‘We Bloom Together’ – a mural in the ARCH celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
From the vivid red poppy of Turkmenistan to the golden shower tree of Thailand, all 66 Asian and Pacific Island countries are now represented on a vivid mural in the ARCH building lobby. The mural, “Planted in Different Worlds by Chance, But We Bloom Together by Choice,” was planned by the Pan-Asian American Community House (PAACH) and unveiled with student collaboration in an April 13 event.
The base of the painted mural is a woman’s silhouette and a house icon representing PAACH, said Vicky Aquino, associate director and self-taught artist. Aquino came up with the mural’s vision. PAACH, she said, “is a place where everyone can grow and bloom like flowers that have their own colors, scents, and unique beauty.”
Aquino invited students to choose one or more of 66 flower decal stickers and attach them to the mural, adorning the hair and neck of the silhouetted woman with roses, lilies, plumerias, and Tahitian gardenias.
“The national flower of the Philippines is jasmine, which smells really good,” said Aquino, who chose that as her sticker. “As a Filipino American, that’s my pride. I really want to be inclusive of every single person; the best way is to represent them through the national flowers of Asia and the Pacific Islands. As a community, we should all work toward the same goal of advocating for each other, uplifting one another, and living our lives harmoniously like a field of colorful flowers.”
Anya Arora, a third-year Wharton School student from Singapore studying finance, and Mary Yao, a fourth-year Wharton student from Longmont, Colorado, studying finance and operations, were excited to see a new mural for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage (AAPI) month, celebrated in May, and came to place stickers, they said.
“There’s a lot of diversity amongst Asians and Asian Americans,” Yao said. “Everyone has really different backgrounds.” Yao meets with the Asian American Pacific Leadership Initiative, a nonprofit that began through PAACH in 2001. While the students in the group explore their leadership styles through multiculturalism, they also “try to unpack a lot of what that what it means to be Asian American,” Yao said.
Grace Edwards, a second-year studying health and societies with a journalistic writing minor, worked with the PAACH team on the mural as their office assistant intern. Edwards, who grew up in Damascus, Maryland, and has since moved to Haverford, Pennsylvania, felt it was important to include everyone, she said.
Edwards identifies as biracial. Her mother is from Vietnam; her father is from Barbados. Sometimes, she says, she felt as if she had to choose. During the pandemic, there was a surge of both anti-Black racism and Asian hate, she said.
“I was able to come to terms with that and figure out what it means to be Black in America and what it means to be Asian American in America,” Edwards said. “I’m still kind of navigating that. But I’m hoping that I can use my identity to bridge these two cultures.”
The mural also incorporated a QR code that goes to a website where students can list additional AAPI organizations. “If you are part of an AAPI community, please identify that group so that we can come and reach out to you in the fall to collaborate,” said Cindy Au-Kramer, PAACH finance, operations, and program coordinator. “If you are looking to connect and you don’t know what the resources are, whether it’s Penn services, alumni connections, or community partnerships, come to us so that we can connect you.”
This project was supported by the PAACH team and program assistants; Marjan Gartland, director of creative strategy and design at University Life; and Will Atkins, associate vice provost for university life.
Penn pilots co-responder program between mental health clinicians, Penn Police officers
Penn announced the pilot of a co-responder program designed to improve mental health response on campus.
As a partnership between the Division of Public Safety, the Office of the Associate Vice Provost for University Life, and Wellness at Penn, the pilot program will feature a mental health clinician accompanying a Penn Police officer in the event of mental health crises during some overnight periods. Prior to the launch of the pilot, mental health counselors conducted a virtual assessment during these crises.
“Right now, a student [would be put] on the phone with a counselor, and the officer would do an on-site assessment in conjunction with the mental health counselor on the phone,” Vice President for the Division of Public Safety Kathleen Shields Anderson said. “And then, together, they talk about what the best next steps and referrals are for that student in that moment of crisis.”
Currently, outside of business hours, mental health professionals are only available over the phone. Associate Vice Provost for University Life Sharon Smith said that it was important to improve the quality of care at all hours, not just during the day.
“We have an ongoing community of care,” Smith said. “And we want to view that community of care through the lens of what goes on at 2 a.m., and what goes on at 2 p.m.”
Chief Wellness Officer Benoit Dubé said that there is a difference between a clinician attending in person rather than over the phone, as has been done historically.
“If you’re having a bad day, talking to someone over the phone versus going out to coffee with someone is very different,” Dubé said. “It’s a lot easier for the conversation to evolve faster in person than over the phone because you communicate both verbally and nonverbally.”
Shields Anderson added that it is beneficial for the clinician themselves to examine cues that are not apparent virtually, enabling them to make a faster and more accurate judgment.
“For someone experiencing a true crisis, it’s helpful for our officers to be in the room and see not just what is being said, but also how the person appears, and what is the state of their house, and their room,” Shields Anderson said. “There are other kinds of contextual clues that you can gather about where the person is mentally from being present.”
The City of Philadelphia launched its co-responder pilot program in the spring of 2021 known as the Crisis Intervention Response Team Program, in which a police officer and mental health professional responded to calls together.
Dubé said that the program, which was introduced at the Board of Trustees meeting in early March, is being piloted with the goal of improving student health and quality of life, similar to previous programs led by DPS and Wellness at Penn.
“The reason why we are piloting this program is in line with what we have done in the past — working on the betterment of our students,” Dubé said.
Dubé, Smith, and Shields Anderson said that the idea for the pilot was independently discussed by the three teams prior to last summer, and the groups came together to coordinate the pilot at the beginning of the 2022-23 school year.
“Our approach to policing has changed our approach to mental health, our responsiveness to mental health, [and] the stigma surrounding seeking help, all from a societal perspective,” Dubé said. “So we’re seizing that moment because there’s a window for us to innovate and do better.”
Shields Anderson and Dubé said that Penn will hire a flexible amount of mental health professionals to staff the pilot. They said that the hiring process should conclude within the next several weeks, followed by training to familiarize the hirees with the culture at Penn and the expectations of their positions.
A now-expired online job listing stated that the hired workers “will work in concert with other emergency response resources to respond to calls for service, conduct socio-clinical assessments, and make appropriate referrals and handoffs to emergency medical care and/or other University and community support services.”
The leaders of the pilot expressed hope that students will see the pilot as a way Penn continues to look out for their best interests.
“We want [students] to recognize that we have their best interests at heart,” Smith said. “We all have an idea of how we want to support our students, and so students across the board, as diverse as they are, will get something of a similar experience.”
Director Elisa Foster leads the Penn Women’s Center as it approaches its 50th anniversary
The Penn Women’s Center occupies three-quarters of a three-story house tucked off Locust Walk, with a front garden dotted with clumps of hellebores and daffodils during the spring. It has a full kitchen, a barbeque in back, and rooms that can be reserved by anyone on campus, with first preference going to student groups.
Founded in 1973, the Center works with students, staff, and faculty to promote gender justice and support personal and professional development. It’s a place where advocacy, equality, and wellness come together, says Elisa Foster, the director. It is a warm and caring house, filled with warm and caring people with interests ranging from sustainability to anti-violence to sex positivity, she says.
Although recently appointed director, Foster has worked for the Center for more than six years and has almost 20 years of experience working at the intersection of racial justice and gender equity. This was the first job that felt like home, she says. When her young son visits, he calls it “the work house.”
“A lot of the things that I’m passionate about are part of the reason why I do this work. I’m a mom. I have a 5-year-old. I have one coming in a few weeks,” Foster says. “When I started working here at the Women’s Center, I was the main person downstairs using our lactation room. So, I got a first-hand experience of what it means to support parents on our campus. And I think that made me an even better advocate for a lot of the folks that we work with and a lot of the people that come to the Center needing support, who are caretakers or who are nursing or are new parents,” she says.
Foster is also a breast cancer survivor. “That’s how I spent COVID, in chemo.” Going through that experience made her even more passionate about reproductive justice and health care for women, she says.
“When we talk about wellness and balancing our lives and academics and jobs, these are all things that I’ve always felt really passionately about because they’ve always been things I’ve had to balance,” Foster says.
“I think Elisa is one of the primary reasons why the Women’s Center has such a welcoming environment,” says Hannah Goldberg, a musicology and English major from Kansas City, Kansas. Goldberg, who graduated in December, works full-time for the Center supporting student initiatives and heading its wellness and sustainability programs.
Goldberg describes Foster as a compassionate leader and exceptionally approachable. “Everyone at Penn is running around,” Goldberg says, “but she’s so present with everyone she meets.”
For three hours on a sunny March afternoon, the Penn Women’s Center ebbs and flows with students looking for a place to study, a group of women discussing Gender Equity Week with flyers and stickers and an Instagram rollout strategy, and some 15 high school students here for a reading group. There are snacks. There are gel rollerball pens. There is loose-leaf tea. But as warm and nurturing as the Center is, it’s also a serious place to discuss serious issues.
The upstairs hall of the Center serves as an ad hoc museum, with flyers and posters from almost 50 years of history. Founded in 1973 as an anti-violence initiative, violence prevention is still a big piece of the Center’s work.
“We’re a confidential resource,” Foster says. That means that students, staff, or faculty can come to the Women’s Center, talk about what’s bothering them, and get some help. “We do what we call crisis options counseling, which means they come in with whatever their concern is—and that can range from sexual violence to discrimination in the classroom to a conflict they have with their roommate—and we give them we give them all the options and resources that they have here on campus and off campus,” she says.
The center works closely with Penn Violence Prevention and also hosts a pre-orientation program with Penn Association for Gender Equity. This allows people to come in and learn about violence prevention in a small, safe setting, which can later be shared peer to peer, Foster says.
Women’s Center staff also serve as mentors, advising student organizations, as well as helping them logistically and financially, says Hitomi Yoshida, the Center’s coordinator. “We encourage students to voice their ideas, so they have more opportunity to practice their activism and engagement on campus.”
This often means collaborating with the cultural resource centers or with community groups on projects that might advocate against anti-Black violence or facilitate access to menstrual care. The staff supports the issues the students take on and the nature of this work evolves as the national landscape evolves, Foster says.
Although Foster is the director, she says she leads without pushing. She creates space for everyone to talk and later comes in with suggestions or encouragement. “That collective framework has been built into the Center,” Foster says. “Historically, we’ve always felt that everyone’s voice was really important.”
As it moves toward its 50th anniversary this fall, the Center has become even more gender inclusive. “The name is Women’s Center, but all are welcome,” Yoshida says. “We are a welcoming space to build community around gender justice.”
People of all genders have played a role in anti-violence initiatives like Take Back the Night, Foster says. In partnership with Penn Violence Prevention, the Center advises and mentors the student organization Abuse & Sexual Assault Prevention, which plans and sponsors the annual Take Back the Night rally.
It is an event where the campus comes together to protest sexual violence and rally to support survivors, which is reflective of the foundation of the Penn Women’s Center, Foster says. “Fifty years after the Women’s Center was created, we’ve made tremendous strides in offering resources to protect our community, but we still have a long way to go to eradicate interpersonal violence and establish and gender equity. This continues to be at the core of our work.”
Student Spotlight: Tarah Paul
I recently spoke with Tarah Paul, C’24 about a range of topics such as Black History Month, Penn Athletics, and Makuu: The Black Cultural Center. During our conversation, I often found myself awestruck due to the strength of her words and the thoughtfulness of her ideas. When I asked her about what Black History Month meant to her, she said:
For me, it means celebrating and cultivating. It represents showing appreciation, grace and gratitude because Black History Month is not just one month, it's every month. It's also because living as a black person is history in and of itself…
Her statement is powerful. As a community, we must recognize, celebrate, cultivate, appreciate and show gratitude towards Black culture and the people putting in the work for equality and inclusion. As Tarah said, this should happen not just during Black History Month, but always.
Tarah’s work in support of her community is remarkable. She is co-chair of Umoja, works as Makuu’s Student Coordinator, is a member of The Inspiration A Capella group, and is involved in countless other organizations on campus and within the Philadelphia community. Tarah expressed she loves being involved and doing this type of work because she wants to give others the best possible experience. She wants to be the biggest advocate for others in the same way Makuu has been for her. This is one of the most important sentiments I took from our conversation – the idea of being a supporter for others and what it means to have advocates on your behalf.
Everyone deserves to have someone you can lean on and a chosen family. I’ve heard from many people, including alumni, graduate students, or people outside of Penn, about how their biggest regret was not finding a place in college where they felt supported or where they felt at home.
Cultural Resource Centers at Penn, such as Makuu and La Casa Latina, give people the space to feel at home and feel part of not just a community of people, but a family too. Penn benefits from this family-like culture and from having people like Tarah who think creatively or seek to make solutions to better the experience of everyone.
For example, Tarah identified a need within her community for free beginner swimming lessons and sought a solution, ultimately bettering the experience for everyone around her. Now, because of Tarah’s initiative, as well as University Life and campus partner support, 40 students have the opportunity to learn how to swim. This is something that, due to lack of accessibility in society, they wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise.
My goal for people reading this story is knowing the importance of paying attention always, not just at a particular time, to those who make the Penn experience more meaningful for others. We should not only celebrate people but also learn from them and strive to do our part in making the community better. We should do as much as we can to make people feel at home and to feel like they have family, especially in a world that seems so divided. This is the real Penn experience. These everyday moments in which we all come together, as little as they seem, is the real history and one in which I am proud to be a part of.
Highlights from my Conversation with Tarah
Tell me about yourself.
I’m a graphic design major at Penn. I’m currently a junior and originally from Philly. On the side, I love photography, videography, graphic design and small passion projects. I also love baking, especially banana bread. It’s become my staple dish.
Tell me more about your involvement with the Inspiration A Capella group. What is your favorite song to perform? Can you sing a snippet for us?
The group is primarily focused on music written or performed by artists from the African Diaspora. Our purpose is to entertain and educate. I joined the group in my freshman year, which was during Covid-19. It was a crazy transition going from online to in-person performance and it helped me appreciate the group, which built my community even more. My favorite songs that we have performed are “Bass Song” by PJ Morton and “Sure Thing” by Miguel.
I’ve linked both performances below!
Penn Campus Recreation Collaboration
I’ve heard you are working with Penn Campus Recreation. Tell me about the project you are working on?
The project is a collaboration between Penn Campus Recreation alongside Makuu. We are working with Shana Vaid, Aquatics Coordinator, and we’ve also been working with Erica Hildenbrand, the Director of Campus Outreach, with the aim to create a swimming lesson program for Black students at Penn. The idea started because I noticed that there was a need for free or subsidized swimming lessons for Black students. I don’t know how to swim, and I know there are other students like me who also don’t know how to swim. I talked to Brian, the Director of Makuu, about how we could offer something that gives students the opportunity to gain water skills. We then talked to Shana and Erica about this idea. Ultimately, we were able to have our first cohort of 40 students who signed up and who are receiving 8 free swimming lessons this Spring.
What inspired you to come up with this project and how did you bring it to life with Penn Campus Recreation? What was that process like?
In terms of process, we had meetings to determine the logistics of the swimming lessons and we also had meetings with different stakeholders like University Life, Penn First Plus, Office of Social Equity and Inclusion, etc. to get their involvement or support to offset costs. Additionally, our first cohort received swimming gear because we wanted to alleviate any other financial burden. That was the process behind the scenes, and we were able to start the program in January.
Do you have any specific information that you would like to share about the pilot program?
We are hoping to have another cohort after Spring break. The first cohort won’t be the last cohort, so we will have more to offer and more sign-up opportunities like this for Black students at Penn in the future.
What is your favorite style of swimming if you have one?
I don’t have one since I’m still a beginner in swimming; however, I learned how to do a handstand and a flip, and I think that is fun. I like doing silly things in the water because before these lessons I couldn’t do that
Makuu and Black History Month
What does Black History Month mean to you?
To me it means celebrating and cultivating. It also means giving appreciation, grace, and showing gratitude. Black History Month is not just one month, it’s every month. It’s also because living as a black person is history in and of itself. This is a moment to do reflection and gain the attention we already deserve – prominent past or current figures did and are doing amazing work to serve our communities and society. When I say celebrating black history, I mean celebrating the work the people are doing and the work that people have done. When I said cultivating, I mean not just in doing work in the past tense but continuing to do the work and continuing to push for equality and inclusion in all spaces. When I say showing gratitude it’s also thanking people and acknowledging the time and effort that people have and are putting in daily – to not be selfish but selfless. That is what comes to mind.
What is Makuu and what is their goal?
Makuu is a Black Cultural Center on Penn’s Campus. It serves as a resource center or a cultural resource center for its students and the Penn community. I know Makuu as my second home and I’ve been able to develop close relationships with the people who interact with Makuu through Brian Pearson, Director of Makuu, Michelle Houston, Associate Director of Makuu, and many others. In Makuu they are your supporters and your advocates. They are able to be a resource to you. Thus, whether it’s through classes, hosting events, networking, or through Robeson Cooper Scholar program, which I am also a part of, they can support and to create a second home for its students.
You have a leadership position at Umoja. What is your role within the organization? What work does the organization do for the community?
I am a co-chair of Umoja which is a 7B organization as well as an umbrella organization that oversees 28 black constituent groups including BSL, MAPS, NSBY, and The Inspiration – to name a few. As co-chair we help lead GBM’s, meet with other 7B organizations, and we also work with Makuu and University Life. We also help provide funding to our constituent groups. Some of our recent events have been in collaboration with Makuu to lead open forums during BHM. We are planning on celebrating UMOJA 25th anniversary and making a UMOJA week this fall with a culminating event to celebrate all the work that has been put into this organization.
What events did Makuu organize for Black History Month?
Makuu helped hold a plantain party and we also invited a Black Penn alum to speak. The speaker was Kalyne Coleman, an amazing actress who is doing great work in her field.
Makuu also worked with the Penn Fund and Alumni Relations to invite other Black Penn alumni to come speak in a panel about what it’s like after graduating and the importance of giving back to Penn.
Other events include Step Afrika, which was a performance in Irvine that had a really great turnout.
Can you tell me a bit about your vision for the BHM mural?
I worked with Makuu and with University Life to make the mural come to life. The theme behind the mural was to center it around a piece created by Black Penn alumni Abdi Farah called “Cloud of Witnesses”. This is a charcoal drawing of notable Black Penn alumni including John Legend, Julian Able, Sadie Mosell Alexander, among many others. In addition to centering the mural around that specific piece, we wanted it to include images of black joy, black experiences, and black moments to show the full spectrum of what you see as black history. Within that concept, I worked with the art direction for the mural alongside University Life, Umoja constituents, and Monolith – a black student visual arts collective. In collaboration with two Monolith artists, we were able to come up with drafts for the mural until we settled on what you see now.
What has been your favorite Makuu moments?
My favorite Makuu moments are either in the “living room,” which is located at the ground floor of the ARCH, or the many events I share with my friends. It could even be as simple as meeting someone and having a conversation with them. Those spontaneous moments are the ones I like the most. Some specific events that come to mind are Kwanzaa, the Senior Celebration, and Makuu family dinner.
What do you feel you have learned about yourself from your experience in Makuu?
I think what I’ve learned is how much I want to give back. This is because I have seen the difference it makes to have someone in your corner. I want to help others in the same way that Makuu helps me. This is one of the lessons that I have learned from Makuu. That’s why it’s so important to me to find ways to be creative and to use the tools that I have in order to make an experience better for others. That’s also why I love being co-chair in Umoja and why I’m so involved in many other organizations on campus.
On Being a Leader
What does it mean to be a leader at Penn in the Black community, and could you tell us what you’ve learned?
I almost don’t want to think of myself as a leader because to me it evokes a sense that there is a difference between me and my peers. If anything, I want to think of myself as their biggest supporter, advocate, and cheerleader. I would much rather use those words than describe myself as a leader because these are people that I consider my friends and are also going through the same issues day-to-day. In my role, I want to make sure that their needs are being met, that they feel like their voices are being heard, and that they feel like someone is in the room advocating on their behalf to make the environment or the community better for them.
I’ve also learned patience. While I always thought of myself as a patient person, I have become even more aware that you can’t solve everything in a day. As someone who thinks creatively all the time, I know not everyone works within the same schedule or pace as you do. Thus, you must be patient and consider the long run instead of trying to do a quick dash towards an outcome. I’ve learned to be okay with the baby steps, with listening, and with becoming more understanding. You must be understanding because people have different experiences and opinions as you do, and even within the same community it’s not binary. There’s a whole range of experiences. I think, overall, it’s about being able to give grace to myself and to others.
The 2023 Most Promising Places to Work in Student Affairs
Now in its 10th year, this national recognition celebrates vibrant student affairs workplaces like ours – one in which we are committed to work-life balance, inclusive excellence and fostering a sense of belonging. The selection process focuses on workplace diversity, staffing practices and work environment. The research determining selection uses a web-based survey approach to examine categories such as family friendliness, salary and benefits and professional development opportunities.
Penn selected by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education as one of “The 2023 Most Promising Places to Work in Student Affairs"
University of Pennsylvania is a private Ivy League research institution with over 22,000 students, and more than half of them are graduate or professional students. The pandemic propelled the university life division to engage in innovative strategic long-term planning. “This planning intentionally involved every staff member in the entire division, allowing for everyone to have a voice during the planning process,” says Tamara Greenfield King, interim vice provost for university life and senior associate vice provost for student affairs. “It is our divisional goal and ethos that when people have a voice in the process, they are much more engaged and committed to the outcome.”
ALOK: Scholar-in-Residence
ALOK named first Scholar in Residence at Penn’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center
The University of Pennsylvania announced a $2 million commitment to create the first residency, at any university in the United States, dedicated to championing LGBTQ+ communities and scholarship.
The LGBTQ+ Scholar in Residence provides new resources to bring prominent leaders to Penn’s campus. The residency will launch this April with inaugural scholar ALOK, an internationally acclaimed author, poet, comedian, and public speaker, whose work explores themes of trauma, belonging, and the human condition. ALOK is the author of “Femme in Public” (2017), “Beyond the Gender Binary” (2020), and “Your Wound/My Garden” (2021), and has toured more than 40 countries over the past decade.
“University Life is deeply appreciative for this impactful gift,” said Tamara Greenfield King, Interim Vice Provost for University Life and Senior Associate Vice Provost for Student Affairs. “The Scholar in Residence program complements the incredible work of our Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center to make visible the experiences of Penn’s LGBTQ+ community. We are honored to lead the inaugural program, and we are committed to demonstrating, on a national level, how this program can bolster the LGBT Center’s efforts to create inclusive cocurricular experiences for our students.”
Penn Violence Prevention hosts consent workshop, continuing efforts from NSO
Penn Violence Prevention hosted a consent workshop on Feb. 22, inviting members of the Penn community to strengthen their communication skills around navigating consent.
The “Pizza & Fries: Conversations About Consent” workshop was held at Hill College House and facilitated by Julie Millisky, associate director at PVP.
Participants worked in small groups to build a pizza with ingredients that everyone agreed on before moving on to topics like developing boundaries and navigating consent when substances are present.
“Initially, I was expecting a seminar with many people attending, but it was a more intimate space for sharing, and I think that worked out for the better,” Sparsh Maheshwari, a graduate student at the School of Social Policy & Practice, said after attending the event. “My biggest takeaway was that if it’s not a confident and enthusiastic yes, it’s a no.”
Talia Fiester, College senior and student worker at PVP who also facilitated Wednesday’s workshop, said that the highlight of the night was seeing that students think about consent beyond just the activities that PVP facilitates.
“We had a really good conversation on the way that all of the students practiced community care amongst their friend groups,” Fiester said.
Wednesday’s workshop was a continuation of consent circles that were conducted during Penn’s New Student Orientation in August.
According to Fiester, consent circles work towards making consent a more accessible and approachable topic for first years while also building a culture of consent on campus.
PVP created the “Conversations About Consent” workshop in the spring of 2022, according to Millisky. PVP offers the option for the workshop to be requested by Penn student groups, organizations, or departments with two weeks’ notice. They also offer another workshop, “Supporting Survivors,” which focuses on how to best support a friend if they experience interpersonal violence.
Millisky estimates that PVP will give around 10 to 15 “Conversations About Consent” workshops throughout the academic year. She added that these workshops have proven to be popular and offer a nonjudgmental space where students can ask questions.
“At the end of the workshop, hopefully, students feel empowered to navigate consent in their own lives,” Millisky said.
During April, PVP is organizing the clothesline project for Sexual Assault Awareness Month, which will give survivors a chance to share their stories anonymously by writing on T-shirts that will be displayed on College Green, Millisky told The Daily Pennsylvanian.
Hikaru ‘Karu’ Kozuma named Vice Provost for University Life
The University of Pennsylvania has named Hikaru “Karu” Kozuma as Vice Provost for University Life, beginning May 1, 2023. Kozuma is currently executive director of College Houses and Academic Services and served previously at Penn as Associate Vice Provost for University Life and executive director of the Office of Student Affairs.
“Karu Kozuma is a highly experienced national leader in university life,” said Interim Provost Beth Winkelstein, who made the announcement. “He is well known across our Penn community for his empathy, wisdom, and collaborative skill. He is deeply committed to the engagement and well-being of our students, both graduate and undergraduate, as his own experience encompasses every size and aspect of student life, including his own experience as a graduate student at [Penn] GSE.”
“I, along with incoming Provost John Jackson, am deeply grateful to the consultative committee and to the members of our community who participated in the search process for this vital position—as well as to Tamara Greenfield King for her invaluable ongoing service as Interim Vice Provost for University Life. We are confident that Karu will be an outstanding partner to all of us in leading our university life initiatives in the years ahead.”
Kozuma—who received the highly distinguished Pillar of the Profession Award last year from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators—has served at Penn as executive director of College Houses and Academic Services since 2021 and as Associate Vice Provost for University Life and executive director of the Office of Student Affairs from 2010-2018. From 2018-2021, he was chief student affairs officer at Amherst College, overseeing all aspects of student affairs, including residential life, student activities, and academic advising. Before coming to Penn in 2010, he was director of residential programs at Columbia University and spent three years in residential life at Middlebury College. He received an Ed.D. in higher education from the Penn Graduate School of Education in 2015, an M.Ed. in higher education administration from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2002, and a BA from Middlebury College in 1998.
A national search for a new executive director of College Houses and Academic Services will begin immediately, with more details to be announced soon.
A mural in the ARCH celebrates Black history
Ornate stone panels decorate the exterior of the late-Gothic Revival building known as The Arts, Research, and Culture House (ARCH) on Locust Walk. Inside, students recharge among the ARCH’s stone fireplaces and dark wood paneling. The building is home to three of Penn’s six cultural resource groups: La Casa Latina, Makuu: The Black Cultural Center, and the Pan-Asian American Community House.
These groups are supported by Will Atkins, Associate Vice Provost for University Life who focuses on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB). Atkins works daily with support staff to learn how to create more opportunities for Penn students to connect with their own communities. He also engages with student organizations in the DEIB space. “So much of the diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging work that takes place across campus happens at the ARCH, along with the other cultural resource centers housed at the Greenfield Intercultural Center, the LGBT Center, and the Penn Women’s Center,” says Atkins. “In these spaces, students find community, make connections, and discover more about themselves.”
At Makuu, Brian Peterson is the Center’s director and so much more. He is a manager, role model, connector, and creative collaborator. He was also a powerful advocate for a new mural which is currently installed on the first floor of the building.
The mural, which is up on a temporary basis, is nearly 50 feet long, wrapped on two walls on ARCH’s southeast corner, and features several Black Penn alumni who made notable historic contributions to society. The original sketch of notable Black figures, “Cloud of Witnesses,” was created by Abdi Farah, a 2009 College of Arts and Sciences graduate, a decorated visual artist, and beloved former Makuu community member.
“We’re in Philadelphia, a city that symbolizes freedom, but we have connections to enslaved people and a difficult history,” says Peterson. “All of that is represented so well in ‘Cloud of Witnesses.’ The mural is uplifting, but it’s also a reminder of the stories that we still need to tell.”
“Many of the people I drew, like Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander, the first Black woman to practice law in Pennsylvania, or John Baxter Taylor, the first African American to win an Olympic gold medal, moved through unimaginable resistance not only aware, but rather, empowered knowing they were forerunners of this transtemporal community,” says Farah. “I hope the accomplished Black alumni in this mural inspire the Penn community for generations to come.”
For Peterson, the mural is daily motivation for the unwritten side of his job, like doling out advice and providing a big picture perspective. “I’m centered on student wellness, so helping them succeed is one of the reasons I love being on campus,” he says.
One of these students is Tarah Paul, a third-year graphic design major in the College who considers Makuu a second home. Paul was involved in the creation of the mural, lending her graphic design skills and overall creative direction to the project. Other key collaborators were Monolith, the student group that works to showcase and uplift Black visual art, and staff members from Makuu and University Life, including Marjan Gartland, director of creative strategy and design. “The people in this mural were mountain climbers in a sense, which is why we used design elements to visually represent mountains and clouds,” says Paul. “I’m looking at this mural with a sense of guilt because I don’t recognize some of the names. It makes me wonder what other names I don’t know.”
Peterson created the key that provides information about each figure pictured in the mural. “[The mural] celebrates Black history, and every day at Makuu my job is to elevate our Black students,” says Peterson. “We want to share their stories, showcase their excellence in academics, the arts, social impact, and athletics. Our students are shining stars, but we also want to acknowledge the struggle, the culture, and the lifestyle of Black students at Penn.”
Life At Penn: Staff Edition
The Life at Penn Staff Edition highlights our incredible team of advisors and educators, dynamic community builders, crisis managers, and partners dedicated to providing an engaging student experience here at Penn.