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

PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2022

VOL. CXXXVIII

Penn dedicates ARCH building to cultural centers after decades of student advocacy

NO. 17

President Biden to give primetime address in Philadelphia today The event is the second of Biden’s three planned campaigning events in Pennsylvania this week KOMAL PATEL Senior Reporter

PHOTO BY JESSE ZHANG

The ARCH on Aug. 31, 2022.

The grand reopening of the redesigned ARCH building is set for Sept. 7 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. MATTEO BUSTERNA & JARED MITOVICH Senior Reporters

After years of campaigning and student advocacy, Penn has begun renovations on the Arts, Research, and Culture House, designating it as the home to the University’s main minority coalition groups and cultural resource centers.

The grand reopening of the redesigned ARCH building, which will include remarks from Penn President Liz Magill, is set for Sept. 7 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. but renovations will continue through the spring 2023 semester. The main minority coalition at Penn, known as the 7B, came to an agreement with the University in May to expand the cultural resource centers located in the ARCH’s basement — which include Makuu: The Black Cultural Center, La Casa Latina, and the Pan-Asian American Community House — into the rest of the ARCH building,

incorporating study rooms, social spaces, and redesignated offices. Natives at Penn, which joined the 7B in December of last year, will move from the Greenfield Intercultural Center to a new space in the renovated ARCH building. Staff from Penn’s three cultural resource centers also moved upstairs from the basement as of Aug. 5. Second and third floor office spaces are being repurposed as group study and meeting rooms. See ARCH, page 5

President Joe Biden will be giving a speech focused on democracy and “the continued battle for the soul of the nation” from Independence Hall in Philadelphia tomorrow at 8 p.m. The prime-time event is the second of Biden’s three planned campaigning events in Pennsylvania this week. Biden was in the state yesterday to visit Gov. Tom Wolf in Wilkes-Barre to discuss the Safer Communities Act and deliver a speech. He is also expected to give a speech in Pittsburgh on Friday, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. The campaigning events come a week after the president delivered a speech during a Democratic fundraising event in Maryland in which he claimed “MAGA Republicans” are turning toward “semifascism,” according to The Washington Post. “The MAGA Republicans don’t just threaten our personal rights and economic security,” Biden said during the Aug. 25 speech, according to the Post. “They’re a threat to our very democracy. They refuse to accept the will of the people. They embrace — embrace — political violence. They don’t believe in democracy.” As the November elections loom closer, NBC News reported that Biden has portrayed the election as a choice for voters between “ultra-MAGA Republicans” and Democrats. The races for Senate and the seventh congressional district have been labeled “toss-ups” and gained national attention. Meanwhile, the Democratic candidate for governor, Josh Shapiro, is polling ahead of Republican candidate Doug Mastriano, according to Politico. Biden’s own approval ratings have slightly risen in the past month. He now has a 44% approval rating, up 6% from last month. Last month’s 38% approval rating was a personal low for the president. The increase in approval ratings comes after a month of multiple legislative wins, which, according to NPR and Reuters, could provide Democrats with a boost coming into the upcoming midterm elections.

Protestors crash Convocation, cutting Liz Magill’s first major speech short The protest was organized by the Coalition to Save the UC Townhomes — a group of residents protesting the sale of 70 units of affordable housing DELANEY PARKS, IMRAN SIDDIQUI, TORI SOUSA & EMI TUYẾTNHI TRẦN Senior Reporters

Over 100 protestors interrupted Penn President Liz Magill minutes into her first-ever Convocation speech, bringing the ceremony to an abrupt end. As Magill spoke on the incoming class’ diversity, a group of protestors — including members of the Class of 2026 — stood up and began chanting “Save UC Townhomes!” and “Stop Penn-trification!” The Coalition to Save the UC Townhomes, a group of residents protesting the sale of 70 units of affordable housing, organized the demonstration in an effort to bring awareness to the local residents who are scheduled to be evicted on Oct. 8. A larger procession of protestors streamed in from Locust Walk minutes after the initial interruption, carrying large signs and posters and causing Magill to fully pause her speech. Magill asked the incoming students if she could continue speaking and was met with raucous applause from the crowd, though the protestors continued chanting. Magill then sat down, and Chaplain Charles Howard took over briefly, telling the protestors that he understood the issue’s significance, but that the ceremony was intended to celebrate the Class of 2026. Magill then resumed her speech, and she spoke about the importance of “productive disagreement.” “Many of our breakthroughs are the result of decades of productive disagreement with prevailing orthodoxies. A community of diverse individuals can’t live together unless they can listen to and learn from one another,” Magill said. “Democracy cannot work unless people can live together, learn from one another and, paradoxically, disagree.” In an email sent to The Daily Pennsylvanian on Aug. 30, University spokesperson Ron Ozio wrote that Magill’s prepared remarks were originally set to touch on “productive disagreement and the value of learning across differences.” He added that Magill delivered the core message of her prepared remarks in the shortened speech, and that the full remarks were distributed to the Penn community.

“Penn is a place where productive debate and dialogue flourishes among people with different views, and our community is stronger for it,” Ozio wrote. While some first years took part in the protest, others voiced initial confusion about Magill’s speech being interrupted. Others, uninvolved in the demonstration’s organizing, voiced their support for the protestors’ efforts. College first year Jordan Severino said that though he was initially shocked by the protest, he also understood and supported the demonstration, given his knowledge on the issue of affordable housing. “As a freshman, it is hard that our Convocation was sort of stripped away from us, however, I have to support the protest overall because of the importance of this issue. People’s lives are at stake and housing really is a human right, so this had to be done,” Severino said. Wharton first year Noah Budnitz said that he was unaware of the issue before the protest and was impressed that the first-year students who participated in the protests had the guts to do so. After Magill’s speech concluded, protestors continued their demonstration on College Green. Protestors said that they did not interrupt Convocation to spite the new class, but rather to educate the students on Penn’s role in the residents’ displacement. “Welcome to the Penn community. We accept you. We love you,” a protestor said over a megaphone to the crowd. “Many of you, like us, have been dispossessed. Many of you, like us, may come from low-income areas. It is important to know what institutions like this do to us when we are not paying them to accept us. It is important to know what this institution has been doing for decades.” A dessert reception followed Convocation at 8:15 p.m. in Penn Commons and Houston Hall, which Magill attended and at which she spoke to students. Senior reporters Jared Mitovich and Matteo Busterna and contributing reporter Allyson Nelson contributed reporting.

PHOTO BY JESSE ZHANG

PHOTO BY ANNA VAZHAEPARAMBIL

Save the UC Townhomes protesters demonstrating on College Green.

President Liz Magill speaking at Convocation.

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