Ana West

Once the act gets dropped, maybe we can make space for an open dialogue about the deep divisions that are clearly present in our community — I think it’ll be better without that pretense. 

Renting a house or apartment for the first time is a milestone in the transition to adulthood, and as exciting as it can be, the decidedly adult responsibilities and obligations that come with it can make even the most assertive people feel intimidated and ill-prepared.

My experience was a Christian one, but I think this can happen in any religion, and I think the result is almost always the same.

Seek out the help that is there for you.

The list of responsibilities that RAs are expected to take on is long and demanding, especially given the fact that they — like the residents they serve — are students. 

During our time at Penn, just about all of us will experience assault personally or have it happen to someone that we care about. In light of that, far too few of us will be equipped to respond to it.

Penn students don’t just feel disconnected from the UA because they don’t care — they feel disconnected because it’s frustrating to have the issues and concerns facing them discussed for the sake of gaining votes, and then ignored again.

When I came to Penn, I saw explicitly inclusive congregations and met accepting faith leaders for the first time, and it made me genuinely optimistic for the future of the Christian church. But there is a massive amount of progress that needs to be made — and recently, some of that progress has been reversed.

Admitting that we feel alone can be scary, but we absolutely have to.

The second best time to hold people like Northam accountable is right now, while we have the chance.