Issuu

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA • FOUNDED 1885

PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2023

VOL. CXXXIX

NO. 18

National Labor Relations Board rules Penn RAs are employees The union election will take place in late September SOPHIA LIU Staff Reporter

wrote in a statement to the DP. “The University, like many peer institutions, has from time to time made loans to senior leaders in order to attract and retain the best available talent in key positions.” A spokesperson for the University declined to share the written loan agreement or minutes of the meeting where the loan was approved by the Compensation Committee. Gutmann resigned the Penn presidency in February 2022 after she was confirmed as U.S. ambassador to Germany and since then has been on a leave of absence from her tenured professorship at Penn. In response to a request for comment

The National Labor Relations Board recognized Penn residential advisors and graduate resident associates as employees last week, ordering an official union vote. A supermajority of RAs and GRAs filed to unionize earlier this year in March. Previously, when RAs and GRAs petitioned to unionize, the University argued that the students were not technically employees, and therefore the unionization laws did not apply. The NRLB rejected Penn's arguments on Aug. 21. There are 223 RAs for the 2023-24 school year, and they will have the chance to partake in an oncampus election Sept. 27 and 28. The Board of Trustees' official Statement of Position, obtained by The Daily Pennsylvanian, claims that the RAs are not employees of the University, but instead classifies them as student leaders with an "educational relationship" to Penn since they are not on the payroll. “I find that the petitioned-for RAs are employees within the meaning of the act, and that there is no legal basis to preclude further processing of the petition, and I am therefore directing an election in the petitioned-for unit to be conducted," acting Regional Director of NLRB Region 4 Emily DeSa wrote in the agency's decision. College senior Conor Emery, a second-year RA in Harnwell College House, said Penn has been pushing a narrative that a union “may not help” and could “actually make things worse.” “From my point of view, Penn has been trying to avoid sending out too much information to RAs,” Emery said. “Even if we may only be in a position for a school year, it’s still work. It’s still something that we should receive more compensation [and] worker rights for.” In response to a request for comment, University spokesperson Ron Ozio wrote that "RAs and GRAs

See GUTMANN, page 3

See RAs, page 3

Penn’s

$3.7M

loan to Amy

Gutmann

PHOTO BY KYLIE COOPER

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Penn loaned then-President Gutmann millions for new home in Center City JARED MITOVICH Senior Reporter

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Penn froze hiring, furloughed workers, and cut program budgets. It also issued then-President Amy Gutmann a $3.7 million home loan. The University's loan to Gutmann – which was disclosed in the University’s tax filings and Gutmann’s ethics disclosures to become the United States ambassador to Germany – appears to rival the largest-ever loan issued to a college administrator in the Ivy League, according to an analysis by The Daily Pennsylvanian. The DP previously reported that the same tax filings showed that Gutmann received $23 million in compensation during the final year of her presidency, likely a record single-year payout to a university president.

How Penn’s testoptional policy has impacted students’ test scores Penn saw the biggest decrease in SAT score submissions among Ivy League schools who have shared data, according to the DP’s analysis

According to Gutmann's ethics disclosures, the loan was issued in October 2020 at the federal mid-term rate of 0.38% and has a term of nine years or the termination of Gutmann's tenured professorship at Penn. In the same month that the loan was issued, Gutmann said that she would take a pay freeze rather than a pay cut in light of the pandemic, when four other Ivy League presidents took pay cuts of 20% or more. “In 2020, the Trustee Compensation Committee approved an employee loan for President Gutmann consistent with University policy and applicable laws and regulations to assist in her post President transition,” Board of Trustees Chair Scott Bok

Penn experienced the largest decrease in first-year SAT submission rates among the Ivy League from 2021 to 2022 a n ll mbi to rd e n e a n c rn lu n ow r v le in Co Co Pe Br Ha Ya Pr 61

85 89

MAKENZIE KERNECKEL Staff Reporter

Nearly one-third of Penn sophomores did not submit any test scores in their applications, according to a Daily Pennsylvanian analysis. Using data from the Common Data Set, the analysis examined trends in test scores for incoming first years from 2017 to 2022, comparing Penn to 68 85 six other Ivy League schools. Dartmouth College was excluded due to missing test score data in 2021 and 2022. According to the data, approximately 30% of the Class of 2026 did not submit test scores in 2022. This is an 8.7% increase from the previous year — the highest among the Ivy League schools that published SAT score information. Despite having the most significant decrease in test submissions among the Ivy League from 2021 to 2022, Penn's median composite SAT score for incoming first-year students has displayed consistent growth since 2017. However, compared to other Ivy League schools, Penn has experienced a slower 70 growth rate in median SAT scores since enacting a test-optional policy. In 2023, Penn announced it would continue its Numbers represent the percentage of incoming undergraduate test-optional admissions policy for the 2023-24 application cycle. The Class of 2027 is first years who submitted their SAT scores. Dartmouth College was excluded due to a the third class admitted under the policy, with the lack of publicly availbale SAT score data. See TESTS, page 2

PHOTO BY ABHIRAM JUVVADI

This year’s Convocation featured speeches from Penn President Liz Magill, Vice Provost and Dean of Admissions Whitney Soule, and Provost John Jackson.

Penn welcomes Class of 2027, transfer students at this year’s Convocation Convocation took place on Franklin Field for the first time in recent memory NITIN SESHADRI AND NICOLE MURAVSKY Senior Reporter and Staff Reporter

Penn welcomed the Class of 2027 and transfer students at the 2023 Convocation ceremony Monday night. This year’s Convocation took place for the first time in recent memory at Franklin Field, as opposed to the typical location on College Green, due to ongoing renovations to College Hall. Penn President Liz Magill, Vice Provost and Dean of Admissions Whitney Soule, and Provost John Jackson delivered speeches welcoming the incoming students, and Penny Loafers, Penn Band, and Penn Glee Club performed. Magill began her speech with an interactive exercise,

prompting students in the first row to pass multicolored cards displaying the Class of 2027 logo backward until it reached the back row. Magill questioned if people remembered the color of their cards as well as the ones around them. Magill said that the idea of how most students only remembered the color of their card represented that “we are hardwired to focus on what’s right in front of us." Instead, Magill said that the Class of 2027 should develop See CONVOCATION, page 3

Join Our Team Sept. 5 | 7-9 p.m. | JMHH 370 Sept. 6 | 7-9 p.m. | JMHH 365 Sept. 7 | 7-9 p.m. | 4015 Walnut St.

SEND STORY IDEAS TO NEWSTIP@THEDP.COM

ONLINE AT THEDP.COM