Last night, the junior class president pledged to keep students informed about the fate of Hey Day as student leaders met for the fourth annual State of the School event.
Over 100 members of the six branches of student government gathered in College Hall for humorous, but informative, presentations from the heads of each branch.
Informing the student body and holding student government accountable to the student body were listed among the event's goals.
Few outside of student government, however, showed up to do the accounting.
All four class board presidents gave presentations, and the chairmen of each of the other five branches of student government gave speeches outlining past accomplishments and future goals.
The evening was lighthearted. Many laughs came over joke photographs of student leaders.
Puneet Singh, president of junior class, turned his presentation into a rendition of The Colbert Report, flashing on-screen images contradicting what he was saying.
Serious information was presented, however.
Singh said that the class board has been busy working with administrators to preserve Hey Day, the annual junior-class tradition that administrators say has been jeopardized by student behavior.
"Our main goal is to keep things transparent," he said, citing the two open forums held on the event.
Gabe Kopin, chairman of the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education, presented several of SCUE's projects.
"The Penn Course Review editorial board will be writing qualitative course reviews based on student comments," Kopin said. In addition, "we're working on getting class syllabi online."
He also expressed hope for a central database of syllabi and reviews to streamline registration.
To great applause, Brett Thalmann, chairman of the Undergraduate Assembly, listed the Ruckus music service and an airport shuttle among the Undergraduate Assembly's accomplishments.
He also said fixing the drainage issues that flood Locust Walk during rain storms was a goal.
Matt Klapper, president of the Class of 2005 and now a policy adviser to the mayor of Newark, N.J., gave the keynote presentation.
"There's always someone to serve when you're granted a position of responsibility," he said.
College freshman and first-semester UA member Lucia Liu said the State of the School helps student government groups to cooperate.
"It's like an update for all the branches," she said.
