For the many Penn students that volunteer at Sayre High, last Thursday's shooting outside the West Philadelphia school hit a little too close to home.
Tariq Hannibal, a 17-year-old student at Sayre High School on 58th and Walnut streets, suffered non-fatal wounds after being shot before classes last Thursday.
The shooting is believed to be related to a turf war between youths from 56th Street and rivals from 60th Street.
But the incident has ramifications for Penn students, many of whom are extensively involved in activities at the high school.
Ira Harkavy, director of the Center For Community Partnerships, said that the University is currently in discussions with members of the surrounding community to ensure the safety of everyone in the area, and that it should make more-concrete decisions within the next week.
Sayre operates on the Beacon School model, where the high school works with the University and within its community to collaboratively revitalize and rebuild the area.
Among other programs, Penn has helped found the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Program at Sayre, and also sends volunteer students from the West Philadelphia Tutoring Project to tutor at the school.
Harkavy underscored the importance of maintaining the safest possible environment at Sayre, and in West Philadelphia.
"It is always essential for the University to give paramount attention to the safety of students on campus and those in the community," Harkavy said
Unfortunately, as evidenced by this latest incident, it seems there is room for improvement.
College junior Amanda Rubenstein, co-founder of the Active Asthma Workshop at Sayre High School, which is part of the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention program, was not shocked by the episode.
She explained that some degree of violence is constantly present at the school.
"Students tell me, 'There's always something going on here,'" Rubenstein said, adding that the school needs to be safer if University-sponsored efforts are to continue to make progress.
"Penn's programs won't be effective if it's not even safe enough to get to and from the school."
Nevertheless, Penn campus groups, such as the West Philadelphia Tutoring Project, made it clear that their involvement at Sayre would not change because of the shooting.
"The West Philadelphia Tutoring Project will continue at the program at Sayre High School this semester as planned," said Jessica Januzzi, the director of WPTP's program at Sayre.
Rubenstein added that she hopes the violence will not deter future Penn students from volunteering their time by tutoring.
"For people who have already worked at Sayre, they understand the environment and that it's not that intimidating," she said. "But especially for freshman and sophomores, one shooting may prevent them from participating in . classes. They have to understand the kids - there are really neat kids."
