The Statesman Condemns Penn Democrats for Accepting Student Government Handouts

Penn Democrats has recently come under fire from conservative publication The Statesman for accepting student government handouts. Describing members as “freeloaders” and “welfare queens,” Statesman Editor-in-Chief Madeleine Jacobs (W ‘21) criticized the group’s status as a SAC-funded group.

“Penn Dems talks the talk, but they can’t walk the walk,” Jacobs explained. “How can we take their positions on fiscal policy seriously knowing they rely on SAC to keep them afloat, rather than pursuing advertising and other revenue-generating activities?”

Indeed, Jacobs went on to lambast the institution of SAC in general for being too generous with budget allocations. “Funding student groups is simply not in the best interest of Penn as a whole,” she said. “Penn spends too much on student life as it is, which detracts from more valuable uses of its endowment, like investing in the fossil fuel industry.”

“I understand that SAC might be needed right now,” Jacobs said. “But, in the words of the great Ronald Reagan, we should measure SAC’s success by how many groups leave SAC, not by how many are added.”