Linking Students and Their Neighbors

When Penn employee Marja Hoek-Smit invited nearly 50 students and neighbors into her home the evening of Oct. 22, she was inaugurating a new effort by Penn to encourage students and neighborhood residents to get to know one another.

By meeting their neighbors, students are learning about the richness of the community.

The reception, the first of what will be a series of gatherings this fall in Spruce Hill, introduced the 4200 Pine Street Block Association's year-round residents to students from Penn and Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science.

"The Getting to Know You Receptions are an opportunity for residents and students to learn more about each other and the strengths that they bring to the community," said Glenn Bryan, director of the Penn's Office of Community and City Relations. "We want students to get an appreciation of the richness of the community they reside in."

Judging by the turnout, the evening was a success. Munching on pizza, participants introduced themselves. "It was very rewarding; the spirit was high," said Hoek-Smit, who has lived on the block nine years, and in University City 20 years, and is director of the International Housing Finance Program in the Wharton Real Estate Center. "We have gotten to know each other in our block and adjacent blocks, which makes for a very different living environment."

The goals of the get-togethers were broader than improving neighborliness. "People getting to know each other makes for safer and better living," said Miki Farcas, director of the Office of Off-Campus Living.

In addition to the individual block receptions planned with Community and City Relations, Spruce Hill block captains will host a large student-community reception as part of the overall Getting to Know You effort, said Linda Blythe, president of the Spruce Hill Community Association block captains.