Isha Chitirala

Senior Vice President David Asch previously said he had not contacted Epstein — his former high school teacher — in “nearly 50 years.”

“I’ve seen how the school has felt constrained,” Faculty Senate Chair-Elect Roy Hamilton said while describing “what’s happened to these programs” under the current guidance from the Trump administration.

Per University policy, classes will also not report in person on Jan. 26. 

Several speakers emphasized the need for increased awareness on Penn’s campus surrounding recent protests in Tehran, which have faced harsh retaliation from the Iranian government.

The increase in national scrutiny of Penn coincided with a series of lawsuits against the University, as well as federal investigations and ongoing negotiations with the White House.

Penn’s Senior Vice President for Strategic Initiatives David Asch was referenced in a 2015 email exchange between his high school classmate and Epstein — Asch’s former teacher.

The University attributed its decision to withdraw the motion to Goldberg's retirement in September. adding that the case the justice dismissed is currently on appeal.

Penn is in the process of notifying individuals whose personal information was compromised by the incident, according to a University spokesperson.

The agency initiated an investigation into Penn in May for “reports of inaccurate and untimely foreign funding disclosures.” 

The petition supports the University’s refusal to submit information related to Jewish employees’ discrimination complaints, Jewish-related campus groups’ membership lists, and Jewish Studies Program employee names.