Student Appeals Academic Board, Claiming Her Interracial Relationship Satisfies Cross-Cultural Analysis Requirement

Love is in the air this spring, and sorority sister Megan Johnson is attesting to just that with her new boyfriend. After a whirlwind two week romance with her newest boy Pepe, Megan is ready to take the next step in their relationship - appealing to the academic board! 

Under the Button sat down with college junior Megan Johnson to get the inside scoop on how her meeting went down, and how to help others feeling similar sentiments. “Me and Pepe were love at first sight,” she began. “I saw him snorting lines across the dance floor in Cancun on spring break with his fraternity brothers, and I just knew right in that very moment he was going to come up to me, say a few slightly womanizing comments in my ear, and then whisk me off to his 1-star hotel room with three sleeping roommates in the bed next to us. It was magical.” Although Johnson admits Pepe was not the only boy she was with over the break, he was the only one who agreed to see her a second time. 

Pepe refused to comment on this relationship after Under the Button reached out to him for an interview, but Megan did not shy away from her love for him. She thinks that her relationship is just so “unique and special” that it should actually excuse her from other time-consuming activities at Penn, like classes for example. “I decided to appeal to the academic board on a matter of principle. I have to prioritize my relationship with Pepe and help others in similar situations to myself.” 

Johnson shares that she was ultimately unsuccessful in her appeal, but is not giving up on “fighting the good fight.” She believes strongly that her boyfriend, whom she later found out isn’t even Mexican and just happened to be in Cancun on spring break, has opened her eyes to a world of culture that any class at Penn could not hold a candle to. Gracias, Megan!