Anvi’s Red and Blueprint | You probably skipped the most important orientation at Penn
By Anvi Tuteja
1 hour ago
Columnist Anvi Tuteja argues that Penn’s Forerunner pre-orientation program offers a strong model for how the university can better support its international student community.
Credit: Borna Saeednia
“It’s 10 a.m. Welcome to Penn. Please fill out these 17 forms.”
My mother has already found someone to trade WhatsApp numbers with. I, jet-lagged, am wondering if it’s socially acceptable to nap under the registration table.
“My child is ready for college. I, however, am preparing for emotional extinction,” says my mother. “They took my kid and gave me a campus map. Thank goodness for Dr. He and her team!” She clutched the day’s agenda like a life jacket.
This is how my journey at Penn began — not in Philadelphia, but in a conference room in Mumbai. It was the Forerunner in India program, a pre-orientation hosted by Yuhong He, director of integration, community engagement and marketing for International Student and Scholar Services, designed for international students and their families.
Forerunner began in 2015 and has served more than 1,500 students and families across several regions globally, including China, India, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and beyond. Designed to ease the transition to college in the United States, the program offers practical guidance, community-building activities, and a chance to connect with Penn staff and students before even setting foot on campus.
According to Rodolfo Altamirano, executive director of ISSS, Forerunner now enters its 10th year with pride. “What began as a bold effort to foster early connection with incoming international students has evolved into a dynamic, student-centered program that builds community, eases the transition to Penn, and reflects the University’s commitment to global inclusion,” he said in an interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian.
Forerunner was the first moment I felt like Penn had actually thought about what coming to college from another country feels like.
And yet, almost no one knows that the program exists.
In 2024, 833 students and families participated in Forerunner — the program’s highest-ever reach. It covers everything from student visa rules to U.S. banking and health insurance to post-Penn careers. Most importantly, Forerunner includes families. My mom, like many others, walked away from the event calmer, better informed, and slightly more ready to let go.
This year, though, that reach quietly shrank. In 2025, Forerunner ran in-person sessions in only countries — China and India — down from five the year before. In 2024, the program held Forerunner Africa on Penn’s campus, in addition to in-person sessions in São Paulo, Singapore, Mumbai, and Shanghai in June.
For undergraduates, the program was hard to find and easy to miss. This year, only eight undergraduate students from India attended in person, despite over 20 being admitted. The room was mostly filled with graduate students, who were more connected with ISSS communications and more proactive in seeking transitional support. I recall no mention of the program at the multiple Penn admit events I attended in April — no reminder that this event wasn’t just helpful, it was holistic. I almost didn’t go. That would have been a mistake.
For students who cross continents to be here, Forerunner is a lifeline. It’s what makes Penn feel navigable during those terrifying weeks before we even set foot on campus.
Forerunner works because it doesn’t try to perform belonging — it creates it. It teaches logistics, yes, but it also makes space for things no other orientation does. We connected with Penn undergraduate and graduate students from India who had once sat in our shoes, overwhelmed and uncertain. And somewhere between the visa explanations and banking workshops, we competed in a trivia game that pitted undergraduates against grad students in a battle of Penn fun facts. (Spoiler alert: the undergraduates demolished the grads, and no, we’re not letting that go anytime soon!)
In a single day, we experienced what it meant to feel not just welcomed but understood.
The program didn’t just prepare us for dorm room keys and dining halls; it made space for connection. We had the chance to meet faculty members like professors Swapneel Sheth and Femida Handy, who brought academic warmth to a space full of nervous introductions. Representatives from the Penn Libraries, including Jef Pierce, gave us our first glimpse of resources that would become central to our lives.
By separating parents, undergraduates, and graduate students into different breakout rooms, some sessions created space for the most meaningful conversations. In those smaller spaces, we could actually ask the questions that mattered most. More sessions should be intelligently curated for specific population groups, rather than being designed for a massive target audience. It’s something Forerunner should build on, and all orientation programs should learn from.
Altamirano strives to always herald Penn’s mission to welcome the world to campus. “Looking ahead, we envision the Forerunner program expanding in both geographic reach and delivery format,” he said. “Our goal is to create inclusive, regionally tailored experiences that resonate with the needs of diverse international populations.”
That vision deserves action. Penn knows how to run Quaker Days. Now it must apply the same care to students who don’t come from a 90-minute Amtrak ride away.
If Penn wants to be more than just globally ranked — if it wants to be genuinely global — then Forerunner shouldn’t be a footnote in a sea of pre-orientation programs. It should be the blueprint for how every student transition is designed: culturally intelligent, emotionally grounded, and radically practical.
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Penn must actively market Forerunner through all admissions channels, not just ISSS. Country-specific webinars, earlier outreach in admissions materials, reintroducing regional hubs in places like Brazil and Singapore, and strengthening undergraduate participation are all essential next steps.
We cross oceans to get here. The least Penn can do is help us land softly.
ANVI TUTEJA is an Engineering first-year studying Computer Science from New Delhi. Her email is atuteja@seas.upenn.edu.
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