of Student Life Fran Walker said.
Though its members say the new socialist organization is more of an activist organization than a political party, experts are quick to point out the difficulties such groups historically have had in breaking into the mainstream.
Donald Kettl, a professor in the Political Science department, said the domination of the two-party system in American politics often prevents the success of fringe groups like socialists.
"The odds are stacked against them," Kettl said.
But he added that some people, often college students, get frustrated by the two-party system and seek alternatives.
Members of this chapter of the International Socialist Organization - branches of which exist all over the country - are banking that frustration with the current political climate will lead to new recruits, especially undergraduates.
Swinehart said many people wrongly view voting as choosing the lesser of two evils.
"Even just the question of who's the lesser evil is a tragic question because it acknowledges that we can only expect to get somebody evil," Swinehart said.
And according to Swinehart, college is a time when many people first consider - or reconsider - their politics.
"University students are . at a point in their lives when they're setting aside time to think about the world, how it works and their role in it." Swinehart said.
Still, founding members of the ISO were skeptical at first as to whether Penn's environment would be conducive to socialism.
Matt Richman, a first-year doctoral student in history and a founding member of Penn's ISO chapter, said he expected Penn to be fairly conservative.
Both Swinehart and Richman said they have been pleasantly surprised by the turnout at their first meetings, but with few undergraduates on their membership roster, their work is far from over.
