Three Penn graduates were appointed to Biden's White House staff this week, completing the Biden-Harris transition team's endeavor to appoint 100 diverse staffers by the end of 2020. 

Philip Esformes, who orchestrated a $1 billion Medicare scheme, used proceeds to pay former Penn men's basketball coach Jerome Allen a $300,000 bribe to ensure his son's admission to Wharton.

The University announced it will extend the pass/fail grading policy for undergraduates to the spring 2021 semester, as it prepares for undergraduates to live in on-campus housing and resume more in-person activities. 

The early decision acceptance rate for the Class of 2025 marks a 4.7 percentage point decrease from last year. This year, 7,962 students applied through the University's early decision program, a 23% increase from last year's 6,453 applicants.

Let’s put our money where our mouth is and make capitalism sustainable.

Outside of the craziness of 2020, a number of Penn teams also went through coaching changes this year. Here's a recap of which coaches left the Red and Blue and who replaced them.

2020 is a critical year, one where even in the absence of Ivy League sports, Penn athletes used their platforms to raise awareness of the Black Lives Matter movement and ongoing issues of racial injustice and police brutality.

On March 12, the Ivy League became the first major athletic conference to cancel its spring sports. Though Penn's athletic teams hoped to take their seasons a bit further into the playoffs, both Penn basketball teams wound up having to be satisfied with just clinching spots in the Ivy League tournament.

Krajewski defeated three opponents in the June Democratic primary election. His campaign's three priorities are to enact progressive state healthcare and criminal justice reform, connect underprivileged Philadelphians with essential government services, and provide relief for small businesses and workers. 

Although the University decided last minute no longer to bring undergraduate students back to campus in the fall, Penn Law opened its doors to approximately 550 students of its estimated 751-person class for in-person learning through Nov. 25, when classes ended for the semester.

The bill offers financial relief to non-chain restaurants that have seen at least a 50% drop in revenue since the start of the pandemic and are currently operating with under 100 employees.

The Daily Pennsylvanian spoke to more than a dozen nurses, doctors, and clinical students who work across Penn Medicine’s hospital system. While Penn undergraduates enjoyed virtually unlimited access to COVID-19 testing this semester, some health care workers continue to be denied COVID-19 tests.

University officials said they are aware of the reports of forced labor and are waiting for the results of a full investigation to find out the details of the alleged violations. 

Penn and the Olympics have had a long and storied relationship. Since the start of the Olympics in 1900 in Paris, Penn seized every opportunity to send many of its star athletes to compete for their country.

March 10, 2020 was a fateful day for Ivy League athletes, and, as we would later find out, an omen of things to come not only for the sports world, but the planet as a whole. 

2020 has tested each of us, forcing us to build a strong will and resilient spirit. Don't lose that in 2021.

The problems from this calendar year won't go away on Jan. 1, 2021. But better days are ahead.