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Benjamin McAvoy-Bickford | Dragons and Owls and Quakers, oh my!

(04/26/23 10:51pm)

A chasm runs along Walnut Street. On one side lies our own august institution, the University of Pennsylvania, proud home of the Quakers (who weren’t actually mostly Quakers). On the other side, separated by the seemingly impassable moat of 34th Street, lies a mysterious academic institution called Drexel, where there are supposedly dragons. And that’s not to mention the even more mysterious Temple.





Benjamin McAvoy-Bickford | Being social without socials

(04/12/23 3:46am)

To all the high schoolers who are scorning smartphones, deleting social media, and calling themselves “Luddites”: welcome to college. Best of luck in keeping that up, but there are obstacles ahead. Social media apps, particularly the ever-popular Instagram, are part and parcel of the college experience, and it requires significant conscious effort to eschew social media here.




Benjamin McAvoy-Bickford | In Praise of Quechua Minors and Chichewa Certificates

(03/20/23 4:45pm)

With the coming of spring, class registration is coming also. Students stare puzzledly at the “Submit Registration” button on Path@Penn, wondering why there’s no confirmation that it was successful. Later, Penn Course Alerts ding as students frantically try to free themselves from waitlists. But still, in the depths of Path@Penn sit the most unusual language classes Penn can offer, with only a few students apiece.




Benjamin McAvoy-Bickford | What’s the value of a Penn education? We don’t know.

(02/17/23 5:49pm)

 Making serious amounts of money after graduation is a typical goal at Penn. It’s the answer to “Why are you interested in that class?”, “What do you plan to do after college?” and, most of all, “Why did you come to Penn?” Unfortunately for all these students looking for a life of riches, they can’t expect much support from economists for this belief, despite how it is taken for granted in the halls of this institution.



Benjamin McAvoy-Bickford | Students like Charlie Javice want Penn. Penn wants students like Charlie Javice.

(02/02/23 3:13am)

If you’ve already forgotten who Charlie Javice is, you shouldn’t worry too much. The college microfinance pioneer, turned FAFSA entrepreneur, turned managing director of JPMorgan, had quite the fall from grace last month. However, she can hardly bring more infamy upon her alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, than household-name alumni like Donald Trump and Elon Musk.






In Photos: 20 hours of Election Day in Philadelphia and at Penn

(11/09/22 7:49am)

Americans across the country turned out for the midterm elections yesterday, and the Penn community was no exception. 1,931 ballots were cast at two voting locations on campus, Houston Hall and ARCH, with students voting as early as 7 a.m. Pennsylvania Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro was declared the winner by CNN at 11:22 p.m., and while Lt. Gov. John Fetterman had a longer wait, he was eventually declared the winner of the Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race over 1986 Wharton and Medical School graduate Mehmet Oz by MSNBC at 12:53 a.m. on Nov. 9.