Hey Day 2009

Today was Hey Day, the day at the University of Pennsylvania when the junior class are officially pronounce seniors by the president of the University, currently Dr. Amy Gutmann. Traditionally, the juniors wear red shirts and styrofoam hats (faux straw skimmers) and carry canes (once mahogany, now bamboo). There is a parade through campus which ends at College Hall, where the president emerges and declares them all seniors. In recent years (since, say, 2002-03), the event has also degenerated into a food fight, where first seniors (and now other juniors as well) dump every food (primarily flour, mustard, and ketchup, but also eggs, soy sauce, milk, raw meat, and fruit jam) onto the juniors as they march by. The last few years, I've noticed that the Asian students engage in the food-fight aspect of the day with much more vigor than others. I'm not sure why, but Dan theorized that it's an excuse to get messy for a change.

It is also a tradition to get completely plastered for Hey Day.

There are lots more of my Hey Day photos on flickr, but here are some of my faves:







The best friend of the 2nd woman from the right was in Spain this semester, and thus missed Hey Day, so she brought a cardboard effigy and took it with her on the parade:









The Penn Band leads the parade from the west end of Campus down to College Green:







The police guarding the steps of College Hall, and the president at the top:



President Gutmann speaks to the junior class:





Every year a few students get into the trees and the police usually get them back down:



The aftermath:





The last Hey Day shot I took:

Penn Alumni Day 2007

Saturday, May 12 was Alumni Day at the University of Pennsylvania. It's a fun event for any alum, with a chance to see old friends and remember your college days. And it's a great event for any photographer, bringing together a number of interesting elements: college students present and past, music, children, free food (I had a hot dog and cherry water ice), parades, parties, campus tours, and other special events. It climaxes (well, "climaxes" might be too strong a word) with the parade of classes down Locust Walk, focusing primarily on the major reunion classes--especially the 25th and 50th reunions, who natually give the most money. As you can see, fun was had by all.

Taiko Drummers

I was walking home from work tonight and noticed some movement behind Houston Hall at Penn, so I checked it out. It turned out to be a dance and Taiko drum group from Tamagawa University in Tokyo, practicing for a performance later on in the evening. They were fantastic, so I stayed around for about an hour taking photos. I really wanted to stay and watch the actual performance, but it was pretty cold and my fingers were getting numb. In retrospect, I realized that it would have been too dark for me to take pictures at the performance anyway, so I'm glad I took these photos when I had the chance.

Sitar Players on College Green

I ran into these guys on College Green today, over near Logan Hall. You don't see sitars too often in Philadelphia. Especially groups of people playing them. So I took a few photos. I think there's a class at Penn where you learn how to play. I always wanted to take it, but I never did because apparently you have to give a concert at the end of the semester and I hate public stuff like that.