A Reckoning at Wharton, Trump’s Alma Mater

On the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, one week after the election of Donald Trump, senior Luis De Castro sat on a bench, thinking about his first vote for president. A naturalized U.S. citizen originally from São Paulo, De Castro was wearing a shirt he made himself, with “Make America Great Again” scrawled in red permanent marker. A couple of yards away from us was a large sculpture of a broken button. The artwork, a popular meeting place for students, had been transformed: Through two holes, someone had attached a massive makeshift safety pin, a symbol of support for minorities who’ve suffered abuse since Trump’s win. At Penn, several black freshmen had received racist messages on a group texting app, and the entire campus was on edge. Colleges everywhere are reeling after the election, but here there is a special resonance—President-elect Trump is a member of the Wharton School’s class of 1968.

As Penn’s business school, one of the most prestigious in the country, Wharton has long had a certain cultural tension: It attracts those who identify as capitalists as teenagers, while being situated on a more or less liberal Ivy League campus. After Election Day, hundreds here participated in a Walk of Solidarity, and one residence hall brought in puppies to console distraught students. But De Castro is among a right-leaning Wharton set that is savoring victory—to a degree.