Confusion clouds decision to delay city app. deadline

The University's decision to extend the admissions deadline for Philadelphia students involves more than just alleviating the confusion over the Mayor's Scholarship deadline, State Representative Harold James said last night. According to James, the real reason for the delay is that some Philadelphia students did not even know the Mayor's Scholarship existed. He said many realized they could afford to attend the University when they heard him discussing the Mayor's Scholarship on two major Philadelphia radio stations just days before the admissions deadline. James said Philadelphia high school students were not confused over deadlines, but over their eligibility to apply to the University and for the Mayor's Scholarship. He said a lack of information exists about the Mayor's Scholarship, adding that because of this the University seems inaccessible to many Philadelphia students. "There is a feeling in the Philadelphia community that [Philadelphia students] aren't welcome there," said James. "The scholarship makes the University more accessible to Philadelphia students." After James' broadcast on WHAT and WDAS, several Philadelphia high school students went to the College Admissions Office but could not find any applications, James said. They then contacted James' office, and he began working to extend the application deadline along with Chairperson of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus and State Representative Vincent Hughes. Hughes' role in the matter not only relies on the fact that the University lies within his district, but also because of his concern that there are not enough African Americans at the University, James said. Because of a "cloud of confusion" that has surrounded the Mayor's Scholarship for many years, James said, people in the city do not know that the scholarship exists, especially in the African American community. Hughes did not return phone calls placed to his office yesterday. In working together, James and Hughes contacted the University and "strongly recommended" that the deadline be extended for another month, James said. Within a day, Executive Vice President Janet Hale, one of the few people that James was able to get in touch with over winter break, agreed that the University would extend the applications deadline. Michael Churchill, a lawyer at the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia, which is presently suing the University over a Mayor's Scholarship controversy, said he was glad the University agreed to extend the deadline. "As an outsider, I find it surprising that no one was in the admissions office a week before the application deadline," he said. Churchill said he was not sure if the University extended the deadline as quickly as it did because of the pending Mayor's Scholarship lawsuit. "I'm certain the lawsuit has made the University more aware of its need to bolster its image in Philadelphia," Churchill said. "I think it's a great step in meeting the needs of Philadelphia students." James said the University is not getting the word out about the Mayor's Scholarship. This, he said, is creating an unsettling feeling among Philadelphia residents. By extending the deadline, James added, the University is starting to take more notice of its surrounding community. Interim President Claire Fagin said she does not think the University's application deadline causes confusion. "We did not have confusing procedures," she said. "But if there was a perception that we were confusing, then I must apologize for that, and we are doing everything we can to correct the problem." Fagin added that the move to extend the deadline is not intended to set a precedent.