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

PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2023

VOL. CXXXIX

RA unionization vote continues today in Houston Hall

Palestine Writes festival speakers celebrate art and culture, push back against criticism

RAs have cited a need for democratic representation and other grievances against the University as central reasons to unionize

Irvine Auditorium’s stage was filled with demonstrations of Palestinian culture from Sept. 22 to Sept. 24

JONAH MILLER Senior Reporter

Resident advisors and graduate resident advisors will vote Wednesday and Thursday on whether to unionize. Over six months after a supermajority of RAs and graduate resident associates filed to unionize, a two-day election this week will determine whether the students will officially form a union. RAs have cited a need for democratic representation and other grievances against the University as central reasons to unionize ahead of the official election. The vote will be held in the Golkin Room on the second floor of Houston Hall from noon to 9 p.m. A simple majority of votes in favor of unionizing will allow the vote to pass and continue a trend among peer universities including Columbia University, Barnard College, Wesleyan College, and Tufts University. OPEIU Local 153 organizer Scott Williams, a 2016 graduate of Penn’s Graduate School of Education, told The Daily Pennsylvanian that despite there being many new RAs this academic year, there is a “robust organizing committee” conducting individual outreach in favor of unionization. RAs held a town hall on Sept. 20 about the union, as well as an FAQ session on Sept. 24. “We’re literally talking to everyone — not just the people who are new and not just the people who are returning,” Williams said. “We’re literally doing everything we can to talk to every single RA and ask them, ‘What are the issues you want to change? How can we make this job better? How can we do that with a seat at the table?’” Williams said that if a union is formed after the votes are tallied on Thursday, the next step would be for the RAs and the GRAs to nominate and elect a bargaining committee, which will be responsible for drafting proposals and collecting input from their peers. "Everything is on the table," Williams added, when it comes to negotiating with the University. This could include retroactively changing existing contracts to meet union proposals, though he said that “it’s subject to negotiations.” In response to a request for comment, University spokesperson Ron Ozio wrote “we encourage all RAs and GRAs to be as informed as possible and to vote on the significant issue of unionization.” Previously, College House & Academic Services emailed a Frequently Asked Questions page to all RAs and GRAs that contains information about the unionization process. In an Aug. 14 Instagram post, United RAs at Penn wrote that this information contained "misinformation and misrepresentation of unionization and bargaining." “These workers care about building a community, and they care about making this the best place for people to live, and that is why they’re unionizing — they want more resources, they want more support, and they want to make these communities stronger," Williams said. College sophomore Omar Elsakhawy, a first-time RA in Fisher-Hassenfeld College House, told the DP that the ongoing unionization efforts did not affect his decision to become an RA, as he was already planning on applying due to the benefits that come with his position. See RAs, page 6

Penn Hillel emphasizes Jewish unity with ‘Shabbat Together’ event The event was originally organized in response to the Palestine Writes Literature Festival HOPE SHERIDAN Staff Reporter

Hundreds of students packed Penn Hillel for "Shabbat Together," an event to promote Jewish unity following several antisemitic incidents on campus. Penn Hillel invited both Jewish and non-Jewish students to join them to celebrate Jewish pride, unity, and togetherness, Penn Hillel Executive Director and Rabbi Gabe Greenberg explained in a letter to Hillel’s mailing list on Sept. 14. In response to the Palestine Writes Literature SEND STORY IDEAS TO NEWSTIP@THEDP.COM

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NINA DILWORTH AND MEHREEN SYED Senior Reporter and Staff Reporter

PHOTO BY ANNA VAZHAEPARAMBIL

Penn condemns antisemitic acts The statement from Penn administrators came the day after an unknown individual vandalized the Penn Hillel building and shouted ‘antisemitic obscenities’ JARED MITOVICH Senior Reporter

Penn administrators condemned the vandalism at Penn Hillel and a swastika discovered at Meyerson Hall, pledging additional steps to protect Jewish students. The statement was emailed to the Penn community last Friday and was signed by Penn President Liz Magill, Provost John Jackson Jr., Senior Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli, and other top administrators. In the statement, Penn wrote that the incidents were "deeply unsettling" and that the Division of Public Safety was investigating both incidents, committing to increased security at Hillel and the Lubavitch House. "We unequivocally condemn such hateful acts," the administrators wrote. "They are an assault on our values and mission as an institution and have no place at Penn. Sadly, incidents of hatred, including antisemitic rhetoric and acts that denigrate Jewish people, have become all too common." The University statement said that Penn is in

"active conversations" with community-based organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League. The Daily Pennsylvanian previously reported on Magill's correspondence with ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, where she outlined several steps the University is taking to respond to criticism of the Palestine Writes Literature Festival — including reviewing Penn's policies for external group event reservations. Magill's letter to the ADL has sparked mixed responses from students on campus. In their statement, Penn administrators said that the antisemitic incidents coincided with upcoming visits to campus by "controversial speakers." "We also acknowledge the timing of these incidents is particularly difficult given the controversial speakers who will be participating in the event on our campus over the coming days," the University wrote. "It is our collective responsibility as a community to stand clearly and strongly

See RESPONSE, page 6

Festival, Hillel announced the “Shabbat Together” event as a way to promote unity on campus amid the controversy. The dinner portion of the event took place on Sept. 22, at 7:30 p.m., the night of the festival’s opening, following services. The festival has sparked outrage from Jewish groups on campus and nationwide, who allege that some of the event’s speakers have made antisemitic remarks in the past. The planning of “Shabbat Together” came before an unknown individual shouted antisemitic obscenities and turned over furniture in Hillel on Sept. 21. Penn administrators later announced that a swastika was discovered on the fourth floor of Meyerson Hall. Penn Hillel Co-Presidents and College juniors Lauren Krasilovsky and Eitan Weinstein, Rabbi Gabe Greenberg, and 1963 Wharton graduate Stuart Weitzman spoke during the event following Shabbat services. College junior Kevin Bina then led the audience in singing the Jewish hymn, “Hine Ma Tov," and College senior Eyal Yakoby spoke to attendees eating on the second floor of Hillel. Krasilovsky and Weinstein emphasized the importance of togetherness following the two separate acts of antisemitism, including at Meyerson Hall, which is a part of the Weitzman School of Design. “Despite how wonderful it is to be with one another as one, we all know that there is a palpable tension in the air this weekend, especially after yesterday’s horrible act of vandalism in this place

that so many of us call home,” Weinstein said in one copy of his remarks sent to a Hillel email list. Despite a difficult week for Penn's Jewish community, Greenberg called on students to be proud of their Jewish identities on campus, no matter how they manifest that identity. During his speech, Weitzman spoke extensively

Writers and performers celebrated Palestinian art and culture while discussing their right to national independence at the Palestine Writes Literature Festival this weekend. Irvine Auditorium was filled with demonstrations of Palestinian culture — speeches, dance numbers, and spoken word poetry — from Sept. 22 to Sept. 24. Almost all of the performers emphasized the deep ancestral roots of their culture, and called for Palestinian liberation from Israel while criticizing European legacies of settler colonialism. Organizers said that the festival sold over 1,500 tickets and received interest from hundreds more, with their live stream of the opening night garnering over 1,000 views as of the time of publication. The participants included Penn students, faculty, and others — many of whom flew from all over the country to attend, according to Palestine Writes Executive Director Susan Abulhawa. Huda Fakhreddine, a professor of Arabic literature at Penn and one of the event organizers, said that the festival goes beyond an ordinary celebration of cultural literature. “This is not meant to be a gathering of polite or bored society,” Abulhawa, a Palestinian-American writer and human rights activist, said during the event. “It is meant to be an intersectional defiant space, where we can exist for a brief moment with agency and with our friends in our refusal to disappear, our refusal to forget or forgo our ancient past, and our refusal to accept the racist trope that pervades Western imaginations.” Friday’s program included a dance number by the Freedom Dabka Group and "Love Letters & Defiance" — a series of spoken word readings from Dana Dajani, a Palestinian actress and writer, and Lorna Munro, a poet and member of the Wiradjuri and Gamilaroi Aboriginal groups of Australia. A College sophomore, who requested anonymity for personal safety, said she attended "Love Letters & Defiance" and found the performance emotional because it told the story of a person who was born on Nakba, the day that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. After reciting the poem, Dajani asked attendees to recite the names of their Palestinian ancestors who fled their homes. “The performance itself was about the Palestinian struggle,” she said. “When I looked around the room, people were tearing up and crying." In addition to the performances, the festival included an arts and photography exhibit, kids’ arts and crafts stations, a treasure hunt, and plant-based Palestinian food. Friday's program ended with a panel titled "The Cost, Reward, & Urgency of Friendship," featuring Vietnamese-American writer Viet Thanh Nguyen, British journalist Gary Younge, and Pink Floyd cofounder Roger Waters. Waters joined the panel virtually from a small room in the Philadelphia International Airport, though the organizers left a chair open for him on stage — along with another empty chair for journalist Gary Younge, who said that his visa was revoked See FESTIVAL, page 3

on how Jewish accomplishments have been fundamental to developments in health care, finance, science, and arts. He also stated that it was important for Jewish students to support Israel, drawing what he said were stark differences See HILLEL, page 6

PHOTO BY ETHAN YOUNG

Penn Hillel hosted a “Shabbat Together” event for both Jewish and non-Jewish students on Sept. 22.

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