Penn's goal of increasing its visibility within both Philadelphia and the world of higher education was on full display during the summer meeting of the External Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees.
Taking center stage were updates on the relationships between Penn and government, the press, and the business world -- and on how those outside groups might affect the University.
The annual reports and the subsequent question-and-answer sessions, which Trustee Andrea Mitchell moderated, were highlighted by a report on the changing means whereby Penn impacts the economy of the surrounding city. The issue has taken on an added importance given the newly minted plans to expand campus eastward and physically integrate Penn with Center City.
In both that report and Vice President for Government and Community Relations Van McMurtry's presentation on Government Affairs, the emphasis was placed squarely on the increasing number of dollars pouring into the local economy from research grants and investment.
"Money comes in from the outside and gets spent locally. So in that regard, that's much more important than me spending another dollar getting a hoagie when I already live here," said Steve Mullen, head of an economic analysis firm that advises Penn.
In her subsequent report on Penn's representation in the news, Vice President for Communications Lori Doyle recapped the positive and negative press to hit the community this year. She also proudly disclosed that University President Amy Gutmann would meet with the editorial boards of several area newspapers, such as the Philadelphia Tribune and the Philadelphia Business Journal, in order to discuss the University's plans for expansion -- to inform, but also to advocate against possible detractors in the media.
Doyle also used several tools to measure how much media attention Penn has recieved, noting that it trailed only Columbia University this year in The New York Times references. Perhaps more importantly, she noted how that attention yielded results -- citing Pennsylvania's recent $13.5-million-dollar grant to the New Bolton Center.
The meeting also included WXPN's annual status report, where the only concern seemed to come from Trustee Leonard Lauder, who lightly criticized a news snippet that he saw as politically insensitive. Speaking to WXPN Director Roger LaMay, he said, "I haven't heard the word 'left-leaning' [that much] since the McCarthy days."
