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Saturday, April 18, 2026
The Daily Pennsylvanian

While some may follow Penn’s lead and assume that since both contain the word “Africa” they must be similar enough to simply be merged into one, this thinking is unfounded and wrong. This oversimplified reasoning serves as yet another example of the suppression and the overgeneralization of black voices in the world, and within our own University.

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.

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By Victoria Ford · April 28, 2015

“No other group in America has so had their identity socialized out of existence as have black women... When black people are talked about the focus tends to be on black men; and when women are talked about the focus tends to be on white women.” ? bell hooks Quiet as it’s kept, the denial to protect the black woman in this country belongs to a long American tradition from which this University is not exempt.

The cost of any potentially offensive joke can be redeemed if they’re clever enough — so much so that the audience recognizes the intention and structure is to be funny, and not that its choice of topic matter is inherently funny. In the case of Trevor Noah, he comes off as reckless.


The cost of any potentially offensive joke can be redeemed if they’re clever enough — so much so that the audience recognizes the intention and structure is to be funny, and not that its choice of topic matter is inherently funny. In the case of Trevor Noah, he comes off as reckless.


DP Editorial thumbnail

While some may follow Penn’s lead and assume that since both contain the word “Africa” they must be similar enough to simply be merged into one, this thinking is unfounded and wrong. This oversimplified reasoning serves as yet another example of the suppression and the overgeneralization of black voices in the world, and within our own University.


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.


DP Editorial thumbnail

Change in an institution as old and large as Penn does not always come quickly, but it does come. The University should be working to ensure LPS stays competitive for nontraditional students, which to date it has done a commendable job on.




Over the past few days, I’ve tried to explain Fling to my friends back home. “It’s a carnival,” I tried to tell them. “It’s a few days to just relax.” In our work-hard, play-hard environment, Fling means the chance to take a break from Penn, but also to epitomize our dear University.




Thinking about cultural appropriation as it affects my life brings up more questions than I expected. It is a complex topic because of the way it has been handled and regarded over time, and how it has impacted the lives of marginalized minority communities.





In a piece in The New Republic, Bryce Covert anticipates that interim CEO of Reddit Ellen Pao’s judicially unsuccessful gender discrimination lawsuit — waged against her former employer Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers — may still constitute an opportunity to take a step forward in mitigating gender discrimination in the United States.



DP Reporters and Editors Meeting with Amy Gutmann

Travel doesn’t necessarily broaden the mind. It’s possible to live in another country for a few months without learning much of anything. A group of American friends and a Eurotrip mentality is all it takes to extend the “Penn bubble” to a different continent.