We’re pretty shameless when it comes to like-liking The Excelano Project’s Josh Bennett. When we made him Ego of the Week last fall, he probably thought to himself, “Wow! Me! Ego of the Week! Today I am as famous as I will ever be.” Turns out he was wrong, because he ended up on Under the Button like, at least four times after that! There were also mumblings about him being featured in HBO’s Brave New Voices and on The Daily Show (crush on Penn, much, Jon?), and performing at the White House and the NAACP Image Awards. But wow, four times! What is he, the cupcake truck?
Well now we can add another feather in our Josh Bennett reporting cap, because he was just granted the 2010 Marshall Scholarship. The DP reports:
The award pays for high-achieving young Americans to study in the United Kingdom. Forty scholars are selected each year to attend a British graduate institution for any field of study.
“I’m absolutely ecstatic and shocked, and just incredibly thankful,” said Bennett.
He will be attending the University of Warwick to earn a Masters degree in Theater Study.
His thesis will focus on the genealogy of black performers in the trans-Atlantic world.
This is a real honor for Bennett and all of Penn. Especially since the whole Rhodes Scholar thing didn’t pan out for us this year. So, congratulations Josh (and a belated congratulations to Abigail Seldin)! We think you’re neat.
It looks like Obama is continuing on his Penn kick with the appointment of Amy Gutmann to the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. And oh yeah, she’s going to the commission’s chairwoman. Best birthday present EVER.
Obama loves Penn performing artists. (Remember the Poetry Slam?) Last night Penn Masala performed at the White Houses’s Diwali celebration. Former stoner/Penn prof Kal Penn provided the hookup, and the group performed two songs for the prez and his guests.
"With these glasses, there's no way the White House won't take me seriously!"
You remember Kalpen Modi? He used to get high and satisfy his munchies at a famous fast food emporium in the Garden State, and then once the buzz faded and he got sick of playing doctor he thought, “Hey, you know what would be more fun than trying to get laid at Princeton? Teaching kids at Penn!” After a brief stint in academia, the Prof decided to trade up. He announced his plans to swap Dr. House for the White House to work with the Obama administration, where they’re makin’ change and takin’ names and throwing the occasional luau. Modi has ditched his screen name (which, what with it being “Kal PENN” and all, we really liked) for his birth name just in time for his first day on the job in Washington. Now this is all very exciting news; even though we’re unemployed, we can usually find it in our hearts to be happy for people with jobs. The only catch: Warner Brothers put out the word that we could be looking forward to A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas in November 2010, and Modi is already signed on to at least a year of service in the Obama administration. Since we’re sort of in crazy times right now — war, economic insanity, global warming, Michael Jackson’s death — it’s not like Kumar can take a few extended vacations to steal back the stoner crown from Judd Apatow. We aren’t really sure how he’s going to work this one out, but we’re thinking he’s got a cyclical career path going on. Maybe we can expect to see him back in University City?
First he has Josh Bennett perform at the White House, then he taps Jon Huntsman for an ambassador post, and then he hosts the Phillies in DC! Check out highlights from Friday’s visit (or see the whole thing here):
Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. — governor of Utah, son of that Huntsman, and proud Penn pop — is expected to be named the U.S. ambassador to China today. Interestingly, Huntsman became fluent in Mandarin during his Mormon mission to Taiwan (just like some other Penn students we know).
Here at UTB, we’re already pretty jealous of Josh Bennett, what with the whole performing for the prez and MObama thing he’s got going on. It’s a jealousy we could handle; it’s not like he got to play on Malia and Sasha’s swingset or rub Bo’s belly. But last night, our envy spiraled out of control when we saw Bennett on the Most Awesome News Program Of Our Time: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. See the clip below for the latest 3 minutes and 29 seconds of Bennett’s fifteen minutes of fame.
The Excelano Project kids are cooler than you are. We’ve loved on them before, and we’re going to do it again. Because the EP’s own Josh Bennett performed at the White House yesterday. For Barack Obama, the coolest president…ever. Alongside James Earl Jones, aka DARTH VADER. So yeah, there’s a whole lot of cool factor going on.
Word on the street is that he performed “Tamara’s Opus”. The White House is a little slow to upload onto their YouTube channel, so for now we’ll let you guys see his awesome performance of the piece at the Nuyorican Poetry Slam:
It seems like Kal Penn is quite the ambitious actor. As if his transition from pothead to Penn professor weren’t scandalous enough, we hardly expected to see him appear on House two years ago (we guess Kumar does really go to med school after all).
And after last night’s House, it would seem that Dr. Lawrence Kutner is onto a bigger, better project. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly‘s Michael Ausiello, Penn explains his departure from the show in a way that only an actor-turned-professor possibly could: “I’m going to be the associate director in the White House office of public liaison.” Wait, what?
On the one hand, we find it shocking that of all the Penn professors who could have possibly been tapped to head up an executive department, Obama chose Penn.
On the other hand, this ought to give the Legalize Marijuana people a huge boost.
In Obama’s “not-the-State-of-the-Union” State of the Union, he name-dropped Wharton alum Leonard Abess (father of Matt Abess, C ’08) as an example of a selfless and responsible member of the finance industry. Abess distributed bonuses to past and current employees of Miami’s City National Bank based on years of service to the company. Some received up to $100,000. You may have caught a glimpse of Abess last night, seated with First Lady Michelle Obama in her private box. Quothbama:
“I think about Leonard Abess, the bank president from Miami who reportedly cashed out of his company, took a $60 million bonus, and gave it out to all 399 people who worked for him, plus another 72 who used to work for him. He didn’t tell anyone, but when the local newspaper found out, he simply said, ”I knew some of these people since I was 7 years old. I didn’t feel right getting the money myself.’”
Right on! Whartonites, there still is hope for your souls.
It’s clear that Penn is pretty hype about our screen-printed president. But no matter how excited we get about something, those Japanese always feel the need to one-up us, as Boing Boing was quick to note. While here in the States Obama’s real hometown was just rated the most miserable city in America by Forbes, in Japan the city that bears his namesake threw down a crazy Obamarama in his honor.
Now, becoming the country’s first black president is pretty amazing, but the J-bama fans think he’s the next David Copperfield. Minus the creepy sex charges, of course. Yes we オバマ!
It would appear as if the stimulus package is already bringing results. Some rogue member of the College Republican sent out the e-mail below. While the event isn’t happening (the College Republicans Executive Board sent out a very clear e-mail separating themselves from this), we’re still intrigued. Borderline racism or partisan bitterness? You be the judge!
“Obama piñata on the walk at 12pm tomorrow sharp! Be there or be Democrat!!!”
Nutter endorsed Hillary in the primary but eventually changed his tune.
SPOTTED: Philadelphia mayor and Penn grad Michael Nutter and his wife on an early morning post-inaugural train back to Philly. Having presumably spent yesterday in Washington with our fine nation’s political elite, Nutter slummed it with the rest of us on the regional, in coach, no less! Unlike another semi-notable local politician who was known to favor a first-class ride on Amtrak’s Acela, Nutter did his part to reduce (slow the increase?) of Philadelphia’s massive deficit by saving the city a chunk of change. Props to you, Mayor Nutter!
If you’re lucky enough not to have class tomorrow, but not so lucky that you’re actually in D.C., you can watch the ‘naug at any one of several Penn-provided spots on campus. For your convenience, we put together a map. Obama’s head signifies an officially sanctioned inauguration-watching site.
This Tuesday, you have to choose between watching the most historic presidential inauguration of your lifetime…or attending your lame 10:30 class. Wilson Tong, UA chair and campus mensch, brought to our attention the UA’s “open letter to faculty” regarding the whole ASTR 001 vs. OBAMA 4EVA conundrum. The letter encourages instructors to “accommodate any students who may miss classes owing to their presence at the Inauguration” and “those students who may want to watch the Inauguration ceremony live on television.” And why should they do that?
Understanding that discretion regarding attendance is yours, we encourage that you consider Tuesday as a secular holiday [...]
Sweet! This gives us the extra time we need to bake a “Yes, We Cake.” But in all honesty, most of your liberal elite professors will be just as excited as you are to watch the ceremony, and if not, hello? TiVo.
Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. — governor of Utah, son of 
It seems like Kal Penn is quite the ambitious actor. As if his transition from 
In Obama’s “not-the-State-of-the-Union” State of the Union, he name-dropped Wharton alum Leonard Abess (father of Matt Abess, C ’08) as an example of a selfless and responsible member of the finance industry. Abess distributed bonuses to past and current employees of Miami’s City National Bank based on years of service to the company. Some received up to $100,000. You may have caught a glimpse of Abess last night, seated with First Lady Michelle Obama in her private box. Quothbama:
This Tuesday, you have to choose between watching the most historic presidential inauguration of your lifetime…or attending your lame 10:30 class. Wilson Tong, UA chair and campus mensch, brought to our attention the UA’s “
