THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA • FOUNDED 1885
PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2025
VOL. CXLI
NO. 20
Penn among nation’s worst universities for free speech this year, according to national nonprofit Penn’s score went up 6.5 points and 17 places from 2024 after adopting a policy of institutional neutrality JACK GUERIN Senior Reporter
Penn ranked among the worst universities in the nation for free speech, according to a new report on college campuses released by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. FIRE’s 2026 College Free Speech Rankings gave Penn an overall score of 51.5 out of 100, earning it an F grade and placing it at No. 231 out of 257 schools in free speech. Penn’s score went up 6.5 points and 17 places from last year’s ranking. University scores are determined by assessing “student surveys, campus policies, and recent speech-related controversies,” according to the report. Any institution scoring below 60 points receives an F mark — Penn was one of 167 schools to receive an F — producing an average score across all institutional assessments of a failing 58.63. In last year’s FIRE report, Penn ranked fourth from the bottom, while in 2022 and 2023, Penn was ranked second to last — followed only by Harvard University. A University spokesperson declined to comment. FIRE’s Chief Research Advisor Sean Stevens explained in an interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian that the rankings are meant to “provide students, parents, alumni, [and] the media a pulse of what’s going on in terms of the climate for students’ abilities to express themselves in the classroom and on campus in general.” Stevens explained that certain colleges and universities can be lightning rods for speech controversies. “What happens a lot of times at schools like Penn See SPEECH, page 3
KATE AHN, ANNELISE DO, AND CHENYAO LIU | SENIOR DESIGNERS AND SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
‘Outrageous’: Penn fraternity members criticize University policy capping events at 100 attendees Members of Penn’s on- and off-campus fraternities told The Daily Pennsylvanian that they remain confused about how the policy is being implemented and enforced SAMANTHA HSIUNG AND FINN RYAN Senior Reporters
Penn fraternity members alleged that stricter enforcement of capacity limits for registered parties this semester has created safety concerns and diminished the quality of social gatherings. Last year, Penn implemented an 100-person capacity limit for fraternity and sorority life events. Following recent communications between University administrators and organizations this semester,
members of Penn’s on- and off-campus fraternities told The Daily Pennsylvanian that they remain confused about how the policy is being implemented and enforced. All individuals quoted in this article have been granted anonymity due to fears of retaliation from University administrators. One fraternity president said that while the rule
has “been in place” since the 2024-25 academic year, the University has “failed to enforce it” — with the exception of St. Patrick’s Day weekend during the 2025 spring semester, when fraternities traditionally host parties during the day. The fraternity president said that the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life’s enforcement of the rule that weekend See OFSL, page 3
Wharton bans multi-round interviews for club applications, citing hazing concerns
Penn Class of 2029 admissions report shows rise in first years from underrepresented groups
The update will change the recruitment process for student organizations recognized by the University — a process previously criticized as overly competitive
Dean of Admissions Whitney Soule told The Daily Pennsylvanian that the admissions trends reflect the University’s broader intentions for future classes at Penn
ANVI SEHGAL Senior Reporter
AYANA CHARI Senior Reporter
As student groups begin welcoming new members for the 2025-26 academic year, the Wharton School has implemented new guidelines for affiliated clubs’ recruitment processes — including a ban on multiple rounds of interviews. The update, first announced in an email to Wharton club leaders on July 30, will change the recruitment process for student organizations officially recognized by the University, which have previously been criticized as overly competitive. In the email, Mike Elias — the senior director of strategy and operations for the Wharton Undergraduate Division — described the need to stop
“activities that create barriers to access or impose undue stress” upon students. Elias cited the Stop Campus Hazing Act, which was first signed into law in 2024 by former Benjamin Franklin Professor of Presidential Practice and President Joe Biden. He wrote that activities that induce “physical, emotional, or psychological” stress are not permitted, as they “may be classified as hazing, even if they are traditional or longstanding club processes.” In the event that a student files a report of oncampus hazing, Penn will be legally required to See WHARTON, page 2
CHENYAO LIU | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
The Undergraduate Admissions Visitors Center is located in Claudia Cohen Hall.
SANJANA JUVVADI | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Wharton implemented new guidelines for club recruitment for the 2025-26 academic year. SEND STORY IDEAS TO NEWSTIP@THEDP.COM
Penn released demographic data for the Class of 2029 on Friday, revealing an increase in the percentage of students from groups historically underrepresented in higher education. According to the Sept. 5 report, 21% of the Class of 2029 are first-generation students, and 24% are from historically underrepresented backgrounds in higher education, as opposed to 19% and 23% of the Class of 2028, respectively. Dean of Admissions Whitney Soule told The Daily Pennsylvanian that the admission trends reflect the University’s broader intentions for future classes at Penn. “We’re pleased to see an increase in students who are the first in their family to attend college and students who are eligible for a Pell Grant,” Soule wrote in a statement to the DP. “Welcoming first-generation and lower-income students continues to be a priority for us, made possible by Penn’s significant annual investments into undergraduate financial aid.” In the Class of 2029, 23% are eligible for Pell Grants, and 259 students were admitted through the QuestBridge program, reflecting a 2% increase in Pell Grant-eligible students and 20 more students
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affiliated with QuestBridge than the Class of 2028. The Class of 2029 is also larger as a whole than the Class of 2028, containing 2,421 students as opposed to 2,396. The change is in line with the larger pool of applicants — 72,544 applications in comparison to last year’s 65,236 — that Penn saw during the 2024-25 admissions cycle. As Penn remained test-optional, data — reflective only of first-year students who chose to submit test scores during their admissions processes — reported that the middle 50% of the class showed a shift in the distribution of scores compared to previous years. For the interquartile range of students in the Class of 2029, 63% submitted an ACT score of 35 or 36, while 83% submitted SAT scores between 1500 and 1600. The gender breakdown of the incoming class has remained consistent over the past two years, with 53% identifying as female, 46% identifying as male, and 1% identifying as transgender, nonbinary, or gender-questioning. Other demographic data of the Class of 2029 — including geographic, gender-identity, and the early decision acceptance rate — remained comparable to previous years. CONTACT US: 215-422-4640