Matt Klapper's run as President of the Class of 2005 has been memorable. While he may not receive the J-Ro treatment as his final term comes to a close, many Penn students are tossing around phrases like "Matt Klapper dynasty." Street sat down with Klapper to talk about his rise to Ivy League fame.
You have 432 friends on Facebook. How many of them do you actually know?
I definitely met all of them. Good friends? Definitely not 432 of them. But I've met a lot of people in my time here. I go out all the time. I have fun. You meet a lot of people when you do that.
Do you have a hard time keeping track of all the people you meet?
On occasion, you have the fun nights out at Penn where you meet people, but you're not in the right state of mind to remember. Generally, I remember the people I meet. I like a lot of people here. It's a really great place. I met a lot of people I really like and care about.
You've run the table as class president. Is it appropriate to use the term "dynasty"?
I wouldn't say that. It's been done before, I actually found out the other week. A girl who was class president a few years back actually did all four years too. It's something I'm really proud of, and I'm really happy I got the opportunity to do it.
How often do you hear a joke involving "The Clap"?
Well, I'll put it this way: eighth grade health class ruined my life. It was always the clapping with your hands joke, and then Chlamydia came into the vocabulary of all of my classmates. Since then, the jokes are split down the middle, but I'm OK with that.
Is there any future in politics for Matt Klapper?
The last time that politics was a consistent ambition of mine was junior year of high school. Since then it's been something that interests me -- it will always be something that interests me, and from time to time it becomes my ambition -- but I'll tell you, the bullshit really frustrates me, and at the end of the day, I don't know if I'll ever go into it. Besides, there are way too many incriminating photos out there from freshman year to the present.
Yeah, I found two photos of you online, both of them with you in your boxers. Disconcerting?
You know, if I don't remember it, it didn't happen.
I asked some readers for questions, and the consensus was: "What do you do?"
As class president, I run the class board, which is in charge of creating a class spirit and school spirit among the class of 2005, and to put on these events that create this unity. Aside from that, I also have a seat on ... the Undergraduate Assembly Steering Committee, the Tangible Change Committee and various ad hoc committees that are put together. For example, I was on one of the committees that helped select the new police chief.
What's the secret of a Matt Klapper campaign? How have you been so successful?
It helps that nobody ran against me for the past three years. I don't know if I'd be as successful if somebody had, which actually boggles my mind. Freshman year, it wasn't really a serious thing for me. It's something I wanted, but it was the beginning of my freshman year, I went out, I had a great time, I met a lot of people. From my understanding, I won by a very narrow margin out of the 13 people that were running. The votes spilt favorably for me and I did all right.
Any explanation as to why you've been unopposed?
I don't go out and break legs, if that's what you're asking. No, I really don't know. I'm flattered, though.
What's been your best event at Penn?
Well, I can't take credit for it, but Hey Day -- by far our class's defining event. That was fantastic. Ice Soccer, something that we brought to the school. It started as broom hockey or broom ball, where you run around with a broom and hit a ball into a goal. Because of our small budget, all of the brooms broke and started cutting people, so it turned into a game of soccer on the ice rink. I thought that was a lot of fun. This year, coming up, the board changes a little bit. We're allowed to introduce alcohol into our events using third party vendors.
Can you name the past three class presidents?
Yeah. Um, Jason Levy. Oh sorry, no, not Jason Levy. Meredith Seidel was the year ahead of me. Billy Moore. Before Billy Moore ... Actually, no, I can only name the past two.
Have you ever thought of flunking and trying for a fifth year?
I'd love to. Some of my friends enjoy embarrassing me and yelling out "Four more years!" whenever they pass me on the Walk, but I plan on moving on after school.
Did you ever consider not running for president?
I was considering going abroad for a while, and if I decided to go abroad, I certainly would have stopped. I enjoy it. I didn't have any intention of stopping. If I had thought I was doing a bad job, or if I had been getting feedback that people wanted something else, certainly I would have stopped. But I enjoy it, I like what I do. I just kept going.
Have you made any enemies in your position?
Occasionally on the night out you get a few things yelled at you, but rarely. People are generally pretty nice on campus. Freshman year, one person who I was running against wasn't most cordial, but since then we've become friendly, he's a good guy.
What side of Matt Klapper do people not get to see?
I think people generally see what I do with my friends, with my time off, unfortunately. Somebody I had just met, we were hanging out in Blarney, this random guy came up to me. Apparently what I do is public. He came up to me, I was helping him wash the windows at Qdoba late one night and didn't even remember it. He said that. I do things, I do some stupid stuff, it's out in public. People pretty much know who I am and know what I do.
I've overheard people refer to your e-mail as spam. Who sends out more stuff, you or Cialis?
People have asked me if I was related to Ruth Shoemaker, and the answer is "no." I actually think I've been pretty sparing with e-mails until this year. There's a lot to do this year ... I think people are going to enjoy our events more this year. I'm not going to be spamming you too much, I promise.
Do you think students have misconceptions about student government?
Your job is to represent the students, to make their time better here in any way possible. There are different branches of student government: there's the UA, SPEC, NEC, SCUE, class boards. We all have different roles, but the general goal is the same. Generally, student government here is very good and has a lot of very good people working in it.
Have you met Amy Gutmann?
I have, on a couple of occasions. I think she's great.
Judith Rodin or Amy Gutmann?
I'd say Amy Gutmann. I've met Amy Gutmann actually, in the short time she's been here, more times than I met Judy, or J-Ro -- or President Rodin, since this is being published, but too late now -- and I like both of them, but I really like Amy Gutmann. She's a very, very nice person. A lot of energy. I think she's going to do some great things.
What about her Princeton blood?
She's seen the light.
Who would you pick as Commencement Speaker?
This might not be as exciting for many as Bono, but I'd pick Colin Powell -- I think he's a fascinating figure ... I'd like to hear him.
Will you have any power cravings once you leave?
I'm sure when I'm living in my parents' basement in North Jersey, I'm going to be yearning for my time back at Penn. As far as power, I mean, I've got access to a listserv. It's good work, it's a lot of work at times, enjoyable, but I wouldn't describe my student government position as powerful.
That's it.
That's it? Very good. You going to be able to make me sound like an asshole?
