Also, the University sued BioNTech, seeking greater royalties for its contributions to the COVID-19 vaccine.
Thursday, August 15
Good morning, Penn.
Happy Thursday, and welcome to the last edition of DP Daybreak of the summer!
Former Penn Medicine researcher Katrina Armstrong has been named interim president of Columbia University after Nemat “Minouche” Shafik’s resignation on Wednesday night, and a Penn a capella group performed at Team India’s Olympic house in Paris last week.
But first, Penn’s residential advisor and graduate residential advisor union has accused the University of breaking its recently ratified union contract.
United RAs at Penn — a union comprised of RAs and GRAs — has filed an Unfair Labor Practice Charge with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that the University is violating the union’s contract by suppressing GRAs’ ability to hold multiple on-campus employment positions.
URAP wrote in an email that on Aug. 5, GRAs received an email notifying them that hours worked in RA jobs now count towards the 20-hour-per-week maximum that students are allowed while classes are in session. The union’s contract, which was ratified in June, stated that there would be no limits on having multiple campus jobs.
In addition to the charge filed to the NLRB, URAP is filing grievances on behalf of every GRA affected by the University’s alleged changes.
Penn has sued BioNTech — the firm that helped develop one of the first COVID-19 vaccines — alleging that the firm has underpaid royalties owed to the University.
Columbia University President and former Wharton professor Nemat “Minouche” Shafik resigned on Wednesday evening. Former Penn Medicine researcher and faculty member Katrina Armstrong has been named interim president.
Penn has received a $10 million gift from a 1995 alumnus to support the development of its Climate Sustainability Initiative.
Penn will offer a new law and society major in the College of Arts and Sciences beginning this fall.
COLUMNIST ELO ESALOMI discusses her experience as an international rising first-year student.
SPORTS
Incoming Penn men’s basketball point guard and rising junior Dylan Williams sat down with The Daily Pennsylvanian to discuss how his journey led him to Penn.
TODAY IN DP HISTORY
Photos by Gage Skidmore CC BY-SA 2.0, Son Nguyen
In 2020, the DP reported that former Penn professor Joe Biden had selected then-Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) as his running mate for that year’s presidential election. Last week, Vice President Harris debuted her own running mate — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — at a rally in Philadelphia after being named the Democratic presidential nominee following Biden’s unprecedented decision to withdraw from the 2024 campaign.
FROM 34TH STREET MAGAZINE
Miles Taylor (C ‘22) has been moonlighting as an online public transportation activist for nearly a decade. His Youtube channel and blog Miles in Transit has amassed a sizable subscriber account, but through it all Taylor only wants one thing: quality public transportation.
This is the last weekly DP Daybreak newsletter this summer. Stay tuned for our Back to School coverage on Aug. 20, and follow us on social media for more updates.
Today’s newsletter was copy edited by Asha Chawla.
Are you enjoying DP Daybreak? Please share any ideas or concerns with us by emailing The Daily Pennsylvanian’s Summer Editor-in-Chief Emily Scolnick at scolnick@thedp.com.
Penn has sued BioNTech — the firm that helped develop one of the first COVID-19 vaccines — alleging that the firm 
Columbia University President and former Wharton professor Nemat “Minouche” Shafik resigned on Wednesday evening. Former Penn Medicine researcher and faculty member Katrina Armstrong 
Incoming Penn men’s basketball point guard and rising junior 
