THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA • FOUNDED 1885
PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2022
VOL. CXXXVIII
Penn to begin $35 million redevelopment of campus McDonald’s Construction on the new 50,000-square-foot building is expected to begin by January 2023 JARED MITOVICH Senior Reporter
Penn will close the McDonald’s located on 40th and Walnut streets by January to redevelop the property into a 50,000-square-foot office and retail building. The University entered an agreement to purchase the store in December 2021, after years of Penn real estate leadership expressing interest in the property. In place of the restaurant, which has been a community and campus staple for over 50 years, Penn will construct a mixed-use, six-story office building. Executive Director of Real Estate Ed Datz told The Daily Pennsylvanian that McDonald’s will be relocated into the new building. “We’re committed to seeing McDonald’s return, and they’re equally excited to let that happen, both the operator and corporate McDonald’s, to be able to renew their retail presence there,” Datz said. Datz said that the new building is estimated to cost between $35 million and $40 million, pending approval from the Board of Trustees. Construction is expected to begin by late December or early January 2023 — “immediately after” the standing McDonald’s closes — and is planned to be completed in fall 2024. The relocated McDonald’s will be on the new development’s first floor and take up 7,500 square feet, which is larger than the restaurant’s current structural footprint. The building will be developed by Mosaic Development Partners, a minority- and women-owned real estate firm that describes itself as intending to “revitalize neighborhoods and marginalized communities.” Datz said that the main reason the University sought to buy the current McDonald’s was because of its age and location on a “strategic corner” of University City. “If you think about it, with [Gutmann College House] and the retail complex across the street and Acme, we do think that the 40th Street corridor is a very important corridor for University students and the community,” Datz said. “It’s really where all things intersect, so yes, we’d like to continue to see that continue to improve and enhance.” While specific tenants are not finalized, the new building is expected to focus on student services. Datz said that Facilities & Real Estates Services is working with the Division of the Vice Provost for University Life, which is “projected” to be a tenant. He said that final tenancy decisions will be made after the building design goes through one more review process to complete
Wharton first year Vedika Jawa edges by nine others in packed class board presidential race Jawa said that one of her biggest influences was her older brother who served as Class Board 2021 president during his first year ALLYSON NELSON Staff Reporter
Penn Student Government announced the results of elections to Class Board 2026 and Undergraduate Assembly Tuesday night. Wharton first year Vedika Jawa will serve as president of Class Board 2026. She received 190 votes — 39 more than runner-up College first year Ryan Schager. College first year Juan Lopez won the race for executive vice president, securing 237 votes to defeat runner-up College first year Isaac Tang’s 195 votes. One of Jawa’s major influences in running for president, she said, was her older brother, 2021 Wharton and Engineering graduate Moksh Jawa, who served as Class Board 2021 president during his first year. “Seeing him serve as class board president, I was able to see a lot of the experiences he was able to be part of, and seeing him lead the class and have such a great time,” Jawa told The Daily Pennsylvanian. “[It] made me more interested in student government.” Jawa secured her position on Class Board 2026 among a competitive field of 10 candidates. She told the DP that she hopes to make all first years comfortable at Penn by creating a “welcoming and fun” environment at class traditions and events. “I wanted everyone to feel like Penn was their home,” Jawa said. Filling the Class Board 2026’s vice president positions will be Wharton first year Tiana Wang, who was elected vice president of finance; College first year Jeongmin Lee, who was elected vice president of internal affairs; and Wharton first year Michelle See ELECTION, page 3 SEND STORY IDEAS TO NEWSTIP@THEDP.COM
NO. 20
Amy Wax submits memorandum for dismissal of disciplinary proceedings, citing cancer treatment The 59-page document claims that Wax is undergoing treatment for “lifethreatening” cancer, meriting the postponement of the proceedings until “at least” the end of the year JARED MITOVICH Senior Reporter
Philadelphia Office of Property Assessment most recently assessed the property’s 2023 market value to be $915,900. Some comments on a 2011 article published in West Philly Local also criticized Penn officials for characterizing the McDonald’s as a “scourge” on campus and condemned the University’s redevelopment of West Philadelphia neighborhoods as gentrification, reflecting broader concerns about the ongoing rise in market values in University City and its impact on the area’s affordability. Other community members have said they believe concerns about McDonald’s are connected to anti-Black racism. In a 2011 interview with the DP, West Philadelphia resident Larry Falcon said safety concerns are a “veil” for racism targeting young Black West Philadelphia residents.
Amy Wax’s legal team submitted a memorandum seeking the dismissal of the ongoing University disciplinary proceedings against her on grounds of a “disabled state” from illness. The 59-page memorandum claims that Wax — the tenured Penn Law School professor who is facing potential punishment for her inflammatory conduct — is undergoing treatment for “life-threatening” cancer, and asks for postponement of the ongoing proceedings until “at least” the end of the year. David Shapiro, Wax’s lawyer, sent the document to Faculty Senate Chair Vivian L. Gadsden, who is overseeing the proceedings, on Aug. 31. In the memorandum — which was published on conservative website Legal Insurrection — Wax’s lawyers also made numerous additional requests which, if not met, may “force” Wax to file a formal grievance procedure. This procedure serves as a way for faculty to claim that University action taken against them is unreasonable, discriminatory, or non-compliant with school policy. Among its six requests, the memorandum asked Gadsden to dismiss the current charges against Wax, bar Penn Law Dean Ted Ruger from acting as the charging party, and appoint an “independent forensic expert” to examine Wax’s unsubstantiated claims that Black law students “rarely” perform in the top half of their class. “The substantive and procedural problems with the proceedings instituted by Dean Ruger are immense and require immediate rectification before any more harm is done to the University, the Law School, Professor Wax, and other University stakeholders,” the memorandum reads. Wax, Shapiro, and Ruger did not respond to the DP’s requests for comment. Penn Law declined to comment on Wax’s numerous allegations against Ruger and the University
See McDONALD’S, page 2
See WAX, page 3
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the footprint of each floor. The McDonald’s located at 3935 Walnut St. has sparked controversy among administrators and community members over the years, with some Penn community members saying that the building’s presence attracts crime. In a 2011 interview with the DP, former Vice President for Public Safety and Penn Police Department Superintendent Maureen Rush said the McDonald’s presence is a “safety concern” due its ability to generate “unruly crowds.” On Feb. 23 — one month after a grease fire erupted in its rear kitchen — the city issued the McDonald’s four violations of hood ventilation and cleaning codes. In March, multiple gunshots were fired outside of the building. A window of the McDonald’s was shattered in the encounter, and several shell casings were found on the street. The McDonald’s opened around the fall of 1970 and was last sold in 1992 for $570,000. The
University refers students for disciplinary action after UC Townhomes protest at Convocation Students say the action is an effort to single out highly visible activists, stifle protests, and deflect attention from the causes ELIZABETH MEISENZAHL Senior Reporter
Two students are facing disciplinary action from top Penn officials for allegedly disrupting Convocation last month to protest the eviction of University City Townhomes residents. College senior Andrés Gonzalez-Bonillas and second-year Engineering master’s student Ari Bortman received emails on Sept. 16 informing them of the beginning of disciplinary proceedings based on their alleged involvement in the Convocation protest, which took place on Aug. 29. The students told The Daily Pennsylvanian they believe the University is targeting them for disciplinary consequences in an effort to stifle the protests against the impending sale of the UC Townhomes, an affordable housing complex located at 39th and Market streets. “The reporter, Division of the Vice Provost for University Life, alleges that you interfered unreasonably with the activities of others, namely participants in the 2022 Penn Convocation on College Green, when you shouted and spoke into a bullhorn while speakers were delivering prepared remarks to the audience,” the email sent by the Center for Community Standards and Accountability to Gonzalez-Bonillas reads. “The report further alleges that you refused to stop this conduct when asked by campus administrators and that your actions caused an abrupt end to the event before all scheduled programming had been completed,” the email continued. VPUL’s Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives Michael Elias declined to comment. The Coalition to Save the UC Townhomes, a group of community members representing the nearly 70 families living in the housing complex, organized the demonstration during the Convocation ceremony to educate the students on Penn’s role in the residents’ displacement. While Penn does not own the UC Townhomes and does not plan to purchase the property, activists — including UC Townhomes residents, Penn students, and faith leaders — believe the University should intervene
PHOTO BY ANNA VAZHAEPARAMBIL
Save the UC Townhomes protesters at Convocation on Aug. 29, 2022.
in the sale due to its role in gentrifying West Philadelphia. Bortman said he and Gonzalez-Bonillas believe they are the only two students facing disciplinary action for their alleged involvement in the Convocation disruption of the approximately 100 students involved. “The students involved in this matter have been referred to the [Center for] Community Standards and Accountability,” University spokesperson Ron Ozio wrote in an email to The Daily Pennsylvanian. “We will not comment further on any pending student disciplinary matters.” The two students said they received the emails within the same hour as those that went out to Fossil Free Penn coordinators, who have been holding an indefinite encampment on College Green
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calling on Penn to divest its endowment from fossil fuels, stop the eviction of UC Townhomes residents, and make Payments In Lieu of Taxes to the City of Philadelphia’s public schools. FFP coordinators involved in the encampment have also been referred to CSA, Ozio told the DP. Bortman, a 2022 Engineering graduate, said he believes his involvement in student activism and protest throughout his time as an undergraduate at Penn — including with FFP, Police Free Penn, and Penn Against the Occupation — was a factor in his referral to CSA. Gonzalez-Bonillas similarly felt singled out due to their involvement in previous on-campus protests during which Penn Police were present. See DISCIPLINE, page 2 CONTACT US: 215-422-4640