4/22
City of Philadelphia
The mission to get Pennsylvanians online
The Pennsylvania Broadband Research Institute, a collaboration between Penn and Penn State, looks for ways to bridge the digital divide in the state—and the rest of the nation.
Celebrating the Projects for Progress 2023 cohort
At an event on Jan. 30, three winning project groups were honored for ‘choosing to help make lives better.’
Penn & Philly shines light on community partnerships
The Office of the Executive Vice President launched the initiative in January, highlighting important service work across the University, the Health System, and Philadelphia.
A step toward ethical stewardship and ongoing repair
An interfaith commemoration for 19 Black Philadelphians whose remains were part of the Morton Cranial Collection will take place at the Penn Museum.
Penn’s Way campaign 2023: By the Numbers
The annual workplace giving campaign, ‘Going the Distance for Our Community,’ concluded on Nov. 24, and the numbers are in.
A day to ‘love the service that we’re giving’
Penn’s MLK Day of Service featured a robust kickoff with speakers and performances, followed by volunteer initiatives on campus and in the community.
Dedicating time to side gigs for good in the community
The 11th piece in this series highlights a museum educator who also teaches people through an Afrocentric storytelling group, a research coordinator volunteering with an LGBTQ+ band, a nurse collecting children’s books, and a Spanish lecturer picking up trash.
The Economic Justice Partnership focuses on creating an equal financial playing field
From the basics of setting up an investment account to giving a play-by-play on how interest accrues, the partnership—a Projects for Progress winner—hosts financial literacy workshops with middle and high school students around Philadelphia, as well as Penn and other college students.
‘Give from the heart’: The final push for Penn’s annual workplace giving campaign
For this year’s campaign, ‘Going the Distance for our Community,’ Penn and Penn Medicine are matching faculty and staff contributions dollar for dollar in support of programs that directly benefit the community.
A healthy turnout for an off-year, mayoral election
Penn Leads the Vote was on hand at the Houston Hall polling location, one of several polling places on campus where voters made their voices heard for the 2023 general election.
In the News
Comcast’s Sports Complex plan for South Philly would make our city less livable
In an Op-Ed, Vukan R. Vuchic of the School of Engineering and Applied Science says that Philadelphia should make transit more accessible rather than striving to accommodate more cars.
FULL STORY →
How did a white woman come to write the newest definitive text on Philadelphia’s Black history?
Penn alum Amy Jane Cohen is profiled for her new book “Black History in the Philadelphia Landscape,” which examines Black history through the lens of events, institutions, and individuals across the city. The book includes a reflection from Penn chaplain Charles Howard.
FULL STORY →
Mayor Parker’s plan to ‘remove the presence of drug users’ from Kensington raises new questions
Shoshana Aronowitz of the School of Nursing and Ashish Thakrar of the Perelman School of Medicine comment on the lack of specificity in Philadelphia’s plan to remove drug users from Kensington and on the current state of drug treatment in the city.
FULL STORY →
Philadelphia’s Market Street East searches for growth and renewal — with or without a new Sixers arena
Akira Drake Rodriguez, Rashida Ng, and Dominic Vitiello of the Weitzman School of Design say there should be a more robust and inclusive conversation about the future of Philadelphia’s Market Street East.
FULL STORY →
Act 135 nonprofits bust blight. Vulnerable owners pay the price
A Penn Carey Law analysis found that Act 135 petitions in Philadelphia have disproportionately been filed against Black and Asian property owners.
FULL STORY →
A burial for 19 Black Philadelphians, 200 years in the making
Penn Museum Director Christopher Woods says that the interment of 19 Black Philadelphians at Eden Cemetery represents a reckoning with the Museum’s colonial past and an act of reconciliation with the local community.
FULL STORY →