Penn Faces is also funded in part by a grant from the SNF Paideia Program.
Penn Faces FAQs:
Who can participate in the program? Since we receive funding from the Wharton Undergraduate Division, only Wharton students (across all years) can participate.
How much does this program cost? The program is free!
Can I sign up with an existing friend? No - as our goal is to foster new connections, students will be paired randomly!
During my freshman year, I met Jared, a Penn alumni who talked about how he’d eat lunch every day with a new person who was sitting alone. Initially simply seeking to make friends, Jared discovered many of these students were concealing mental health challenges. This led to meaningful dialogue that would later lead Jared to found Reflect, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering students to foster authentic conversations on campus.
Inspired by Jared’s story, I started reaching out to random people to grab lunch. I set up lunch with a senior at Penn who later became a role model figure to me. I was shocked when he shared with me that his freshman year was the most depressing year during his time at Penn. He shared with me how he struggled with finding his community, and would stay in studying only to flunk tests while his friends partied.
It was liberating to hear his story as many of his challenges resonated with me. I greatly appreciated the intimate conversation over a nice, complementary lunch at Lauder. This genuine lunch was very memorable to me, something I’d want all Wharton students to experience.
Much of this idea was inspired by my journey freshman year. After facing countless club and extracurricular rejections and struggling to find communities, I’d text a few people every week to grab lunch. Looking back on it, those lunches were often my most meaningful social outlet. I met many of my closest friends from genuine conversations at a dining hall.
The concept behind “Penn Faces” is to create a platform and peer-to-peer lunch program for students to sign up for a random meal with a stranger. This could lead to a long term friendship, a familiar face on campus, a one-time interesting conversation, or anything in between.
Through Penn Faces, I’d hope others would be able to gain the same experience. With 10,000 + undergraduates on campus, it is impossible to get to know even a fraction of the student body. Many students at Penn are always looking to meet new people, but are too afraid to reach out to others, and this program would offer a casual environment to do so. Ultimately, I see Penn Faces as a vehicle to foster vulnerability, go against the grain of Penn Face, and build a greater community, forging new and meaningful friendships at Wharton.
