Campus & Community

At the University of Pennsylvania, dual-program student Nayab Khan is creating a new level of understanding between people of different faiths.

The alluring bright lights of Hollywood shine all the way across the country, illuminating the gritty streets of Philadelphia and twinkling creative minds at Penn.

 Dear Benny,I recently went to a colleague’s art opening in the Burrison Gallery in the University Club and wondered how I could become a member of the Club. Is there a fee for membership or can anyone just sign up? —Art (and food) lover

It’s Monday night before Philadelphia’s biggest snowstorm of the season, and dozens of Penn students are flooding into a West Philadelphia church basement. In the fellowship hall, amongst a piano, tiny stage, and kitchen, students eagerly set up tables, chairs, and portable carrels, sift through paperwork, and lay out medical supplies.

Reports of the death of American journalism have been greatly exaggerated, but the enterprise is weathering crises on multiple fronts, with threats to its business model, opportunities for employment, and overall credibility and value as a profession.

Just as Ancil George was set to retire in 2014 from his job at Penn Libraries, he was lured back in with a thrilling opportunity: to become Penn’s first community outreach librarian.

Gail Gilbert Ball, a 1979 Wharton School alumna, spends 80 percent of any given day working to raise capital for Chestnut Street Ventures, an investment fund solely for Penn grads, by Penn grads.

The 24 adults seated in the class, from at least a dozen countries, are each connected to someone at Penn. They are here to learn to speak English, free of charge.