Historic Sporting Events

A logo for the 100th anniversary of women's sports at Penn shows women athletes from various decades.

Penn Athletics to celebrate 100 years of women’s sports

Starting this month, Penn Athletics will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the official start of women’s athletics at the University. This will include content on their website and social media accounts.

Penn Today Staff ・

LeBron James dribbles the ball up the court while wearing a green Irish jersey with number 23 while in high school at St. Vincent-St. Mary

The Palestra featuring LeBron James

While a senior in high school in 2002, the NBA great played at the Palestra in a showdown pitting Akron, Ohio’s St. Vincent-St. Mary Fighting Irish against Philadelphia’s Strawberry Mansion Knights.

Greg Johnson ・

Two teams face off at the Penn Ice Rink circa 1972.

Penn Ice Rink celebrates 50 years

The Class of 1923 Ice Skating Rink is celebrating a half-century of service to the Penn community. Penn Today reflects on the facility’s origins, and how it has grown and transformed over the years.

Greg Johnson ・

franklin field

125 years of Franklin Field

The historic stadium, home to the University of Pennsylvania Quakers and the Penn Relays, is celebrating its quasquicentennial. It is the oldest college stadium in the country.

Greg Johnson ・

AD M. Grace Calhoun poses in the concourse at the Palestra.

Sports talk with M. Grace Calhoun

The director of athletics and recreation discusses the Red & Blue’s recent sports successes, making progress toward the department’s strategic goals, the funding of college athletics, and the 125th running of the Penn Relays.

Greg Johnson ・



In the News


Philadelphia Inquirer

Voices of Penn’s basketball past reflect on the Quakers’ present challenges

The 1979 Final Four team was honored on last month at the Palestra as part of Penn’s annual basketball alumni weekend.

FULL STORY →

The Columbus Dispatch

Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe are more relatable when they turn backs on Saudi money

Peter T. Struck of the School of Arts & Sciences says that the most highly paid athlete in history was Gaius Appuleius Diocles, a chariot racer in ancient Rome.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

Wharton sophomore climbs world’s tallest volcano on a bike

Wharton School second-year Ryan Torres from Barcelona biked up the world’s tallest volcano in the Andes mountains during Winter Break, breaking the world record for highest altitude reached on a bike.

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NBC News

Star USA player Christian Pulisic cleared to play against Netherlands after game injury

John Vasudevan of the Perelman School of Medicine says that Christian Pulisic’s “contusion” is a fancy word for a bruise to the bone or soft tissues, with recovery usually taking between one to three weeks.

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CBS Philadelphia

Meet the Phillies’ ballgirl who is also helping save lives

A profile examines Cailyn Chow of Penn Medicine, a lifelong Phillies fan who’s now a ballgirl for the World Series.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

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.

FULL STORY →