Minorities reach out to 2013 admits | Interactive graph

As high-school seniors make their final decisions about where to matriculate in the fall, Penn hopes that targeted outreach will sway them toward becoming Quakers.

Dean of Admissions Eric Furda explained that several minority groups on campus are reaching out on their own to prospective students.

For example, the Wharton Alliance, a Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender community in Wharton, started the "LGBT UPenn Class of 2013" Facebook group.

Wharton sophomore George Huang, the group's vice president of finance, wrote in an e-mail that the group "is open to all LGBT organizations at Penn who want to help reach out to LGBT pre-frosh."

The group lists reasons why LGBT students should matriculate, including that Penn is one of the top 20 most LGBT-friendly colleges according to The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students.

As a result of the Facebook group, Wharton Alliance was able to meet two accepted students and bring them to Monday's speaker event with Chris McCarthy, Senior Vice President of MTV Networks, which the Wharton Alliance co-sponsored with the Media and Entertainment Undergraduate Club.

Beyond the Facebook group, Wharton Alliance plans to reach new students through a "well-designed, informative Web site along with coordinating marketing during Penn Previews and during NSO so students can learn about us before coming to campus," Huang wrote.

The Latino community on campus has also been actively trying to persuade prospective Latino students to attend Penn in the fall.

The Latino Coalition and La Casa Latina have been calling potential members of the Class of 2013 separately from Admissions, according to College sophomore and Latino Coalition chairman Cristian Barrios.

"By reaching out to these students and letting them know about the different resources on campus . La Casa Latina is hopeful that they convince the students that Penn is culturally diverse and responsive to their needs," Barrios wrote in an e-mail.

He added that students are "more likely to express any hesitations they may have" to a fellow student and calling them will "hopefully help them feel more at ease about attending."

Furda noted that Admissions, with the help of current Penn students, is doing other forms of outreach, including sending handwritten notes and hosting phone-a-thons.

Wharton Alliance is doing its own outreach because "there currently is no formal school-sponsored outreach to LGBT students," Huang wrote. "For example, when a student puts their ethnicity down, Penn sends them information about relevant ethnic clubs, but there is no option for LGBT students."

He said this is the "most effective" way to increase underclassman membership and "bolster Penn's reputation as an LGBT-friendly campus."

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