Guest Columns

Guest Column by Tommy Seaman | Nutrition education matters for Nursing students

Nurses have a responsibility to understand what proper nutrition means and how to impart this knowledge to their patients.

Guest Column by nine Helix Prize recipients | Penn’s Biochemistry Seminar Program empowers women

For these reasons, and from our own experiences, we see the opportunity provided by the Biological Chemistry Seminar Coordinator position to be one that allows for both personal and professional growth, particularly for women, rather than one that is merely administrative.

Guest Column by Michael Nevett | Announcing March for Our Lives’ Pennsylvania Peace Plan

At a press conference in Huntsman Hall on Feb. 13, I, alongside Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, announced March for Our Lives’ Pennsylvania Peace Plan.

Guest Column by James Nycz | We don’t need a Trader Joe’s shuttle

This project reflects a well-intentioned effort from the UA to respond to student needs and increase campus wellness. However, this shuttle service is not the best way to accomplish these goals.

Guest Column by Jackson Maxwell | The problem with Penn's Wellness Programming

In order to be impactful, wellness measures must be adapted to fit within students’ existing incentive structures, and that means integrating them within students’ existing commitments.

Guest Column by Corey Paredes and Chris Schiller | Penn students, reject the false promises of Bernie Sanders

The issues that Bernie Sanders speaks to reflect important contemporary challenges, but his heavy-handed government solutions would further bankrupt the nation and dim opportunity for those who need it most. 

Guest Column by Erika Gustafson | Penn’s biochemistry awards contribute to gender inequality

In academia, women first experience this culture of differentiating tasks between men and women within the classroom, originating in the way professors view and treat their students.

Guest Column by Borna Saeednia | Penn must give Election Day the recognition it deserves

Penn students have the potential to play a significant role in the fate of the state of Pennsylvania and the nation as a whole, and we should help unleash this potential. 

Guest Column by Arianna Acevedo-Ithier | Homan shouldn't have been invited back to Penn

As former ICE director Homan stated during his talk, “walls work,” especially here at Penn when members of the University actively kept us out.

Guest Column by Naveen Albert | Penn must not remove call box telephones

Suggesting that Penn remove the very little public communications infrastructure it has left completely ignores the people who rely on it. 

Guest Column by 2020 Class President Karim El Sewedy | Dear Penn Seniors

No, I don’t mean getting lost going to class or stumbling into the Quad at 4am. In fact, I’m not talking about who you actually were as a first-year student at all. I’m talking about the spirit of the collective experience.

Guest Column by Harrison Selznick | Let Thomas Homan speak

As a qualified, relevant expert in a pressing policy area, Homan deserves the chance to be heard.

Guest Column by Francois Barrilleaux | Soleimani killing as senseless as voting for Republicans in 2020

Yes, Soleimani was a terrible individual who deserved what he got, but killing Soleimani has put American troops at greater risk by moving the United States and Iran closer to war, dramatically destabilizing the region, and doing enormous damage to United States-Iranian relations.

Guest Column by Suvir Kaul, Apurva Bamezai, and Bindu Doddahatti | Don't ignore anti-Muslim discrimination in India

We highlight these attacks on students and faculty to remind us all that these universities are being targeted precisely because they are institutions devoted to critical thinking and the exercise of reason.

Guest Column by Sean Bender and Rebecca Wallace | On transgender rights, where does Penn really stand?

To President Gutmann and the general counsel’s office: You still have time to fix this.

Guest Column by seven Penn faculty members | We support student climate change action

While not all of us agree on every tactic the students may employ, we as faculty urge our colleagues and University administrators to hear them out, engage them constructively, and take much bolder action.

Guest Column by Elliot Bones | Penn students have a responsibility to pursue sustainable careers

I am suggesting that everyone commit themselves to build a just and sustainable society, whether that’s through becoming a teacher, civil rights lawyer, therapist, an environmental engineer, a regenerative farmer, or any of the many jobs that are essential to creating a society founded on justice and sustainability.

Guest Column by Alex Yang | Criticize the principles, not the people

Are we a community that, despite how much we may disagree, will at least show a classmate basic respect for putting their thoughts out onto a public forum? Or are we a community that will destroy and belittle someone over a mistake? 

Guest Column by Sabrina Ochoa | Legacy students, we have a responsibility

Legacy students, don’t hide your legacy status. Instead, acknowledge the privilege you hold in a faux-meritocratic system, speak out against it, and support others who share their struggles with the system. 

Guest Column by Oliver Stern | Stop attacking those you disagree with

A successful campus and democracy rely on healthy public debate. As a community, we must ensure that our discourse is grounded in challenging the perspectives of others and our own rather than cheaply personal shots.