THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA • FOUNDED 1885
PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 2026
VOL. CXLII
NO. 3
Classes suspended for winter storm Philadelphia received nine inches of snow — the most in 10 years THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN STAFF
ANDY MEI | SENIOR DESIGNER
INSIDE THE DISMANTLING OF PENN’S LAST DEI HOLDOUT The University Council ‘Committee on Diversity and Equity’ was the one remnant of Penn’s former commitment to DEI that held out for months ISHA CHITIRALA AND FINN RYAN News Editors
On the evening of Dec. 3, 2025, Penn dismantled its last major vestige of diversity, equity, and inclusion — but only temporarily. Earlier that afternoon, members of the University Council filed into Houston Hall to vote on a motion renaming its “Committee on Diversity and Equity” to the “Committee on Community and Equal Opportunity.” The December meeting marked the second time the Council convened over the matter
— and it wouldn’t be the last. The room split sharply over the potential renaming. Members, including many student representatives, warned that such a change would undermine the Committee’s values. Others asserted it was necessary to comply with pressure from 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump’s administration. As the debate wore on, however, conversation
Federal agency says Penn ‘impeded’ antisemitism probe
Where your professors studied before teaching at Penn
The filing is the latest back-andforth between the University and the federal government ALEX DASH Senior Reporter
In a new filing Monday, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission doubled down on claims that Penn “impeded” the agency’s investigation into allegations of campus antisemitism. The Jan. 26 brief came almost a week after Penn asserted that the EEOC’s subpoena seeking information about Jewish students and faculty was “unconstitutional” and should not be enforced. In the filing, the agency called Penn’s concerns “disingenuous” and argued that the University staged a negative public relations campaign in response to EEOC requests. Requests for comment were left with the University and the EEOC. “The outcome here should be clear cut: the information sought is relevant to investigating a valid EEOC charge and the subpoena therefore must be enforced,” the EEOC wrote. “Any other outcome would represent a radical departure from longstanding, binding caselaw and constitute clear error.” The agency described its subpoena as “no different” from other requests for information in previous investigations. “Courts routinely enforce EEOC’s subpoenas, including to obtain information necessary to communicate directly with victims and witnesses, as central to the agency’s ability to efficiently and effectively investigate and root out unlawful discrimination,” the brief read. The EEOC also accused Penn of participating in “an intensive and relentless public relations campaign” against the agency. According to the filing, Penn’s arguments “forecast highly speculative and deeply nefarious outcomes should the EEOC’s subpoena be enforced.” While describing Penn’s “dark prognosticating,” the agency cited reporting by “national, local, and campus outlets” — including by The Daily Pennsylvanian. Penn’s latest filing stated that the University complied with the agency’s demands but remains unwilling to submit personal information without the consent of the affected parties. Penn described the EEOC’s demands as “disconcerting but also entirely unnecessary,” arguing that disclosing private details would “erode trust between Penn and its employees and the broader Jewish community at Penn.” Last week, over 150 Jewish faculty members at Penn submitted an amicus brief urging the court to deny the EEOC’s request that the University
shifted away from the merits of either side’s arguments and towards the council’s parliamentary procedure. A misunderstanding of Robert’s Rules of Order — the procedural playbook used by the University Council — left members playing catch up after a premature vote to rename the Committee was called. “Many people in this audience were confused, See DEI, page 2
The Daily Pennsylvanian analyzed the educational backgrounds of 1,131 Penn professors LUKE PETERSEN Staff Reporter
If you want to teach at Penn, it helps to have an Ivy League degree. Penn and Harvard University are by far the mostattended undergraduate institutions by University professors teaching at the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Nursing, the Wharton School, and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Using publicly available data, The Daily Pennsylvanian analyzed the educational backgrounds of 1,131 Penn professors, including their alma maters and the type of institution. The DP’s analysis accounted for approximately 97% of the University’s undergraduate professors — excluding lecturers, emeritus faculty, and administrators without professorial positions. Penn professors attended a total of 440 known undergraduate institutions. In both the College and Wharton, Harvard University was the most-attended institution, while at the Nursing School, Penn secured the top spot. Professors in the Engineering School most commonly attended Cornell University and the India Institute of Technology System. 34 Penn professors attended the University of California at Berkeley, making it the most frequently attended public university. The University of Michigan and Pennsylvania State University were the next most-attended public institutions. Oberlin College was the most-attended liberal arts college, coming in at 15th overall. Almost all Penn professors who studied at Oberlin received Bachelor of Arts degrees.
See SNOW, page 5
The DP found that 375 professors attended schools outside the United States — roughly one for every three professors who completed their undergraduate education in the U.S. The IIT System was the international network with the largest population of Penn professors as graduates. The system — which placed eighth overall — includes campuses in 23 different cities across India. Peking University and Tsinghua University — both located in Beijing — were also well represented by current Penn professors. Of the top 10 most-attended schools, eight were private institutions. The Ivy League made up just over a fifth of all undergraduate institutions, and more professors attended Ivy League schools than public universities in the U.S. Of the 1,131 professors included in the data collection, only 1,122 had their type of degree publicly available. Over half of the bachelor’s degrees conferred were B.A. degrees. The Bachelor of Science ranked second among degree types, trailing behind the B.A. by nearly half. At the College and Wharton, the most common degree type was a B.A. In the Engineering School, the most common degree was a B.S. All Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees included in the DP’s analysis were received by current Nursing professors at Penn. Reporters Srishti Bansal, Skylar Fan, Arti Jain, and Ananya Karthik contributed reporting.
Harvard and Penn dominate University faculty undergraduate alma maters
See EEOC, page 3
Slavery exhibit dismantled The National Park Service dismantled exhibits about slavery at Independence National Historical Park last week.
The University suspended normal operations on Monday and Tuesday after a record-breaking winter storm blanketed the Philadelphia area, extending the course selection deadline and canceling classes. Penn students spent the days building snowmen, sipping on hot chocolate, and enjoying extended deadlines in the aftermath of the storm. The Philadelphia area received nine inches of snow on Sunday — the city’s highest snowfall in 10 years — and remained under a cold weather advisory until Wednesday. Per University policy, classes were not held in person, and only essential services including Penn’s Division of Public Safety, Dining Services and student health services remained open during the suspended operations. College sophomore Jackson Barnes described his experience sledding at the Philadelphia Museum of Art with friends as part of a “cherished tradition.” “We saw cardboard boxes, trash can lids, boogie boards, air mattresses, you name it,” Barnes said. “We took a liking to cardboard, running up and down the famous rocky steps for an hour with our makeshift sleds.” As a West Coast native, College sophomore Zinnia Zheng had “never experienced a snowstorm before.” She said it was “fun” to venture outside in the cold. The decisions to suspend operations and cancel most classes were communicated through UPennAlerts on Jan. 25 and Jan. 26. According to a Monday evening email from Wharton junior and Undergraduate Assembly President Nia Matthews, who is currently a staffer at The Daily Pennsylvanian, traditional undergraduates are “are not expected to attend class” during a suspension of normal University operations. “In short: there is no Zoom & no required online instruction,” Matthews wrote. The University’s Sunday announcement, released at 5 p.m., encouraged Penn community members to “please exercise caution and take your time in traveling to campus.” The Monday evening decision was communicated at 8 p.m., as hazardous conditions persisted throughout the Philadelphia area. Penn’s Facilities and Real Estate Services prepared for inclement weather several days before the storm. Penn also delayed its course registration add deadline by two days in response to student concerns that the snow days impacted their ability to finalize their schedules. In a Tuesday email to the undergraduate community, Matthews wrote that the deadline was moved Jan. 29 at 11:59 p.m. EST to account for the “disruptions” and “difficulties accessing advising and departmental support” during the snow days. “After hearing from several students who were impacted by the snow days, I spent much of the day in conversation with both students and University administration to better understand the scope of the issue ... the University was very willing to accommodate by extending the add period,” Matthews wrote to the DP. At a Jan. 23 press conference, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker — who graduated from the Fels Institute of Government at Penn in 2016 — declared that a
What a graduate student union strike could mean for Penn GET-UP has set a Feb. 17 strike deadline ANANYA KARTHIK Senior Reporter
In less than a month, Penn’s graduate student union could strike, sending graduate student workers to picket lines across campus if negotiations with administrators fail. The Feb. 17 strike deadline, announced in January by representatives of Graduate Employees Together — University of Pennsylvania, is the latest and most drastic effort taken by the union since contract negotiations began in April 2023. In interviews with The Daily Pennsylvanian, graduate workers and administrators described how a strike could change campus life and the relationships between students and teaching assistants. According to GET-UP’s website, a strike would mean that graduate workers holding teaching and research positions would suspend their work responsibilities — including grading, leading recitations, holding office hours, and conducting certain research activities. Workers with research appointments would also refrain from starting new experiments and attending lab meetings for the duration of the strike. “I really don’t want to go on strike,” GET-UP member and second-year Ph.D. student Zamora Perez said. “If we do go on strike, it’s the students who are actually going to be missing that oneon-one care, missing that feedback, missing their grades. These are all fundamental things to running this institution that I cannot prepare for if we go on strike.” Perez, who serves as a teaching assistant at the Annenberg School for Communication, also reiterated the lack of “real communication” she has received from administrators about what a strike would look like on campus. The Office of the Provost previously sent an See STRIKE, page 3
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Urban design and crime Penn’s Crime and Justice Policy Lab has studied how block beautification can lower violent crime rates.
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New alumni startup Two Penn alumni recently raised $10 million in funding for their artificial intelligence startup, Sandstone.
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Cross Wasilewski steps up Sophomore wrestler Cross Wasilewski is having a stellar season and embracing his new role.
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