“I’ve never seen this many people here before,” one student was overheard saying while looking out at hundreds, if not thousands, of members of the University community packed tightly onto College Green. “It’s so random how this is bringing people together.”
They were all there to watch the solar eclipse on April 8. But in the end, the awe over the huge crowd seemed to eclipse astronomical awe as an unfortunate burst of clouds around 3 p.m. mostly blocked good views of the moon covering roughly 90 percent of the sun in Philadelphia.
Even still, it was a festive atmosphere on campus as students and faculty—and Penn Interim President Larry Jameson—chatted, laughed, and peeked through their eclipse glasses to catch occasional glimpses of a rare phenomenon that won’t be seen again in Philly for decades.
