One last hurrah for Penn seniors

For seniors, February marks the start of their last round of midterms, their last Super Bowl to watch at Penn and Feb Club, a month-long celebration for seniors to attend events together across Philadelphia.

"It's geared toward giving seniors a better perspective of Philly as a whole in their last few months," College senior and class president Puneet Singh said.

Organized by the Senior class board, Feb Club consists of one or more events every day for the entire month.

The festivities will kick off tonight and wrap up on the last day of February at Smokey Joe's on 40th and Walnut streets.

The events include everything from the Clash of the Classes competition at the Penn vs. Brown basketball game to a Penn performance of The Vagina Monologues.

In a departure from past years, the board has planned more than one event for several days, leading to the highest number of events this year since the annual tradition caught on in 2003.

As such, Feb Club will usher in a number of new, more diverse events, including cultural visits to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the National Constitution Center.

2008 is also special in another way: it is a leap year. And that means one extra day - and a "surprise event" planned for the 28th.

Though students still need to pay some fees associated with events, many will be subsidized by the board.

"We're in the last semester, and it's a really unique opportunity for seniors to . connect with seniors they already know and . meet new people," Singh said.

For some seniors, Feb Club is not to be taken lightly.

"Every night for an entire month is crazy and very time consuming," Wharton senior David Wernert said. "Seniors that have particularly terminal cases of senioritis will probably really take advantage of it and will try to go every single night."

And to mark their participation, seniors will receive a stamp for each event they attend. Those who attend a majority of events will be rewarded with prizes, including a Class of 2008 shot glass and raffles for gift certificates to various restaurants and bars across Philadelphia. Seniors who attend a total of 29 events will be etched into history with their names engraved on a plaque at Smoke's.

Turnout in past years has averaged between 100 and 200 students per event.

"The first and last events of the month are very nostalgic, but I'm also looking forward to pretty much everything," Singh said. "I haven't been to the Penn museum since freshman year."

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