11/15
Louisa Shepard
Senior News Officer
Louisa Shepard covers English, history of art, music, theater, classical studies, and cinema and media studies, among other subject areas, in the School of Arts and Sciences. She also supports coverage for the Kelly Writers House, the Graduate School of Education, the Penn Libraries, the Penn Museum, the Arthur Ross Gallery, and the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships, as well as fine arts in the Stuart Weitzman School of Design.
Penn fourth-year Om Gandhi is a 2025 Rhodes Scholar
Penn fourth-year Om Gandhi, from Barrington, Illinois, has been awarded a 2025 Rhodes Scholarship, which funds tuition and a living stipend for graduate study at the University of Oxford in England. He is among 32 American Rhodes Scholars, and an expected 100 worldwide.
Kite and Key Society celebrates a century
Students share the campus and their experiences at Penn with visitors in person and online, forming meaningful friendships and lasting connections.
From the Archives: 1915 film of Penn-Cornell football game
The oldest film in Penn’s University Archives & Records Center documents the 1915 football game featuring Penn versus Cornell, played on Thanksgiving Day in front of a packed crowd at Franklin Field. Penn plays Cornell Nov. 9 in their 130th meeting.
Edible Books at the Kelly Writers House
The annual Edible Books contest at the Kelly Writers House features food creations inspired by books, often involving puns based on the titles. In this 14th year, 30-some entries were admired and (mostly) eaten.
Libraries exhibition explores the movement of books
A new exhibit at the Penn Libraries explores the myriad ways books move—as physical objects in different formats, and across space and time—featuring 24 items from the collection, a video wall displaying 26 additional items, and interactive models.
Who, What, Why: Laurie McCall, director of the Platt Student Performing Arts House
Laurie McCall leads the staff at the Platt Student Performing Arts House, which supports Penn’s 70-plus groups that stage more than 100 comedy, spoken word, dance, theater, voice, and music events each year.
Exploring the authenticity of a pair of storied gloves
Kislak Center curator Alicia Meyer is researching a pair of gloves in the Penn Libraries collection rumored to have been William Shakespeare’s, enlisting the help of Tessa Gadomski in the Libraries conservation laboratory to see if the gloves could be from the 1600s.
A vast collection related to public markets comes to the Penn Libraries
Tens of thousands of items related to public markets acquired by Penn alum David K. O’Neil create a collection unique in size and scope. Spanning four centuries from locations near and far, his collection now has a home at the Penn Libraries.
Wellness and well-being series looks at behavior and mental health services
Wellness and well-being are woven into the life of Penn’s campus, for students, postdocs, faculty, and staff. In the first part of a new series, Penn Today highlights University resources that support the campus community.
Two Penn faculty awarded Pew Fellowships
Two Penn faculty -- installation artist and sculptor Michelle Lopez, and composer and musician Tyshawn Sorey -- each have been awarded one of 12 arts fellowships by the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage in Philadelphia.