Better make friends in the Quad

During New Student Orientation, Kunal Kandimalla wanted to party.

But he said he didn't know his way around the frat scene, and nobody bothered advertising their parties in his dorm, Kings Couty/English House.

So Kandimalla made friends in the Quadrangle, and made them fast. Even now, the College freshman says he relies on them for the weekend's party lineup.

"Most of the stuff is advertised in the Quad," he said. "No one ever comes to Kings Court/English House."

Party organizers across campus work hard to make sure freshmen learn Penn's social geography.

But those throwing the parties - groups ranging from fraternities to cultural organizations - tend to advertise only in freshman-heavy dorms, students say. And sometimes that means those outside of the Quad and Hill College House have to get creative to learn where the parties are.

"All the frats come here," said Wharton freshman and Hill resident Gavin Haladay. "My friends who live in the high rises are pissed because they have to ask me about parties."

Alpha Epsilon Pi president Gabe Kopin said his fraternity only distributed fliers for its registered Halloween party in Hill and the Quad, but that doesn't mean they are ignoring other freshmen.

The Engineering junior said the decision to not flyer in all college houses was based on an attempt to save money on printing costs.

"If we hit up enough freshmen [in Hill and the Quad] to come to our party, we figured it would be a trickle down effect," Kopin said.

Not all flyers found by Quad or Hill residents have fraternity letters on them, though. Residents say they often find flyers with just an address, time and date on them.

University policy requires advertisers to first get permission to flyer in dorms from the appropriate house deans or faculty masters.

"Dorm storming or putting any type of flyers under doors is absolutely forbidden and can lead to fines," for any organization, said Riepe House Dean Marilynne Diggs-Thompson.

But freshmen say the colorful little notices are one of the only ways they can learn the lay of the land in the beginning of freshman year.

So freshmen who aren't getting them - like Kandimalla - turn to other sources for their social news. This doesn't mean their social lives are shot, however, and not all freshmen outside the Quad and Hill feel like they're at a disadvantage.

"You can find out pretty easily from all your other friends," said Engineering freshman and Rodin resident Nechemya Kagedan. "Everybody has a lot of friends in the Quad."

Diggs-Thompson agreed, saying she didn't think residents of her house had a social edge on freshmen outside of the Quad or Hill.

"Many of [freshmen] share information just going to class," she said. "You're not missing anything by not having [a flyer] under your door."

Philadelphia event planner Deandra Briggs agreed, saying that while flyers are important to get people to any party, word-of-mouth is the best type of advertisement, especially for local events.

At this point in the year, most freshmen said they were familiar with the party scene and fraternities. They said they usually have a plan when they go out, and they already have favorite frats to hit up.

"We openly invite freshmen into our homes to party," Kopin said about AEPi. "I think people typically have a good time."

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