Penn's Top Misnomers

The Penn campus and the surrounding West Philadelphia community are comprised of hundreds of buildings, restaurants, mid-century dungeons from hell (DRL) and other sketchy areas. While most of these places are named after rich Wharton alums, some of them have more colorful names. Some of them, in fact, are a bit ironic. Let's explore!

Locust Walk -- Let's be real- when's the last time you actually walked on The Walk? The gods of Locust seem to be constantly frowning on Penn students: We trip, we stumble, and sometimes we fall down when aggressively texting to avoid making eye-contact with people handing out flyers. Cars even drive here. Locust Walk, get your act together.

Fresh Grocer -- The only thing fresh things you'll be likely to find at FroGro are piles of rodent excrement and pools of blood that resulted from some heinous act of violence. FroGro's a no-go.

King's Court and Van Pelt Manor College Houses -- A royal court? A country estate? No, these college houses are actually among Penn's shabbiest.

The Radian -- Everyone's favorite overpriced, jazzed-up cinder block of an apartment building has one of the oddest names on Penn's campus. When I think "radian," I think of angular measurement of a circle and that geometry class I failed in high school.

Vagelos Scholars -- You'd think that those "in the Vag" would be the most chill kids around, yet on a typical weekend night you're more likely to find these students stressing in Fisher Fine Arts rather than drunkenly stumbling down Spruce. Sadly, the only thing crazier than someone who gets into the Vag is someone who stays in the Vag. Physics? Chemistry? Ew.

Bobby's Burger Palace -- Not only is the name of Bobby Flay's casual restaurant unimaginably corny, it's sending out all the wrong messages. There's nothing even remotely palatial about this place.

Rosenparty/Van Party/Anything related to libraries+Party -- Van Pelt is a library; as such, it's understood that it is a place where fun goes to die and sleepy students go to nap. Except on one notable occasion, "Van Party" and "Rosenparty" have not lived up their illustrious reputations.