Column: Committed to the Bottom Line

"It's like high school. Boom. That's it. High school," he said. But even rarer than conversations about college is an applicant to the University from West Philadelphia High. Only two or three seniors file applications each year to the world-class research institution located just a mile away from their high school. And while they say hindsight is 20-20, Dinkins strongly believes that he -- and many others in the West Philly High class that will graduate this summer -- would have worked harder throughout high school, had they known that an Ivy League education was not financially out of reach with the aid of a Mayor's Scholarship. "I believe I would have worked harder to graduate in the top 10 of my class," he said. "When I found out about this [the Mayor's Scholarship Program], it was like a new world opened to me. I walk through the University of Pennsylvania frequently, but I had never pictured myself carrying my books through campus." The University currently faces a lawsuit filed by the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia that maintains the school has not been living up to its end of a 1977 agreement exchanging the scholarships for city land. The ordinance stipulates that the "University shall agree to establish and forever maintain at least 125 four-year full tuition scholarships, or their equivalent, in any of the departments of the University, to be awarded annually by the mayor of the City of Philadelphia to deserving students from all of the schools of the city." PILCOP and the University conflict on whether the agreement entails 125 new scholarships each year or a total of 125 scholarships at any given time. But more damning than the charge that the University isn't providing enough scholarships is the charge that it has failed to adequately publicize their existence. And that is where the University appears to have completely renounced its commitment to education. Although college counselors at Philadelphia area high schools said that the University has significantly increased publicity on the Mayor's Scholarships this year, perhaps in response to all of the negative publicity the school has been getting, many said that the University's efforts "could be better." Some said the University has not taken the initiative in the past to publicize the scholarships to prospective applicants. But while the counselors hesitate to characterize the University's actions -- or lack of action -- in making the scholarships well known, lawsuit complainants and students are ready and willing to state that Penn has shirked its responsibility to the community. One complainant who receives a Mayor's Scholarship and is presently a College senior said he had never even heard of Mayor's Scholarships until after the first month of his freshman year here. That was when he found out that he was a Mayor's Scholarship winner. "It was something I just walked in on," he said. Graduating third in his class of 300, he decided to apply to the University regardless of the costs, although they weighed heavily on his mind. Coming from a family with a total income of less than $15,000-a-year, he received loans and work study grants. But despite the University's partial contribution to an ever-increasing tuition bill, the student still had to work two jobs at times. And despite working 20-hour weeks, he estimates that upon graduation, he faces loans totaling over $20,000. So much for full tuition scholarships. "I'll be subsisting on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a few years," he half-joked. But all in all, he is one of the lucky Philadelphia area students. He decided to pursue education after high school anyway. There are others who gave up or who will give up at the start of high school, thinking that a college education is not attainable. According to Deborah Brown, the step-mother of one complainant in the lawsuit, students need an incentive and assurance that there is a goal to work toward. "Penn's been trying to keep it hush, hush," she said. "But kids would strive harder to achieve better grades if they knew there was the possibility of going to Penn." Regardless of whether the University owes the city 125 or 500 scholarships, the University says it has a commitment to education. But by not effectively publicizing the Mayor's Scholarships, the University has betrayed its real commitment -- to the bottom line. Helen Jung is a senior English major from Youngstown, Ohio and executive editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. No Tagbacks appears alternate Tuesdays.

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