Scholarship suit ruling is appealed

In an expected move, lawyers representing the plaintiffs in the Mayor's Scholarship lawsuit said they have filed an appeal of the judge's ruling in the case. "We are appealing because the decisions of the lower court were wrong," said Michael Churchill, an attorney with the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia. Last month, Common Pleas Court Judge Nelson Diaz dismissed the suit, holding that none of the plaintiffs had standing to sue. The suit, originally filed in October 1991, claims that the University is obligated under a 1977 city ordinance to provide 125 new full-tuition scholarships per year for a total of 500 at any given time. The University maintains that it is required to provide 125 full-tuition scholarships -- or their equivalent -- at any given time. In his ruling, Diaz rejected the plaintiffs' complaint on the grounds that only the city's mayor or past and present Mayor's Scholars, who did not receive full-tuition scholarships, have necessary legal standing to sue. Since the ruling, PILCOP has filed a petition to have nine past or present Mayor's Scholarship recipients added to the list of plaintiffs. Those individuals would meet the standing criteria as detailed in Diaz's ruling. A tenth petitioner is a 1992 graduate of the High School for Creative and Performing Arts who was waitlisted when she applied for admission to the University. PILCOP claims that she would have been admitted to the University had the University been living up to its scholarship obligation. Arthur Makadon, who represented the University in the case, said on Friday that he was not surprised by PILCOP's decision to appeal. "Nothing they do surprises me," Makadon said. General Counsel Shelley Green said only that she believes the University's position in the case is correct, and that the University will examine the appeal and then decide what course of action to take. In addition, Makadon and Green said the University and the city have both filed motions asking Diaz to modify his ruling. The University's motion asks the court to modify its original ruling to state explicitly that the University must provide 125 scholarships -- or their financial equivalent -- to fulfill its obligation. In its current form, the ruling does not appear to say with consistency whether awarding the financial equivalent of the scholarships would comply with the ordinances. Diaz's opinion sharply criticized the University's implementation of the Mayor's Scholarship program, calling it at one point "a sham in the name of a scholarship." "The University does not give full scholarships to all Mayor's Scholars but provides five hundred dollar scholarships and a financial aid package based on need which includes loans and work study," the ruling stated. Makadon and Green said after the ruling that the plaintiffs had successfully confused the judge as to the University's obligation under the 1977 ordinance. The two attorneys said the scholarships are not loans, and that the University maintains that its obligation is to provide 125 scholarships or their financial equivalent. They added that the University views its commitment as a dollar amount -- 125 times tuition -- rather than as a set number of scholarships. A motion filed by the city takes issue with Diaz's ruling, claiming that the court wrongly concluded that Mayor's Scholars can enforce the ordinances. Based on the city's position, only the mayor would have legal standing to enforce the terms of the ordinance.