In the past couple of weeks, a lot of events took a toll on the Penn community. First, there were the election results which left many students devastated. In addition, a few days after this already difficult time, many of the African American freshmen were verbally attacked via GroupMe by an Oklahoma student. These back-to-back events left many students feeling not only insecure but also distracted. The nation was in uproar due to the election and many minorities were receiving hateful comments. How could Penn expect students to be able to focus academically when they were going through a rough time both emotionally and mentally?
Well, Penn came through when we needed it to the most. With the turn of these events, I saw the Penn Community and Faculty unite for the best intentions of the students. I received blasts of e-mails from not only MAKUU, SPARC, and GA/RAs but also from Professors, TAs, and Department Heads. I felt touched with professors understanding the importance of the election on the students and the fear instilled due to the messages. This led to midterms and grade distributions being changed due the discretion of the professors. The professors were trying to work with the students because they understood that these external influences could negatively impact our performance. Cultural groups, Religious groups, and Residential Houses created safe spaces which made many students feel at home to express their concern. The efforts and messages that we received from not only President Gutman but also Faculty members in classes made us see that Penn not only rebuked such behavior but also cared for the best of its students. If you are ever needing to talk to someone during those rough times many faculty members are willing to listen as well as CAPS.