Guest Columns
Alessandro van den Brink | It's on us
The University of Michigan announced a new initiative last week that it intends to test next year that states that parents of any freshman in the Class of 2019 caught drinking underage on two occasions or hospitalized on one occasion will be notified of their child’s actions.
Guest column by Devan Spear | A call for collective reinvestment
Like many Penn students, I was not surprised to read in the October 12 edition of The Daily Pennsylvanian that President Gutmann’s salary has risen yet again, this time to an astounding $3,426,106.
Guest column by Halie Craig | Rape is more than a statistic
How do you tell someone that you are a rape survivor? Why is the burden of telling placed on the victim of the crime?
Guest column by Sam Murray and Afrah Mohammad | Preparing for the pope
There is no denying Pope Francis has proven to be a significant global voice, and not just for Catholics.
Guest column by Rita Wegner and Zach Rissman | The pope's ecology message
The pope is coming to Philadelphia this weekend. Some may opt to hide from the crowds inside the corner of their dorm room.
Guest column by Katiera Sordjan | Not another mental health story
I suppose I should be grateful that the conversation on campus has changed. I suppose I should be grateful that, unlike 19 year-old me sitting in a hospital full of shame, Penn students have a better chance to be heard and get the care they need when it comes to mental health.
Guest column by Kemuel Benyehudah | A nontraditional students’ guide to greater success in college
In the book "Distinction," Pierre Bourdieu defines social and cultural capital as social resources which confer power and status in society.
Guest column by Allison Schwartz | Progressing past the major bias
As a sophomore studying computer science, I am not the first person to acknowledge that the coursework of the School of Engineering and Applied Science is difficult.
PRISM: Dare to understand
Throughout the last month of the spring semester, anti-Muslim advertisements were carried throughout Philadelphia’s neighborhoods on dozens of SEPTA buses. The message they offered, “Islamic Jew Hatred: It’s in the Quran” is a false one, tailored to incite prejudice and division among viewers and the community.
A response to 34th Street’s ‘The dividing line’
A few weeks ago, 34th Street published an article detailing some aspects of cocaine use at our University. The story failed to make the connection between consumption in our own sheltered environment, and the violent drug cartels in developing countries that supply the drug.
A letter from the Vietnamese Student Association
The seniors of the Vietnamese Student Association have taken great time to collect all accounts of what happened during the VSA Barbecue on April 17 in order to create a clear timeline of events.
Guest column by Katie Sgarro | Penn senior loses grant, gains life-changing project
When my friend, Sayid Abdullaev, approached me to apply for the University of Pennsylvania’s inaugural President’s Engagement Prizes — a $100,000 grant awarded annually to Penn seniors to design and implement local, national, or global engagement projects during the first year after graduation — I hesitated.Guest Column by Dillon Weber and Aidan McConnell | Seeking engagement not divisiveness
We hoped that SOUL’s aim would be to contribute to an expansion of intellectual diversity and meaningful exchange regarding issues of race and power structures on campus and in the world around us. With the benefit of hindsight, however, we can unfortunately observe that this hope has been dashed.Guest column by Emmanuel Cordova | Undocumented medical students: Opening the doors and addressing health disparities
Granting medical school admission to undocumented students with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) like myself has the potential to alleviate the declining Latino physician workforce.
Guest column by Sara Jones and Victoria Pereira | The Fling party that never got busted
A few hours after the weekend ended and our tired bodies were flinged/flang/flung out, curious friends pelted us with the same question: "What’s Fling like for MERT?" Our answer to this question is always the same: "organized chaos." But also, as far as our positions are concerned, "you have no idea." It’s no rumor that Fling weekend is MERT’s busiest.
Guest column by Jeremiah Keenan | Flowers, cake and the RFRA
In last Tuesday’s Toe the Line, Carter Skeel argued that Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act is a reasonable law.
Guest column by Zakya Hall | Restoring the Voting Rights Act
The right to vote is sacrosanct in the United States, and the attack on voting rights is a fundamental threat to American democracy.
Guest column by Aderinola Adejare and Angela Ddamba | Disengaging with an Africa rising
Africa is a diverse continent, with a great number of political, economic and cultural strides being taken, in line with the “Africa rising” narrative.