Administration
Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts rebrands to ‘Penn Live Arts’
The rebranding will give the center the opportunity to grow and expand programming beyond Penn's campus by holding upcoming performances at Morris Arboretum and the Church of the Holy Trinity.
Penn President Amy Gutmann to reportedly become the next U.S. ambassador to Germany
Gutman is the the longest serving president in Penn’s history. Her contract will end in 2022.
Penn to offer faculty, staff paid day off as thanks for ‘collaborative efforts’ amid pandemic
The administrators wrote that the paid day off given as a way to show appreciation for the cooperation, collaboration, and innovation that occurred among faculty and staff during the pandemic.
Penn Law students urge admin. to arrange meeting about student debt with Biden officials
A group of Penn Law students collectively wrote an open letter to refute Biden's argument that Ivy League students are undeserving of student debt relief.
More than 200 petition Penn to pay reparations to victims of Kligman’s prison experiments
The petition has five demands as part of the reparations process including a formal apology from Penn President Amy Gutmann to the victims and their families and financial reparations for those affected.
Republican lawmakers threaten to cut funding from Penn Vet due to COVID-19 vaccine requirement
Republican lawmakers are threatening to cut $32 million in funding from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine for requiring employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Penn students, community raise over $56,000 for 2021 graduate struck by car near campus
Dennis Ronel's accident prompted an outpouring of support from family, friends, and Penn alumni, and reignited criticisms of pedestrian safety on Penn's campus.
Penn’s Gene Therapy Program expands operations with lease from Discovery Labs
Penn's Gene Therapy Program signed a lease with Discovery Labs, a company that leases biopharma space for life science research, on May 25, significantly expanding its life science research capacity.
Penn reappoints Vijay Kumar as Engineering Dean through June 2027
“The world needs more engineers, and I am proud to be Dean of a school that graduates outstanding engineers who are poised to have a tremendous impact on the world,” Kumar wrote in an emailed statement to the DP.
Penn will require faculty, staff, postdocs to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Aug. 1
Penn is the fourth Ivy League institution — following Brown, Columbia, and Yale — to require that its employees receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Penn eases summer COVID-19 campus and travel restrictions, upholds testing requirements
The updated guidelines remove restrictions on Penn-affiliated travel, allow departments to host visitors on campus, and permit the use of on-campus spaces.
Ten Penn seniors receive $100,000 in funding for community and social impact projects
The prizes are awarded annually to graduating seniors to encourage them to design engagement projects that will make a positive difference in the world in their first year after college.
Penn’s required sophomore housing policy causes off-campus landlords to drop rent prices
Some off-campus housing locations are struggling to fill vacancies as Penn's policy requiring sophomores to live in campus housing takes effect for the 2021-2022 academic year.
Philosophy professor Karen Detlefsen to serve as vice provost for education
The vice provost for education oversees undergraduate and graduate education at Penn, designing and implementing policies that promote academic excellence, innovation, and interdisciplinary knowledge.
West Philadelphians protest on campus for Penn to return MOVE victim remains to family
The protest was organized by Black liberation advocacy group MOVE, in collaboration with Black Lives Matter Philadelphia, following the discovery that the Penn Museum stored the remains of at least one child killed in the bombing.
All eight Ivy League student governments sign resolution calling for fossil fuel divestment
The resolution considers full divestment to be an end to new investments by Fiscal Year 2021, and complete divestment by Fiscal Year 2025.
Penn issues second apology for housing remains of MOVE bombing victims
Following nationwide coverage and uproar, the University committed to a "respectful, consultative resolution" with the goal of reuniting the remains with the Africa family, according to an email sent Wednesday afternoon to undergraduates from Provost Wendell Pritchett and Penn Museum Director Christopher Woods.
Penn Museum apologizes for housing remains of children killed in MOVE bombing after backlash
Penn Museum apologized for using the remains for research and teaching purposes, rather than returning the remains to the Africa family.
Faculty advocacy group outlines recommendations to govern course end times with new block schedule
Penn's chapter of the American Association of University Professors urged the administration to refrain from encouraging professors to teach through the 10-minute passing time at the end of class meetings.