It was no surprise that inviting the son of the Democratic vice presidential nominee to campus during election season would spark student interest.
So when 1991 alumnus Joseph "Beau" Biden spoke Monday as part of the College Alumni Mentoring Series, he let students know he was "happy to talk about Barack and Joe" as well as his own path to becoming attorney general of Delaware .
University administrators preceded Biden's talk with two e-mails saying he would "not address questions about the upcoming presidential election, or his father, Senator Biden's candidacy."
But politics did seep into the talk at times - sometimes by students, sometimes by Biden himself - illustrating just how much the election is on everyone's mind.
"We were afraid making this about politics would take away from the reason we had originally scheduled him," said Doug Stuart, College assistant director for Admissions and External Affairs.
"We thought it would be a perfect program [for Biden] based on his background and experience," Stuart said.
Jason Miller, a spokesman for the Delaware attorney general's office, said the University contacted Biden in early August and invited him to speak once the semester began.
He accepted the invitation on August 4th, Miller added, "before the campaign heated up and before his dad was named the vice-presidential nominee."
College Dean Dennis DeTurck said that although Penn reached out to Biden before the Democratic convention, the nomination helped draw interest in the event. After a high volume of RSVP requests compelled administrators to make the event first-come, first-serve, about 120 guests showed up.
DeTurck said audiences that size are more typical of panel programs with multiple speakers; single speakers often attract much smaller crowds.
College freshman Wendy Cai said she went because she is interested in public policy but also wanted to "learn more about [Biden's] character, because the character of the son usually reflects on the father."
Zach Friend, Philadelphia spokesman for Obama's campaign, said the campaign had no involvement in the event and he learned it was happening over the weekend.
"Family members are encouraged to tell their personal stories as they see fit and talk about issues they feel passionate about," Friend wrote in an e-mail. "We do not script our surrogates."
DeTurck said a few political questions were "inevitable" given election hype and administrators "certainly weren't going to censor anybody." But he emphasized that the talk successfully engaged students and illustrated the merits of a liberal arts education.
He added that he didn't think Biden's father's campaign influenced him to visit campus.
"On his way out, he said he wanted to be invited back after all of this is over," he said. "Just like most alums who participate, he was just happy to have a chance to reconnect with Penn."
