FALL 2014 NEWSLETTER

Contents:

1. Welcome Message from the President, Board of Governors 2. Attend Annual Sphinx-Friars Homecoming Reception: Nov. 1, 2014, 3:30-5:30 p.m. 3. Honor Two Sphinx Alumni Receiving Alumni Award of Merit at Oct. 31, 2014 Gala 4. Meet the Full Sphinx Class of 2015! 5. Meet the Sphinx Senior Society Board of Governors 6. Read Alumni Notes, Emails, and News Items 7. Sign Up for the Sphinx Class Alumni Directory 8. Visit Campus as a Distinguished Sphinx Alumnus 9. Mentor a Sphinx Undergraduate 10. Look for and Contribute to a New Sphinx Historical Archives Page 11. Contribute to the Sphinx Alumni Fund 12. Join the Sphinx Facebook and LinkedIn Groups 13. Send Us Your News, Comments, and Suggestions

1. Welcome Message from the President

The Sphinx Senior Society, now entering its 115th year of campus leadership and service to the Penn community, continues to work through its 17 member Board of Governors (BOG) and the members of the Class of 2015 to implement our five goals:

1. Strengthen alumni outreach to our approximately1600 living alumni; 2. Support the undergraduate program; 3. Add an online Sphinx Class Alumni Directory to our ever improving web site; 4. Expand the Sphinx Links mentorship program; and 5. Raise $10,000 to support the Society’s activities.

In this Fall 2014 Newsletter, you can read about our most recent activities to achieve our goals. These activities include:

 The launch by 140 alumni to date of our new Sphinx Class Alumni Directory, where you can sign up, enter your profile, and contact other members of your Sphinx class or any signed up alumnus;

1

 The inauguration of a new program by the Class of 2014 to invite distinguished Sphinx alumni to campus to meet with the current Sphinx class;  The matching of 13 Sphinx Class of 2014 mentees with 18 Sphinx alumni mentors in various professional fields and so far six Sphinx Class of 2015 mentees matched with alumni mentors through our Sphinx Links mentoring program, now in its fifth year;  Our continually expanding website, www.sphinxseniorsociety.com , which contains news of current Sphinx events, alumni accomplishments, an updated Class Awards list going back to 1900 and the founding of Sphinx, and later this school year a new Sphinx historical archives page. This archive will include a recently rediscovered video Mika Rao, Chief ’96, and Carrie Kitchen-Santiago,’92, made to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Sphinx in 1999-2000. The video is entitled “Sphinx Senior Society: Celebrating 100 Years.” We showed the video at our annual Spring Banquet on April 25, 2014 and are posting the video here at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MWVf6hWkGk&feature=youtu.be&noredirect=1 and later on our web site.

Please read this newsletter and check our website to see how you can get involved this year in the Sphinx Senior Society. For example, you can:

 Mentor a Class of 2015 Sphinx student in the “Sphinx Links” mentoring program;  Speak on campus as part of the new Sphinx Alumni Series;  Enter your profile in our new Class Directory and email classmates;  Send us your personal alumni news, or memorabilia for the new Sphinx archives page;  Interview a fellow Sphinx classmate of public interest for a future newsletter;  Attend the annual Fall Homecoming Sphinx-Friars Reception, Sat., Nov. 1, 2014, 3:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m., Bodek Lounge, Houston Hall.  Donate to support these activities.

Enjoy the rest of your fall, see you at Homeconing, and Think Sphinx!

Steve Klitzman, C’66, President, Sphinx Senior Society Board of Governors [email protected], [email protected]; W: 202-418-1763; H: 301-263-0616; C: 202-277-9509.

2. Annual Sphinx-Friars Homecoming Reception, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014, 3:30-5:30 p.m.

The annual Sphinx-Friars Homecoming reception will be held this year on Saturday, November 1, 2014 from 3:30-5:30 p.m. right after the Penn-Brown football game in .

We’ll meet in the usual location, Bodek Lounge, Houston Hall, 3417 Spruce Street, just a few blocks west of Franklin Field.

2

Here are the details:

 We’ll serve wine, beer, soft drinks, and snacks. Admission is $10 per person for alumni and students and $5 for children under 18 (payable at the door).

 While not mandatory, reservations are strongly encouraged. Sphinx alumni should RSVP at [email protected]. You can also RSVP at or send us any questions to [email protected] Friars alumni should RSVP at [email protected]

 Selling Sphinx “Gear.” We’ll also be selling hooded sweat shirts and hats with the Sphinx logo on them for $30(sweat shirt) and $20 (hat).

 Come enjoy the fellowship of your fellow Sphinx and Friars at what has become a favorite Homecoming tradition!

Here’s a picture from our 2013 Homecoming Reception. Get in the picture for 2014!!

3. Honor Two Sphinx Alumni Receiving Alumni Award of Merit at Oct. 31, 2014 Gala

Two Sphinx alumni will receive Penn’s highest award for alumni participation, the Alumni Award of Merit, at the annual Homecoming weekend gala on Friday, October 31, 2014. The Sphinx recipients are:

 John C. T. Alexander, W’56 and Chief, Sphinx Class of 1956  James S. Riepe, W’65. WG’67, Hon’10, and former President and member of the Penn Board of Trustees.

3

4. Meet the Full Sphinx Class of 2015!

At our annual Spring Banquet on April 25, 2014, the Society inducted the following 23 members of the Sphinx Class of 2015:

Timothy Lee, Chief, C’15, Active Minds, a student-run mental health awareness, education and advocacy group, the Student Hospice Organization of Penn Sam Rappaport, Pharisee, W’15, MGMT 100, a leadership and teamwork program in the Wharton School, Penn Parliamentary Debate Victoria Ford, Scribe, C’15, President, Excelano Project, Penn’s “first and premier spoken word group” and Director, “The Vagina Monologues”

Katy Allen, W’15, Women’s Basketball Lauren Ballester, ENG’15, Penn for Palestine Joshua Chilcote, C’15, PRISM, Penn’s student interfaith group, Undergraduate Assembly Taylor Culliver, W’15, Executive Editor, Daily Pennsylvanian Menvekeh Daramay, C’15, Muslim Students Association Kerry Dolan, NUR’15, Student Nurses at Penn Tamar Friedman, C’15, Shira Chadasha, a Jewish spiritual group within Penn Hillel Shadrack Frimpong, C’15, Students for a Healthy Africa Abrina Hyatt, C’15, UMOJA, an umbrella “unity” organization for African and African- American students at Penn Joanna Kamhi, C’15(?), Abuse and Sexual Assault Prevention Joyce Kim, C’15, Undergraduate Assembly, United Minorities Council Ariel Koren, C’15, Class Board Stephen Masso, ENG’15, Queer People of Color Dilip Rajan, W’15, , the “first and premier group” Louis Schott, C’15, Men’s Soccer Eric Shapiro, W’15, Community School Student Partnerships Wyatt Shapiro, ENG’15, Mask & Wig Rishi Simha, W’15, One in Four, Sydney Turchin, C’15, Softball Clara Wu, ENG’15, Women in Computer Science, Penn Labs

4

Here’s a picture of the members of the Sphinx Class of 2015 inducted at the April 25, 2014 Spring Banquet with 2015 Sphinx Honorary Member Dean Eduardo Glandt in center, all giving the Sphinx hand sign:

On October 19, 2014, the Society inducted seven more members of the Class of 2015. Here they are in alphabetical order with their Penn schools and campus activities that merited their induction into the Society:

James (Jung Ho) An, C’15,WH’15: - Founder and Leader, P-Cypher—Korean Hip Hop Rap Group -Research Peer Advisor, Wharton Research Scholars Program, CURF -Major Advisor for Religious Studies -Mentor, Wharton Undergraduate Research Board - Member, Alpha Phi Omega - Former President, PennSori A Cappella group

Jason Fernandes, C’15: - President, Social Planning and Events Committee (SPEC) - Drummer, Penn Yalla (“Penn’s premier Middle Eastern/belly dancing dance and drum troupe”) - Dancer, Onda Latina (“Penn’s premier Latin dance troupe”) - Campus Events Manager, Houston Hall - Structured Sport Supervisor, Penn Dept. of Recreation

Kanad Ghosh, C’15: - President, Penn Philippine Association - Facilitator, Asian Pacific American Leadership Initiative - Director, Strictly Funk Dance Group Director

5

Stephanie Jideama, C’15: - Founder & Chair, Penn Initiative for Minority Mental Health - President, Penn AIDS Awareness - Founder & Project Coordinator, Queeen’s School Association Youth Division - Vice-President, Penn African Students Association - Student Liaison Committee and Student Advisory Board, Penn Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)

Oyinkansola Muraina, C’15: - Co-Director, University City Hospitality Coalition Soup Kitchen at Hillel - Representative, Penn African Students Association, United Minorities Council and UMOJA, an umbrella “unity” organization for African and African-American students at Penn

Sheila Quintana, C’15: - Core Member, Dream Activist , a “grassroots activist group that consists of undocumented youth and their allies who are committed to defending the rights of immigrant youth, our families and the communities [ in which] we live.” - Core Member, “Decarcerate PA,” a “grassroots campaign working to end mass incarceration in Pennsylvania.” - Community Organizer, Statewide Campaign Co-Ordinator, Lucha Pro Licencias (Fight for Driver’s Licenses)

Royce Reeves-Darby, C’15: - Lieutenant, Response Team (MERT), Penn’s student-run volunteer emergency medical services organization - Volunteer, LIFT, a community- based anti-poverty organization - “Coordinator for Write On,” Penn’s Kelly Writer’s House

5. Meet Sphinx Senior Society Board of Governors

Steve Klitzman, C’66, President Greg Suss, C’75, Vice President John K. Fiorillo, W’86, Treasurer Samir Malik, C’08,W’08, GEN’13, WG’13, Secretary Merrie Frankel, C’76, President-Emeritus Max Presser, C’14, Chief Emeritus Lex Ruby Howe, C’07, WEV’09, WEV’10, GED’12 Eileen McKeown, C’10 Elizabeth Katz Miller, W’87 Kiera Reilly, C’93 Carlos Rodriquez, W’12 Anita Saggurti, C’12 Glen Schuster, C’86 Franklin Shen, ENG’03 Timothy Lee, C’15, Chief, Sam Rappaport, W’15, Pharisee,Victoria Ford, C’15, Scribe

6

6. Read Alumni News, Notes and Emails, etc.

(a) Sphinx Alumni Reconnect at Regional Gatherings. As part of its ongoing priority to expand Sphinx Alumni outreach, the Board of Governors encourages our approximately 1600 alumni to reconnect with fellow Sphinx in their local communities around the country and overseas. If any alum, for example, is interested in organizing a Sphinx happy hour, brunch or other get together in their town or city please let us know at our special Sphinx email address, [email protected] , and we’ll be pleased to get you the names and contact information for the Sphinx alumni in your area.

And if you send us a brief description of your Sphinx get together with a picture and photo caption, we’ll also be happy to run what you send us in a future Sphinx newsletter as we did in the Summer 2014 Newsletter about Sphinx gatherings this past summer in , , and .

(b) News from the Sphinx Class of 2001. Raymond Valerio, C’01, told us in our Summer 2014 Newsletter he had just marked his 10th anniversary as an Assistant District Attorney with the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office and was married with two children. He also told us he was “still proud to be the Class of 2001 President” and “would love to hear from [his] class at [email protected] “ Here’s one email we received in response to Ray’s request:

“Ray Valerio informed me that you were collecting class notes. If so, I'd like to have the following included about me:

Osamudia James (née Guobadia), Sphinx ’01, was granted tenure at the University of Miami School of Law in Spring of 2014, where she teaches and writes in the areas of tort, administrative law, education law, and race and the law. She was also a co-recipient of the 2014 Derrick A. Bell Award, presented by the American Association of Law Schools Minority Groups Section to a faculty member who, through activism, mentoring, teaching and scholarship, has made an extraordinary contribution to legal education, the legal system, or social justice. She lives in Miami, FL, with her husband and two young children.

Thanks, Osamudia”

(c) Sphinx Alumni Like the Summer 2014 Newsletter. We were very pleased to receive several emails from our Sphinx alumni about the Summer 2014

7

Newsletter we emailed out to all alumni on August 6, 2014 and have since posted on the home page of our web site, www.sphinxseniorsociety.com at http://www.sphinxseniorsociety.com/2014/08/20/aug-6-summer-2014-newsletter/

Here’s a sample of our email on the newsletter:

 “Wow- great newsletter!!!! Thanks!- Andrew Kaplan, 2007  “Great newsletter!”_ Dick Censits, 1958  “Thank you all for the work you are doing to keep Sphnix’s history, traditions, and network alive and well.”- Suzanne Pappas Quint, 1989  “Greetings from San Francisco! I hope you’re all doing well. I really enjoyed the recent newsletter. It’s great to see so much going on.”- Harrison Lieberfarb, 2013.

(d) Penn Almanac Runs Story About Sphinx Spring 2014 Banquet. The Almanac, Penn’s “Journal of Record,” in its September 9, 2014 issue, ran the following story about the Sphinx Spring Banquet held on April 25, 2014: http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/volumes/v61/n04/hot.html#sphinx

(e) Look at all the Sphinx in this Wedding, Thanks to Sphinx Board Member, Anita Saggurti, C’12:

Carilyn Hayes (C'12 Sphinx) married Josiah Armstrong on Sunday, August 10, 2014 at the Schaefer-Ashmead Chapel on the campus of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at , where they met two years ago. Attending the bride as two of her bridesmaids were Briana Pressey (C'11 Sphinx) and Carolyn (Moneymaker) Poggioli (C'12). The event was beautifully photographed by Alison (Dunn) Hobelmann (C'12) of Alison Dunn Photography. Other Quakers in attendance were Katie Woodall (C'12), Corey Poggioli (EAS'13), Anita Saggurti (C'12 Sphinx), Wolete Moko (W'12 Sphinx), along with Penn head gymnastics coach John Ceralde & former teammates Elise Bowe (C'11), Laura DiPaolo (C'12), Katie Graham (C'12), Claire Stingley (C'12), and Haleigh Zilges (C'13) . A reception followed the ceremony at the Francis Cope House on the grounds of the Awbury Arboretum, enhanced by the music of the Gin Canaries, a local band which boasts alumni David Graves (EAS'82) and Louis Marchesani (W'85) among its members.

Here’s a picture of Carilyn Hayes, C’12 Sphinx, and her new husband, Josiah Armstrong:

8

(f) And check out these recent and contradictory Penn national rankings:

- USA Today- the best college in the US for 2015!- http://college.usatoday.com/2014/09/08/upenn-named-best-college-nationwide-for-2015/

- US News and World Report- 8th best “National University” tied with Duke?- http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities

- Playboy- “Top party school in the country”?? - http://www.businessinsider.com/playboy- upenn-top-party-school-2014-9 For a contrary view, see http://www.businessinsider.com/penn-strange-choice-for-top-party- school-2014-9

- Please send your Sphinx Alumni Notes to [email protected]

- Request to all former Sphinx Chiefs, Pharisees, and Scribes: Please select one individual from your class to be your Sphinx Alumni Class Notes Editor. We would then request each Class Notes Editor to compile and send news from their class to [email protected]

7. Sign Up for New Online Sphinx Class Alumni Directory

We invite you to log onto Sphinx’s latest website feature: a new Class Directory. You can also click here to log on: http://www.sphinxseniorsociety.com/community/

Like 140 Sphinx alumni who’ve already done so, you can create your own user name, password and profile page. Then start contacting your Sphinx classmates or other Sphinx alumni in the Class Directory. Rekindle old Sphinx connections and kindle new ones! 8. Visit Campus as a Distinguished Sphinx Alumnus

The Sphinx Class of 2014 initiated the Sphinx Distinguished Alumni Visitor Program. This is a program in which the Sphinx undergraduates invite alumni back to campus, upon recommendation or self-nomination, to speak to and meet with the current seniors and the campus community about their experiences at Penn and their post-Penn personal careers.

For more information about the Sphinx Distinguished Alumni Visitor Program, please contact Victoria Ford, C'15, Scribe, at [email protected] Whether you would like to be a Sphinx Alumnus Visitor, are planning to visit Philadelphia, or are just passing through the City of Brotherly Love, the Sphinx Class of 2015 would love to meet you!

9

9. Mentor a Sphinx Undergraduate

The Sphinx Society Board of Governors created “Sphinx Links” in 2010 as a new mentoring project to offer the career and life advice of experienced Sphinx alumni to current Sphinx seniors. Since 2010 we've made mentoring matches for over 50 Sphinx undergraduates with alumni mentors in dozens of professional fields. These have ranged from the arts, business, entertainment, finance, journalism, law, media and medicine, to biotechnology, global development, and public health.

In the 2013-2014 school year Sphinx Links matched 13 mentees in the Sphinx Class of Class of 2014 with 18 different alumni mentors in such diverse fields as biological research, biotech consulting, global health, health care management, journalism, law, and music entertainment. Mentors and mentees are connecting over job searches, sharing networks and career counseling.

So far in this school year, Sphinx Links has matched six members of the Sphinx Class of 2015 with alumni mentors and is hoping to match many more of the 30-member class.

We are always looking for dedicated Sphinx alumni to serve as mentors for our undergraduates. If you are interested in serving as a mentor for the Sphinx Class of 2015, please send your name, location of work, professional field, and a brief career description and/or resume to Eileen McKeown, C'10, Sphinx Links Coordinator, at [email protected]. If you are a current Class of 2015 undergraduate, or even a Sphinx alumnus considering a career change or seeking career advice, please also feel free to email Eileen to indicate your interest in having a Sphinx alumnus mentor.

10. Look for and Contribute to a New Sphinx Historical Archives Page

In 2002, a group of Sphinx undergraduates, including current Sphinx Board member, Franklin Shen, ENG’03, sought out pieces of Sphinx history through the years to put together a membership book to be distributed to all new members. This membership book explains the origins of the Society, names notable alumni and lists events and initiatives Sphinx has taken in the past. Unfortunately, the contents of the book aren’t easily accessible nor have they been updated since 2002.

Last school year, under the leadership of Jennifer Sun, ’14, we began to update and expand the 2002 membership book and to plan to upload it with additional Sphinx archival material to a new Sphinx History page on our website. We've visited the Penn Rare Books & Manuscripts Library, the University Archives and local newspaper archives and have already discovered some historically interesting items. See, e.g., these two lengthy news stories in reporting on Sphinx’s election of its first African-American members in 1952 and its first female members in 1971. Be on the lookout on our web site for the new Sphinx History archives page this school year and send us your own Sphinx memorabilia items to include on the page!

10

11. Contribute to the Sphinx Alumni Fund

In July 2013, the Sphinx BOG established the Sphinx Alumni Fund to support the ongoing activities of the Sphinx undergraduate and alumni communities. We set a fundraising goal of $10,000. As of October 18, 2014, we have raised $8715.

To help us reach our $10,000 goal, we encourage you to use our easy online giving tool. Please visit this webpage to donate.

We’ll appreciate your donations at any level but suggested levels include:

 Chief: $250  Pharisee: $100  Scribe: $50

Or you can mail your check made out to “Sphinx Senior Society” to Sphinx BOG Treasurer John K. Fiorillo, Esq., W’86, at: 1634 Wildlife Drive, Chester Springs, PA 19425.

12. Join the Sphinx Facebook and LinkedIn Groups

We encourage you to join our Facebook and LinkedIn Groups, both named Sphinx Senior Society. These are closed groups and only open to members of Sphinx.

As the Penn database is not 100% accurate, we also ask you to share this newsletter with your Sphinx classmates. If they did not receive this newsletter, they should email [email protected], and Kiera Reilly, Sphinx '93, member Sphinx Board of Governors. We can code alumni in the Penn database and add Sphinx members to our email list for all future newsletters and other Sphinx information. 13. Send Us Your News, Comments and Suggestions

If you have any personal news, comments or suggestions for future newsletters or emails you’d liked to share with us and/or the Sphinx alumni community, please email us at [email protected]

Thanks also go to the contributors to this Fall 2014 Newsletter: Ray Valerio, C’01, Timothy Lee, Class of 2015 Chief, and current Board Members, Kiera Reilly, C’93, and Anita Saggurti, C’12.

Steve Klitzman, C’66 and Alexis Ruby Howe, C’07 President and Board Member, Sphinx Senior Society Board of Governors Newsletter Editors

11

12