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Penn in the News
A round-up of Penn mentions in local, national, and international media.
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Penn In the News
Celebrating a love of learning, teaching, and the Penn Relays
Gloria and Jim Ruffins are fans of the Penn Relays. After every event, they began hosting a party at their house. What started as eight people and pizza has grown to 68 people and a gourmet buffet. They will know life is normal again when the Relays return.
Penn In the News
An abbreviated Penn Relays returns for one day as the Philadelphia Metropolitan Collegiate Invitational
A field of 18 local teams, including all the Big 5 schools, will compete on April 23 at Franklin Field, with the event hosted by the Penn Relays.
Penn In the News
Penn Relays to host an April 24 track and field meet featuring 15 to 20 local schools
The Philadelphia Metropolitan Intercollegiate meet will take place at Franklin Field on what was to be the final day of the 126th carnival, which was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Penn Relays director Dave Johnson says that the Philadelphia “Mets,” a revival of the collegiate meet that ran annually from 1963 through 1987, mostly at Franklin Field, will feature all the Big 5 universities plus Delaware and Rider, along with Division II and Division III schools and junior colleges.
Penn In the News
How Penn coaches and staffers are playing a vital campus role while budgets get slashed
Among the unique circumstances that the pandemic has brought to campus, up to a third of Penn’s 200 full-time athletic staffers, including coaches, took on COVID-related duties during the fall semester to avoid being furloughed amid deep budget cuts.
Penn In the News
These Penn basketball players have stories worth telling, even as their season is called off
When the Ivy League canceled their season Thursday night, changing their year and the trajectory of their basketball careers, Kayla Padilla and Mark Jackson knew it was what was best for the team, as team players. Even off the court, they remain worth talking about.
Penn In the News
AOP Spotlight Series: Mike McLaughlin, Father Judge—Class of 1984
The former AOP student-athlete has guided Penn women’s basketball since 2009-10, leading the Quakers to four Ivy League titles and three NCAA Tournament appearances.
Penn In the News
Peggy Kowalski, who may have spent more hours in the Palestra than anybody ever, retires
For many of the last 38 years, as Penn Athletic’s director of special events, Kowalski has to be on the short list, maybe even at the top of it, for people who spent the most combined lifetime time at the Palestra and Franklin Field. Her earliest work days were as an undergrad selling tickets and answering to her boss who was also her father, and in honor of the two, the front lobby box office will be named the Donohue-Kowalski Box Office.
Penn In the News
Penn football coach Ray Priore talks about no fall season, hope for spring
Penn football coach Ray Priore was game planning up until this past Monday, hoping his team might play this fall. Then the announcement came Wednesday: no sports in the Ivy League this fall semester. Now Priore is balancing his optimism with an understanding of the obstacles the pandemic brings to his sport.
Penn In the News
As Steve Donahue plans for a new era of Penn basketball, his mind is on more than sports
Assuming college basketball resumes this winter, Donahue is optimistic about the quality of the team this season, but recognizes the dynamic is ‘ever-changing,’ and he’s paying close attention to what the season will be like, plus things outside basketball. The Quakers have given public support to the Black Lives Matter campaign and the protests across Philadelphia against institutional racism and police brutality.
Penn In the News
Penn athletic director Grace Calhoun is busier than ever, as chair of NCAA Division I council
In addition to being athletic director, overseeing 33 varsity sports, Calhoun is chair of the NCAA Division I council, part of the NCAA board of directors, and the NCAA board of governors. But that’s not all—Calhoun is also chair of the Ivy League’s committee on administration, essentially the working committee of Ivy athletic directors.