Building the Penn community at NSO

An energized Class of 2028 gathered at The Palestra on Thursday, Aug. 22, for New Student Orientation's "Building the Penn Community" event, where first-year students learned about civic engagement resources at Penn, cultural centers, and engaged with talks from faculty, staff, and students about dialogue across differences.

The mid-afternoon program was part of Penn Spirit Day, which earlier in the day introduced students to co-curricular opportunities and a variety of resources, including College Houses & Academic Services, Wellness at Penn, Penn Athletics, and safety tips and tools from the Division of Public Safety and other services on campus involved in safe and healthy living. Participants in the "Building the Penn Community" program included the Netter Center for Community Partnerships, Civic House, the SNF Paideia Program at Penn, Restorative Practices @ Penn, Penn Traditions, Penn Hillel, the Muslim Students' Association, the University's four undergraduate deans, the Office of the Chaplain, and Diversity, Inclusion, & Belonging at Penn.

After brief remarks from Penn's undergraduate deans, SNF Paideia Program Faculty Director Sigal Ben-Porath presented about the program and asked students to engage in a dialogue exercise in which they spoke with fellow students seated next to them. SNF Paideia Student Fellows from the Political Empathy Lab offered strategies for connection: establishing common ground, easing into conversation through humility, and showing signs of active listening. Student leaders and directors from the Netter Center and Civic House then followed with information about getting involved with projects that engage with the West Philadelphia community, while asking first-years to consider what it means to be a neighbor and a Philadelphian for their four years at Penn.

University Chaplain and Vice President for Social Equity & Community Charles "Chaz" Howard spoke about the joy of making best friends and even meeting his wife at Penn. He then reiterated that "hate has no home at Penn."

"Hate has no home here at this University. ... Connected to that, expressing hatred via violence, hostility, or discrimination, for any reason," Howard continued, "is not acceptable in the Penn community. We are better than that."

He asked students to let their time at Penn be fueled by love, and to be reminded of that when they walk by the "LOVE" sculpture on College Green.

Pablo Miguel Cerdera, deputy director of Restorative Practices @ Penn, spoke about creating a "culture across campus that is a restorative culture, one where we can promote accountability, healing, and positive community building." They asked the audience to bring the space to a moment of quiet to center themselves and be present, leading an otherwise buzzing Palestra to a pin-drop silence. They ended by asking students to think about accountability.

"Accountability is not a dirty word; accountability is the foundation from which we can build strong relationships and healthy communities," they said. "Accountability is a way for you to exercise your agency, to live into your values, and show up in our relationships and communities in the way you want to. Each and every one of us is going to do stuff that we regret, each one of us will make mistakes, each one of us is going to learn and grow as people.

"If you remember one thing, accountability is an opportunity, it's a gift, and a chance to live into our values."

Elise Betz, senior executive director of Alumni Relations, noted Penn's global alumni network of 300,000 people and asked them to imagine their five-year reunion in 2033-the long tail of their time at Penn.

"You are a member of this community for life," Betz emphasized. "Forever. Think about this: We just had reunions in May, where we had people come back for their 75th reunion. They were 96 years old and were on this campus."

Reflecting on the event, Fox spoke of it as a point of beginnings for first-years' time at Penn.

"For first-years who are just beginning their journey at Penn, this was a chance to familiarize themselves with the many broad and deep resources across campus and hear from seasoned faculty, staff, and students about what it means to engage with diverse perspectives and build lasting community," says Fox. "We hope this has been a jump-off point for meaningful collaborations and partnerships the students will have with the invaluable programs and centers showcased today."