A day-long visit to the Penn campus was an eye-opener for West and South Philadelphia high-school students who participated in the second in a series of "Communiversity Days" coordinated by the Office of Community Relations. "A lot of them came home with a clear sense of urgency about the need to make education a top priority," said Charles Able, assistant director of Access to Excellence Inc., a peer-tutoring and educational-enrichment program.

"These kids are doing well in school, but there's a lot of competition out there, and they need to be academically strong" to succeed, he added. "Being on one of the most prestigious university campuses in the country was a message in itself."

The students spent the afternoon of Nov. 2 as guests of the Delta Upsilon fraternity. Panos Martinis (WH '97), philanthropic director of Delta Upsilon, explained that the fraternity first got the idea to host a Communiversity Day from a brother who worked in the Penn's Community Relations Office last year and heard Glenn Bryan, community relations director, describe the new initiative.

When the idea of hosting West Philadelphia students for a day on campus was presented to the whole house, he said, "the brothers voted for it overwhelmingly. And they've supported the project enthusiastically throughout the planning stages."

Mr. Martinis explained that the fraternity saw this project as a logical extension of their tutoring and college-advising work with students in two West Philadelphia public schools. "We wanted to make the kids [who participated in the event] start thinking about the opportunities that were available to them, to start thinking about their potential," he said, echoing a message the students also heard from Social Work Professor Rufus Lynch, who talked about his research in West Philadelphia.

While at Penn, the nine Access to Excellence students had lunch in 1920 Commons, and toured the campus and Franklin Field. A representative of the Undergraduate Admissions Office described the college application process to them.

After sitting in on a lecture by Columbia sociologist Herbert Gans, the students toured the facilities of the Daily Pennsylvanian with Executive Editor Charles Ornstein. The day ended with dinner with President Judith Rodin, the brothers of Delta Upsilon and several University officials, including Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs Carol Scheman and Mr. Bryan.

Communiversity Day is an initiative begun at President Rodin's urging last spring. The goal of the program is to bring Penn students and people from across West Philadelphia together for the sort of close interaction not usually found in large group events.

Delta Upsilon was so pleased with the outcome of the day's activities that it plans to host a barbecue for the Access to Excellence students in the spring and host another Communiversity Day next fall. In the meantime, the Community Relations Office is actively seeking other student organizations willing to host Communiversity Days and plans at least one more event this year. Groups interested in sponsoring a Communiversity Day may call the Community Relations Office at 8-3565.