8 Fun Facts About UPenn

#1 Odd Mascot: The mascot as well as the nickname of the Penn football and basketball teams is the Quakers, after the religion adopted by William Penn, who established Pennsylvania as a Quaker province.

#2 Quaker Game Rituals: The Quaker games have a unique ritual to them. After the third quarter of a football game, supporters throw toast and sing Drink a Highball. The Highball is the unofficial cocktail of the University.

#3 Toasting the Teams: During Prohibition, some stubborn students insisted on making a traditional toast. As they could not use alcohol, they decided to literally “toast” the team. How very sober indeed!

#4 Goal Post Tossing: Whenever the Penn Quakers win the Ivy League championship, fans celebrate by ripping out the goal posts and tossing them into the Schuylkill River. This tradition has most likely ended. In their last attempt in 2003 they failed due to the concrete footing. In 2009, students did not attempt it because Penn police officers had made a blocked them with their bicycles.

#5 Penn-Princeton rivalry: A formative influence on UPenn, the Penn-Princeton rivalry is intense and historical. It is the third oldest consecutively played rivalry in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Basketball games are so intense that a large scoreboard, is dedicated to keeping track of the school’s all-time record against Princeton.

The rivalry is also seen in football matches, has inspired the design of the campus, and is celebrated in university songs.

#6 Student Superstition: It is a freshman myth to never cross the compass that is embedded into the center of Locust Walk or else you will fail your midterms. Rumor has it that a fraternity came up with the myth as a conversation starter with freshmen girls.

#7 ScreamTeam: At midnight on the eve of the first Micro-economics midterm exam, hundreds of freshmen come together on Junior Balcony of the Lower Quadrangle of the campus to. . . scream!

#8 Spring Fling: At the end of each Spring, 10-15000 students descend onto the college ground to dance and party and have a fantastic time for two days straight! Hosted by the Social Planning and Events Committee at UPenn, the Spring Fling was first organized in 1972, and is claimed to be the largest college party on the East Coast.

Compiled by Jai Dang