Amy Gutmann refocuses Penn Compact 2020

A new “Pennovation Center” and a Hill Field college house are among the focal points of a revamped version of the Penn Compact, launched on Tuesday by President Amy Gutmann.

Gutmann’s announcement, which sheds light on some of College Hall’s priorities for the next several years, laid out the tenets of what she called the “Penn Compact 2020.” Gutmann first rolled out the Penn Compact, which stresses interdisciplinary learning, financial aid and global expansion, during her inaugural address in 2004. The Compact has been a defining part of her presidency over the past decade.

This version of the Penn Compact marks a renewal of some of those 2004 priorities, Gutmann wrote in a Penn Almanac letter on Tuesday. Penn Compact 2020, she said, will emphasize three areas: inclusion, innovation and impact.

“The Penn Compact has really been embedded,” she said in an interview. “It’s long ceased to be my compact. It’s the compact for Penn and the Penn community.”

The Pennovation Center, she said in Tuesday’s letter, will be a destination “where Penn discoveries will find rapid application to pressing social needs.” She also said that the new college house on Hill Field should be completed by the fall of 2016. Construction on the college house is expected to begin by early next year.

As part of Penn Compact 2020, Gutmann said, the University will begin a renewed push to improve financial aid resources for international students. Unlike some of its peers, the University’s need-blind aid policy does not apply to international students.

The launch of Penn Compact 2020 comes less than a year after the University finished its Making History fundraising campaign, which brought in $4.3 billion.

“Success in realizing our bold and far-reaching vision of Penn Compact 2020,” Gutmann said, “will depend most of all on the creative work of immensely talented Penn people.”

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