Frankly Penn
Posts about dorms written by Penn Alumni
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Frankly Penn
By Kiera Reilly, C’93, Allison Feder Fliegler, W’93, L’99, Josh Frank, C’93, Jennifer Jarett, C’93, and Alice Lai Platt, C’93

Our 38 Weeks To Go post featured old Penn t-shirts. Our 77 Weeks To Go post featured photos of dorm rooms. Our 37 Weeks To Go post (that would be this post), will have a little of each of those posts. So, for our classmates who are only now sorting through their boxes of Penn memorabilia or digging around to see if they still have an old Penn t-shirt or sweatshirt, there is still time to have those items included in a post!

Thanks to Allison Feder-Fliegler, W’93, L’99, we have t-shirts from Warwick and Commie House to share.

Josh Frank, C’93, shared this about the Warwick shirt:

It was designed by David “Bip” Lavine, C’93, who was roommates with Josh Perelman. He was a terrific artist, and really put a lot of thought into the design of the shirt.

As noted by Jen Jarrett, Bobby constantly walked around in a towel, and was often singing (he truly has an incredible singing voice), so that’s why there are little musical notes around him.

If I recall correctly, the tower on top looked like one of the ones on or near Warwick in the Quad, and the picture quality isn’t good, but I think there’s a Kilroy or something peeking out from the bottom of it.

Of all of my dozens of shirts from Penn (fraternity, Mask & Wig, etc.), that one was always my favorite. We had a great floor, and having Bobby as our RA was an incredible gift.

Josh wrote this in response to a lively post in our class Facebook group about dorm rooms and RA’s, and the RA for Warwick One, Bobby Gonzalez, C’90, (now a professional actor known as Robert Gant), was quite popular! (Stay tuned for more on Warwick One in a future post).

Allison shared a photo of her freshman dorm room in the Quad.

Jennifer Jarret shared some dorm life photos.

Alice Lai Platt shared some photos from Hill House.

Alice writes,

You lived in Hill (hell) if your campus tour failed to include the quad, or if you got advice from someone who majored in engineering or math. The rooms were so small that my roommate and I could sit on our own beds and still hand each other the phone without getting up. I spent a lot of time outside and around campus!

I met one of my best friends there. Her roommate never showed up so she had a room all to herself. I loved hanging out in her extra space.

Way back in 1989 we had phones in the rooms! Here I am with one of my freshman roommates, Lisa Bardfeld Shapiro, C’93.

If you have dorm photos or old Penn t-shirts to share, please let us know. We want to share memories from as many classmates as possible. Email us at upenn1993 {at} gmail.com.

Penn Class of 1993 25th Reunion Countdown

The weekend of August 25 – 26, 2017, marked 37 weeks until the 25th Reunion of the Penn Class of 1993 (May 11 – 14, 2018)!

Join us we count down the weeks to our reunion #93tothe25th:

Do you have old photos or mementos from our time at Penn? Photos of Spring Fling? Football at Franklin Field? Classes at DRL? We are taking a trip down memory lane and would love for you to share your memories with our class in a future post. Please email us upenn1993@gmail.com!

Join our reunion committee – email Lisa Grabelle at lisagrabelle@yahoo.com.

Follow us on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram.

Classmates are invited to join our Facebook and LinkedIn groups.

Important hotel update! Overwhelming response from our great class has sold out the Downtown Marriott Class of 1993 room block for Saturday night. There are alternative hotels. We recommend booking ASAP! Please see our class website for additional details.

By Kiera Reilly, C’93

A recent post in our #93tothe25th countdown to our 25th reunion looked back at our Freshman Move-In in September, 1989. This week, we went back into our pre-digital camera archives to unearth photos of where and how we lived that first year at Penn. It is interesting to see that while everyone has their own personal style, there is a definite similarity to the rooms and the things that were in vogue in the Fall of 1989. Be sure to look closely at the photos to notice small things like original Macintosh computers, phones with cords, and the all important music posters.

Thank you to classmates Danny Bockvar, Marianne Alves Brogdale, Amy Korn Duque, Christine Lutton Foster, Brooke Hayes, Meredith Prevor-Weiss, Allison Laney Richards, and Jessica Zirkel-Rubin for sharing your photos with us!

Upper Quad

I lived on the 2nd floor of Franklin in the Upper Quad. I shared a triple with Lisa Bardfeld Shapiro and Randi Mosler, and while we were technically assigned to Franklin Hall, our triple and the one across the hall from us were separated from the rest of the Franklin rooms by fire doors. So the Brooks-Leidy Hall adopted us.

Since we had a triple room, there were two tiny single rooms and one large central room. We swapped rooms throughout the year, but for the first part of the year, I had one of the single rooms.

This photo is dark, but you can partially see the view of the Quad through the window.

The RA for the 2nd floor of Brooks-Leidy, Mark. Remember milk crates?

High Rises

Amy Korn Duque shares, “My freshman move-in day at Penn, I was assigned to a high rise on the 14th floor, sharing an apartment-style dorm with 2 girls from Colombia and one from Staten Island. (I am still in touch with 2 out of 3.) One of my roommates had gone to high school with a Wharton sophomore, who came over to help us move in and get settled. They were not particularly good friends, but we hit it off right away. He and I have now been married for 21 years, and this year we saw our son off to Penn for his own freshman move-in day.”

Marianne Alves Brogdale also sent in a photo of her room in the High Rises, and coincidentally, she was a floor above Amy in Room 1513!

Lower Quad – Community House

Jessica Zirkel-Rubin sent a photo of her room, number 258 in Warwick.

Allison Laney Richards also sent photos from the 2nd floor of Warwick. Allison writes that there was a cheer for the floor, “Warwick 2nd Floor, Who could ask for more. In Volleyball we conquer all. We’ll Nail you to the floor.”

Another photo of Allison and Jennifer. I guess plaid shirts were “in”?

Some of Allison’s 2nd floor Warwick hallmates: Neil Sheth, Mark Stern, Ed Miller , and Nick ? feast on pizza, something we all ate at least once a week!

Jim Fleischer and Allison in his room. Allison writes, “Jim lived across the hall from me Freshman year; Regan (Allan) was in my sorority; I introduced them and now they are married.”

A photo from an “all night drink fest” (party after finals done and before flying home) in a Butcher 2nd floor dorm room. Pictured: Jeff McKibben, Samantha Leventhal, Allison Laney Richards, and Rob Hathaway.

Kings Court – English House

Christine Lutton Foster had this photo of a sign from her dorm door.

Near the Mail Room in the Quad

Meredith Prevor-Weiss sent photos from EF Smith in the Quad.

Roommates Then, Friends Now

Brooke Hayes sent a photo of him and his roommate Jason McLane sitting by Ben on the Bench freshman year. Brooke and Jason lived in Foerderer in Upper Quad. And then Brooke sent a photo with his daughter Cameron (and wife Hilary Marion Hayes, also a classmate) and Jason’s daughter Hannah in the same pose with Ben on the Bench. Cameron and Hannah entered Penn this year as Freshman and are roommates living in Speakman!

Danny Bockvar sent a photo of himself, his twin brother Johnny and his roommate Paul Altman (they lived in the Class of ’28) from Freshman year, and then a photo of the three of them today.

Coincidentally, while looking through the scrapbook I made from Freshman year, I found this article from the Philadelphia Inquirer about our class moving in and starting life at Penn. The best part? Paul and Johnny are quoted in the article! I wonder if Paul can tell the difference between the Bockvars now? (If you can’t read the image below, the article is online here).

We received photos from rooms in the Quad and the High Rises, but we are still seeking photos from Hill House, Kings Court/English House, DuBois or other freshman dorms. And we would love to see more photos of other rooms in the Quad and High Rises. We hope to do another post on freshman dorm rooms so if you have any photos, please send them to us!

Penn Class of 1993 Reunion Countdown

The weekend of November 18-19 marked 77 weeks until the 25th Reunion of the Penn Class of 1993 (May 11 – 13, 2018)! Join us we countdown the weeks to our reunion #93tothe25th:

Do you have old photos or mementos from our time at Penn? Photos of Spring Fling? Football at Franklin Field? Classes at DRL? We are taking a trip down memory lane and would love for you to share your memories with our class in a future post. Please email us upenn1993@gmail.com!

Follow us on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram.

Classmates are invited to join our Facebook and LinkedIn groups.