Plantiffs deny U.'s suit claims

The plaintiffs in the ongoing Mayor's Scholarship dispute denied University claims that it is fulfilling its financial obligations to the city of Philadelphia in its most recent filing yesterday. "We pretty much deny what [the University] said in their answer," Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia attorney for the plaintiff Thomas Gilhool said yesterday. PILCOP's answer claims that the University has failed to disclose how it distributes scholarships. "The information on practices of the University lies in its control and plaintiffs are without information on whether the University awarded need-based scholarships . . . or whether the University continued to award scholarships based on athletic, scholastic or other abilities after the 1950s," the answer reads. Responding to charges that it had fallen short of its financial obligations, the University in its answer filed at the beginning of this month stated that it "provided over $11 million in undergraduate scholarships to Philadelphians from 1986 to 1990." It also stated that "the number of scholarships never was and is not currently tied to the number of high school students." The University's 68-page answer to the complaints filed against it last October was its first concrete explanation of its position in the Mayor's Scholarship suit. The lawsuit, filed against the University by labor unions, student groups and several individuals, claims that a 1977 city ordinance requires the University to award Philadelphia high school graduates 125 new scholarships each year for a total of 500 at a time. The University claims that it is required to provide 125 scholarships at a time. PILCOP's answer said that the University, in its response, showed "no facts which claim, much less establish, the 1977 Ordinances and Agreement cannot be performed . . . it is the choice of the University whether it chooses to increase the number of students and amount of aid available to compensate for those reserved places." PILCOP's answer, filed on the same day as the press conference with Mayor Ed Rendell and President Sheldon Hackney announcing an agreement on a new Mayor's Scholarship package, was not meant to coincide with the conference, Gilhool said. "The timing of our filing had nothing to do with anything except logistics," Gilhool said. University General Counsel Shelley Green said that yesterday's agreement reaffirms the University's position on the number of scholarships it is required to offer the city. "The agreement reaffirms what the University and the city have already agreed to 125 full scholarships or their equivalent," Green said yesterday.

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