Undergraduate Assembly gears up for fall

While most Penn students build resumes or make memories during the summer months, the Undergraduate Assembly is planning for the fall semester.

Last week, the UA’s plan to install a new student lounge in the basement of 1920 Commons was confirmed by Business Services and the Office of the Executive Vice President. The lounge, which will be open until 2:00 a.m., will include group study spaces with tables, chairs and computers. Discussions reagarding food vendors remain open.

“That was really big for us, to know that already the UA in its new structure was able to approach the administration on a big ticket item and already get something confirmed,” UA president Matt Amalfitano said.

"We are currently investigating the feasibility of their proposals and will be working with the UA over the summer on this project," Vice President of Business Services Marie Witt said.

Procuring a student lounge, though it was never a guarantee, was one of the main platforms of Amalifitano’s UA presidency campaign.

“I certainly wasn’t sure it was going to happen,” Amalfitano said. “But out of all the proposals that the UA has approached the administration on, that would be one of the most feasible and one that makes the most sense, not only for students but for university administration.”

Earlier in the summer, UA representative and rising College sophomore Jon Monfred led the way in the UA’s effort to improve school spirit and integrate athletics into student life. During this year’s New Student Orientation, the Penn Reading Project picnic will be replaced by a Penn Athletics picnic on Franklin Field on Sept. 5.

“Despite how complicated NSO is, despite how difficult it is to change anything during that really tight schedule, we really wanted to make Penn Athletics a priority,” Amalfitano said. “And that’s what we did.”

The UA is also planning late-night activities during NSO — this initiative was started last year, with a focus on combining different student groups. For instance, during the late-night event at Pottruck Fitness Center various student dance groups will put on a joint performance.

“The idea is just combining disparate groups into common activities,” Amalfitano said, “so that students can really get a wide breadth of understanding of how student groups and student activities work.”

The UA’s ongoing projects for the summer also include establishing a textbook exchange website for Penn students to buy and sell textbooks to one another directly. The body is also trying to expand its New York Times readership program to include online content.

Earlier this month the UA announced the success of its initiative to remove the mandatory $30/semester landline phone fee for college houses.

“Overall this has probably been one of the most productive UA summers ever,” Amalfitano said.

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