Administration
Penn students organize boycott of classes this week to promote student wellness
Students participating in the strike cited the cancellation of fall break, Penn’s failure to cancel classes on Election Day, and the police killing of Walter Wallace Jr. as causes of students' mental health struggles this semester.
Students hesitate to trust Penn’s spring reopening plan after fall reversal
Citing Penn's reversal of its fall 2020 plans just weeks before the start of the semester, students now doubt that the University will follow through with its current reopening plan for the spring.
Over 7,000 people petition Penn to give its 41,000 employees time off on Election Day
Penn's employee count is just 3,000 fewer than the 44,000-vote margin of victory that decided Pennsylvania in the 2016 presidential election.
Penn's official response to Wallace Jr. killing omits police involvement, outraging students
In an email signed by Penn President Amy Gutmann and other Penn officials, Gutmann referred to Wallace Jr. as a neighbor of the Penn community, and his killing as a "death" with no mention of the word "police," escalating student outrage.
With classes online, a wave of cheating is ravaging Penn’s academics
While some professors have implemented anti-cheating measures like "live proctoring" on Zoom, students claim that many professors have failed to take necessary precautions against cheating even in the face of inflated class scores.
Ezekiel Emanuel says fully reopening the U.S. safely will take at least 12 more months
Emanuel, who is also healthcare advisor to former Vice Presidnt Joe Biden, said he believes that conditions are likely to improve only by November 2021. It could, however, be feasible to reopen colleges and universities before then depending on how a potential vaccine is rolled out.
Amy Gutmann and her husband donate $2 million to Penn Nursing for new scholarship program
The program, which will launch in January 2021, will select and fund 10 Nursing students annually across the undergraduate and graduate degree-levels, Director of Media Relations Ron Ozio wrote in a press release.
Penn denies congressional request to disclose stats on diverse-owned firms managing endowment
Rep. Joseph Kennedy III (D-Mass.) and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) sent a letter to 25 colleges and universities on July 10, requesting information regarding the participation of women and minority-owned asset management firms in the administration of endowment assets.
‘Latinos can make a community anywhere’: Students celebrate Latinx Heritage Month virtually
While some students said the virtual setting could not match the same exciting atmosphere of the in-person traditions, most students and faculty still deemed this year's online celebrations an overall success.
Students chafe at Gutmann’s $3.6 million salary as Penn’s academics face cuts
Gutmann, who is the highest paid president in the Ivy League with a salary of $3.6 million in 2017, has taken a pay freeze for the 2019-2020 academic year. Meanwhile, presidents of four other Ivy League schools have taken pay cuts of 20% or more.
New Vice Provost for University Life begins job, prioritizes meeting students virtually
This semester, VPUL Mamta Motwani Accapadi hopes to provide students with the resources they need to vote in the upcoming presidential election and help the Penn community recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wharton MBA students petition for lower tuition to offset limited in-person networking
Many students said the remote semester greatly diminishes the MBA experience where students can no longer network in-person or take advantage of Wharton-sponsored traveling and co-curricular activities.
Despite COVID-19 pandemic, Penn’s endowment increases by $200 million to $14.9 billion
This year's endowment had a return rate — the percent of growth from investing the endowment funds — of just 3.4%, continuing the downward trend in return rates since fiscal year 2017 which recorded a 14.3% return rate.
Disorientation Guide for first years critiques Penn’s impact on students, staff, and Phila.
The guide, published annually, was written by various student groups including Penn Community for Justice, Police Free Penn, the Penn Slavery Project, Fossil Free Penn, Philly Jobs with Justice, and the Coalition Against Fraternity Sexual Assault.
Gutmann, highest paid Ivy League president, will not take COVID-induced pay cut like peers
In response to the financial downturn brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the presidents of four other Ivy League schools have taken pay cuts of 20% or more for this academic year.
Penn modifies COVID-19 test system in an effort to get students' results faster
The previous messaging system for COVID-19 tests sent students emails with results, but the new system asks students to log into a portal and independently retrieve their results.
Penn FGLI students say pandemic exacerbates pre-existing educational disparities
FGLI students at Penn maintain that the pandemic has certainly hit FGLI students and students of color harder than other students, citing their struggles to secure housing during the pandemic and "disjointed" communication from administration.
Grad students and professors demand funding transparency after SAS pauses Ph.D. admissions
For the past four months, Graduate Employees Together — University of Pennsylvania, the union of graduate and professional students at Penn, has been demanding a one-year extension of funding for all doctoral students.
Penn Law removes statement on RBG’s death after inclusion of Amy Wax quote sparked outrage
The statement, posted to the law school’s Facebook page on Sept. 23 at 8:51 a.m., included an excerpt from Wax's book review — published in Claremont Review of Book's Winter 2020 edition — on Jane Sherron De Hart's "Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life."