From sumo wrestling to mechanical bull riding, the third annual GradFest was in full swing last Saturday.
The day-long event for graduate students, organized by the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, took place at Wynn Commons and in Houston Hall. This year's GradFest featured increased contributions from the 12 graduate programs, with the "Head-2-Head" interschool competition. The winning team, the School of Arts and Sciences, will have its name engraved on a trophy.
GAPSA vice chairman Alejandro Hagan, a masters student at Wharton and the School of Social Policy and Practice, said GradFest is an important tradition because it unifies the otherwise independent graduate schools. Many grad students "feel that they are a student of their own individual school rather than Penn as a whole," Hagan said.
Anita Mastroieni, director of the Graduate Student Center, said GradFest this year attempted to bring students together by "getting the schools involved in some friendly, fun competition."
That competition featured events such as mechanical bull riding, a pie-eating contest and a poker tournament. In addition, each school had a "funshop" booth which presented the distinctive aspects of that school. Students representing the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, for instance, made ice cream with liquid nitrogen.
Interim Provost Vincent Price, who also refereed part of the mock sumo-wrestling competition, said the funshops are "both educational and very humorous."
Andrew Rennekamp, GAPSA outgoing chairman and PhD student at the Medical School, said funshops provide "quick exposure to some other work going on at the University that you wouldn't otherwise be able to see."
Buzz Leffelman, School of Design master's student, said GradFest is a "nice distraction from work," in addition to an opportunity to meet people from other schools. Leffelman rode the mechanical bull as part of the School of Design's team.
GradFest also featured booths from sponsors, including the Penn Club of New York and Bed Bath & Beyond, which Hagan said "provide value to graduate students and corporations."
"It's more of a networking event," said AT&T; retail sales consultant Chris Gilliam. "We came today to show support."
School of Dentistry student Scott Shallish said, "It's easy for us to get secluded in our own particular school. It's nice to get out and spend time with other graduate students."
