For Immediate Release:

PENNSYLVANIA PUNCH BOWL ALREADY INCLUSIVE OF ALL GENDERS

Storied satire magazine has already allowed participation and membership to all genders for most of the years in its 122-year history. 

Philadelphia, October 7, 2021 – The Pennsylvania Punch Bowl of the University of Pennsylvania announced today that the traditionally co-ed satire magazine will keep its ranks open to all genders in the 2022-2023 academic year.

The decision to keep gender eliminated as a qualification for participation and membership in the Publication follows an extensive strategic review that studied a number of print issues over the course of the last year. Undergraduate and alumni members of the 420-member Publication participated in the review process.

“Except for the ghosts of the magazine’s anti-co-ed founders, the continuation of gender inclusion received strong support from undergraduate and alumni members spanning eight decades of Punch Bowl membership, and it is the right step for our future,” said Publication Ghost President Benny Franklin C’1740.  “The Punch Bowl Lords are grateful to the strategic review teams that made these recommendations based on hundreds of hours of evaluation and discussion with input from undergraduates, alumni, and other members of the Penn community. That’s right: it took hundreds of hours to figure this out, my dudes (in the gender neutral sense of the word).

“Anyway, the Pennsylvania Punch Bowl has great respect for the ‘art’ ‘form’ that it has presented to audiences for more than one hundred twenty years. With this lack of gender composition change, we are excited to continue the tradition of delivering clever, satirical, original comedy with representation from the entire Penn undergraduate community as we move forward. It’s almost kinda like, I don’t know, maybe this is a hot take, but there are some funny people who aren’t guys???”

“The undergraduates overwhelmingly support this lack of change, and we look forward to continuing to be a fully gender-inclusive organization,” said Undergraduate Co-Editors-in-Chief Isabella Schlact, Jing Jing Piriyalertsak, and Sophie Qi, in unison. “At its core, Punch Bowl is about comedy. With this step, we are eager to keep the opportunity broad for all Penn undergraduates to write, produce, and publish original comedy…even if it includes men. We see this as the best way to position the club for a successful long-term future on campus, and could not be more excited.”

The historic vote for keeping gender inclusion was completed earlier this week and announced to the entire Publication membership earlier today. The Publication intends to spend the balance of the 2021-2022 academic year preparing for the lack of change. The process will include internal planning as well as listening sessions and discussions with the entire Publication membership, the Penn Creative Writing Community, Penn Administrators, and other stakeholders in the University community.

About the Pennsylvania Punch Bowl

Founded in 1899, The Pennsylvania Punch Bowl of the University of Pennsylvania is one of the oldest satire magazines in the United States. Founded as an alternative to the alternatives to the existing theatrical and dramatic outlets at the University of Pennsylvania, the Punch Bowl has presented original comedy, satire, and general bullshit to audiences at the University of Pennsylvania, in the greater Philadelphia area, and across the globe. The magazine prints three all-original issues each year. The Publication’s primary purpose has always been and continues to be: Justice to the page; Hotel to the Trivago.

For further information, please contact:
Benjamin Franklin
Bowlview Communications
thepunchbowl@gmail.com
(719)-266-2837

SOURCE: The Pennsylvania Punch Bowl