On Thursday, Mehmet Oz, a Penn graduate, was confirmed by the US Senate to be the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.  The announcement on April 3 follows President and 1968 Wharton graduate Donald Trump’s November appointment of Oz, who has an MD from the Perelman School of Medicine and an MBA from Wharton in 1986, as the leader of the organization. Along party lines, Oz was approved 53-45, with two senators not voting.  CMS oversees the administration of the federal Medicare, Medicaid, and Children’s Health Insurance programs on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services. Oz will oversee a $1.5 trillion organization that offers…

In a recent piece, Ezekiel Emanuel, vice provost for global initiatives at Penn, criticized President Trump’s (1968 Wharton graduate) administration’s actions against higher education.  Penn professors David Asch and Jonathan Zimmerman, Penn Associate Vice Provost for Global Initiatives Amy Gadsden, and Dean Katharine Strunk of the Penn Graduate School of Education were among the nearly two dozen faculty members who co-signed the March 27 guest essay that was published in The New Republic. The essay was written in partnership with Princeton professor Julian Zelizer.  The piece said that Trump’s “myriad” attacks will “undercut their funding and trample their independence” and referred to the Trump administration’s efforts as “a war on…

The purpose of the group’s promoting speakers like Scanlon, according to Penn Dems Vice President and first-year college student Tejas Bhatia, told The Daily Pennsylvanian, is to help people better understand the changes coming from Washington. “I think the mission was successful because she really touched on a lot of things that students care about from issues like immigration to funding cuts,” Bhatia said. “There are things that are important, and students need to be aware of them, and we’re glad this is a space where students can learn.” Scanlon started by summarizing the events of the previous week in Pennsylvania and Congress. She then discussed the Republican-led SAVE Act,…

The UPenn Quakers women’s basketball season came to an end Friday when they lost to Columbia in the Ivy Madness semifinals.  Penn showed strong defense and cut Columbia’s lead to as few as six in the final minutes.  But Columbia proved too strong and won the game 60-54. Penn Coach Mike McLaughlin praised the defensive work of his team: “I don’t know if we could ask any more from our players.  The score was right where we neeed it to be.  Just couldn’t score enough.” Columbia coach Megan Griffith praised the Penn team as well: I thought Penn played great tonight.  Th is March, right? This is why you play. …

This article asks the question: why do so many UPenn students try to imitate one another in how they dress?  And how do questions of identity, both in terms of race and socioeconomic status,  influence their choices? The author starts by walking down Locust Street (a main drag in Philadelphia) and trying to photograph one girl wearing what might be considered typical Penn fashion of the moment: wide-leg jeans, Adidas Sambas, trench coat, and the ubiquitous Longchamp tote.  But trying to photograph one girl, she accidentally caught a photograph of three, all clad in similar outfits.  This raised the question: do the author and her cohort at Penn wear these…

Universities that permit “illegal protests” on their campuses risk losing federal money, according to a recent threat from former President Donald Trump. His warning has caused confusion and anxiety, particularly among staff and students. Trump warned that any protests deemed “illegal” could have catastrophic consequences in his statement on March 4. He specifically stated that American students participating in such rallies may be dismissed or possibly jailed, while non-citizen students could be deported or imprisoned. This statement follows Trump’s earlier order for government agencies to find and deport non-citizens participating in pro-Palestinian protests. His statement’s background is related to the growing number of protests, especially those in support of Palestinians…

Many students at the University of Pennsylvania treat their education and careers with a strong pre-professionalism focus. Students are frequently pressured by academic culture to put wealth, status, and success ahead of their own interests or values. Statistics support this focus: 75.9% of the Class of 2023 found full-time employment immediately following graduation, with average salaries of $100,000. These figures show the financial advantages of earning a Penn degree, but they also emphasize the pressure students experience to pursue a professional path that prioritizes financial gain over personal fulfillment. Graduates from Penn’s top schools—Wharton, Engineering, and the College of Arts and Sciences—usually earn the highest wages. Many graduates of these…