THE PENNSYLVANIA MAR|APR21 GAZETTE American Histories Jason Karlawish and The Problem of Alzheimer’s Andrew Feiler W’84’s Photos of Rosenwald Schools Decision Desk Jockey John Lapinski The Triangle, NC The Penn Alumni Club of the Triangle, North Carolina relaunched in 2016 after several years of dormancy. By hosting events for alumni in Raleigh-Durham and Chapel Hill, we aim to create a link back to our beloved Penn, give back to the greater Trian- gle community, and provide opportunities for network- ing, personal enrichment, and education. Since 2016, we’ve maintained a program of roughly 3-4 events per “semester.” The Club has hosted a fami- ly-friendly tour at the Duke Lemur Center, as well as a hiking event at William Umstead Park. To welcome in- coming Freshman and their parents to the Penn Family, we’ve hosted Student Send-Offs each summer. Our club also set up a Community Service Day at the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina located in Raleigh, where we sorted and salvaged food. When the COVID pandemic broke out, the Club pivoted quickly to online events. We were proud to host two events on coping with lockdown, focusing on personal resilience and mindfulness. We hosted two other Zoom webinars geared toward small businesses and parents (How to Speak to Kids About Money), respectively. Now, we look forward to better times for our club, the Triangle, and the world. We will have online events in the Spring of 2021, and we’re planning to host more in-person events when it is safe to do so. If you’re an alum in the Triangle or surrounding cities and you’d like to either participate in events or get involved with the club, we would love to connect. Email us at [email protected]. Photos:Triangle Club; Dennis Ludlow, CC BY-SA 4.0; Smithfl, CC BY-SA 3.0 AD_PARC Raleigh Durham.indd 68 2/8/21 10:34 AM THE PENNSYLVANIA Features GAZETTE MAR|APR21 The History Wars The Humanist Is In Education scholar Jonathan In a new book, Jason Karlawish Zimmerman on how the GM’99, codirector of the Penn 24 US republic lost the ability to 34 Memory Center, unravels the understand itself—and how we can tapestry of Alzheimer’s science and help our children recover it. history, and outlines the medical, social, By Trey Popp and ethical challenges that lie ahead. By Julia M. Klein Black Education Before Brown Andrew Feiler W’84 documents the Rosenwald schools, which 42 educated hundreds of thousands of African Americans in the Jim Crow South. By JoAnn Greco Calling It How John Lapinski and a squad of Penn faculty and students 46 backing him up on the NBC News Decision Desk navigated an election season that was unprecedented—and could set a pattern for the future. By Alyson Krueger COVER Illustration by David Hollenbach Vol.119, No.4 ©2021 The Pennsylvania Gazette Published by Benjamin Franklin from 1729 to 1748. THEPENNGAZETTE.COM More Sports More Arts & Culture More Letters Latest News THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Departments VOL. 119, NO. 4 ––––––––––– EDITOR John Prendergast C’80 3 From the Editor | Tangled histories. SENIOR EDITOR Trey Popp ASSOCIATE EDITOR Dave Zeitlin C’03 4 Letters | On mental health, self-care, and more. ASSISTANT EDITOR Nicole Perry ART DIRECTOR Catherine Gontarek Views PUBLISHER F. Hoopes Wampler GrEd’13 8 Alumni Voices | Ski report from a Brooklyn bathroom. 215-898-7811 [email protected] ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR Linda Caiazzo 10 Elsewhere | “Rowing saved me.” 215-898-6811 [email protected] 12 Expert Opinion | Dating lessons from the pandemic. ––––––––––– EDITORIAL OFFICES Gazetteer The Pennsylvania Gazette 3910 Chestnut Street 14 Masked Move-In | Students return to campus housing. Philadelphia, PA 19104-3111 15 Student Honors | Rhodes Scholar Mackenzie Fierceton C’20 SPP’21. PHONE 215-898-5555 FAX 215-573-4812 EMAIL [email protected] 16 Historic Preservation | New center aims to preserve civil rights sites. WEB thepenngazette.com 17 Heard on Campus | Virtual MLK Lecture features Cornel West. ––––––––––– ALUMNI RELATIONS 18 University Life | Rabbi Mike Uram on leaving Hillel after 15 years. 215-898-7811 EMAIL [email protected] 19 Leadership | Christopher Woods named Penn Museum director. WEB www.alumni.upenn.edu 20 International Relations | Tracing America and Iran’s 300-year history. ––––––––––– UNIVERSITY SWITCHBOARD 22 Sports | Trailblazing QB Marty Vaughn W’75 WG’81. 215-898-5000 ––––––––––– Arts NATIONAL ADVERTISING 51 Calendar IVY LEAGUE MAGAZINE NETWORK Heather Wedlake EMAIL [email protected] 52 Books | Harriet Pattison GLA’67 looks back at herself and Lou Kahn. 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Periodicals postage paid at Philadelphia, PA, and addi- 62 Larry Kahn C’69 GEd’71’s Help Now! assists the “invisible.” tional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Pennsylvania Gazette, Alumni Records, Suite 300, 65 Events 2929 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-5099. PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE COMMITTEE: David S. Graff C'79 64 Notes WG'84 (Chair); Miriam Arond C’77; Jean Chatzky C’86; Dr. Alan Filreis, Faculty; Eliot J. Kaplan C'78; Randall 72 Obituaries Lane C’90; Michael R. Levy W'68; James L. Miller W’97; Sameer Mithal WG’95; Steven L. Roth W'66; Robert E. Shepard C'83 G'83; Joel Siegel C’79; Ann Reese CW’74, President, Penn Alumni. 80 Old Penn | Almost perfect—and neatly groomed. The University of Pennsylvania values diversity and seeks talented students, faculty and staff from diverse back- grounds. The University of Pennsylvania does not discrimi- nate on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, color, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, or status as a Vietnam Era Veteran or disabled veteran. Printed by The Lane Press, Burlington, Vermont FROM THE EDITOR The insurrection temporar- Feiler W’84’s new book of ily interrupted the certifi ca- photographs documenting Who We Are tion of the Electoral College the Jim Crow–era Rosenwald vote by Congress and also di- schools, a selection of which verted media attention from we off er in “Black Education arly in “The History Wars,” In Zimmerman’s view, the the runoff election drama in Before Brown,” with text by senior editor Trey Popp’s ways that events in American Georgia that had transfi xed JoAnn Greco. Funded by cover story on Jonathan history have been subject to the nation the night before— Sears Roebuck president EZimmerman, the educa- repeated reinterpretation, as noted in “Calling It,” Alyson Julius Rosenwald, these tion historian and Penn GSE and which groups have gotten Krueger C’07’s article on NBC schools educated hundreds professor points to two signa- to be included in the nation’s News director of elections and of thousands of African ture failures of American edu- narrative and on what terms, Penn political science profes- American students—some of cation “writ large”—too many have shaped—and helped po- sor John Lapinski. (“It was whom Feiler photographed of us have never learned to larize—attitudes about who kind of surreal,” Lapinski says, on site, and others of whom discriminate between informa- and what America is. The ef- of watching the network cut include icons like John Lewis tion and disinformation and fects can be seen in battles away to the Capitol.) and Maya Angelou. too few of us are able to look over Civil War monuments Lapinski cut his teeth as an Finally, the vagaries of his- beyond our own partisan bub- and statues of Christopher election analyst in the presi- tory and questions of identity bles to truly engage with and Columbus, while the inclu- dential election of 2000, and also fi gure in Julia M. Klein’s debate those of diff erent views. sion of previously marginal- has been running the NBC profi le of physician and writer For examples of the former, ized groups in the “pantheon” News Decision Desk since Jason Karlawish GM’99, “The witness anti-vaxxers, climate of heroes has brought with it 2013, where he has also in- Humanist Is In.” Karlawish is change denialists, and fol- a softening of confl icts and volved Penn faculty, staff , and the codirector of the Penn lowers of QAnon, he says; for smoothing over of imperfec- students. One 2020 intern Memory Center and author of the latter, consider the mu- tions, to the detriment of his- compared election night to The Problem of Alzheimer’s: tual incredulity on the part torical understanding. “that feeling in your chest How Science, Culture, and of Trump and Biden support- when you are on a roller Politics Turned a Rare Disease ers that tens of millions of coaster.” As it turned out, the into a Crisis and What We people could possibly have Textbook ride lasted until Saturday, Can Do About It.