This fall freshmen were given a one-year passport containing a map and information about cultural institutions in Greater Philadelphia as part Drexel’s Cultural Passport program. The first program of its kind in the region, the Cultural Passport offers students free admission to more than 20 partnering cultural institutions. The program was announced by President Papadakis.

Participating partners include the Franklin Institute, Kimmel Center, Pennsylvania Ballet, Philadelphia Museum of Art, World Café Live, the Opera Company of Philadelphia and Independence National Historical Park. The Cultural Passport program is directed by Dr. Suzanne Rocheleau, associate dean for civic engagement. Drexel’s Center for Civic Engagement and the Cultural Passport program are initiatives of the Pennoni Honors College, directed by Dean Mark Greenberg.

At participating museums, students will present their Cultural Passport and Drexel ID at the admission desk. The passport will be marked with a specially designated stamp indicating that the students have received their free admission. For performance-based institutions, the institutions will notify the Center for Civic Engagement with a certain number of seats available for students. The performance and number of seats will be posted online on the new Cultural Passport Web site, where students will be able to log on and be issued an electronic voucher for the performance.

The Cultural Passport program is part of UNIV 101, Drexel’s mandatory two-term freshman experience course. Students will be encouraged to write reflections about their experiences at participating institutions and to use these written reflections as a part of their humanities courses. Activities such as reports, group projects and cultural treasure hunts will also be incorporated into the UNIV 101 course.

For more information on Drexel’s Cultural Passport, visit www.drexel.edu/passport.