Download a PDF of this issue May | June 2024 Vol. 122, No. 5 Features Good Grief Five years after his two teenage children were killed by a drunk driver, Colin Campbell C’91 is finding new ways to grieve—while helping others deal with bereavement through his new book, support groups, and a one-man show he calls the “feel-bad story of the year.” By Caren Lissner Creating Civil Citizens Penn’s Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Program aims to foster dialogue, civic engagement, community service, and wellness—and both students and faculty are enthusiastically signing on. But the program’s cont ..read more

Towards the end of Caren Lissner C’93’s cover story “Good Grief” on Colin Campbell C’91, whose two teenage children died in a car crash five years ago, she recounts Campbell’s response on a podcast to a caller who spoke of continuing to think about a childhood friend who had died years before. Campbell urged her to put aside any fears of reopening old wounds and reach out to the friend’s family to let them know that their child was still remembered. “Grief doesn’t need reigniting,” he said. “It’s already there.” Since the deaths of his son Hart and daughter Ruby—killed by a drunk driver on the ..read more

Photos of Campbell’s children Hart (left) and Ruby (right), with a portrait of Campbell painted by Ruby when she was 10 years old. Five years after his two teenage children were killed by a drunk driver, Colin Campbell C’91 is finding new ways to grieve—while helping others deal with bereavement through his new book, support groups, and a one-man show he calls the “feel-bad story of the year.” By Caren Lissner | Photography by Ethan Pines C’92 Book Excerpt | A Shattered Identity Download a PDF of this article On a June night five years ago, Colin Campbell C’91 set out to drive two and a half h ..read more

Penn’s Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Program aims to foster dialogue, civic engagement, community service, and wellness—and both students and faculty are enthusiastically signing on. But the program’s contours can be murky, and its role in bridging campus divisions remains a work in progress. By Julia M. Klein | Illustration by Martin Leon Barreto Download a PDF of this article It’s a Monday morning in late February, the week before spring break. “We’re going to start with a wellness exercise,” Lia Howard C’01 Gr’11 tells her class. “Does anyone know what this is?” She breaks off a spri ..read more

Over a decade-long photographic journey, Christopher Payne GAr’96 has explored the world of American manufacturing, from pianos to jet engines, pencils to 3D-printed rockets. Photography by Christopher Payne Download a PDF of this article Made in America Photographs by Christopher Payne, Foreword by Kathy Ryan, Introduction by Simon Winchester Abrams Books. 240 pages, $85 “My photographs are a celebration of the making of things, of the transformation of raw materials into useful objects and the human skill and mechanical precision brought to bear on these materials that give them form and pu ..read more

Penn has a plan. By Interim President J. Larry Jameson Four years ago this spring, COVID-19 upended the world. We raced to adjust our ways, adopt new tools, and pivot our plans. To save lives and protect livelihoods, we adapted at top speed. More recently, the events of the past several months have tested and continue testing many of us, globally and here at Penn. We’ve again had to adapt, responding to great challenges and addressing pressing needs. Some might wonder, then, what’s the point of planning at all? Why strategize five years, 10 years, or even further down the road when some new gl ..read more

Unfriendly response, Wilson’s incomparable (or not) Iliad, recruiting conservatives, task force questions, and more. “Breaking Balls” Isn’t “Love Language” I read “We Should Be Friends” [Mar|Apr 2024] by Dave Zeitlin, which celebrates the careers and friendships of Aaron Karo and Matt Ritter, Penn alumni who have become coconspirators in the “Love you, buddy” genre of yearly group dinners and brocasts. I tried to listen to an episode of their The Man of the Year podcast before I wrote this letter but found it too pedantic and labored to finish. While Zeitlin’s writing is fine, the content is ..read more

Illustration by Gracia Lam “Even then I knew some things would never be the same.” By Hannah Chang I don’t remember saying goodbye. I can’t recall what I said, if I cried, or whether I hugged him. Even the red copper gate closing after the car vanished from view is fuzzy in my memory. I mainly remember walking to the couch, clutching my knees against my chest, and letting my head hang down. I sat silent and curled up tight, as if bracing myself for a lonely future.  It all seems rather dramatic, but even if some of that day’s details are blurred, I will never forget the feeling that ..read more

Illustration by Graham Roumieu “I saw a stampede of bodies galloping down the stairs. The building was being evacuated.” By Martha Cooney When I went to college at the University of Pennsylvania, the Penn kids and I did not understand each other. They didn’t know what a beef ’n’ beer was. I didn’t know what they meant when they talked about “unpaid internships.” Where I grew up in Northeast Philly, the uniform was simple. Clothing was dictated by season. Eagles shirt in the fall, Phillies shirt in the spring, and your best jersey for church on Sunday. Add gray sweatpants and a necklace with yo ..read more

Illustration by David Hollenbach “Camp Nou became my living room.” By Andrew Pollen When Emili told me it would cost 600 euros to rent an abono at Camp Nou—a season pass at the home stadium of FC Barcelona—I was as giddy as a kid being given a puppy. It was 2011. Barcelona had just been crowned kings of Europe by winning the Champions League with a Lionel Messi-led squad widely considered one of the greatest of all time. A handshake agreement with the abono’s rightful owner, a new father who wanted someone trustworthy to keep his seat warm for the season, would entitle us to a Row 15 view of M ..read more