In a March 4 post on Truth Social, Trump said that non-citizen student protesters who participate in “illegal protests” would be imprisoned or deported and promised to expel or arrest American student protesters. 

The Board of Trustees met over the course of two days on Feb. 27 and 28 at the Inn at Penn for one of three annual stated meetings.

The Daily Pennsylvanian spoke with several Penn students and faculty members about the future of higher education following cuts to graduate admissions rates.

As the Trump administration implements changes to federal immigration policy, student groups on campus are planning discussions, debates, and events to address the impacts of these changes.

The dismissals come as part of a large-scale reduction of the federal workforce by the Department of Government Efficiency. 

One lawmaker said that Penn “has made a cowardly move” in “rushing to heed dog-whistle demands from a feckless federal leadership.”

One professor told The Daily Pennsylvanian he finds it “troubling how quickly Penn has seemingly surrendered to the Trump administration’s bullying.”

The email noted that the school has admitted an average of 307 students in recent years, but this year plans to admit 201 — a 35% reduction.

In a Feb. 24 email, Jameson wrote that Penn is closely monitoring changes to federal actions and reaffirmed the University's commitment to academic freedom, inclusion, and legal compliance.

“In this moment, it is imperative that university leadership offer unequivocal reassurance and a concrete commitment to protecting those most vulnerable,” the letter read. 

In a Feb. 23 email, Kallberg said that the “difficult” decision to reduce graduate program admissions rates by one-third was a “necessary cost-saving measure.”

Professors expressed concerns about the future of federal funding for DEI-related research and a lack of institutional support for their work from Penn.

Gauthier introduced the resolution at the Feb. 20 city council meeting in a response to a Feb. 19 Truth Social post in which Trump wrote, “Long live the king!”

The Wednesday rally in Philadelphia was part of a larger “Nationwide Day of Action” organized by Labor for Higher Education, with more than a dozen protests in cities across the country. 

The committee's database cited 15 grants awarded to Penn faculty by the National Science Foundation, identifying them as “woke” and “questionable” for advancing DEI and “neo-Marxist class warfare propaganda.” 

The letter stated that educational institutions have 14 days to comply with the new requirements in order to continue receiving federal funding.

The scrubbed website contains only a brief three-sentence statement about Penn’s “commitment to equal opportunity.”