THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA • FOUNDED 1885
PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2026
VOL. CXLII
NO. 9
QUAKERS GO DANCING
KENNY CHEN | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Men’s basketball to face No. 3 Illinois in March Madness The Quakers advanced to the NCAA tournament following an overtime upset against Yale in the Ivy League tournament championship game WALKER CARNATHAN, VALERI GUEVARRA, AND JAVIER ST. REMY Senior Reporters and Sports Reporter
For Penn men’s basketball, the reward for winning the biggest game of the season is the chance to play a bigger one. On Thursday, Penn (18-11, 9-5 Ivy) will travel to Greenville, S.C., to face off the Illinois Fighting Illini (24-8, 15-5 Big Ten) in its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2018. After winning the Ivy League championship against Yale on Sunday behind a 44-point performance from junior forward TJ Power, 14-seed Penn in the South region bracket now turns the page to their toughest opponent yet. “The one thing they’ll find out is that things are different [in the tournament],” coach Fran McCaffery said. “The media coverage, the crowds, the crowds at practice, the overall scrutiny. And that’s what you play for. You want to be in that limelight. Because if you’re not playing, you’re watching.” No. 3 Penn men’s basketball stunned No. 1 Yale in an 88-84 overtime victory to claim the Ivy title and punch their ticket to March Madness. The Quakers pulled off the upset in a season that was both
Penn spars with federal agency in court over antisemitism investigation United States District Court Judge Gerald Pappert’s decision could determine the scope of the EEOC’s investigations into antisemitism on college campuses nationwide LAVANYA MANI Staff Reporter
A federal judge heard oral arguments on Tuesday as part of Penn’s challenge to a federal agency subpoena seeking information about Jewish students, faculty, and campus groups. The hearing is the latest in a monthslong legal battle between Penn and the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over the agency’s authority to enforce its subpoena, which was first issued in July 2025 during an ongoing investigation into the University. U.S. District Court Judge Gerald Pappert’s decision could determine the scope of the EEOC’s investigations into antisemitism on college campuses nationwide. A University spokesperson wrote to The Daily Pennsylvanian that Penn is “awaiting the judge’s decision.” An EEOC spokesperson declined to comment on the hearing, writing that the agency “does not comment on ongoing litigation.” Penn was represented by former U.S. Solicitor General Seth Waxman, while University-affiliated intervenors were represented by Wharton professor Amanda Shanor and Matthew Hamermesh of Hangley, Aronchick, Segal, Pudlin, and Schiller. At the beginning of the trial, Pappert emphasized that his role was solely to determine whether the EEOC had a valid charge, not to debate the merits of the agency’s charges. He repeated the point several times during the three-hour-long proceedings, including during both Waxman’s and Shanor’s arguments. Debra Lawrence, regional attorney for the Philadelphia district, argued on behalf of the EEOC. In her opening arguments, Lawrence characterized the EEOC as a “neutral fact-finder” and highlighted that the agency’s procedures were standard practice. She explained why EEOC chose to charge the University directly. “Sometimes information comes to the Commissioner, and we don’t wait for a charging party to come forward,” Lawrence stated. “When we talk to witnesses, that’s when we’ll find out why they haven’t come to us.” Lawrence added that Penn’s offer to mediate conversations between willing employees and the EEOC See WORD, page #
NEWS Penn researchers co-founded a new autism committee to counter federal advisory panel
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McCaffery’s first and one where Penn was projected to finish seventh in the preseason poll. McCaffery has led his alma mater program to a glory resembling his time with the program. He has now led five different programs to the NCAA tournament in his head coaching career. “I just feel blessed to have this opportunity, and I feel blessed that I had the group of guys that I had when I first met them,” McCaffery said. “From day one, they bought in. But the way that they love one another is something that is essentially the reason why we’re here.” After beating Harvard (17-12, 10-4 Ivy) 62-60 in Saturday’s semifinal, Penn came into the Sunday contest as a major underdog. Defending back-toback Ivy League champions Yale (24-6, 11-3 Ivy) swept the regular-season series and had not lost to the Quakers since 2023. In Saturday’s contest, Power was a monster for the Quakers — notching 44 points and 14 rebounds in his seventh double-double of the season. Power
broke the record for most points scored in tournament history by a male player and tied the overall record with Harvard’s Harmoni Turner. In the final 30 seconds of regulation, when the title looked to be slipping out of Penn’s hands, Power notched back-to-back three-pointers in the final seven seconds to send the game to overtime. “I just hit one, so I was feeling good. I thought I was gonna catch, and they were gonna foul. They didn’t.” Power said. “[Simmons] is a good shot blocker, so I put a little extra on it, a little extra arc, and it sunk through. But I think when it left my hand, I knew that if I could get one off, it was gonna go in.” From tipoff to the final buzzer, it was Power’s show. After a three-minute Quaker scoring drought, he put up the first points on the board for Penn with a layup. Later in the first half, he put up a steal and a big three-pointer to claw Penn back to cut Yale’s lead to one. Near the end of regulation, Power hit back-to-back triples — the second over Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year Casey Simmons — to
send the game to overtime. He also contributed a crucial string of free throws in overtime to secure the Quakers’ victory. Power, who transferred to Penn after stops at Duke and Virginia, had struggled in past seasons to break into the rotation. Now, he has etched his name in the conference history. And what brought him to his newfound home: McCaffery. “I made the mistake twice of saying no to [McCaffery]. I didn’t want to make that the third time,” Power said. “But his style of play, what he’s done for me, it’s everything. That journey, man, it can beat you down, and I’m not really trying to live in that moment right now. I’m trying to live in this one. But I’m just so grateful for him taking a chance on me and letting me be myself.” But it wasn’t only Power who made clutch plays to help the Quakers to a title. Senior guard Cam Thrower scored the first field goal of extra time and hit a tough layup seconds later to give the Quakers See WORD, page #
Penn Washington revamps efforts to World Cafe Live connect with federal policymakers files for bankruptcy, The center welcomed three new hires as it aims to elevate the University’s role in national policy discussions by connecting faculty and students with elected officials RIANA MAHTANI Senior Reporter
Penn Washington recently welcomed three new staff members to help lead its domestic and global policy programming as the center revamps its efforts to connect the University with the nation’s capital. Among the new hires are Director of Global Policy Programs Daniel Schneiderman, Domestic Policy Programs Coordinator Sasha Nicholas, and Global Policy Programs Coordinator Nikki Hinshaw. The additions come as Penn Washington aims to elevate Penn’s role in national policy discussions by connecting faculty and students with elected officials working on major global and domestic challenges. Schneiderman worked in government for nearly two decades — holding positions at the Pentagon, Department of State, White House, and Capitol Hill — before joining Penn Washington in January. He told The Daily Pennsylvanian that his new position will allow him to translate academic research into conversations happening in Washington. “There are people who have different views and
issues and perspectives and things they want to work on, and I’m really excited to partner with all of them,” Schneiderman said. “I think there’s a richness to the policy debate that academic institutions … like the University of Pennsylvania bring to policymakers.” Schneiderman added that he looks forward to “playing a bridge role between Philadelphia and D.C.” “There’s so much good going on at the University, and I’m really excited to work with people across the interdisciplinary spectrum,” he said. In his new role, Schneiderman will help develop Penn Washington’s global policy programming, which focuses on areas such as strategic competition in the Arctic and the risks of nuclear proliferation. The work is intended to draw from expertise across Penn’s schools and research centers. “There are any number of things across the spectrum where I can imagine us doing things in See WORD, page #
How Advance Registration works at Penn Managed by the Office of the University Registrar, the process is designed to optimize course selection for students AMY LIAO Senior Reporter
With course registration for the fall 2026 semester set to open next week, several members of the Penn community spoke to The Daily Pennsylvanian about the Advance Registration process. Managed by the Office of the University Registrar, Advance Registration is designed to optimize course selection to ensure students receive as many preferred classes as possible. The University began course planning and maintenance for the fall semester last October to prepare the roster for Advance Registration. “This is a relatively new system that we’re using, so there are going to be some hiccups along the way, but we definitely have not lost sight of the way that we want it to be seamless,” Associate Dean and Director of Academic Advising Carolyn Ureña told the DP. “From an advising perspective, we would love for it to continue to be sort of the one-stop shop for how to search for courses, find out about majors that they want to explore, and think through their academic decision-making.” Director of Course Management and Student Records Rick Dunn similarly spoke to the complexity of “trying to reach the most optimal kind of state in terms of rostering in an environment that is as distributed and NEWS Penn received a ‘B’ rating on the annual ADL campus antisemitism annual report card
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non-centralized as Penn.” “I think that we do the best that we can,” Dunn said. “I think that our departments do a great job in managing all of those complexities and giving our students opportunities to build a comprehensive schedule.” According to Dunn, departments undergo a “severalmonth process” of maintaining and managing course offerings before the University officially publishes them for students and advisors to access. Penn released courses for the upcoming registration cycle on March 5, “for students to start to look at courses and speak with their advisors about their course selection prior to the Advance Registration period opening.” Dunn characterized Penn’s Advance Registration process as a “throw your name in the hat” system, though he said it is “actually one of the fairest forms of registration” and “a little bit more sophisticated” compared to lotterystyle systems used by many other universities. During the advising period, students meet with advisors to build registration carts with the courses they want to take. Students can rank classes by priority and select alternatives “so that you can optimize your choices as … See WORD, page #
OPINION Columnist Jack Lakis sheds light on Penn’s underrecognized conservative students and faculty
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rebrands
The venue filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 10 and annouced a new name — ‘World Stage’ JACK GUERIN AND ANANYA KARTHIK Senior Reporters
After nearly a year of financial and labor disputes, World Cafe Live declared bankruptcy and changed its name last week. WCL filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at a United States Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on March 10. Shortly after, the University City music venue announced a new name — “World Stage.” “World Café Live, a Pennsylvania not-for-profit corporation … is unable to pay its debts as they mature,” the March 10 filing read. According to the documents, submitted by WCL’s parent company, LiveConnections.org, and the venue’s operator, Real Entertainment LLC, WCL has between $1 million and $10 million in both assets and liabilities, with over $2.4 million owed to creditors. The largest claims include $581,146 owed to the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, $563,142 owed to the Delaware Valley Regional Economic Development Fund, and $205,496 to the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. The venue also owes $154,915 to Penn — which owns the building at its 3025 Walnut St. location. A University spokesperson declined to comment. In a statement to the Philadelphia Business Journal, 1990 College graduate and WCL CEO J. Sean Diaz wrote the venue filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to “create a path for new investment that See WORD, page #
CARLY ZHAO | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
WCL building pictured on Nov. 22, 2024.
SPORTS Penn women’s squash beat Harvard 5-4 to clinch their first national title since 2000
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