THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA • FOUNDED 1885 VOL. CXXXVIII
PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2022
Inside the Encampment
NO. 21
Penn will lease The Radian for next three years, worrying current residents Penn will shut down sections of the Quad over three years and begin leasing The Radian in August 2023 JASPER TAYLOR Staff Reporter
What are their demands? College sophomore and FFP coordinator Eug Xu said that a common misconception about FFP’s protest is that the encampment’s demands are disconnected from or unrelated to each other. FFP wants Penn to commit $5 million to $10 million or land toward the purchase of the Townhomes as a low-income housing complex, publicly divest Penn’s direct and indirect holdings in fossil fuel companies, and pay 40% of foregone property taxes to support local public schools. Xu said that both the City’s struggle to maintain affordable housing and the University’s refusal to pay PILOTs are fundamentally issues of climate justice, citing how heat waves and poor infrastructure shut down more than a hundred Philadelphia schools this summer. “We know that it is important for Penn to take money out of fossil fuels, but we also know that it is
Penn is set to lease The Radian as supplemental student housing to facilitate renovations in the Quad over the next three years, a move that drew concern from current residents who are worried about rising rent rates and housing policy changes. While the Quad is being renovated, the University will shut down college houses within the Quad over a period of three years to allow for safe construction, including the movement of large construction equipment. The lease is set to begin next fall semester in August 2023, according to Barbara Lea-Kruger, director of communications and external relations. Riepe College House will be closed from May 2023 to May 2024, followed by Ware College House from May 2024 to May 2025, and lastly Fisher-Hassenfeld College House from May 2025 to May 2026. During this time, first-year students who would have lived in the Quad will instead be placed into one of Penn’s four-year college houses, particularly Gregory College House, Stouffer College House, and Lauder College House. To ensure that there are enough rooms for second, third, and fourth years, Penn will enter into a three-year lease with The Radian, an offcampus apartment complex, to house students from August 2023 to August 2026. Students currently living in The Radian expressed confusion and concern about Penn’s plan to lease the apartment building. Engineering junior Helena Zhang is currently living in a four-bedroom apartment suite with three roommates. She said that the group’s original plan was to renew their lease at the end of the year, but Penn’s plan to lease The Radian could pose a financial barrier to current residents. “If Penn is actually going to rent out The Radian, the price might go up from when we signed the lease, so one of our roommates might not be able to stay with us,” Zhang said. Upperclass students will be able to select The Radian as a housing option this spring semester during the housing selection process. Housing in The Radian through Penn will cost $15,418 per academic year — the same as Penn’s current higher-cost housing option, according to Doug
See FFP, page 2
See RADIAN, page 2
PHOTO BY JESSE ZHANG
Students in Fossil Free Penn at their College Green encampment on Sept. 28, 2022.
Student coordinators said that they do not plan to leave College Green until Penn meets their three demands IMRAN SIDDIQUI Senior Reporter
Anyone who has walked by College Green in the past two weeks has likely noticed Fossil Free Penn’s colorful tents and banners strung up on trees. Between classes, students involved with FFP said that they have spent upwards of 12 hours at the encampment each day, with many sleeping in tents during the night. Even after positioning tents to avoid nightly sprinklers and dealing with aggressive squirrels, these students said that they remain resolute in their beliefs and do not plan on leaving College Green until Penn meets their three demands: a public commitment toward preserving the UC Townhomes, total
fossil fuel divestment, and pay PILOTs, or Payments in Lieu of Taxes, to Philadelphia public schools. According to an email from University spokesperson Ron Ozio, President Liz Magill, Interim Provost Beth Winkelstein, and Senior Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli sent an email to FFP coordinators where they said that they “share [FFP’s] concerns regarding these three issues” and “the University has taken thoughtful and solutionfocused actions to address them consistent within our mission.” The email from Magill, Winkelstein, and Carnaroli also said that administration would “welcome the opportunity to engage in a genuine dialogue,” and, in return, they requested that FFP honor its commitment by ending the encampment on College Green. The Daily Pennsylvanian spoke with FFP coordinators to learn more about their requests of the University, the community they have built on College Green, and their hopes for the future.
Penn endowment sees less than 1% return for 2022 fiscal year Penn’s total endowment assets increased by $200.8 million over the 2022 fiscal year SIERRA WEI Staff Reporter
Penn’s endowment saw a less than 1% return for the 2022 fiscal year ending June 30, posting an annual increase from $20.5 billion to $20.7 billion. The $20.7 billion endowment return exceeded the composite benchmark return of -0.5% for the period. Penn’s total endowment assets increased by $200.8 million over the 2022 fiscal year, reaching $20.7 billion as of June 30. Of this amount, approximately $16.1 billion supports the University and $4.6 billion supports the University of Pennsylvania Health System, according to the annual report from the Penn Office of Investments. According to a report by Pensions and Investments, the significant decrease in return from the previous year reflects the “challenging market environment for the period.” The Office of Investments credited the impact of financial gifts, investment returns, spending distributions, and internal transfers with fueling the endowment’s growth. Penn’s endowment includes over 7,400 individual endowment funds that benefit the University’s schools, centers, and health system. The majority of the endowment goes towards instruction, with student aid, health care, and research following behind. For the 2021 fiscal year, the endowment posted a record 41.1% return in a year of record high stock markets and gains in private equity. The Office of Investments cited “pandemic-driven needs and opportunities” as increasing the target endowment spending rate in the 2021 and 2022 fiscal years. Penn’s endowment has consistently outperformed its composite benchmark for the past 20 years. The endowment has returned an annualized 11.9% and 11.1% over the past five and 10 years, respectively, according to the Office of Investments. Among the 13 universities that Pensions and Investments tracked in the 2022 fiscal year, the median return is -4.1%. Penn is one out of the five institutions tracked that posted non-negative returns for 2022. SEND STORY IDEAS TO NEWSTIP@THEDP.COM
In response to a request for comment, Associate Director for News Amanda Mott directed The Daily Pennsylvanian to a statement about the endowment from the Office of Investments. “Penn’s endowment supports a wide range of purposes across the institution, with the significant majority of funds dedicated to student financial aid and instructional use,” the office wrote in a statement.
PHOTO BY ANNA VAZHAEPARAMBIL
Protesters at Convocation on Aug. 29, 2022.
73 Penn faculty sign letter opposing University efforts to discipline Convocation protestors Faculty sent the letter to University administrators on Sept. 23, detailing their support of student protest MUNA UWANAMODO Staff Reporter
PHOTO BY SAVANNA COHEN
Seventy-three Penn faculty members signed a letter in opposition to the University’s disciplinary action in response to students’ alleged involvement in disrupting Convocation, protesting the eviction of University City Townhomes residents. The letter, from “deeply concerned” faculty
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members, was sent to University administrators on Friday, detailing their support of student protest. The faculty members opposed efforts by Penn administrators to discipline two students accused of violating the University’s Guidelines on Open Expression and Code of Student Conduct, due to their alleged involvement in the demonstration that interrupted Convocation. The students involved had told The Daily Pennsylvanian on Sept. 21 that the University is targeting them to stifle protest against the sale of the UC Townhomes, an affordable housing complex located See LETTER, page 3 CONTACT US: 215-422-4640