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Over 60 years ago, Albert Camus published “The Fall”, his final work of fiction. The text chronicles the existential questioning of one character, Jean-Baptiste Clamence, whose monologues include the quote, “People hasten to judge in order not to be judged themselves.” Nowhere is this more relevant than on Penn’s campus in 2022.
As my time at Penn inches closer to the end, cliché though it may be, I find myself reflecting on my time here. I opened my acceptance to Penn in March 2018, excited at the prospect of attending such an awesome school and truly naïve as to what lay ahead. My whole family of six crammed into my tiny Riepe dorm room for move-in with boxes of books and clothes in tow. I remember the feeling as if it were yesterday.
On Monday, Penn’s undergraduate deans released a joint advisory statement recommending that students think “very carefully” before deciding to take general requirement or major courses pass/fail in the spring 2021 semester. They reminded us that Penn is “in the minority” in offering a requirement-satisfying pass/fail option and that choosing to pass/fail courses may result in a “lack of documentation of compelling academic achievement” thereby “compromising future applications to jobs, professional schools, and graduate schools.” Thus, the deans of all four undergraduate colleges “strongly advise” that students only choose to pass/fail these courses under “extenuating circumstances.”
A few weeks ago I had a conversation with a prospective Penn student, which gave me pause for thought. Telling me why he was interested in Penn, he spoke to Penn’s drive for social impact, thirst for learning, and love of challenge. As a fully matriculated Penn student in the midst of a soul-crushing, pandemic-ridden semester, I was jarred by his view of Penn. To be honest, it has been a struggle for me to view my Penn experience very positively this year, and I know I am not alone in this. For many of us, no matter how many years out from writing those impassioned 300-word supplemental essays we are, it is easy to forget what brought us here in the first place.
As the COVID-19 death toll climbs past 225,000, it can be hard to find hope. We remain quarantined with an unknown future, resigned to watching our President make a mockery out of our politics, our morals, and our country. The heavy emotional toll of 2020 cries out for religion to be a source of hope, motivation, and spiritual peace. But instead, ours is a society in which religion has been abused and manipulated to rationalize the irrational.
As states all around the United States reach new COVID-19 case highs and as many continue to ignore signs of new outbreaks, Penn’s decision to bring all students back to campus is both exciting and concerning. While students and professors may prefer an in-person experience, the rising concerns about COVID-19’s spread must be addressed. In Penn’s email to the student body, they outlined their plan to ensure students follow all social distancing and protective guidelines to limit the spread of COVID-19 on campus. Referred to as the “Student Campus Compact,” Penn’s health experts call it a “series of expectations for student behavior.”
After the University added 300 seats to summer course registration in order to accommodate a 70% increase in enrollment, it became clear that Penn’s summer courses are serving as a replacement for lost summer jobs or internships and helping to mollify those suffering from a seemingly never-ending quarantine. Yet, in spite of the unique circumstances of the pandemic, Vice Dean for Professional and Liberal Education, Nora Lewis, has maintained that the cost of each summer course unit will not change because the "value of a Penn course unit is the same whether the course is delivered on campus, online, or in a hybrid format."
I am a voter, worried about the current trajectory of America, and I am increasingly frustrated by vows from my peers to either abstain from voting or to write-in a candidate. Whether it’s because their candidate dropped out or because they are appalled by Biden’s platform or moral standing, many refuse to even acknowledge former Vice President Joe Biden as the presumptive nominee.
A few weeks ago, Penn’s student body was thrown into a tailspin over an email sent by Penn professor, Max Mintz, speculating that classes would be taught online for the fall 2020 semester due to coronavirus concerns. While the university was swift in shutting down any speculation about the fall semester, we cannot afford to ignore the questions raised by Mintz’s email. COVID-19 has ushered in a level of global destruction never before seen. It would be naïve of us to act as though the questions raised in Professor Mintz’s email are irrelevant, or that they bear no weight on our future plans. They do.
It’s hard to watch the Democratic debates and not feel like America has lost her way. The absence of an American pandemic team. The incessant infighting among Democratic candidates. Continued talk about Russian interference in our elections. Chaos in the office of the Director of National Intelligence.
On Dec. 18th, Wharton graduate Donald Trump became the third president in United States history to be impeached by the House of Representatives. Though his defense team rested their case earlier this week, his fate remains up in the air as the Senate debates whether to allow witness testimony in his trial. Admittedly, some of the impeachment proceedings have been surprising; but for the most part, the information brought to light by the process feels like old news. As a society, we have grown so accustomed to the lies and deceit of this president that the actions which prompted impeachment may seem like more of his typical unethical and immoral behavior. However, now is not the time to sit back in indifference. As students at the president's alma mater, we are in the unique position to control how we will be remembered at Penn, whether it will be associated with corruption, manipulation, and abuse of power or with a commitment to social activism, diversity of thought, and a respect for all people no matter their identities. Now is the time to reflect on who we are as a university and how we wish to be seen. Most importantly, we should take this as an opportunity to reemphasize our values as a community.
My mom graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1988. Her love for Penn is the reason why I had Penn sweatshirts before I could walk, why she would drag us to TEDxPenn every year, and why getting into Penn was one of the most exciting moments of my life.