THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA • FOUNDED 1885
PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2025
VOL. CXLII
NO. 5
Harnwell College House reopens after lobby flood The building’s elevator system and package room were closed as a result of the incident LAVANYA MANI AND LUKE PETERSEN Staff Reporters
Early challenges One of the earliest challenges to the new guidelines came in May 1971, when protesters blockaded Van PeltDietrich Library in support of union rights. Then-Penn President Martin Meyerson condemned the
Harnwell College House reopened its lobby and package room after a “facilities emergency” on Monday afternoon. Students were first alerted to the incident by the building’s alarm system, which repeatedly instructed residents not to use the elevators and instead exit through the stairwells. Water could be seen leaking from the lobby’s ceiling, which Senior Associate Director of Building Operations Paul Forchielli attributed to “sprinkler discharge” in a Monday email to Harnwell residents. In a separate Feb. 9 email to Harnwell residents, House Director Megan Jimmerson wrote, “We are experiencing a facilities emergency in our lobby.” “Unfortunately, the front doors and lobby of Harnwell are not accessible,” Jimmerson added. “If you are in the building, you are welcome to return to your rooms. If you would like to leave, you can do so out the emergency exists in the side stairwells or the back mezzanine doors.” A request for comment was left with Penn’s Division of Facilities and Real Estate Services. According to the initial email, Harnwell’s elevator system and package room closed as a result of the incident. “Please be prepared to show your PennCard,” Jimmerson wrote. “Allied Security may also confirm your name using our building roster. This is for all of our safety while the lobby is closed.” Shortly after the evacuation, students began reentering the building through accessible doors. Harnwell’s lobby officially reopened Monday evening, and the package room resumed operations the following day. The issue comes after a similar incident at Harrison College House on Monday, when “a heating fan coil broke on the third floor,” according to an email sent to all residents. According to Forchielli, “the subsequent flooding has impacted portions of the lobby, first, second and third floors.” Hours after the flooding began, residents reported that alarms were still going off at intermittent intervals
See HISTORY, page 2
See HARNWELL, page 3
EUNICE CHOI | SENIOR DESIGNER
A historical look at Penn’s Open Expression Guidelines The provisions — which guarantee University members the right to ‘assemble’ and ‘demonstrate’ — are set to undergo their first major revision in over three decades AIDAN SHAUGHNESSY Senior Reporter
Penn’s Open Expression Guidelines guarantee University members the right to “assemble” and “demonstrate.” As those rules undergo their first major revision in three decades, archival records show how the provisions have evolved — much like the protests they seek to regulate. The guidelines are meant to regulate student protest on campus and ensure demonstrations are conducted within the “limits” of uninfringeable rights to speech and assembly, while also “protecting” University activities. Since they were established in 1968, open expression has been a focal point of campus debate. The University is now continuing the review of its current temporary guidelines — which were implemented in June 2024 following the Gaza Solidarity Encampment. Ahead of the revisions, The Daily Pennsylvanian chronicled how the University stance on student activism has changed throughout the decades. The Vietnam War and the origins of a debate
The campus debate on open expression began with student protests over the Vietnam War, which included large demonstrations in University buildings and spaces. In 1968, students protested Penn’s involvement with the Dow Chemical Company, which manufactured napalm during the war. In response to the protests, former University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School Dean Robert Mundheim formed an early commission to address “all aspects of open expression and demonstrations on campus.” The Mundheim Commission specifically evaluated if protest activity “interfere[d] too much” with University operations. The group’s “key recommendation” in 1968 was the formation of a University-wide committee to interpret guidelines and resolve disputes. That same year, Penn released its first Standards on Open Expression. The Commission’s final report — dated April 22, 1968 — condemned protests involving physical violence, while warning of the “mistake” to end demonstrations by
“force.” The report stated that protest standards would apply regardless of “the nature of the view expressed” and required that demonstrations comply with rules governing safety, noise, and disruption of academic activities. At the time, protesters could appeal decisions to the vice provost of student affairs. A year later, the Commission submitted its report to the University Council, which approved the guidelines and formally established the Committee on Open Expression — a body of students, faculty, and administrators that closely resembles today’s Committee.
Hackers asked Penn to pay $1 million ransom to prevent data leak
Penn hospitals among highest for ER wait times in Philadelphia
After the ransom went unpaid, the cybercrime group ShinyHunters surfaced online to take credit for the attack
Wait times at Penn’s two primary on-campus hospitals ranked second and fifth in the Philadelphia area
JASMINE NI Executive Editor
WILLIAM GRANTLAND Senior Reporter
Last October, the notorious cybercrime group ShinyHunters infiltrated Penn’s internal data system and demanded a $1 million ransom from the University to prevent the release of the files on the dark web. After the ransom went unpaid, the hackers surfaced online to take credit for the attack and set the record straight. Since 2019, ShinyHunters has gained notoriety in the hacking community for orchestrating large-scale attacks on major corporations such as Google, AT&T Wireless, Ticketmaster, and SoundCloud. This fall, the group set its sights on Penn. “We decided to hit Penn same-day,” a spokesperson for the group said via Signal, an encrypted messaging app. “Some planning and preparation goes into attacking a new organisation, but we can move pretty quickly.” Requests for comment were left with a University spokesperson. The Daily Pennsylvanian confirmed the individual’s affiliation with ShinyHunters by verifying they were able to edit the online forum where the group originally published Penn’s data. ShinyHunters released the cache of confidential University files — including dated records and donor contact information — on its website on Feb. 4. The release came just two days after Penn stated that less than 10 individuals were impacted by the breach in a court filing.
The group stated the University’s claim was “100%” what prompted them to “expedite the release” of more files. According to the group, the recent release included the extent of information obtained in the breach. “Everything in our possession was released,” the spokesperson wrote. “Once things are leaked, no going back, it’s a pretty straightforward process.” In a “Note to Affected Organizations” on the group’s data release forum, ShinyHunters wrote that an organization’s name and data appears on the site if they “failed to respond or come to an agreement with us.” The site lists three “key criteria” organizations must satisfy to have their data released on the dark web. Among the requirements is the hackers’ determination that the organization “failed to respond” after “multiple attempts” to make contact over a financial ransom — or what ShinyHunters “prefers” to call a “settlement.” “We asked for a reasonable $1M to prevent the release,” the ShinyHunters spokesperson said. “It was a simple email sent to UPenn with our demands, they did not reply, and we do not preserve the emails.” According to the group’s spokesperson, Penn was given multiple attempts to respond to the demands through a general information technology email address. See HACK, page 2
Local politicians call on Penn to secure GET-UP contract State and city lawmarkers argued Penn has an obligation to treat its workers with ‘dignity’
When patients travel for emergency treatment at one of three Penn-affiliated hospitals in the Philadelphia region, they can expect to wait an average of four hours. According to 2023-24 data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Penn’s two primary on-campus hospitals — the Penn Presbyterian Medical Center and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania — ranked second and fifth in wait times for the Philadelphia area. The CMS also found variation in care outcomes across Penn-affiliated hospitals. The average wait time was four hours and 33 minutes at HUP, four hours and 43 minutes at Penn Presbyterian, and three hours and 48 minutes at Pennsylvania Hospital. The average wait time for a Philadelphia-area hospital last year was just over three and a half hours, placing all three hospitals above the local average. The CMS reported that, in 2024, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania provided appropriate care to 76% of patients experiencing septic shock — a common cause of emergency room deaths. Only 40% of patients at Penn Presbyterian and 48% of patients at Pennsylvania Hospital received such care. Penn Presbyterian and Pennsylvania Hospital were surpassed in care levels by other major Philadelphia medical institutions, including Temple University Hospital, Lankenau Medical Center, and Riddle Hospital. A spokesperson for Penn Medicine wrote that many patients seen at HUP come in with “acute, often life-threatening illnesses and injuries, including those who are transferred from other hospitals in the region.” These often include patients awaiting or recovering from organ transplants or individuals “undergo-
ing complex cancer, cardiac, and neurologic care, who often require extensive diagnostic evaluations and care to be stabilized,” according to the spokesperson. “Compared to hospitals which care for a broader mix of patients, these processes can be time-consuming, often including consultation with different specialties to determine the safest and most effective treatment and whether a patient can be discharged home following their emergency visit or if they require admission for treatment, surgery, and other specialty care,” the spokesperson added. In other areas, care outcomes at Penn-affiliated hospitals were comparable. 91% of patients with heart attacks received antithrombotic therapy by the end of their second day in the hospital at both Penn Presbyterian and HUP. At Pennsylvania Hospital, that figure was 96%. 86% of patients received appropriate postcolonoscopy surveillance at Pennsylvania Hospital, along with 90% at HUP and 85% at Penn Presbyterian. Emergency wait times at both on-campus hospitals have declined from their six-year high in 2018 — when patients could expect to wait over seven hours at Penn Presbyterian and nearly six at HUP. Wait times have followed a generally upward trend since the COVID-19 pandemic, when both campus hospitals reached record low times due to a sharp decrease in patient demand amid the initial outbreak of COVID-19, as most Penn students and staff worked remotely. Many factors play into ER wait times, including number of patients, hospital size, and total staff. Understaffing and overcrowding can delay patient treatment and lead to further declines in health. Staff reporter Rachel Kang contributed reporting.
ANANYA KARTHIK Senior Reporter
As the Penn graduate student union’s strike deadline approaches, over a dozen state and city representatives signed letters this month urging administrators to reach a fair contract. The letters called on Penn President Larry Jameson and Provost John Jackson Jr. to reach an agreement with Graduate Employees Together — University of Pennsylvania before the Feb. 17 strike deadline. Warning that a strike would affect “tens of thousands” of people across campus, the signatories argued Penn — as the city’s largest private employer — has an “obligation” to treat its workers “with dignity.” “Penn has put forth a generous, comprehensive NEWS Penn appealed a federal judge’s decision to send a price-fixing lawsuit to trial
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proposal in response to the Union’s demands,” a University spokesperson wrote to The Daily Pennsylvanian. “We believe that an agreement can be reached that will support our graduate students and Penn’s ongoing academic mission.” The spokesperson added that “in the event of a work stoppage, classes, research, and other academic activities will continue.” “We strongly urge you to reach a fair contract agreement with GETUP-UAW,” the delegation wrote, emphasizing Penn’s “responsibility to the people of Philadelphia.” On Feb. 10, Philadelphia City Council President See GET-UP, page 3
NEWS Penn’s preprofessional clubs are navigating calls for reform as students debate their merits
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OPINION The Daily Pennsylvanian Editorial Board argues that Penn’s modularity harms students in the College
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