2013 Engineering graduate and Pennsylvania state Rep. Rick Krajewski (D-Philadelphia) sat down with The Daily Pennsylvanian to discuss his time as a Penn student and his goals for supporting current students amid his reelection campaign.
Krajewski, who is running unopposed in his race for his Pennsylvania state house seat, reflected on the disadvantages he faced while attending Penn as a low-income student of color and his initiatives to combat these inequities as a policymaker. He articulated the importance of his presence at and support of the Gaza Solidarity Encampment this past spring, facilitating the relationship between Penn students and the city of Philadelphia, and the importance of local politics.
Time at Penn and equitable access to higher education
As a graduate of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, Krajewski began his career as a software engineer. However, it was his desire to make higher education more accessible for underrepresented groups that kickstarted his career in local politics.
Reflecting on the financial aid package and scholarships that allowed him to attend Penn, Krajewski said that few people of his background were “privileged” enough to access higher education at a caliber such as Penn’s.
“I also knew that many working-class children, and particularly students of color, would never have the ability to access an education like the one that I did, either because of financial or academic barriers — and particularly, that’s exacerbated in the field of STEM, where you have even less, particularly Black, representation,” Krajewski said.
Krajewski said his time at Penn as a Black low-income student influenced his decision to run for local office.
“There are a lot of times where I felt unable to ask for the kind of support that I needed to be able to succeed and thrive academically because of just how much privilege I was being exposed to,” he said. “I felt a lot of shame when I struggled academically, because I was Black and poor.”
“I don’t think any student should ever go through that — should ever have to go through that to be able to access a good education,” he added.
However, Krajewski also highlighted ways in which he found a community at Penn in which he could “still thrive” — specifically, helping revive the inactive Check One club for multiracial students, where he served as vice president.
It was at Penn where he also became interested in making STEM-based education “more equitable.” To pursue this interest, he began teaching computer programming to middle school students in West Philadelphia, where he connected his STEM background with his passion for social justice.
“How can we make [STEM education] accessible to students who may have been the kind of student that I was, as someone who grew up poor and working class, and didn’t know about a field like robotics or programming until I went to a privileged institution?” he said.
Krajewski said that he realized that in order to “change systemic inequities in education,” he would have to become involved in politics. This also tied into other avenues of social justice — Krajewski said that “it is the role of the government” to address issues such as housing inequality, job security, and mass incarceration.
“Once you realize it’s more holistic than just what happens on campus, that’s when you start to realize this is actually about public policy,” he said.
However, Krajewski also believed that sometimes, private institutions like Penn also have a role to play in addressing inequities.
“I think Penn should think about what it can do to be more supportive of low-income students of color,” Krajewski said regarding the decline in enrollment of students of color at Penn following the overturning of affirmative action.
He also said obtaining a quality higher education should not need to involve a struggle to survive, as he sometimes felt.
“I believe higher education should be free — but at minimum, affordable for everyone,” he said. “I think my experience very much informed that, because, again, I was aware that I was entering a world-class institution, and it also felt very hard at times to try to survive an institution.”
Role in the Gaza Solidarity Encampment
In addition to supporting Penn students through equitable higher education, Krajewski discussed his presence at the Gaza Solidarity Encampment last spring, where he highlighted the “funny balance” between representing the University and also representing its students and constituents.
Krajewski emphasized his support for universities to recognize students’ ability to exercise their First Amendment rights of free speech and assembly.
“I felt it was important to speak at the encampment to support the right to organize, the right to protest, and the right to demonstrate in support of an issue that I also believed in,” Krajewski said. “I believe it’s important to continue to call out the genocide that is occurring in Gaza, and I supported [protesters’] right to stand in solidarity with Palestinians through the encampment.”
Krajewski said that it was “very disheartening” that Penn did not reach a peaceful resolution with the protesters. Documents previously obtained by the DP through open records requests indicated the University’s unwillingness to employ third-party arbiters in negotiations between Penn administration and members of the encampment.
“I felt pretty stonewalled by the administration in attempting to have those kinds of conversations,” he said.
Students’ relationship with Philadelphia
During his time as a Penn student, Krajewski was told “some pretty concerning narratives” about West Philadelphia that he found “racist” and “offensive.” However, he believes that current students “have come to embrace” West Philadelphia more.
“I don’t blame any one particular person, but that was definitely the culture on campus when I first moved there,” Krajewski said. “I think that’s changed a lot because I think you have more people who live in off-campus housing. You have more people who are committed to living in Philadelphia, who attend the University, and I think that’s allowed students to have a healthier relationship to the surrounding neighborhood.”
On July 21, 2022, the Philadelphia 76ers announced plans to construct an arena near Chinatown. Krajewski has previously voiced his opposition to the project and told the DP that he is “open” to student voices, emphasizing that younger generations “understand the cultural importance” of preserving Chinatown.
“Here in West Philadelphia, we’ve seen what developer-driven gentrification does, and to act as though the stadium will not cause the erasure of the cultural identity of Chinatown — I think it’s just being very disingenuous,” Krajewski said.
Ultimately, he urged young voters to vote in the upcoming election, while also considering the importance of meaningfully engaging in one’s community.
“Do not think of voting as the end all and be all, as the only thing that you do to engage in politics and in changing the world in the way that you want to see, but think of it as just one of the tools that is necessary to use,” Krajewski said. “Be sure to vote, but also make sure that you are engaged in your local neighborhood issues.”
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