THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA • FOUNDED 1885
PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2026
VOL. CXLII
NO. 6
GRADUATE STUDENT STRIKE AVERTED The road to GET-UP’s tentative agreement DANIYA SIDDIQUI AND CATHY SUI Staff Reporters
April 24, 2023
After previous attempts to be recognized by the University failed, nearly 2,000 doctoral, master’s, and undergraduate student workers signed authorization cards to form a union.
Oct. 4, 2023
Roughly 300 rally goers attempted to enter College Hall to deliver a letter to then-Penn President Liz Magill and Provost John Jackson Jr.
Oct. 6, 2023
Graduate students seeking to unionize filed 3,000 authorization cards with the National Labor Relations Board.
April 14, 2024
The National Labor Relations Board indefinitely postponed Graduate Employees Together — University of Pennsylvania’s union election — without providing a reason for the sudden delay or a rescheduled election date — just days before students were scheduled to head to the polls.
WEINING DING | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Penn reaches deal with graduate student union ARTI JAIN, ANANYA KARTHIK, DANIYA SIDDIQUI, AND JAMES WAN Senior Reporters and Staff Reporters
Penn reached a historic tentative agreement with its graduate student union on Monday night, narrowly averting a strike that would have impacted teaching and research across the University. In a Tuesday morning press release, representatives from Graduate Employees Together — University of Pennsylvania wrote that they secured the agreement after administrators “made key, last-minute concessions” during bargaining. The decision comes after more than a year of negotiations between the University and the union, which represents more than 3,700 graduate workers at Penn. Under the agreement, graduate workers will receive an increased stipend and enhanced childcare and medical benefits. “The Tentative Agreement also includes provisions on union security, protections against discrimination and harassment, support for international workers, improved vision and dental coverage, expanded benefits for parent workers, improvements to accessibility, and other
Liz Magill named Georgetown Law dean Magill served as Penn’s president through a turbulent era of campus protest and resigned in December 2023 ALEX DASH Senior Reporter
Almost three years after her unprecedented resignation from Penn’s presidency, Liz Magill is set to be the next dean of Georgetown University’s law school. Magill — who served as Penn’s president through a turbulent era of campus protest — resigned in December 2023 after facing criticism over her response to allegations of antisemitism at the University. Her tenure at Georgetown is set to begin this August, according to a Friday announcement. Georgetown also named Magill the executive vice president of its law school. As of publication, Magill is still listed as a tenured professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, a position she has held since 2022. In a press release, Magill said she was “honored to join Georgetown Law.” “As an academic leader, I have great admiration for the Law Center’s faculty, students’ and staff’s capacity to excel and contribute across a large range of endeavors connected to law — scholarship, practice, policy, national and global reach, education and service. The scale and impact of these many contributions is both remarkable and exciting,” Magill added in the Feb. 13 announcement. “I extend my warmest congratulations to Liz Magill as she steps into her new role as Dean of Georgetown Law, and wish her every success as she begins this new chapter,” Penn Carey Law See MAGILL, page 2
workplace rights and protections,” the union wrote. According to the statement, the agreement will raise the minimum doctoral stipend from $40,608 to $49,000 — a 21% increase — and Penn will establish a minimum hourly rate of $25 starting on April 1. The minimum stipend will increase 3% to $50,470 on July 1, 2027. The new minimum annual stipend for graduate workers now more closely matches funding offered by peer institutions, including Yale University, Johns Hopkins University, and Columbia University. “We are pleased to announce that a tentative agreement has been reached between Penn and GETUP-UAW,” a University spokesperson wrote to The Daily Pennsylvanian. “The next step will be the ratification of the tentative agreement by GETUP-UAW members. Penn has a long-standing commitment to its graduate students and value their contributions to Penn’s important missions.” The spokesperson added that “we are grateful
to all the members of the Penn community who helped us achieve this tentative agreement.” Before the Monday bargaining session, administrators and the union had reached agreements on 26 proposals. GET-UP members Ezra Lebovitz and Elise Parrish spoke to the DP about their experience in the union during the negotiation process, including their uncertainty in the final hours before the agreement was reached. “I think it’s very common in contract negotiations — especially in higher ed — for an agreement to be reached in this 11th hour,” Lebovitz, a third-year Ph.D. student at the School of Arts and Sciences studying comparative literature, said. “But of course, it’s also very common for it to not happen.” “A lot of us were on the edge of our seat,” Parrish, a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in sociology, said. Lebovitz described the outcome of the tentative
This year’s Feb Club is the first to include free events and a lottery system for purchasing tickets ANANYA KARTHIK Senior Reporter
prioritized it, while the remaining tickets are released through general admission. Basner emphasized that his team was able to take the responses from the lottery system, examine which events seniors prioritized most, and contact the venue to gauge if there was capacity for the demand. “That was something that previous class boards were never really able to gauge, just because they didn’t know ahead of time — how many people would want the event before ticketing drops,” Basner told the DP. “That’s definitely one of the successful aspects of this new ticketing system.” Event accessibility was similarly a focus during the board’s planning, especially with regard to how many free events were being offered. College senior and Class Board 2026 member Shikhar Gupta called the lack of free events in past years a “red flag,” particularly for seniors who may not have been able to afford tickets. “One of the priorities that we had this year was to absolutely offer multiple free events,” Gupta said, adding that several events scheduled
Penn’s International Student and Scholar Services also provided recommendations on interacting with law enforcement ANJALI KUMAR Staff Reporter
JESSE ZHANG | DP FILE PHOTO
Magill was named dean of Georgetown Law on Feb. 13.
NEWS Penn’s total net assets increased by roughly $2.9 billion for fiscal year 2025 according to a new report
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NEWS Penn’s Medical Emergency Response Team hosted its annual CPR training for the campus community
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Oct. 17, 2024
GET-UP held its first bargaining session with Penn.
Dec. 4, 2024
Jan. 28, 2025
with law enforcement. The message also directed community members to support resources offered by Penn’s Division of Public Safety. “As an international student or scholar at Penn, you are lawfully present in the United States,” the email read. A request for comment was left with an ISSS spokesperson. In the message, ISSS advised international
Over 1,300 “fed up” graduate students signed a petition asking University administrators to “end the needless delays” and “commit to a fair contract.” Hundreds of people gathered in front of College Hall in support of graduate student workers’ continued efforts to secure a contract with Penn. Union members hoped to strengthen protections for international student workers under 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump’s administration.
March 6, 2025
Penn struck down several antidiscrimination provisions during negotiations — which included accommodations for pregnancy, police harassment, and access to gender-neutral bathrooms.
Oct. 8, 2025
The union hosted an informational picket with over 500 workers, demanding fair contracts and preparing union members for a potential strike.
Oct. 17, 2025
GET-UP reached its first tentative agreement with Penn on an article protecting students from harassment and discrimination, exactly one year after negotiations began.
Nov 21, 2025
The union overwhelmingly voted — 2,229 in favor of authorization and 187 against — to authorize a strike.
Jan. 14
GET-UP announced plans on Tuesday to launch an indefinite strike — suspending all teaching and research duties — if a contract agreement was not reached with the University by Feb. 17.
Feb. 3
State and city lawmakers wrote to Penn President Larry Jameson and Provost John Jackson Jr., calling on Penn to reach a fair contract agreement with the union.
Feb. 5
Penn and GET-UP reached a tentative agreement on childcare. According to the University’s package, they had offered $2,500 for one child and $1,250 for each additional child, as well as up to $5,000 per semester for stipended graduate workers
Feb. 9
The University and GET-UP met to continue negotiations on transit and parking, compensation, health care, medical and parental leave, and tuition.
Feb. 12
Teamster Local 623, a Philadelphiabased union primarily composed of truck and bus drivers, sent a letter to Jameson stating that if GET-UP were to go on strike, the drivers would respect the picket lines and refuse to deliver to addresses on campus.
Feb. 13
University administrators share a Comprehensive Economic Package that offered graduate student workers $115,506 in total annual compensation — a “20% increase in the University’s overall annual costs per graduate student.”
Feb. 16
Penn reached a tentative agreement with GET-UP, averting a strike. The agreement included a 21% increase in minimum stipends, protections against discrimination and harassment, support for international workers, and health care coverage.
See FEB CLUB, page 2
Penn advises international students to carry immigration documents
As the federal government’s immigration enforcement crackdown continues, Penn’s International Student and Scholar Services reiterated guidance instructing international students to carry their immigration documents with them on Wednesday. In a Feb. 18 email obtained by The Daily Pennsylvanian, ISSS emphasized the importance of carrying certain immigration documents and provided recommendations on handling interactions
Graduate workers overwhelmingly voted to unionize, with 1,807 in favor and 97 against.
See GET-UP, page 3
Class Board 2026 revamps Feb Club ticketing policies
Class Board 2026 rolled out new ticketing and event procedures for Feb Club, a monthlong February social tradition for senior undergraduates. This year’s Feb Club is the first to include free events and a lottery system for purchasing tickets. Students have previously raised concerns about the tradition’s limited ticket supply and steep prices. In an interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian, Wharton senior and Class Board 2026 Vice President of External Affairs Bruno Basner characterized the former ticketing system — which relied on weekly drops — as “very chaotic.” Basner said that the structure favored students who were able to quickly log on to the ticketing system, TicketLeap. He added that that, “if you missed the first 10 minutes of that drop, you don’t really have a chance of getting any of those spots.” According to Basner, Class Board 2026 aimed to address those concerns by introducing a revised ticketing system that allows seniors to indicate their event preferences in advance. Under the new model, students may designate four preferred events. 70% of tickets for each event are allocated through an early lottery for those who
May 3, 2024
See ISSS, page 2
OPINION The Daily Pennsylvanian Editorial Board commends GET-UP’s recent bargaining success
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SPORTS Women’s basketball’s Mataya Gayle scored her 1000th career point in an overtime victory
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