Tying it All Together

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Antiwar demonstrators following the Penn marching band during Hey Day in 1972. Students rallied to protest the U.S.'s involvement in the Vietnam War and Penn's role in funding the war effort. In a black and white photo, students with signs and a megaphone confront band members playing their instruments. Photo courtesy of Penn Archives.

by the DG Editors

Hopefully, now at the end of this guide, you have a clearer understanding of Penn as an institution. You’ve seen how Penn’s foundation was dependent upon displacing indigenous peoples and using enslaved labor, how it exploits its workers today, how it fails to meet the needs of its students, how it intensifies racial inequalities, and how it deprives us all of an environmentally sound future. 

All these issues are connected and can be explained by the University’s unspoken ethos: profit over people. Although Penn transfers leadership this year from former President Amy Gutmann to current President Liz Magill, the underlying system of unfettered capitalism has not changed. Penn’s multi-billion dollar endowment continues to swell, board members keep making millions, and the University continues to funnel students into the corporate world post-graduation (see: Trustees, White Collar Crime). The rich are only able to obtain these bloated amounts of wealth because of how they squeeze the poor and oppressed of every last cent. The outcome means less resources for low-income students, the mistreatment of dining hall workers, the acceleration of climate destruction, and violent police enforcing the displacement of West Philly residents, all to prevent even the smallest dent in their bottom line.

Penn often tries to mask over the harm they perpetuate with heartfelt messages that seem to sympathize with our calls for action, but they ultimately fall short of making real change. We urge you not to be duped by the flowery language of their PR machine and to not compromise on your demands for justice. Many articles in this guide detail how organized, undeterred campus activism has produced results throughout Penn’s history. It was the hard work of students, faculty, and staff that created the cultural houses, the Asian American Studies program as well as multiple other programs and resources that students use to this day (see: Cultural Houses, ASAM). More recently, campus activism has also led to partial wins on reparations for the Morton Collection and on the demand for the University to pay PILOTs (see: Slavery at Penn, PILOTs). We hope that rather than being demoralized by Penn’s lengthy list of faults recorded in these articles, the DG instead inspires you into collective action, and that the resources you can find at the end of this guide help you with your efforts.

Through organizing and solidarity, we will win. All power to the people!

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