THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA • FOUNDED 1885
PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2022
VOL. CXXXVIII
Penn turns out for Pa. midterms
NO. 26
Students ‘taken aback’ after PAACH director’s sudden departure The University is actively searching for a new PAACH director through a nationwide recruitment process LAURA SHIN Staff Reporter
PHOTO BY ANNA VAZHAEPARAMBIL
Amid students’ confusion over the sudden departure of Peter Van Do, who served as the Pan-Asian American Community House’s director for 10 years, the University has begun a nationwide search for his replacement. Van Do did not respond to a request for comment. Associate Vice Provost for University Life Will Atkins told The Daily Pennsylvanian that the University is actively conducting a nationwide recruitment process to search for the former PAACH director’s successor. “We want to hire the best person, and so we’re being purposeful in this search and not just filling a position to fill a position,” Atkins said, adding that he could not give an exact date on when the new director would be selected or start. In addition, efforts to hire an associate director for PAACH — which have been in the works for over three years — have accelerated in the wake of the vacancy within PAACH, and the University hopes to fill the position by next semester, according to Asian Pacific Student Coalition Chair and College senior Jeffrey Yu. “Candidates are currently being considered, and we’re hoping to have an associate director selected by next semester,” Yu said. He previously told the DP that Atkins has promised that APSC will be able to provide input during the search process. Yu said while the University has yet to release information on the circumstances surrounding Van Do’s departure, he is optimistic for the future of PAACH. Nonetheless, Asian American students at Penn report that they remain in the dark about the vacancy of the PAACH director position, describing it as a “devastating loss” for PAACH See PAACH, page 2
PHOTO BY ABHIRAM JUVVADI
PHOTO BY JULIA VAN LARE
Over 2,200 cast their votes on campus Senator elect John Fetterman and Governor elect Josh Shapiro both received over 90% of the on-campus votes in their respective races SOPHIA LEUNG Staff Reporter
A total of 2,239 campus residents cast their ballots at polling locations in Houston Hall and the ARCH building on Election Day. Pennsylvania voters decided the results of closely watched races for governor and senator in the state’s midterm elections — both of which the Democratic candidates were projected to win. See MIDTERMS, page 2
Polling locations in Houston Hall’s Bodek Lounge and room 108 of the ARCH building were open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. 1,422 ballots were cast at the Houston Hall polling location, 604 ballots were cast at the ARCH building, and 213 ballots were cast at the Civic House. At the Houston Hall and ARCH building
See also PHOTO ESSAY, page 6
PHOTO BY YOSEF ROBELE
Graduate School of Education receives $16.2 million donation The donation — the largest in the school’s history — comes as the end of GSE Dean Pam Grossman’s tenure approaches ELIZABETH MEISENZAHL Senior Reporter
Penn’s Graduate School of Education has received a $16.25 million donation, the largest in the school’s history. The Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Family Foundation will direct $10 million toward the formation of a new center at GSE focused on cultivating leadership,
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polling locations, Democratic candidates Lt. Gov. John Fetterman received 90.7% of the on-campus votes for senator, and Attorney General Josh Shapiro received 92.1% for governor. Republican candidates Mehmet Oz and State Sen. Doug Mastriano received 8.2% and 8.0% of on-campus votes at these locations, respectively.
according to a press release posted Friday. The other $6.25 million will fund GSE’s existing Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education. The new McGraw Center for Educational Leadership will launch in the fall of 2023 and will be located in GSE’s ongoing building expansion,
which began this spring. The center will focus on providing solutions to current problems in education through entrepreneurialism. Ph.D. students, instructors, and education professionals will be invited to participate in the center’s work. “We all know that leadership matters, and few things matter more to our society than cultivating leaders who can navigate change and are devoted to educating people at every stage of their lives,” Penn President Liz Magill wrote in the announcement. “With the launch of the McGraw Center, those dedicated to teaching and learning will be able to devise more effective responses to the rapidly changing needs of learners today. We are deeply grateful to the McGraw family for their exceptional generosity.” The Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education, founded in 2020, awards $50,000 to innovators in education in three categories: Pre-K-12 Education, Higher Education, and Learning Science Research. Previous winners include Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy, and Reshma Saujani, founder of Girls Who Code. “Our family is enormously excited about the new McGraw Center for Educational Leadership,” Terry McGraw, 1976 Wharton graduate and former chairman, president, and CEO of The McGraw-Hill Companies, told GSE. “Our shared goal with Penn GSE is to develop future generations of leaders spanning all types of education — from pre-school through corporate learning — who are at the forefront of educational excellence in the 21st century.” The historic donation comes as the end of GSE Dean Pam Grossman’s tenure approaches. Grossman has spent eight years in the position and “expects to step down” at the conclusion of her term in June 2023, joining Penn Carey Law Dean Ted Ruger, whose term is also coming to an end. Under Grossman’s leadership, GSE has ranked No. 1 in the U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of graduate education programs for two years.
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Director of admissions to leave University at end of year Vice Provost and Dean of Admissions Whitney Soule is working on a plan for when to fill the vacancy ELEA CASTIGLIONE Contributing Reporter
Penn’s vice dean and director of admissions will leave the University at the end of the year to become the dean of admissions and associate vice president at Hamilton College starting next January. Hamilton College announced on Nov. 4 that John McLaughlin, who has served as Penn’s vice dean and director of admissions since 2018, will join the liberal arts college as dean of admission and associate vice president, effective Jan. 3. Vice Provost and Dean of Admissions Whitney Soule wrote to The Daily Pennsylvanian that she is working with the vice deans of Penn Admissions on a plan for when to fill McLaughlin’s vacancy. “It’s hard to imagine Penn and Penn Admissions without John McLaughlin, who is known for his deep love of Penn and his thoughtful, expert approach to the work of admissions,” Soule wrote. See DIRECTOR, page 7
PHOTO FROM UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
John McLaughlin, vice dean and director of admissions. CONTACT US: 215-422-4640