Search Results
Below are your search results. You can also try a Basic Search.
(01/25/91 10:00am)
Thirteen students yesterday presented President Sheldon Hackney with a list of security demands, requesting in a statement that the University upgrade its "overloaded" victim support services. The statement -- which was presented by representatives of Students Together Against Acquaintance Rape, the Undergraduate Assembly and the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly -- said the students "are appalled . . . at the University's reluctance to provide adequate resources for [victim] support and education." The students, who said they acted on behalf of all University students, called for administrative support and increased funding for the Women's Center, health education and University Police's Victim Support Services. They also requested in the statement, which was read to Hackney in a closed-door College Hall meeting, that the administration provide and distribute University policies regarding sexual assault and judicial recourse. "The problem is that the resources are swamped," said STAAR representative Nicholas King at the meeting. "We need to know that the University is committed as the students are committed." Hackney told the students that safety and victim support are a "high priority item for the University," but added that these issues are the jurisdiction of Vice Provost for University Life Kim Morrisson's office. The president defended the University's existing services, and said he will refer the matter to Morrisson. The president, who said the University's services are among the best in the country, added that it may be necessary to "shift resources" if the VPUL's office cannot fund new programs and facilitators, as some of the students claimed. Hackney agreed to give the students a progress report next week. Morrisson could not be reached for comment last night. Hackney also said that he set up a committee this fall to investigate the University's support services and policies. He said the group -- which is made up of students, faculty and administrators -- will deal with the issues brought out by the students yesterday. Some of the students said after the meeting that they were disappointed because the president did not answer their immediate questions and concerns. Others, who said they think they have Hackney's support, said they are now waiting for action. "The University has to do something, not just wait," STAAR representative Anne Siegle said after the meeting. "Rape is something you can't just wait out." University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich said last night that he also thinks the victim support services "need some extra help," but added that he does not know if the organizations need more people or money. Some of the students plan to meet with VPUL Morrisson on Monday to present her with their demands.
(01/24/91 10:00am)
Representatives from opposing fundraising organizations battled it out for University employees' charity dollars at yesterday's University Council meeting, as Council members searched for the best giving program for the University. Advocates of both a United Way-dominated giving campaign and a proposed "Combined Campaign" attacked opposing plans in time that was allotted to inform Council representatives about the respective programs. With abrasive and acusatory language, the two charities bickered about who would best use employee-donated money. Both groups claimed the other's reported administative costs were lies and that the other have distributed misinformation to the public. As United Way President Ted Moore explained after the meeting, "The bottom line is money." The current fund raising system allows faculty and staff to pledge part of their pay exclusively to the United Way. This was the University's method until fall of 1988 when steps toward a combined campaign were implemented. A combined campaign would encourage the staff and faculty to contribute directly to various University-approved fundraising organizations instead of going through the United Way. The administration has taken steps to achieve this goal and has fully implemented four umbrella groups - Womens Way, Bread and Roses, United Negro College Fund and the Black United Fund -- to join the United Way in the University's fund drive. Supporters of the combined campaign are asking the University to add more approved fundraising groups to their options. United Way officials are seeking to maintain the status quo, or even remove the four groups added since 1988 from the campaign. Contributors to the fall fund drive will vote for one of the campaigning methods in a March referendum. A third option, to eliminate the campaign system on campus, may be on the referendum as well. Rudovsky said the new method would allow more money to reach individual charities since the United Way's administrative costs would be eliminated. Currently, the United Way subtracts 10 to 20 percent of gifts for "administrative" purposes prior to sending it to the dependent organization. United Way representative Cheri Wilson defended the United Way, saying donors have a choice of the ultimate destination of their money from over 2700 recognized charity organizations. She said the combined campaign would give an "unfair marketing advantage" to groups that can afford to solicit money from employees. Another United Way supporter, Shirley Thomas, refuted claims that the group excludes "progressive organizations," saying "the United Way opposed racism in 1931." Both groups claimed to have been responsible for a dramatic rise in donations last fall. Council's steering committee will consider placing the issue on the agenda for next month's meeting. In other business, Faculty Senate Chairperson Almarin Phillips announced that council steering will temporarily expand the open expression committee to accomodate the increased demand for representatives at University meetings since the war in the Persian Gulf began last week. Phillips said that former open expression committee members will be asked to serve as representatives, who may intervene if they witness a violation of the open expression guidelines. Open expression guidelines regulate and protect free speech, debates and demonstrations on campus. President Sheldon Hackney also discussed the war in the Persian Gulf, listing several steps the University has taken to assist students, staff and faculty members during the crisis. They include a hotline to answer questions about the war, notification of open expression guidelines and assistance to the Red Cross' blood drive later this month.
(01/23/91 10:00am)
The University's charity drive will be the main focus of debate at tomorrow's University Council meeting, with members discussing whether to maintain the current United Way-dominated campaign or to open drives up to other organizations as well. Council members will hear proposals from both sides of the two-year-long debate. One committee is expected to call for a combined campaign, which would allow qualified fundraising organizations to solicit donations alongside the United Way. This would allow more money to reach the groups because contributions would not be subject to United Way's "administrative costs." An opposing committee, however, will call for a continuation of the University's current campaign. Members say the United Way provides money to 2,700 different organizations, including ones targeted by the combined campaign drive. Supporters of this proposal claim that the combined campaign gives a "marketing" advantage to the few groups that send materials to the University. In verbose and often harsh statements printed in this week's Almanac, members of both sides criticized each other for being too restrictive or too specialized. Contributors to the fall campaign will vote for one of the two proposals through a March referendum. Faculty Senate Chairperson Almarin Phillips, who is also chairperson of Council's steering committee, said he expects there to be "some sharp differences of opinion" at today's meetings. Last year, the Senate passed a resolution in favor of the Combined Campaign, but Phillips said he does not know how this year's faculty would vote on the issue. Phillips said that there is a third faction on campus that would like the University not to get involved in either proposed program, but they will not be present at today's debate. The other item on the agenda is a proposed amendment to the Council bylaw that deals with international programs. The change is basically a procedural one that will have little, if any, effect on the content of the article. The normally two-hour long meeting -- the first of the semester -- has been shortened to 90 minutes because of the small agenda.
(01/23/91 10:00am)
Large-scale cuts in the state budget announced this month will cost the University $1.3 million in state contributions, a loss that will hit the Veterinary School especially hard. According to University administrators, the Veterinary School, which receives 40 percent of its funding from the state, will lose $537,000 through the cuts. The University's general fund, which pays for some scholarships, fellowships and research, will get its grant cut $582,000. The Medical School will also suffer, losing $161,000, and the Dental School will not get $37,000 of its state allocation. The budget cuts, which the state government announced in early January, are the worst in remembered history, according to University officials. In Casey's announcement on January 7, the governor said he would cut all state higher education funding by 3.5 percent for the current fiscal year in an effort to balance the budget. When the original budget for Fiscal Year 1991 was released in July, the University was told it would receive a one-percent increase over last year's state funding. This amount was already less than administrators had expected. Between July's small gain and this month's heavy cuts, Provost Michael Aiken said this week that the state gave the University $2.5 million dollars less than administrators expected this fiscal year. According to Ben Hoyle, the University's acting budget director, the last time the state withdrew money already granted to the University was in 1975. He noted, however, that those withholdings only amounted to 1 percent of total state contributions. With this slash in state grants, Pennsylvania joins several other states that have had to make mid-year cuts in order to balance their budgets. James Shada, the University's lobbyist in Harrisburg, said Casey made the reductions to cover the difference between rising welfare costs and falling income-tax revenues throughout the state. Hoyle predicted that state funding would not increase next year and may go down again. "We would be lucky if [funding] is held in Fiscal Year 1992," Hoyle said. "But the tone from Harrisburg suggests we should expect further reductions." Aiken said this week that the cuts will make the University "tighten our belts" this year, adding that much of the state money was already committed before the reductions were announced. He said the University will feel the effects of the cuts more next year because administrators had to dip into University reserves in order to cover this year's expenses. "This is not a crisis . . . but we've lost much flexibility," Aiken said. "We won't be able to give as much in certain areas." Aiken said areas of the University that may be affected include graduate fellowships, salary reserves, Trustee professors and research. He added that the recent budget cuts will have no effect on next year's tuition rates because most of the calculations for the 1991-92 school year have been completed. Aiken said administrators are "trying to hold down the growth of tuition," but added there is no way to tell what effect the state's budget cuts will have on future tuition rates. Veterinary School Dean Edwin Andrews said yesterday the budget constraints "put [the school] back to a 1986-1987 funding level." He added that Vet School tuition should not be affected by the cuts because student money covers only 13 percent of the school's expenses. The dean said he plans to appeal to the University for money during the budget crisis, and said the school is currently in a hiring freeze. But he added that he has no plans to lay off any employees.
(01/22/91 10:00am)
Provost Michael Aiken will have few surprises for the University when he releases the final version of the University's five-year plan today. The outline, which differs little from the tentative draft released in October, sets the administration's major goals for research, undergraduate education, doctoral education, professional education, libraries and computing, internationalization and the campus environment for the next five years. Although the report has been in the works for two years and its release long-awaited, the final draft is somewhat anticlimactic, featuring only two minor changes from the October version, both in undergraduate education. The first addition calls for the University to provide undergraduates with greater research opportunities by developing internships, encouraging schools to make research a part of curricula, and assisting undergraduates in their search for research possibilities. The second addition suggests a review of the University's classrooms, calling such a move "a critical first step in the development of plans and funding for new and rehabilitated classroom facilities." The proposed facilities will contain "state-of-the-art technologies and provide supportive teaching environments." The report does not include cost estimates for its proposals. Because of budget constraints, this phase of the plan may not be completed for some time, Aiken said yesterday. While the plan officially takes effect today, Aiken said work on many of the priorities developed in the report started last September. Most recently, the University received city permission to demolish Smith Hall, the site on which administrators plan to build a Science and Technology Institute. The facility was called for in the research section of the plan. Aiken said the October draft was reviewed by the Academic Budget and Planning Committee and by the President's Advisory Group before he finalized it. Among the almost 50 suggestions contained in the study are plans for the construction of five new buildings, including four research facilities and the planned Revlon Center. It lists ways to strengthen the undergraduate curriculum, including reforming the general requirement and increasing freshman seminars. And it calls for bringing in an outside panel to study undergraduate education. The report also encourages faculty members to "engage in mentoring relationships" with graduate students and encourages increased dialogue among graduate schools and professional schools. It provides for the establishment of an Office of Vice Provost for Graduate Education, a position that is expected to be filled this semester. And the extensive plan works to give the University a more international scope by establishing a Provost Council on International Programs, by enhancing foreign language requirements and by increasing the number and scope of area studies programs.
(01/21/91 10:00am)
The Christian Association received a bomb threat Friday morning, seven hours before a scheduled Arab-American dinner, but police investigators found no bomb in the building. Friday's bomb scare was the second on campus since the war in the Persian Gulf started on Wednesday. An unidentified man threatened to place a bomb in Logan Hall early Friday morning, but University and Philadelphia police found only air conditioner parts in the suspected box. On Friday, Philadelphia and University police responded to a 10:50 a.m. call from a CA employee. A Philadelphia police spokesperson said a caller told the CA employee the explosion would take place at 5:30 p.m., the time of the dinner. CA organizers said Friday they were worried that the threat would keep people away from the dinner-discussion, but CA Director Beverly Dale said she does not think it discouraged people from attending because "it was not that well-known." Dale, who said she is certain the bomb threat was linked to the anxiety stimulated by Gulf war, added that she does not expect it to be the last such threat the CA will receive during the time of the war. "It's the first time we've gotten [a threat]," Dale said Friday. "I don't anticipate it will be the last because we are promoting peacemaking and reconciliation . . . and there are those who don't believe in this approach." Dale said she does not know who made the call, but speculated that it was someone "unbalanced," who is "very worked up about the situation." "The temptation is to give in to the tension and be overwhelmed by the despair," Dale said. "But it is important for all of us to realize that life goes on and each of us needs to pray for peace and work for peace while the war is going on." Dale also said she thinks the CA is not the only building on campus and in the city to receive a bomb threat, but neither University or Philadelphia police had records of any other bomb scare.
(01/18/91 10:00am)
President Sheldon Hackney has nominated his former chief-of-staff, Barbara Stevens, to be the new secretary of the University, replacing 10-year Secretary Mary Ann Meyers. Stevens, whose appointment must be officially approved by the University Trustees at their meeting next Friday, will start her new job in March, nearly two years after her departure from campus. The former administrative aid to Hackney's new duties will include acting as a liaison between the Trustees and the administration. She will also arrange University ceremonies, including commencement and convocations. Stevens said yesterday she is excited to be returning to the University at what she termed an "interesting time in higher education." She said her experience in the president's office is valuable because it allowed her to become familiar with important University issues like financial aid and the ongoing capital campaign. Hackney said this week that Stevens "has everyone's respect," and that her appointment has been lauded by many administrators and faculty members. "She has a wonderful way of working with a wide variety of people," Hackney said. "She will be a good liaison between the University and the Trustees." Since leaving the University in 1989, Stevens has worked with the New Haven Downtown Council, an organization which helps with the economic development of New Haven, Connecticut. She is currently president of the council, which includes the leaders of the city's major businesses and institutions. Stevens said her greatest responsibility as secretary will be to keep the Trustees informed about all issues and events on campus. Stevens will replace former Secretary Mary Ann Meyers, who left the University in late November to become president of the Annenberg Foundation, a philanthropic organization started by University Trustees Walter and Leonore Annenberg. Meyers, who worked with Stevens during the 1980s, commended her replacement, calling Stevens a "talented woman," and saying that the "University will benefit" from her return. University Associate Secretary Gail Levin will remain as acting-secretary until Stevens starts her new position in March.
(01/18/91 10:00am)
The University's Institute of Contemporary Art last night opened its long-awaited gallery with a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony, attended by many of the institute's major contributors. "This is a place that raises the human spirit," President Sheldon Hackney said at the ceremony. "It allows you to think and dream a little bit." Hackney was one of four speakers at the short ceremony. ICA Director Patrick Murphy, Philadelphia Mayor Wilson Goode and ICA Board Chaiperson Edna Tuttleman also gave thankful speeches to the 150 people in attendance. The building, which will open to the public on Saturday, is a spacious structure which architect Adele Naude Santos said was designed for versatility. She said the building is appropriate for a contemporary art museum -- which often houses abstract and unpredictable pieces -- because its rooms are each designed to contain different types of art. "[The new building] gives ICA a greater level of autonomy and fluctuation," Santos said. "It's a wonderful new phase for the ICA." Construction on the building began approximately eight months ago after several years of planning for the new museum. ICA shared space with the Graduate School of Fine Arts in Meyerson Hall for over 20 years but officials said the facilities were inadequate. ICA Associate Director Judith Tannenbaum said yesterday that the building has a "certain drama." She praised its great space and its "user-friendliness." "It's not fussy or overbearing," Tannenbaum said. And Director Murphy said the building was special because it provided the best of what is important in a gallery: proper space for art objects and proper space for people. This weekend's opening will be celebrated with local music, games and performances, as well as an architect's tour of the building on Sunday. The museum will open at noon on Saturday and Sunday, and admission is free.
(01/17/91 10:00am)
Muslim students are worried. As war broke out among the Arab states last night, many Muslims said they were unnerved by the possibility that erupting tensions across the globe may lead to increased tensions on campus. While some Muslim students last night expressed faith in other students' sensibility, many fear a possible backlash from American students who "stereotype" all Arabs. "I'm very afraid of discrimination," former Pakistan Students Association President Majid Enani said last night. "There may be some attacks against the Muslims. Many people don't differentiate who are Iraqis, Saudis or Kuwaitis. They think this is a U.S. vs. Arab problem." In the forefront of many people's minds is the effect of past struggles between the U.S. and the Arab world. Some Muslims said they fear the same sort of harassment that Iranian-Americans suffered during the hostage crisis in the late 1970s. And one student, Ibtisam Alzaru from Jordan, said she may feel the need to return to her homeland if tensions get much worse. "Until now, I have felt safe here," the Nursing graduate student said. "But I don't know what will happen later. Maybe we should go back. They don't like us because we are Arabs and from the Middle East." And some speculated that cultural tensions may be joined by religious ones if Israel joins the fighting. Some students said the Arab-Israeli conflict could inflame the sometimes shaky relations between Muslim and Jewish students on campus. "If Israel enters the war, relations would definitely be different," College junior Saad Khairi said. And College sophomore James Kelly said last night he thinks increased tensions between Arabs and other students is a "distinct possibility." He added that both Muslim and other students may be hostile towards each other because they feel threatened by the events across the globe. But some Muslims think American students will be open to discussion and will not base their opinions on Saddam Hussein's violent politics. "I think students can differentiate between Arabs and Saddam Hussein," Arts and Sciences graduate student Khaled Mazighi said last night. "They can tell that [all Arabs] don't fall into the same category." College sophomore Reshma Memon said last night that she is very concerned with the long-term effects that the war may have on American students' perception of Islam, adding that tensions may not be resolved once the military conflict ends. "I'm not worried for myself that something's going to happen," Memon said. "But I know that this is going to leave a really bad lasting impression of Islam. This could have an awful backlash in the future."
(01/16/91 10:00am)
Assistant to the President William Epstein, who has been with the University for over four years, will leave the University this month for a post in a local engineering company. Epstein, who has worked in the president's office since 1987, will become Director of Government Affairs for Roy F. Weston, Inc., a West Chester-based environmental engineering company. Epstein is the private company's first full-time government liaison. The 1987 Wharton alumnus directed government and press relations for President Sheldon Hackney, and assisted the president with his community service work in West Philadelphia. Epstein, who has started work at Weston, said yesterday that he will empty his office within the next two weeks. Over the two weeks, Epstein, who graduated from Wharton's graduate program, will split his time between Weston and the University. Hackney said he may reorganize his office before hiring Epstein's replacement. He said he is looking for someone who understands community affairs. Before joining the University, Epstein spent several years with Congressman William Gray in Washington, D.C., experience which he says will help him on his new venture. Epstein's time spent on Capitol Hill appealed to Hackney when the president was searching for an assistant four years ago. "He understands issues quickly and understands how the world outside the University works," Hackney said, adding that Epstein's knowledge of national and city politics made a "great contribution" to the University. Epstein said he has always planned to move to the private sector to make use of his Wharton education. In his new position, Epstein will help various department heads in their dealings with the government and will monitor federal legislation for Weston, which does much of its environmental work for government clients. But Epstein said he plans to remain involved with the University. "I've come to admire and enjoy the issues and the people I've come to work with," Epstein said. "It was a very challenging and enjoyable position." Assistant Vice President of Policy Planning David Morse, who has worked with Epstein since the beginning of his short stay in the president's office, said last night that Epstein's "sensitivity" and "thoughtfulness" made him a success at the University. "Bill was very effective and very helpful and someone who could understand both the nature of the outside community and how the University functions and sees itself," Morse said. Morse added that Epstein's new position at Weston is a "very good move for him."
(01/15/91 10:00am)
A city historical panel last week gave the University the go-ahead to demolish Smith Hall, removing a major barrier from the administration's attempts to build a new multi-million dollar science center. Students and faculty members have protested the planned demolition for over a year, but the Philadelphia Historic Preservation Commission had decided that the science center would be a better use of the Smith Walk site. The century-old hall was classified as a historic building two years ago by the commission because its architecture was considered revolutionary at the time of its construction. Major medical advancements occured in the building as well. The historical designation prevented the University from altering or destroying the building without permission from the commission. Both administrators and opponents of the plan testified before the commission during three hearings. Students and faculty members who opposed the demolition said razing the building would contribute to the destruction of campus history. University officials, led by Vice President for Facilities Management Arthur Gravina, maintained the site was the only practical place on campus for the proposed science center. The commission sided with the University, ruling that the science center would be a better use for the site and that prohibiting demolition of the building would be costly for the University. The University must now get permission from a state historic society and cannot demolish the hall until funding for the institute is in place. Smith Hall currently houses the History and Sociology of Science and Fine Arts departments. The University plans to build the Institute of Advanced Science and Technology on the site. The institute, which administrators predict will be completed by 1994, will provide new laboratory space for engineering and science departments. The administration is preparing to apply for a $10 million Department of Defense grant to pay for the new institute. The commission's ruling will help the University's efforts to secure funding since it can now give specifics about the institute to the government. Vice President Gravina said yesterday the science building is a "top priority" of the administration, adding that the University will find the money elsewhere if the government does not grant the funds for it. "We are prepared to move forward even if we have to go in debt for it," Gravina said. Some H&SS; faculty and students were outraged by the commission's decision and said they will continue to fight to preserve their historic home. Many attended the hearings last month, and will meet this week and next week to decide what their next move will be. Fine Arts will be relocated to the Hajoca Building across from the Class of 1928 Ice Rink, and H&SS; will be temporarily housed at the University Science Center, at 34th and Market Streets, a location which department members say is unsafe and too far from campus for student accessibility.
(01/15/91 10:00am)
Facing staunch pressure from students and faculty members, President Sheldon Hackney announced at last month's University Council meeting that he will release a second proposal of a new racial harassment policy in March. Hackney's first revision has been met with harsh criticism since its release in October, and the president said that the updated code will incorporate suggestions he had heard from faculty members and students. Council members reiterated previous criticisms of the proposed changes, saying the narrowed definition of racial harassment would give too much leeway to people whose intent is to insult others rather than to promote open discussion. According to Hackney's October proposal, an act would only be defined as harassment if it passes a three-part test. It must be intended to "demean, insult or stigmatize" a person on the basis of race; be addressed to the person or group it demeans; and make use of "fighting words" -- intended to incite violence -- or their non-verbal equivalents. Hackney's critics said at the December 12 meeting that insisting all three requirements be met would make it impossible for victims to prove they had been harassed. In other University Council matters, members discussed a Graduate and Professional Student Assembly resolution calling for "adequate" graduate representation on University-wide committees. GAPSA chairperson Susan Garfinkel presented the resolution in the wake of graduate student criticism of the diversity on the Walk committee, on which only one of 20 members is a graduate or professional student. GAPSA representatives to Council said graduate students should be included in every University-wide committee because they make up the majority of the student body and have a vested interest in all aspects of the University. "Graduate students have some ongoing concerns as well," GAPSA Vice Chairperson Michael Goldstein said at the two-hour meeting. "We'd like to have some input on almost every issue on University-wide committees." Although many Council members said they supported the concerns raised by the resolution, some faculty members said students do not belong on every University committee. Members at last month's meeting also spent time discussing the proposed demolition of historic Smith Hall, currently the home of the History and Sociology of Science and Fine Arts Departments. Some student representatives, including Undergraduate Assembly Chairperson Duchess Harris and GAPSA Vice Chairperson Elizabeth Hunt, criticized the administration for its plan to demolish Smith Hall, one of the oldest structures on campus. They also condemned the University's decision to relocate the H&SS; department to the University Science Center at 34th and Market streets, citing safety concerns.
(12/07/90 10:00am)
College junior Jessica Dixon was elected president of the Black Student League last night, and said that she will focus next year on improving dialogue between black students and the administration. The BSL elected Wharton junior Nicole Bell as vice president during the group's annual elections. Both students ran unopposed. Dixon, who is currently United Minorities Council treasurer, said she plans to work side by side with the administration to address black students' concerns. But she added that she is willing to be strong if friendly dealings fail. "If things can get done sitting down around a table it's much more effective than with hostile relations," Dixon said. "But if we can't get anything done we'll have to take a more active stance." Dixon's remarks echo last month's announcement by current BSL President Buzz Thomas that the organization would resume an aggressive role in fighting for the concerns of black students. Thomas said the administration has been unresponsive to black students' demands. During his semester-long term as BSL president, Thomas took a more passive approach to dealing with administrators than had previous BSL leaders. Dixon's leadership could strike a middle chord between that of aggressive black student leaders of the recent past -- such as Melissa Moody and Travis Richardson -- and the quieter Thomas. "I don't want to be labeled as a Melissa Moody president or a Buzz Thomas president," Dixon said. "I do want to take an active, as opposed to a reactive stance." Dixon said the BSL will concentrate on combatting black attrition and improving retention, and on cultural events. She said she plans to hold discussions with the administration and with Trustees. Vice President-elect Bell, who is currently BSL's representative to the UMC, said she wants the BSL to be more aggressive. "We've tried to work within the system, with only minimal results," she said. The BSL also elected College junior Anthia Christian treasurer, Engineering junior Sherri Porter recording secretary, and College junior Kia Clements and Wharton sophomore Martin Dias corresponding secretaries. College freshman Kaplan Mobray was chosen to be freshman representative, College freshman Orlando Lima was elected parliamentarian, and College sophomore Sjekienna McCreary will be Student Activities Council representative. Chip Gross and College freshman Juanita Irving will have a run-off election at the first meeting of next semester to be UMC representative.
(12/07/90 10:00am)
While factions of the University community fight over residential space in the heart of campus, the Castle, one of the campus's most coveted houses, sits vacant and dark in the middle of the battlefield. The Castle, former house of the Psi Upsilon fraternity, is currently the only empty structure on the Walk and has become the focus of immediate plans for the campus thoroughfare. For some committee members, the prominent house, located at 36th Street and Locust Walk, is a microcosm of the whole diversity on the Walk issue. They say that the tone of diversification will be set when Vice Provost for University Life Kim Morrisson fills the empty building with new residents. "Filling the Castle touches very close to the issue of what to do about fraternity houses on Locust Walk," said Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Chairperson Susan Garfinkel, a committee member. The structure has been vacant since Psi Upsilon was kicked off campus last May for planning and executing the January kidnapping of a Delta Psi fraternity brother. The fraternity's charter was revoked for at least three years, and brothers were evicted from their house. Lawyers for the University and Psi Upsilon are battling over the ownership of the house. President Sheldon Hackney announced in September that the house would be filled by a non-Greek organization, opening the Walk to people who would otherwise not have the opportunity to reside in the campus' core. The president has since said he will not make any decision that will prevent Psi Upsilon from reclaiming the house if the fraternity returns to campus. Some students saw Psi Upsilon's eviction as a way to begin diversification. But since Hackney said he will not make permanent plans, they say the house will not contribute to valuable change. Many people -- including some committee members -- have criticized the administration for delaying the process of filling the spacious building, saying it reflects the University's sluggishness in addressing diversity on the Walk. They also say the president has neglected to solicit committee input before making his decisions on the Castle, leading them to think the president does not value members' advice on the Walk in general. "It's a policy statement made by the president that was not referred to the committee for its consideration," Faculty Senate Chairperson Almarin Phillips, a committee member, said last month. "It seems to me that if we have a Locust Walk committee to consider the uses of Locust Walk, matters considering the usage of Locust Walk should be referred to the committee." Committee members said that while not much discussion has centered on filling the Castle, finding new occupants for the building is on the agenda. Since Hackney announced that he plans to open the Castle to non-Greeks, Morrisson has received scores of petitions from students, faculty and staff, requesting a spot in the majestic building. The vice provost, who initially said the house would be filled by January, later said that it will remain empty throughout the year. She said that, although she cannot contradict the president's restrictions, she wants to hear the advice of the Walk committee before choosing the house's new occupants. United Minorities Council Chairperson Nalini Samuel, a committee member, said last month she thinks Morrisson would have made a decision about the house if the committee had started meeting earlier in the school year. "One of the purposes of the committee is to decide what to do with the Castle," Samuel said. "We should get on the ball and do it." Some people have supported the University's delay on the Castle, saying it is better to leave the house vacant an extra nine months than to make a rash decision about its future tenants. "I wouldn't want the University to put someone in hastily and then regret the decision after hearing the recommendations of the committee," GAPSA's Garfinkel said. Samuel said that while the Castle in central to the debate, its importance should not be overemphasized. "The Castle is a great opportunity to serve as an example of diversity on the Walk," said Samuel. "But I'm afraid it might become a token . . . a diversified Locust Walk shouldn't end there."
(12/07/90 10:00am)
If the University decided to force Locust Walk fraternities from their coveted houses, the courts could enter the already-crowded field of groups trying to bring a broader range of residents to center campus. President Sheldon Hackney has said he will not move fraternities off the Walk, arousing the anger of many people who say the it cannot represent a broad enough range of the University community if the chapters remain. But should the president reverse his decision, he would be faced with his biggest battle yet -- not with fraternity members themselves, but with their attorneys. Behind fraternity members' cries of property rights and fairness and their critics' protestations of "we can move them out" stands an inch-and-a-half-thick pile of legal documents which do not even begin to cover the fraternities' agreements with the University, Associate General Counsel Steven Ponskanzer said last month. Of the 10 Walk fraternities located east of the 38th Street bridge, seven are owned by the University. Yet, Ponskanzer said, each has different agreements which govern the use of the houses. Several of the houses have so-called reversionary rights, which require that the University return control of the house to the fraternities' alumni chapter under certain circumstances. These terms vary from house to house and include varying degrees of specificity. He also said agreements with some houses go beyond the written documents, depending also on the precedent of past dealings with the chapters. "There are no easy answers in terms of who controls and who uses houses," Ponskanzer said. IFC President Bret Kinsella said the University would break honorable agreements if it forced the chapters out of their houses. He said if Hackney decides to move the chapters, he must give them something substantial in return. "We're talking about fairness and . . . property rights and about agreements with the University," Kinsella said. "[But] if the University decides it wants to move fraternities from Locust Walk, they may well enter into an agreement that is equitable to both sides." American Civilization doctoral candidate A.T. Miller, who is involved in graduate student government, said last week that the University should not be daunted by legal barriers. He said legal problems did not stop the University from moving fraternities during the 1960s. But many fraternity brothers said these wholesale removal of fraternities in the past set a bad precedent. They say the eviction has left a bitter taste in fraternities' mouths, and should not be repeated on Locust Walk.
(12/06/90 10:00am)
From students and faculty to alumni and Trustees, President Sheldon Hackney has heard the gamut of opinions on diversifying Locust Walk. But Hackney said that come May, there is one group he will listen to above all others. Last April, he established a committee of student leaders, faculty and administrators to draft a unified opinion for the campus. Hackney said he is counting on the group to come up with the best way to house a greater mix of students on Locust Walk. But after Hackney's refusal to move fraternities, people on and off the committee have speculated that the group will in fact have little influence on Hackney. They say richer and more powerful forces will shape his decision. And one Trustee said the board is likely to have the final say. "They've indicated that [diversifying the Walk] may be a Trustee decision," said Trustee Richard Censits, who is also president of the General Alumni Society. "The Trustees feel strongly that it is part of the overall planning of the University and that it is part of their role." Censits added that he thinks the Trustees will be open minded about ways to increase the residential mix along Locust Walk. But Hackney said that the decision rests solely in his hands, and that diversity on the Walk "is not a Trustee issue." He said that while he will consult with the board about financial and development aspects, the Trustees' role is not to determine what is best for campus life. He added he has "received much more pressure from on-campus groups" than from Trustees or alumni. Pointing to Hackney's stance on Walk fraternities, many of Hackney's critics say high-powered Trustees and wealthy alumni control the president. "It seems to me that . . . somebody is pressuring him," said Anthropology Professor Peggy Sanday, author of Fraternity Gang Rape: Sex, Brotherhood and Privelege on Campus. "I'm sure it's the Trustees and somebody's getting to him . . . Anyway, this campus cannot be ruled solely by the Trustees. We're not a committee if we're ruled by a group of Trustees." But Myles Tannenbaum, who chairs the Trustees' facilities and campus planning committee, said the decisions Hackney has made thus far have not been influenced by Trustees. Tannenbaum, who is a Tau Epsilon Phi alumnus, said the administration makes the day-to-day decisions. But Tannenbaum said he could not predict what effect the Trustees -- many of whom are fraternity members -- will have on the president's final Walk decision. Both opponents and supporters of the Greek system have said fraternities are protected by Hackney for financial reasons. They say the money the University receives from current and former tenants of the Walk houses will persuade Hackney to keep Greeks in the center of campus. According to Censits, only alumni of Walk fraternities will enter the Locust Walk fray, because only they feel they have something to lose. "Others will look on this as hopefully the University trying to resolve and move forward on a major issue," said Censits, a Beta Theta Pi alumnus. Tannenbaum, who did his undergraduate and graduate work here in the 1950s, said alumni influence on the process is not limited to financial considerations. He said the administration values the advice of all alumni. "I think administration of the University for years to come has to consider alums in everything it does, but not because they're financially supporting the University," Tannenbaum said. "Emotional support is equally important." Members of the Council of Recent Graduates have expressed fear that their voices will not be heard on the Walk issue. Members complain that alumni are not properly represented on Hackney's Walk committee, and they said they are trying to find a way to make him hear what they think is best for the campus' heart. Hackney said he has heard from alumni on both sides of the fraternity issue, but that he is relying on the Walk committee to advise him.
(12/04/90 10:00am)
President Sheldon Hackney's proposed revisions to the racial harassment policy were severely criticized yesterday at an open forum held about the preliminary draft. Most of the 30 participants at the forum criticized the suggested policy, claiming its wording would make it impossible for victims to prove that they have been racially harassed. Hackney, who co-sponsored and attended the forum, released the preliminary revisions to the two-year old policy in early October, following a nationwide trend on college campuses toward removing limits to free speech. He was responding to concern raised by last year's Michigan Supreme Court ruling that the University of Michigan's harassment policy -- which is almost identical to the University's current code -- was "unconstitutionally vague." Hackney released the new draft in October to solicit opinion from the University community. The new policy differs from the current one in its definition of harassment. The revision states that for speech or behavior to break the policy it must meet three qualifications: it must have malicious intent, be addressed to the person or people it offends, and constitute "fighting words." The current policy defines harassment as behavior that threatens the victim's school or work status, interferes with the victim's studies or work, or produces an intimidating environment for the victim. Yesterday's discussion focused mainly on the term "fighting words," which many minority and student government leaders said is ambiguous and may cause the policy only to invoked when violence occurs. As the group debated, Hackney sat at the back of the room, jotting notes. "I find President Hackney's proposed changes to the racial harassment policy unconscionable," Black Student League Vice President Horace Anderson said. "If fighting words become the benchmark of racial harassment, we may see a lot more fights and I don't think we want that." Many other students -- including representatives of the United Minorities Council and the Undergraduate Assembly -- decried the fact that all three stipulations must be met before an act is considered harassment, claiming that it would put the burden of proof on the victim. Few forum participants support the revisions in their present form, but some speakers applauded the president's emphasis on the protection of open expression and academic freedom. History Professor Alan Kors commended Hackney for his stance -- which the president explicitly stated last spring -- that open expression should take precedence over the racial harassment policy. Kors said harassment should be dealt with through education, and that the role of the University is to support all different ideas. "The University is committed to free expression," Kors said. "The correct response to speech is speech." Participants gave suggestions to change the policy ranging from broadening the new definition of harassment to returning to the old code. Red and Blue Editor Christopher Matton suggested abolishing the racial harassment policy altogether. Hackney said at the close of the forum that he plans to formulate another draft of the racial harassment policy after it is discussed at next week's University Council meeting. He would not say what he plans to change. The president said afterward that he was pleased with the forum, adding that he was "very interested in some of the perceptions of the definition, which is the heart of the matter." Despite the immediate criticism Hackney received upon releasing the draft in October, the president said he was not disappointed with its reception. He said he expected a lot of controversy about the policy, adding that it may take several drafts before everyone is satisfied. Yesterday's forum was sponsored by University Council, Office of the President, the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly and the Undergraduate Assembly.
(12/03/90 10:00am)
When the University turned Locust Street into a pedestrian thoroughfare more than 25 years ago, it hoped to bring together a campus that had an impersonal, commuter environment. It was a structural change designed to create a more peaceful and attractive setting, a single move that had broad support across campus. It was a simpler time, and the new Locust Walk reflected the University circa 1960: fraternities dominated the society and they dominated the new central corridor. In this homogeneous community, women and minority students did not have a powerful voice, and they were quietly confined to the periphery of the University. This time around, however, changing the center of campus has not been so straightforward. While people agree that the Walk must change to represent the new, broader spectrum of the University, they have become polarized over what should be done. The Walk discussion has expanded well beyond a single sliver of land between Walnut and Spruce streets. At stake is not only who will live on the Walk, but also issues of racism, sexism, Greek property rights and the role campus opinion plays in administrative decisions. These schisms have made it increasingly difficult for anyone to find a collective vision for the University community, and few of the conflicting groups seem willing to accept defeat quietly. Interest groups of every kind are clamoring about problems on campus, and unlike in the 1950s, the administration cannot resolve the complaints by closing a street. · The issues embodied in the Walk discussion have plagued the campus since women and minorities were first allowed to attend the University. But over the past 30 years, the issue has gained prominence as the number of women and minorities on campus has skyrocketed. Over the past year, Locust Walk, with its imposing academic buildings and 10 predominantly white fraternities, has taken on symbolic importance in the struggle for an open and tolerant environment. Since President Sheldon Hackney announced last April that he wanted the Walk to be more inclusive, the campus has been mired in controversies over the process. Only in recent weeks has Hackney's committee begun the nuts and bolts process of restructuring the center of campus. On one side, the fraternities see themselves struggling to retain the houses that are part of their histories. Members say that they have a legal and moral right to remain on the Walk, and they feel decades of anti-fraternity sentiment has created this the movement to kick them off the Walk. On the other, a loose coalition of groups representing female and minority students argue that their members deserve the same rights given to Greeks 25 years ago. The Progressive Student Alliance, a small but vocal group which sees fraternities as the embodiment of white male privelege, has taken the most extreme opinion, calling for wholesale fraternity eviction. Although they differ with the PSA's tactics and extreme demands, the other organizations, including the Women's Alliance, the Black Student League, the United Minorities Council and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Alliance, side with the ultra-left-wing group on most issues. Outside all these groups lie the majority of the student body, in whose name the diversity cause is being undertaken. They cannot currently live on Locust Walk and have been almost untouched by the process. Under many of the plans discussed, they may remain that way. Hackney, who critics say advocated serious changes on the Walk last April then cooled his stance, has decided to pool the clashing groups together in a committee to find a moderate stance out of the maelstrom of conflicting ideas. From the beginning, the committee's membership has been called into question, as women and minorities, graduate students, faculty and alumni say they are not fairly represented and that Greeks carry too much weight. But at the vortex of the controversy is Hackney's charge to the committee, which only advises the president, in which he forbade members from considering moving Walk fraternities. Some committee members say they feel Hackney has tied their hands, and that it indicates that the president wants superficial, not substantial change. While they say the charge shows a change in the president's attitude, Hackney said yesterday he has remained true to his goals the entire time. He said he has always felt change could be accomplished on the Walk without moving fraternities. "I said it in public but it was not picked up," he said. Because of how he has handled the process, the president has been attacked from nearly every corner. Last spring, fraternities told him he was being too radical. This fall, other special interest groups are saying he is not willing to go far enough. Hackney said that he began the process because he wanted change. "The issue was not very visible when I found it," he said. "I decided we needed to do something about it. It was not in response to any outcry." The committee plans to report to Hackney at the end of the school year, but with only a fraction of the work behind them, the committee will have to scramble to meet the deadline. While the committee's chairperson, Vice Provost for University Life Kim Morrisson, said she is heading towards a group consensus for the Walk, other members have expressed distrust and dislike for the system. At this point, few people are certain where the process is going or that it can yield a universally acceptable outcome. "One of the challenges [of the committee] is defining a vision," Morrisson said. "Here we're talking about a collective vision." As the second semester of "diversity on the Walk" comes to a close, there are still more questions than answers. People have rarely discussed in public many of the most crucial issues, including who owns the Walk, what is the role of the Trustees and what are the proposals being discussed. Before Locust Walk truly becomes reflective of the University community, the community itself will have to address these questions. While Hackney will make the final plan for the Walk, there is no guarantee that his mandate will put the entire issue to rest.
(12/03/90 10:00am)
The atmosphere -- and the central location -- of Locust Walk is a relatively new creation. Less than 30 years ago, Locust Street was on the periphery of campus. And the atmosphere of Locust Street was far different from today's Locust Walk. Alumni fraternity members reminisce about routinely turning over the trolley cars as a prank. But in the past three decades, an attempt to expand the University westward has thrust Locust Walk to the center of campus more by luck than by planning. During the first five decades of this century, the campus was bordered by 36th Street. Several fraternities and sororities on Locust Street from 36th westward were as off-campus as today's Sigma Phi Epsilon and Sigma Delta Tau houses on 40th Street. But expansions in both research and enrollment forced the University to move westward in the 1960s, as the Trustees began to execute a comprehensive plan to make the University into a residential rather than commuter school. The University closed Locust Street east of 40th Street in the early 1960s -- buying out almost every lot west of 37th Street, relocating many fraterities and sororities which would be too close to the new center of campus and razing boarding houses, restaurants and rowhouses. And as Locust Walk was closed off, the University's campus took on a new air. Instead of tractor-trailers and trolley cars running through Locust Street, Locust Walk's traffic was confined to pedestrian and bicycle traffic -- a move which created a more peaceful campus, alumni said. "You always had to be looking where you were going," 1959 Class President John Murphy said. "Now it is a more relaxed center of campus." But the fact that the University relocated fraternities and sororities to expand campus in the 1960s has made several fraternity members claim they have second-class status at the University, and fight to hold onto their houses this time. Fraternity members point to their wholesale eviction from Superblock and the Book Store site as evidence of University discrimination. The University's removal of the West Philadelphia residents living beside the Greeks led the residents to feel the same bitterness. "Historically, fraternities have been given second-class property rights from the start," IFC President-elect Jim Rettew said last week. "When the campus was farther east, fraternities were moved to Locust Street. More recently, with the addition of Superblock, fraternities and sororoties were relocated once again." Despite the presence of several academic buildings on Locust Walk, its position as the center of campus action has also fluctuated with the popularity of the Greek system. From the middle 1960s to 1980, undergraduate interest in the Greek system was at a low. A majority of the undergraduates sought their social life elsewhere, and membership in Greek organizations plummeted. Some undergraduates in the late 1970s described the Greek system as a non-entity on campus and said that a Greek social life was only one option among many. Despite the fact that Greek organizations represented less of the student body than they do today, there was no significant push to diversify Locust Walk until the movement gained force last year.
(12/03/90 10:00am)
One thing has become clear after months of debate over Locust Walk: almost everyone wants more space in the center of campus. Hundreds of opinions have emerged from undergraduates, graduate and professional students, faculty and alumni about exactly what should and shouldn't be done with Locust Walk. Suggestions for changing the campus thoroughfare have included creating "senior honors" housing, first-year housing, special-interest housing, lottery housing and even abolishing housing all together. Plans for change range from moving the University Chaplain out of his house to building high-occupancy dormitories on the Book Store site. There has been consenus on a practical plan, and the number of ideas is matched only by the number of people involved in the discussion. They seem to agree only on a single point: Locust Walk needs to represent more of the University. · Many would-be architects of the new Locust Walk agree that a sense of community and sharing can be accomplished by restructuring the Walk, and that the whole University would benefit from such an arrangmement. But not everybody aspires to live on the campus thoroughfare. "Most people I talk to don't want to live on the Walk," Black InterGreek Council President Kathryn Williams said. "But when people come on the Walk, we want to show that there's a place for everyone." Women's Center Director Elena Dilapi also said that an ideal Walk would be a venue where everyone on campus would feel "equally welcome and desirable, both in terms of passing through and having an equal opportunity of residing there or being given the option." Interfraternity Council President Bret Kinsella, whose organization has been pitted against most others in the struggle to change the Walk, said last week that in an ideal Locust Walk people need space both to meet with people of other cultures and to immerse themselves in their own. "People by choice and by neccessity associate with peole with common backgrounds and common interests," Kinsella said. "At the same time the goal for a university is to expose its students to as many diverse. . .experiences as possible." "We have a unique opportunity [to work towards pluralism] not by undermining the diversity and the unique cultures but to augment them by exposure to others," he said. But Anthropology Professor Peggy Sanday, who wrote a book on the University fraternities' violent sexism, said that she would hold residents of Locust Walk to "their highest ideals" -- community, diversity, pursuit of knowledge, and international understanding -- and that living on Locust Walk is a privilege that residents must earn. Some people say they advocate housing that is dedicated to the average student in the form of lottery housing. History and Sociology of Science doctoral candidiate Lissa Hunt said that she would make Locust Walk "naturally diverse" and turn it over to the freshmen. "The freshman class is representative of the student body as a whole," Hunt said. "If the freshman class got to live in center their first year they'd get an idea of what campus life is really like." American Civilization doctoral candidate A.T. Miller suggested among several alternatives that Locust Walk take as its model the University of Virginia and create an honor lawn, where students would have to be participate in an honor society to take up residence there. But Miller said he was skeptical of attempts to move additional people on to Locust Walk. "Some of the ideas for bringing on more people just are silly, like taking over the chaplain's house or the Christian Association," Miller said. "]One idea is] to take the bookstore site as a dormitory site, but already we don't have a super-high occupancy. Building more dorms seems an odd idea." Alan Bowser, a former Trustee and co-chairperson of a Council of Recent Graduates' committee on campus life, said the long-term future should be considered heavily in allocating any space on Locust Walk. Several members of the committee formed to suggest changes to Locust Walk said that in order for more students to congregate on the Walk, more lounges in the various buildings would be ideal. Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Director Tricia Phaup said last week that a combination of uses for the space available would be the best use of Locust Walk, yet she would like to see some patio-type areas for congregating as well as more lounge space. Some people have suggested special-interest housing for Locust Walk, including space for an African-American house, a lesbian-gay-bisexual house, and a women's issues house. However, others question whether a substantial amount of special-interest housing would promote diversity over pluralism, since people next to each other might not interact. "I am much more interested by the idea of having a residential community diverse within themselves rather than a set of homogeneous groups next to each other but not interacting," Graduate and Profesional Student Assembly Chairperson Susan Garfinkel said last week. And while several people on campus say they would remove fraternities from Locust Walk, the diversity on the Walk committee's stance is to be "inclusive rather than exclusive." "I agree that we should be inclusive, but that 'inclusive' means anyone can join and not just rich white men," Miller said.
