EDITORIAL: Home in the community

The University should doThe University should domore to keep graduateThe University should domore to keep graduatestudents and faculty living inThe University should domore to keep graduatestudents and faculty living inWest Philadelphia.The University should domore to keep graduatestudents and faculty living inWest Philadelphia._________________________________ Frankly, we're not surprised. But we are disappointed. The University can and should be doing more to encourage its greatest intellectual resources -- faculty members and those in training -- to become a vital, integral part of the University City community. Most undergraduates live in campus residences or nearby off-campus apartments and group houses. Our social and academic lives are centered here, near our friends and the facilities we need to thrive, including libraries, classroom buildings and athletic and recreational areas. Rents could be lower and security could be better, but on the whole, it's not a bad place to be. For graduate students, the picture should be the same. Regardless of the size of individual master's and doctoral programs, you'd think graduate students would jump at the chance to create community, living near and learning from their peers in radically diverse fields. But that's not the case. Fear of crime and dislike of the available residential options send them east, into Center City and Society Hill. Faculty share some of the graduate students' concerns about crime, and add that if they have children, they make a decision about where to reside based on where schools are best. That's perfectly logical, too. But part of the reason West Philadelphia -- once a posh suburb a trolley ride from the city's grime -- has declined to its current "grim but livable" level is the flight of educated, motivated, caring professionals. In short, there is no urban upperclass left in West Philadelphia, and all of us are suffering as a result. Ignoring or running from University City's shortcomings won't make them go away. If they vanish, it will be because the whole community has disintegrated, and then the University won't have much of a future, either. Faculty members and graduate students need to get involved in West Philadelphia by volunteering time to refurbish and spruce up the neighborhood, donating their expertise to its schools and affirming the resilience of the community's spirit by putting down roots here would be one giant step toward avoiding this end. The University should also consider offering housing subsidies to faculty and graduate students who make their homes in West Philadelphia, in addition to its existing guaranteed mortgage program for faculty and staff.