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VOTER’S GUIDE

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA • FOUNDED 1885

PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2022

VOL. CXXXVIII

NO. 24

MAGILL INAUGURATED North Dakota-born legal scholar becomes Penn’s ninth president

PHOTO BY JESSE ZHANG

Amy Gutmann and Judith Rodin look on as Penn formally inducts its third female president, a first in the Ivy League.

JARED MITOVICH Senior Reporter

Penn inaugurated Liz Magill as its ninth president Friday, formally commencing the tenure of the University’s first new leader in 18 years.

In a 30-minute inaugural address inside Irvine Auditorium, Magill said that Penn is called upon to “redouble” its commitment to preserving the truth and maximizing its commitment to people of all backgrounds. She cited University founder Ben Franklin’s kite and key experiment, which produced the world’s first lightning rods, as a parallel to her current call to

Fossil Free Penn ends encampment after 39 days following Homecoming football game protest The encampment ended 39 days after students set up tents on College Green IMRAN SIDDIQUI Senior Reporter

Thirty-nine days after setting tents up on College Green, students involved with Fossil Free Penn have ended their encampment in the center of campus. After an hour-long protest interrupted the Homecoming football game on Oct. 22, which led to the arrest of 19 students, FFP organizers packed up their belongings later that night. FFP coordinator and College junior Sarah Sterinbach said that the organizers collectively agreed to end the encampment in order to leave on a “high note,” but they plan on continuing to push their demands through other avenues. The encampment began on Sept. 14, with three demands for Penn: a public commitment toward preserving the University City Townhomes; total fossil fuel divestment; and making payments in lieu of taxes, or PILOTs, to Philadelphia public schools. Students continued to camp on College Green for over a month despite harsh weather conditions and alleged intimidation from University administrators. During the Homecoming football game, roughly

75 students rushed onto the field right before the second half of the game was set to begin. Protestors carried three banners with their demands and led chants, asking the crowd, “Whose side are you on?” Penn administrators and open expression observers went onto the field, took pictures of protestors, and asked them to leave. Police, meanwhile, stayed on the sidelines with zip-tie handcuffs in hand. Other students passed out orange flyers in the stadium that explained that FFP intended “only to delay the game, not end it.” Sterinbach said that it is never FFP’s goal to “ruin student events,” but she said that after eight years of organizing for fossil fuel divestment and a month of sleeping on College Green, this was a “necessary step.” “We really are sorry to people that had to wait outside and sit for a bit. We know that was not fun, and Homecoming is an exciting event,” Sterinbach said. “We did it because these are things that are urgent, and going through the usual channels, or

action: “Let the experiment be made.” “In its long and illustrious history, Penn has always met the moment. Now, and in the future, we will help make the moment,” Magill said, adding that the University “has to evolve” like the city it is a part of. See MAGILL, page 5

even less usual channels, still didn’t work.” As protestors led chants in the middle of the field, some people in the crowd held up the orange flyers in support, but many began to boo the protestors and demand that they get off the field so the game could continue. FFP coordinator and College junior Megha Neelapu said that while external pressures and safety concerns were not ultimately the main reason for ending the encampment, FFP members present at the encampment later in the afternoon received harassment from adults passing by after the game. Sterinbach echoed this sentiment. She said that most of the responses she saw from students were predominantly positive, but Sterinbach said more alumni criticized FFP’s protest during the game. About half an hour into the demonstration, Sterinbach said that the group planned for the majority of protestors to peacefully walk off the field — leaving students who were willing to risk getting arrested on the field with the banners. Twenty minutes later, police officers escorted the remaining 19 student protestors off the field in zip-tie handcuffs. The students were detained at the Penn Police headquarters and “received citations for defiant trespass for refusal to leave the field,” according to a statement provided to The Daily Pennsylvanian by the Division of Public Safety. Sterinbach said that FFP moved their planned press conference from College Green to outside of the Penn Police headquarters in order to support the students who were detained. See FFP, page 7

PHOTO BY ANNA VAZHAEPARAMBIL

Protestors on Franklin Field on Oct. 21, 2022. SEND STORY IDEAS TO NEWSTIP@THEDP.COM

Penn to offer bivalent COVID-19 vaccine at booster clinic next week The booster clinic will take place from Nov. 3 to Nov. 4 and be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days JONAH MILLER Senior Reporter

Penn will host two COVID-19 booster vaccine clinics next week in Gimbel Gymnasium in the Pottruck Health and Fitness Center. In an email to the Penn community on Oct. 24, Chief Wellness Officer Benoit Dubé announced that the University will now offer the Pfizer mRNA bivalent COVID-19 booster shot for free to the entire Penn community and their families. The booster clinic will take place from Nov. 3 to Nov. 4. It will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days. “As personal agency and individual decisions will guide us through the next phases of the pandemic, we want to make sure that members of the Penn community have access to resources to protect their health and minimize disruptions to their work or study as we enter the colder months and the holiday season,” Dubé wrote to The Daily Pennsylvanian in an email. As of the fall 2022 semester, Penn required all eligible community members to be fully vaccinated and have received at least one booster vaccine against COVID-19. The University mandated students to submit proof of vaccination to their Wellness Portal. Although Penn is offering the bivalent booster vaccine for free through its upcoming clinic, students are only required to have their primary immunization plus at least one booster shot to satisfy their compliance requirement, Dubé wrote to the DP. “While students are not required to receive the bivalent booster, they are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the booster clinic on campus to further strengthen their immune response to circulating variants,” Dubé wrote. Community members and their family members can schedule a clinic appointment through the Penn Cares booster portal. All individuals, ages 5 and up, are eligible to receive the bivalent booster vaccine if it has been two months since their last COVID-19 vaccination, whether from the primary series or an original booster, Dubé wrote, citing eligibility recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Penn’s second COVID-19 booster clinic will mark the See COVID-19, page 7

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