Hackney healed community ties

When Sheldon Hackney took over the presidency in 1981, relations between the University and the West Philadelphia community were often strained. Some members of the community saw the University as an institution which was exploiting West Philadelphia and giving very little back in return. "There was a great deal of open hostility under [former President Martin] Meyerson," said former University Community Relations Director Sol Goodgol. "The University was seen as taking everything out of the community without having any concern for community." Hackney immediately went to work to change that image. During his tenure as President he strengthened the community relations office, established the Center for Community Partnership and worked to help local business. Now as he prepares to leave for the National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington, D.C., community leaders, activists and administrators are praising him for his work in the West Philadelphia community. "He was very well respected and his community involvement stretched the gamut, sending a very clear signal indicating his commitment to the community," said Glenn Bryan, director of community relations. State Rep. Harold James (D-Phila.) added that Hackney was a "friend of the community" whose "outreach programs were very helpful to West Philadelphia." James said, however, that he was "disappointed" with Hackney's behavior in the Mayor's Scholarship case, in which the University was sued for not providing enough scholarships to applicants from Philadelphia schools. "My only sad comment is that he didn't do enough from a University perspective to provide Mayor's Scholarships," he said. State Sen. Hardy Williams (D-Phila.) said he also had several concerns about Hackney. "There are two issues which concern us about Hackney: the on-going racist abuse of minority students by the University Police and the inadequate participation in supporting local businesses by the University, which is the largest private employer in Philadelphia," he said. Williams did say, however, that Hackney was "genuinely concerned" with the community. "Hackney was responsive," he said. "I just hope the next president will be, too." Whoever the next president may be, he or she will have an established system of community relations to work with, according to Penn Faculty and Staff for Neighborhood Issues steering committee member Richard Shell. "[Hackney] set the structure in place -- the Office of Community Partnership is a permanent structure -- for the next president to work with," he said. "We all know that leadership comes from above and we're very hopeful that the new president will share [Hackney's commitment to the community]." Shell added that Hackney's concern for the community was evident from the start, when he chose to live in West Philadelphia. "As far as I know he's the first president to live here," he said. "It makes a tremendous difference if the president lives in the community or in some upper class Main Line suburb." He added that programs such as the West Philadelphia Partnership allowed Hackney to make tangible improvements in community relations. As chairperson of the West Philadelphia Partnership, Hackney encouraged local businesses to sell goods and services to the University. In addition to encouraging commerce with the University, the partnership also shows businesses how to make bids for University contracts and advises them on ways to deal with large institutions. Bryan hailed the Center for Community Partnership as the program that "generated the most excitement" among those established by Hackney. He said the program has three objectives: to build effective partnerships between the University and the community, to improve coordination between all of the University's community programs and to stimulate new initiatives linking the University and the community. "We offer traditional services involving faculty, students, staff and alumni, academic based public service and institutionally related service involving Penn as a partner with other groups," he said. Goodgol said he believed that Hackney has proved that community relations cannot be ignored and that Hackney blazed a trail for future administrators to follow. "Whoever comes in will be faced with a number of problems to solve," he said. "I don't think there will be a return to previous status because times have changed enormously."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.