President Amy Gutmann Applies (Everything She's Learned) to Penn

May 7, 2009

Three weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal asked the presidents of 10 top colleges and universities to complete an unusual assignment: answer an essay question from their own school's admissions application.

see article

Among the "applicants" was Penn's Amy Gutmann, whose question was, Write page 217 of your 300-page autobiography. (Yes, an actual question from Penn's admissions application.) The rules: no more than 500 words, no help from speechwriters.

Page 217 turned out to be not only a very good page but a very good day for both Amy Gutmann and Penn. She described how, when she became Penn's President in 2004 and began to write her inaugural address, "the political philosopher in me took over." The result was the Penn Compact, an inspired social contract that "put the ideals of higher education into ever more effective practice."

read Gutmann's full essay

"I gave the contract an overarching goal," she wrote. "We would increase access for talented, hardworking students of all backgrounds by strengthening financial aid based on need; we would empower our faculty and students to integrate knowledge by breaking down the silos that separate the liberal arts from the professions and the academic disciplines from one another; and we would put our integrated knowledge to work by engaging in a spirit of partnership with our neighbors in Philadelphia and with communities throughout America and around the world."

As we continue to live by the Penn Compact, President Gutmann's guiding light for our Making History campaign, the story of our rise from excellence to eminence just gets more exciting.

Well done, Amy Gutmann. On behalf of Making History, we are pleased to extend your acceptance into Penn!

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