THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA • FOUNDED 1885
PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2024
VOL. CXL
NO. 29
PENN, ONE YEAR AFTER MAGILL The Daily Pennsylvanian spoke with nearly a dozen students, faculty, and alumni to better understand how the University has evolved in the year since Magill resigned ELEA CASTIGLIONE, MAKENZIE KERNECKEL, ALEX SLEN, AND ETHAN YOUNG Senior Reporter and Staff Reporters
It’s been a year to the day since former Penn President Liz Magill testified in front of Congress, leading to nationwide fallout and her resignation just days later. In the months that have followed, Penn’s campus has seen monumental changes: a new University president and chair of the University Board of Trustees, sweeping new protest guidelines and a policy of institutional neutrality. But it’s unclear if the changes on campus are the product of Interim Penn President Larry Jameson’s efforts or a calmer political climate. The Daily Pennsylvanian spoke with nearly a dozen students, faculty, and alumni to better understand how the University has evolved in the year since Magill resigned. Penn community members agreed that the presidential transition served as a necessary step for the community after constituencies from all sides lost faith in the direction of Magill’s leadership. Magill declined the DP’s request for comment. A request for comment was left with a University spokesperson. Revisiting the resignation On Dec. 9, 2023, Magill announced in an email to the Penn community that she would resign from the Penn presidency. See MAGILL, page 7
DESIGN BY KATE HIEWON AHN AND JANINE NAVALTA
‘A dire situation’: Penn faculty say shared governance broke down over past year Some faculty members claimed that the University’s shared governance structures have eroded over the past year amid administrative turmoil and controversies surrounding academic freedom and open expression JASMINE NI Senior Reporter
The practice of shared governance — where faculty, staff, administrators, boards, and sometimes students share responsibility for decision-making and policy development — has long been considered a foundational pillar of American higher education institutions. Despite Penn’s boasting of such principles for decades, faculty members alleged an erosion of the historic respect between faculty and administration in the past 12 months. In interviews with The Daily Pennsylvanian, faculty said leadership turmoil and controversies surrounding academic freedom and open expression has weakened shared governance at the University and taken advantage of its institutions. Administrators and trustees, including University Board of Trustees Chair Ramanan Raghavendran, remained adamant in statements to the DP that Penn stood fully behind shared governance. A request for comment was left with a University spokesperson. A ‘nod and smile’ from administrators The professors described widespread frustration with the structure of the University’s governance, accusing the administration of sidelining faculty input, eroding trust, and prioritizing financial interests over academic freedom and community collaboration. Penn’s primary faculty governance group is the Faculty Senate, which is composed of six officers, 12 at-large representatives, three assistant professor representatives, and 36 elected constituency representatives. Among the six officers are three faculty members — collectively referred to as the tri-chairs — who lead the body. Law professor and Faculty Senate Chair Eric Feldman, in a statement written on behalf of the tri-chairs, said that Penn’s shared governance model “rests on collaboration” between faculty
and administration. He added that transparency and communication between College Hall and faculty members are “not a significant concern” and noted that administrators regularly attend Faculty Senate Executive Committee meetings and are available “at will” to the tri-chairs. In contrast, Andrew Vaughan — an at-large representative to the Executive Committee and School of Veterinary Medicine professor — said that the remainder of the Executive Committee does not share the same access to senior administrators. Vaughan said that, during occasional appearances at the Faculty Senate’s monthly meetings, faculty opinions are often met with a “nod and smile” from the administration. Political Science professor Anne Norton, who is also an at-large representative to the Executive Committee, said that, when faculty members attempted to communicate with administrators about student demonstrations in the spring, they were “uninterested and unresponsive.” Faculty Senate Constituency Representative Harun Küçük, a History and Sociology of Science professor, said that he believes the “gentlemen’s agreement” dividing power between faculty, administrators, and the Board of Trustees has “gone away” in the past year. The Penn chapter of the American Association of University Professors has been a vocal critic of the state of shared governance at the University over the past year. AAUP-Penn Secretary and English professor David Kazanjian told the DP that “Penn has no shared governance whatsoever,” saying that the Faculty Senate has a “purely advisory” role. ‘Challenges’ from Trustees, donors Feldman wrote in the tri-chairs’ statement that “challenges” to “the faculty’s role in shared governance” in the past year originated not from the University’s administration, but “from a few
outspoken members of our Trustees and Boards.” Vaughan alleged that University policies and bylaws that promote faculty-shared governance “seem to be followed selectively,” resulting in decisions being “heavily influenced” by the Board of Trustees. In a statement to the DP, Raghavendran called shared governance “a tradition” that “plays an integral and time-honored role at our university.” Raghavendran — who assumed the helm of the board in January 2024 after former Board of Trustees Chair Scott Bok’s resignation — highlighted the “fiduciary responsibility” of the Board of Trustees, specifically noting the body’s responsibility to manage Penn’s endowment, determine cost of attendance, and choose the University president. “Primary authority on academic matters rests with the faculty and their self-governance process,” Raghavendran wrote. He listed the Faculty Senate, the University Council, and faculty appointments to Trustee Committees and University-wide task forces and committees as avenues for faculty “input.” School of Social Policy & Practice professor Amy Hillier attributed Penn’s alleged failure to maintain “respect” and “trust” between stakeholders to the University’s interest in protecting its “enormous endowment.” “I think it’s wealth that really is the source of the conflict,” she said. “Protecting wealth gets in the way of building knowledge, building community, educating people, and making life better for people in Philadelphia.” Declining faculty morale and disillusionment Kazanjian said he “couldn’t imagine the morale being lower among faculty” as a result of the “mockery Penn has made of any idea of
Extensive renovations set to occur across campus Penn recently announced a renovation of the Fisher Fine Arts Library beginning this fall, and is planning a partial demolition of David Rittenhouse Laboratory and “comprehensive overhaul” of 1920 Commons BEN BINDAY, JAMIE KIM, AND NICOLE MURAVSKY News Editor and Staff Reporters
Penn is set to launch significant renovations of David Rittenhouse Laboratory, Class of 1920 Commons, and Fisher Fine Arts Library within the next several years. The renovations, and related construction, will have significant effects for Penn students. The construction may alter class schedules and locations, cause campus closures, and make a quiet library noisy. David Rittenhouse Laboratory Penn will partially demolish David Rittenhouse Laboratory and build a new physical sciences building within the next several years. The project will involve the demolition and rebuilding of the wing of DRL that goes along 33rd Street and the renovation of the wing that goes along Walnut Street. The renovation project was first introduced at last month’s University Board of Trustees meetings, during which the Board voted to allocate $11.25 million to the construction of the new building and the DRL renovation. Facilities and Real Estate Services Director in design and construction Jennifer Kinkead told The Daily Pennsylvanian that the renovated buildings — part of a project “to reimagine what … we’ll eventually end up calling the Physical Sciences Complex” — will house the Physics and Astronomy, Mathematics, and Earth and Environmental Science departments, as well as
See FACULTY, page 8
See RENOVATIONS, page 3
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