THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA • FOUNDED 1885
PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2024
VOL. CXL
NATHANIEL BABITT S| SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
NO. 19
The Debate THROUGH A PENN LENS | PAGE 7
Jameson seeks to define presidency in DP interview — and revisits controversies that sunk Magill The interim president answered the question that prompted his predecessor to resign, while declining to discuss the Penn encampment in detail ELEA CASTIGLIONE AND VIVI SANKAR Senior Reporter and Staff Reporter
For the first time since controversy erupted last fall, a Penn president sat down for an interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian to address the tumult of the past year and articulate a forward-looking view for the University. Inter im Penn President La r r y Ja meson declined to go into detail on several past controversies at Penn, including the Palestine Writes Literature Festival and the Gaza Solidarity Encampment. In conversation with the DP, Jameson distinguished himself from former Penn President Liz Magill, sharing a vision of his interim role that takes an active part in addressing issues including academic freedom and donor support. While the temporary nature of the role may have made others shy away from making transformative change, Jameson told the DP that he “totally” feels empowered to take on decision making and that he wants to “make things happen.” “I’ve always had a philosophy that you lead for the moment and don’t tread water,” he said. “It’s really important, given the scale and complexity of the University of Pennsylvania, to keep things moving right along.” Academic freedom, particularly as it relates to discourse surrounding the Israel-Hamas war, has been a major challenge Jameson has faced. See JAMESON, page 2
Penn takes major step toward institutional neutrality University leaders will no longer issue statements on local or global events that do not have a direct impact on Penn KATIE BARTLETT, ELEA CASTIGLIONE AND GABRIEL HUANG News Editor, Senior Reporter and Staff Reporter
DEREK WONG | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
In an interview with the DP at his office in College Hall, Interim President Larry Jameson addressed the year of controversy on campus.
Penn will limit statements on local and world events in a major move toward institutional neutrality, Interim Penn President Larry Jameson announced in an email to the University community on Tuesday afternoon. Jameson wrote in the announcement that University leaders will no longer issue public statements on local or global events that do not have a direct impact on Penn, claiming that the new policies aim to protect the “diversity of thought” central to Penn’s mission. The shift to the new policy, which Jameson told The Daily Pennsylvanian was initiated several years ago, will limit the University’s role in commenting on controversial issues which do not directly relate to it. “It is not the role of the institution to render opinions — doing so risks suppressing the creativity and academic freedom of our faculty and students,” Jameson wrote. Issues the University will no longer comment on include political, judicial, or military actions and evidence
of discrimination or violations of human rights. Jameson explained that while these challenges are “substantive and deeply meaningful,” such issues across the world are also “almost limitless.” “Responding to one issue inevitably highlights issues and groups that receive no message — omissions that carry their own meanings, however inadvertent,” Jameson wrote. The announcement explains that the policy only applies to University leaders, including the president, provost, vice presidents, and deans. Jameson emphasized his hope that faculty voices will be amplified, explaining that their scholarship and research play an “essential role” in public education. Jameson told the DP in a recent interview that the process of formally reviewing Penn’s policies for institutional statements was initiated by Interim Vice President for University Communications Stephen MacCarthy several
years ago. “The frequency of institutional statements has been increasing over several years; the request for institutional statements has been escalating, particularly during the [COVID-19] pandemic,” Jameson told the DP. “I think that was the time that we realized that we needed some guidance about how often we make comments and what the scope should be and who should be making them.” The announcement comes after a year of controversy surrounding alleged antisemitism on Penn’s campus and the University’s response to the Israel-Hamas war. Between September and December 2023, former Penn President Liz Magill sent eight emails to undergraduate students about these issues, which contributed to her eventual resignation in December. Pro-Israeli community members decried her response
Penn falls to lowest U.S. News ranking in 27 years while Princeton, MIT notch top spots
the 2024-25 rankings, obtained exclusively by The Daily Pennsylvanian, shows Penn ranking four places lower than it did on last year’s list — and No. 4 among Ivy League schools. Princeton University claimed the No. 1 spot in the rankings, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in No. 2 and Harvard University in No. 3. The official rankings will be released on Sept. 24 on the U.S. News website. Penn and the rest of the top 10 schools did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication. “U.S News provides preliminary information to institutions about our Best Colleges rankings,” a U.S. News spokesperson wrote to the DP. “Any information provided is not considered final until publication on USNews.com until our publication date. This year that date is September 24.” Before this year, Penn had maintained a placement of No. 9 or higher in the U.S. News rankings since 1997, when the school was ranked No. 13 in the nation. The results also show an unchanged top three schools from last year’s rankings. Stanford University, which was tied for No. 3 in last year’s edition, slipped to No. 4. Yale University
The University was ranked No. 10, according to a preliminary report obtained by the DP KATIE BARTLETT News Editor
CHENYAO LIU | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
The official rankings will be released on Sept. 24 on the U.S. News website. SEND STORY IDEAS TO NEWSTIP@THEDP.COM
Penn dropped to No. 10 in the U.S. News & World Report’s annual Best National University rankings, marking its lowest position since 1997. A preliminary copy of the top 10 schools in
ONLINE AT THEDP.COM
See NEUTRALITY, page 7
See RANKINGS, page 7 CONTACT US: 215-422-4640