From concerts to quiet moments, four Penn alumni, now staff members, reflect on their time living in the Quad.
5 min. read
Glenn Bryan of the Office of Government and Community Affairs lived in the Quad his first year in 1970.
(Image: Scott Spitzer)
As the Quad reopens in full after three years of renovations, Penn Today spoke with four Penn alumni who lived there as students and currently work at the University.
Glenn D. Bryan, assistant vice president—local engagement, in the Office of Government and Community Affairs, lived in what is now Ware College House in 1970. He met his wife Nina, who lived in Hill, his first year at Penn. He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1974 and later earned a master’s in social work from Penn.
Mark Kocent, the University Architect at Penn, lived in what is now Ware College House for nine years total—beginning as a resident advisor (RA) in Speakman, later as a graduate advisor and administrative fellow in Memorial Tower, and finally in a faculty apartment in Baird when his wife, Linda Kocent, joined the nursing faculty. He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1982 and went on to earn a master’s in city planning and urban design at Penn.
Lia Howard, fellows director for the SNF Paideia Program, lived in what is now Riepe College House twice in the 1990s, as both a first-year and as a third-year RA. She met her husband, Chaz Howard, university chaplain and vice president for social equity & community, at Penn. She earned her bachelor’s degree in 2001 and later earned a Ph.D. in political science from Penn.
Diamond Irwin, senior communications and operations associate in the Office of the Executive Vice President, lived in Riepe College House in 2011. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Penn in 2015.
“Boy, if I could show my classmates this place, that would be something,” Bryan said, touring the renovated Quad recently.
What was your Move-In experience like?
Lia Howard: It was 1997, and our weekend of Move-In was the weekend that Princess Diana died. That’s where I met my roommate for the first time. It was very hot, and our part of the Quad didn’t have air conditioning then, but you bonded going up the steps and moving your stuff and meeting the parents in that kind of cramped circumstance.
Glenn Bryan: There were no elevators, so I had to haul everything up and down. We didn’t have much furnishings. Back then it was a stereo and a hot plate.
What was the Quad like to live in then?
Mark Kocent: The original building was designed with 39 distinct entries, or ‘houses.’ Ware College House was created in the late 1970s with a health and society theme, so there were a number of pre-med and nursing students who gravitated there. The undergraduates were active participants in programming, and they took a lot of pride in the house.
Diamond Irwin: Our hall was pretty friendly—everyone was busy and had work to do, but people would hang out or party in the hall. It was like a good in-between. I picked Riepe as my first choice because I heard it was quiet (and I was lucky enough to get a single on the first floor near the bathroom).
Bryan: When I lived in the Quad in 1970, it was all men and Hill was all women. Dining was a few vending machines; we went to Hill for dining. I didn’t have to make my bed. Housekeeping did that and cleaned your rooms, coming in 3 to 4 times a week. Now the houses have more of a faculty presence, like the house director; we didn’t have all of that.
Clockwise from left: Linda and Mark Kocent in the Quad; their daughter Caroline; and Caroline and Mark Kocent in summer 1993.
(Image: Courtesy Mark Kocent)
What was the social life like in the Quad?
Kocent: As a graduate student, I had a very comfortable suite in Memorial Tower. The building was primarily empty in the summer, so the staff who resided there held weekly barbecues and enjoyed the outdoor courtyards. Later, when my wife joined the nursing faculty, we had a faculty apartment for three years in the Upper Quad. One year, we had a volleyball party, which was actually a gender reveal party for our first child. We then added an inflatable pool when our daughter was born. She loved having the many babysitters among the student residents. Overall, it felt like living in a castle during the summer months.
Bryan: We had concerts in the field. My band Allure played—we had the worst music equipment, too, by the way; I played the keyboard—and we all hung out. I still play stuff today. When it snowed, everyone pitched in to build one of the highest snow towers we could build known to man. It wasn’t breaking any Guiness records, but it was formidable. The atmosphere all gave us the chance to come together and have picnics and stuff like that.
Howard: My computer was in the window so I could do my work and look out the window and remember feeling very much in a community. It was a buzzy hive, a busy hive of bees running around. As a first-year, many of the folks in my freshman seminar [on the power and persuasion of speaking] lived close to me. I’d run into them—‘Oh, gosh, can we practice?’—I could just run into a colleague in my class and just do that.
What were the friendships like in the Quad?
Kocent: We made numerous friends with the undergraduate residents from those days and have enjoyed following their successful careers and lives over the years. One of our most meaningful and enduring friendships is with then-faculty master, Dr. Solomon Katz, a multidisciplined faculty member and world-renowned food expert.
Irwin: During my first week in the hall, I met someone who would become one of my closest friends. She lived two or three doors down from me, and we would have dinner together multiple times a week, either at Kings Court English, 1920 Commons, or Hill. Fast forward, she was right by my side as my maid of honor a few years ago. She was in Wharton, and the likelihood we would ever have crossed paths is low except for the Quad.
Diamond Irwin with her older brothers and nephew at graduation in 2015.
(Image: Courtesy of Diamond Irwin)
What was being an RA like for first-year students?
Howard: As an RA, I had 17 students. I decided to use my hall money to gather people for birthdays. I would bake the cake in the kitchen which was really close to the hallway so they could smell the cake baking, and then we’d all come and sing and talk and eat the cake, and then social things would happen after that.
We also took everyone to the Letterman show with two other halls. We rented a bus and went to a great restaurant. I still remember the matzoh ball soup!
From left, Lia Howard with friends Courtney Snodgrass (nee Dougherty), Sydney Ellis (nee Lipman), and Brooke Keeney (nee Beck). The four met living in the Quad their first year and lived together in their second and fourth years.
(Image: Courtesy Lia Howard)
What was the social highlight of the year?
Kocent: The Quad used to host all three days of Spring Fling (still a social highlight in Penn Park). You could look out your window and the entire Lower Quad was a wonderful environment of food, games, music and relaxation—a great break away from classes for a couple of days before finals. Even the main headlining concert was held in the Quad, one year we had the B-52s, another year it was Hall & Oates.
What people stand out in your memories?
Howard:Helen Davies, our faculty director. She lived in the Quad forever and was the first female full professor in microbiology. Not every person of her age would choose to live with undergraduates, but she was so committed to women becoming doctors.
The security guards and the folks that worked in the Quad were also really special. I remember having wonderful relationships with folks that I would see every day. They knew about me and asked about me and vice-versa. I think the unsung heroes of that place are at the doors, the guardians of the gates with people constantly coming in and out.
What are your brightest recollections of the Quad?
Irwin: I loved walking back to (and around) the Quad late at night. Everything felt so still. It almost reminded me of Hogwarts, like I was stepping out of West Philly and into a different world. Even though there were people out and about walking around, there was a calm, which I appreciated.
Howard: It feels like you’re at Oxford or Cambridge when you’re living in the Quad, with quirky little gargoyles and a hidden library. It just feels like you are in a special place.
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