This week, it was all about winning championship titles, saving Penn traditions and coming together as a community to reflect on the tragedy at Virginia Tech.
After Sphinx witnessed a great victory over Princeton earlier in the week, the Women's Lacrosse team went on to
complete a perfect season by beating Brown 12-4 on Saturday.
Sarah Waxman and Emily Szelest split time in goal, with Waxman picking up her 13th win. Szelest, despite playing only 9:30, was outstanding, making three saves and allowing a goal in that span to preserve the game.
In other sports news,
Penn Crew came third on Saturday at the Award Plaque at Lake Carnegie. Way to go Catie!
With the last day of classes came the 76-year tradition known as Hey Day and Sphinges were ready to see how their year-long
efforts to change the culture of Hey Day would turn out:
Wharton senior and class president Andrew Kaplan said over 550 seniors have signed a pledge not to throw non-approved items - like eggs, ketchup and mustard - this afternoon at juniors walking down Locust Walk.
This activity, often labeled as hazing, has recently put the 76 year-old tradition in jeopardy.
So, as part of a campuswide effort to make sure Hey Day doesn't go anywhere, student government officials have been working tirelessly to promote a safer Hey Day.
Student leadership has done "a fabulous job collaborating for change," Vice Provost of University Life Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum said.
And the initial media reports on Hey Day were relatively positive with the Philly Inquirer going with the headline:
Penn's Junior Day cleans up - a bit It wasn't clean. It wasn't dry. And it certainly wasn't ketchup-free, as University of Pennsylvania officials and student government leaders had hoped.
But yesterday's raucous junior class procession through campus, known as "Hey Day," wasn't nearly as gooey as in years past.
Senior class president Andrew Kaplan, who helped devise and push the new rules, said he thought the vast majority had abided by them.
"It was very celebratory as opposed to a hazing atmosphere," he said.
On Thursday evening, Sphinx was out in force at the
student-led Candlelight Vigil:
The candelight vigil, organized by 21 student groups, featured remarks by University President Amy Gutmann, Vice Provost of University Life Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum and associate chaplain Charles Howard.
College senior Raffi Cohn, who was at the vigil, said the event played an important role in the healing process.
"I was amazed at how many students showed up," he said. "Everyone just feels helpless and it's really scary. But by so many people coming together, it kind of lets you know that you're not the only one who's thinking that."
In addition to the honorary Sphinges who spoke, Ezra, Mana and Brett all spoke to the huge crowd that had gathered on College Green. The DP, low-balled the attendance at 200, but anyone who was there knows that the number was closer to 800.
~Sphinx Newsie
Well, it's official. Our very own tight end will be moving up to good ol' Montreal to play for the Alouettes. Brett Thalmann has already blogged about it at Progresive Dispatches.
In other great news, David Fraga was selected to sing the National Anthem at Penn's 251st Commencement. Maybe we'll see Fraga do a duet with Arethra Franklin. Who knows, it could happen! In today's Philadelphia Inquirer, Brett Thalmann discussed the selection process for this year's commencement speaker, James Baker.
