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(09/06/90 9:00am)
Replacing Dolly Parton with the Dalai Lama, 250th anniversary festivities planners are hoping to keep the spirit of May's Peak Week alive well into the fall. The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, will speak at Irvine Auditorium September 22, joining the impressive list of luminaries who have descended on the University during its year-long celebration. And kicking off the list of activities slated for the fall is a September 15 party planned by the 250th Student Committee entitled the Quarter Millenium Celebratory Jam. According to coordinator Dan Singer, the party will feature live music from a local band, deejayed music and free food. However neither the 250th champagne in the collector's bottles nor Benjamin Franklin impersonator Ralph Archbold will be in attendance, Singer said. Singer said he expects about 5000 students, administrators and "funkier faculty" members to attend the fete. The party will be on College Green from 9:30 p.m. until 1:30 a.m. Singer said the party is the largest venture by the 250th Student Committee, who also sponsored student life exchanges during Peak Week last May. The committee was formed to increase student participation in planning 250th festivities. The administration funded the student committee with a grant in January, but coordinators and committee members declined to comment on the cost of the party. 250th Student Committee Chairperson Steve Mendes said yesterday that the cost of some other Peak Week events far outweighed the party's estimated price. "It's entirely worth it," Mendes said. "The students deserve it . . . It's time for the students to enjoy something like this." 250th Anniversary Director Clare Wofford said the fall celebration has the advantage of basking in the "warm glow" left by Peak Week activities, but is free from the "intense pressure" of the week. Wofford said many other activities are planned for the fall semester, including symposiums and a poetry reading by Oregon Symphony Orchestra conductor and 1958 Wharton graduate James DePreist, prior to guest conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra. Festivities will conclude with a Gala Holiday Party in early December before final examinations.
(04/18/90 9:00am)
First lady Barbara Bush and actor Bill Cosby are two of 11 luminaries who will receive honorary degrees from the University at the May 14 Commencement exercises. Bush, who will deliver the Commencement address to the nearly 5000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students receiving degrees, serves as honorary chairperson of several literacy organizations as well as chairs her own organization, the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. Cosby is the star of The Cosby Show and author of three books. He is a Philadelphia native. The other degree recipients will be: · Nobel Prize winner Baruch Blumberg, who identified the virus responsible for hepatitis-B and is currently a University Professor of Medicine and Anthropology. · University Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Professor Raymond Davis, known for his neutrino research · Mathematician Izrail Moiseevich Gel'fand · Primatologist Jane Goodall · Former Surgeon General and former Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Surgeon-in-Chief C. Everett Koop · Sony Corporation Chairperson and founder Akio Morita · Botanist Sir David Smith, who heads the University of Edinburgh · Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Faye Wattleton · Soviet economist Tatyana Zaskavskya, who directs the All-Union Center for Public Opinion Research on Soviet and Economic Problems. The Trustees Honorary Degrees Committee makes the final selections for the awards. The Trustees may add to a list of recommendations submitted by a University Council committee. This year's final list includes three minority members and four women. Students and faculty members have criticized the honorary degree selection in the past for not including a sufficient number of minorities and women. Mathematics Professor Peter Freyd, chairperson of the Council committee, said last night that he believes that "each choice individually is a fine choice," but added that he "could imagine someone objecting to the list as a whole." Freyd criticized the honorary degree process, saying the Trustees hold too much power over the final decisions. The Mathematics professor also said that a trend has emerged over the past several years in which fewer than one-half of honorary degree recipients come through the academic process. He added that a large number of Charter Trustees have received honorary degrees during their terms. Freyd said that members of the Council committee feel that the degree process needs review, adding that he thinks the Trustees and Council committees should make the selections jointly. "I am thinking there better be a very intense discussion in summer," Freyd said. "There's the strong feeling that this distinction [between the committees] should not even exist in the future . . . It needs to be a joint process." The Mathematics professor also said that this year, the Trustees made the final decisions in a one-hour conference phone call. Faculty Senate Chairperson Robert Davies last night declined to comment on this year's selections, saying that he did not consider it appropriate to discuss the recipients, but added that he sees "good reasons why each one of them deserve the degree." Davies added that he believes there needs to be discussion of the selection process, saying that "several faculty members have expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the way honorary degrees have been selected at this University and feel changes are necessary." Graduate Student Associations Council Chairperson Elizabeth Hunt, who served on the Council committee, said last night that the process needs to be reviewed, adding that the selection of recipients at times appeared to be a matter of resumes.
(04/17/90 9:00am)
The administration's announcement that first lady Barbara Bush will speak at the May 14 Commencement elicited mixed student reaction -- ranging from sharp criticism to indifference. Bush, who will address the approximately 5000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students receiving degrees, is noted for her work as an advocate of increasing literacy. She serves as the honorary chairperson of several national literacy organizations and chairs her own group, the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. Assistant to the President William Epstein said Sunday that Bush was the University's first choice for Commencement speaker. But several University students said they were disappointed with the choice of Bush, saying that although she is not a "bad choice," they would have preferred a more "prestigious" speaker. Neufeld added that he would have preferred Ivy Day speaker and former Philadelphia 76er Julius Erving, also known as "Dr. J.," to be this year's Commencement speaker. "Not only would he have been great because he's been very successful, but because Penn has been perceived as separate from the rest of the community," Neufeld said. "It would have been a good chance for the University to make a step towards playing a broader role in the city and in being a city leader." College senior Jordan Bernstein said yesterday that he was "a little disappointed" that the University had named Bush as this year's speaker. "I don't think she's known for her dynamic speaking abilities," Bernstein said. "I think the University was trying to get a big name. They got a name, but it's just the wrong name." And Engineering senior Mark Onufrak said that he would prefer that a distinguished University alumnus speak at Commencement. He added that although Bush has been involved in several activities, "so has every first lady." "If you had a female speaker who got to be where she was because of what she did rather than because she's the wife of the President, it would be better in terms of a role model," Onufrak said. Bush has also agreed to speak at Wellesley College's June commencement excercises, and students there petitioned against her selection. According to Wellesley News Editor-in-Chief Angie Garling, approximately 150 of the school's 2200 students signed the statement. "To honor Mrs. Bush as a commencement speaker is to honor a woman who has gained recognition through the achievements of her husband, which contradicts what we have been taught over [our] years at Wellesley," the petition reads. "She does not exemplify the qualities that Wellesley seeks to instill in us." Garling said that writer Alice Walker was initially scheduled to speak, but cancelled due to personal reasons. But several students voiced support for the University's decision, saying that Bush's personal qualities and contributions to literacy as well as her gender make her an "excellent choice." College senior Julie Phillips said yesterday that she is especially happy that this year's selection was a woman, adding that she expects Bush to appeal to the students and family members. "She seems to be a very nice, warm person," Phillips said. "I will be interested in what she has to say." Medical student Colleen Cooke, who will receive her degree at the Commencement ceremonies, said yesterday that she also greatly supports the decision, adding that "she's a celebrity and will probably have interesting things to say." Many other students said they were indifferent to the selection of Bush as this year's Commencement speaker. College senior Lisa Ortiz said yesterday that she does not think many people are concerned with the choice. "All we care about is graduating," Ortiz said. "I was kind of hoping we could get someone non-conservative, non-Republican, non-political -- except Gorbachev -- but I guess Brown [University] already got him." And College senior Cheryl Denenberg said that she has mixed feelings about the selection. "She's a wonderful lady, and she has many good viewpoints, but so does my grandmother, who happens not to be married to George Bush," Denenberg said.
