City Council to hear case on U. grants

and STEPHEN GLASS Two Philadelphia City Council committees will hold a joint hearing today on the Mayor's Scholarships dispute, providing the first public forum for the University, its critics and city officials to explain their positions. The Rules and Education committees are scheduled to hear testimony from dozens of witnesses representing both sides of the scholarship debate. The University and the Committee for the Penn Scholarships for the Philadelphia School Children disagree on how many scholarships a 1977 city ordinance requires the University to provide to Philadelphia high school students. The committee of unions and student groups maintains that the University must provide 125 four-year scholarships each year, for a total of 500 at any given time. The University has maintained that it must only provide 125 scholarships total each year. Scheduled witnesses include President Sheldon Hackney and Executive Vice President Marna Whittington for the University. City Solicitor Judith Harris, who has endorsed the University's position, will testify for the mayor's office. Several union leaders, Black Student League President Martin Dias and representatives from the University's African American Association are among those representing the coalition, which filed suit against the University in October. Although the two committees are conducting a joint session, each has a separate agenda and hopes to use the same testimony to achieve different aims. Of the two, only Rules will debate legislation on the matter, while Education will conduct a fact-finding investigation. The Rules Committee, headed by Council President John Street, will consider a bill that would replace the disputed 1977 ordinance with one that eliminates the controversial phrase "to be awarded annually." Initially proposed by the mayor's office, Bill 66 would clearly support the University's interpretation of its legal responsibility by setting the scholarship commitment at a total of 125 awards each year. If the pace of the testimony allows, Council members said the committee may vote later today to send the bill out of committee and open it to a full Council debate. One Council aide, who described the committee as "pretty Penn-friendly," said he expects the bill will easily receive the committee's approval. But he added that Bill 66 may face stronger opposition once it moves on to the Council floor. The Penn Scholarships Committee, which filed suit with the advice of the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia, has said it opposes Bill 66 because it believes the bill changes the intent of the 1977 ordinance. Passage of the bill by Council reduces the Penn Scholarships Committee's potential gain because, in court, plaintiffs would be able to contest only scholarships awarded between 1977 and the bill's passage. Currently, the number of future scholarships is also in dispute. Harris drafted Bill 66 last month after Street requested a legal assessment of the Penn Scholarships Committee's allegations. Several Council members, including Councilman-at-large Angel Ortiz, have criticized Harris' opinion for ignoring the spirit of the ordinance. The Education Committee, meanwhile, will inquire into whether the University is complying with the 1977 ordinance. The inquiry stems from a resolution which Ortiz sponsored last month and Council subsequently approved. Unlike the Rules Committee, the Education Committee will not vote on any binding legislation and will probably do nothing more than prepare a report containing its findings, several committee members said yesterday. Three of the seven committee members -- David Cohen, Herbert DeBeary and Augusta Clark -- have said publicly in the past that they believe the University is not complying with the ordinance.

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