Current Scholars will keep funds

Current Mayor's Scholars who graduated from high schools outside of Philadelphia will not lose their scholarships despite yesterday's court ruling, University General Counsel Shelley Green said yesterday. In his ruling on the Mayor's Scholarship lawsuit, Common Pleas Court Judge Nelson Diaz found that "any current Mayor's Scholar presently attending the University who did not graduate from a Philadelphia High School does not qualify for a Mayor's Scholarship under the [1977] Ordinance." Even though the ruling seems to mean that a number of current Scholars are ineligible for the awards, Green said yesterday that those currently studying at the University will still get scholarship money. "Students shouldn't suffer because of [the ruling on eligibility]," Green said. "We're not taking scholarships away from [students]." The ordinance specifically says scholarships are to be awarded to "deserving students from all of the schools of the City." Diaz stated that the "language in the Ordinance . . . cannot be disputed," and ruled that "scholarship eligibility must be based on graduating from a Philadelphia High School whether public or private and not on Philadelphia residency." Although Diaz ruled that the University must provide 125 four-year full tuition scholarships, Green and the University's outside counsel, Arthur Makadon, said after the ruling that the University interprets the ordinance to mean that the University is obligated to provide the monetary equivalent of 125 full-tuition scholarships. Green and Makadon said this means that some students can receive less than full-tuition scholarships, if their financial need is low, and that the University may award more or less than 125 scholarships as long as the total value of the awards equals tuition times 125. According to Barbara Beck, the University's associate director of news and public affairs, there are 88 students from Philadelphia in this year's freshman class. Of those 88, 71 are Mayor's Scholars. Beck said there are 168 Mayor's Scholars currently attending the University.