by the 2023 Penn Disorientation Guide Editors
Welcome to the Disorientation Guide (DG), where you get to read about all the things Penn doesn’t want you to know.
By now, you’ve heard a lot about the University of Pennsylvania. Maybe you went on a tour where a student told you about Penn’s rich history, attended a preceptorial where administrators wooed you with promises of success, or strolled down Locust Walk, marveling at the storied architecture. You may have heard a lot about Penn, but you don’t know everything.
The Disorientation Guide is an annual project that attempts to paint an honest picture of life at Penn. Where can FGLI students, queer students, gender minorities, and BIPOC go for support on campus, really? What is the experience of someone besides an undergraduate student–grad students, professors, library/museum workers, custodial staff, dining staff, etc.? How do West Philly community members interact with the University of Pennsylvania? How is Penn’s history of oppression alive on campus today?
The DG is updated annually by a collective of undergraduate students, graduate students, professors, and campus activist groups all working for our shared goal of liberation. The existence of the DG at Penn goes back until at least 1972, where students wrote about issues like military recruitment on campus and integration. Since 2020, we’ve published our guide online at the beginning of each school year in hopes that it will serve as a starting point for both new and returning students to join the community of activists on campus.
This year’s edition is as important as ever: we reflect on the arrest of 19 people by Penn Police during a protest at Penn’s homecoming football game, the lives of the last remaining residents of the affordable housing complex the University City Townhomes, the fight for the undergraduate and graduate Resident Advisor Union, and a 39 day encampment on College Green for climate justice by Fossil Free Penn.
Whether we like it or not, we’re all part of the system that is the University of Pennsylvania. We pay tuition, take classes with incredible professors (and some not-so-incredible ones, which we strive to hold accountable), join student organizations, socialize, and prepare for the rest of our lives. But we also have a responsibility to understand the impact of this institution, to educate ourselves about how our tuition is used, how our successes are marketed to uplift the University. We hope that this guide is an accessible – and educational – first step to understanding your place at Penn and Penn’s place in the world.
Interested in getting involved or having a conversation? Contact us below:
Instagram: @disorientpenn
Email: penndisorientation@gmail.com
Penn Disorientation Guide 