Carnaroli discusses Penn’s dynamic evolution

In a celebration of the founding of fraternity Psi Upsilon, Penn’s Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli discussed the University’s past, present and future.

Carnaroli spoke to the fraternity on Sunday during the group’s Founders’ Day banquet. During the annual event, which commemorates the founding of the group in 1833, the fraternity hosts a guest speaker to engage both students and alumni guests in a discussion about the University’s future.

President of the Psi Upsilon Board of Trustees Matt Carter, one of three organizers, said he felt that Carnaroli was the perfect speaker for the group’s purposes.

“We want to engage our alumni not only with the fraternity but also with everything that’s happening at the University,” he said. “Craig Carnaroli is so involved in so many parts of Penn — he is a wonderful source for our alumni.”

Carnaroli noted the community’s close relationship as a driving influence for his speech.

“One of the great things about Penn is the way the administration interacts with and involves the students,” he said. “I don’t have many opportunities to speak with students directly, so I try to [take them] when they are offered.”

In his speech, Carnaroli discussed topics ranging from undergraduate housing to the impact of the economic crisis on Penn.

He focused specifically on Penn Connects — the University’s 30-year development plan to expand Penn’s campus eastward.

Among the aspects of the project Carnaroli described were tentative plans to build a college house around Hill Field and the breaking ground on Penn Park, the University’s new 24-acre recreational park beside the Schuylkill River, which is scheduled to open in 2011.

College sophomore Lambros Theofanidis said he feels that the park is a great vision for Penn.

“More green space can only be an asset,” he said “As long as the University stays committed to sustainable and environmental views in development, we’re heading in the right direction.”

Carnaroli reminded both students and alumni that the University must keep transforming.

Although construction will eventually turn Penn into a university quite unlike the one in their memories, change can “be a good thing.”

“You need to help protect what Penn is today but stay open to change,” Carnaroli proclaimed. “The University evolves, grows and is dynamic.”

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