34th Street Magazine's "Toast" is a semi-weekly newsletter with the latest on Penn's campus culture and arts scene. Delivered Monday-Wednesday-Friday.
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Joe Biden can’t solve all of our problems, and for many of us, including myself, he wasn’t our first choice for president. But electing Joe Biden is absolutely necessary if we are going to make any sort of progress.
What I am lobbying for is for in this time of social change that my employer challenges the very boundaries I have discussed here. To align itself with efforts of correcting wealth inequalities and to entertain serious discussion that could affect the lives of many of its employees of color.
We make this appeal to Penn not just because we believe it is the socially just thing to do, but because we also feel it is the neighborly thing to do. In our time as teachers, we have taken part in reciprocal relationships with the university grounded in mutual respect and genuine concern for the education of our students.
Especially given the dire circumstances the District now faces as a result of Covid-19, Penn and other wealthy nonprofits must fulfill their civic and financial obligations through PILOTs.
We, the undersigned faculty, staff, students, and alumni believe that the long-term good name and reputation of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School depends on Penn’s administration doing the right thing in the present moment.
At the start of this new academic year, our call to action for all Penn faculty, students, and staff has never been clearer: Stick to our mission. Stand with our community.
Even though we can’t meet them in person, we can sympathize with Penn students who attended in fall 1918. Their past can inform our present. By using history as our compass, we can get through this together.
With most of campus life going on-line, SP2 students won’t have access to collaborative study spaces, mental and physical health care, school-sponsored social events, in-person office hours, library resources, guest lectures, and all other resources that constitute the “Penn experience.”
With over 1,500 international undergraduates enrolled, Penn should make Go Local available. This is feasible, given that Penn Abroad has over 50 exchange partners in 17 countries.
When the University does not pay for the services and environment that make its work possible, other Philadelphians are left to make up the difference — or, city schools and other institutions simply go without.
In recent months, Joe Biden responded to the dual tragedies of coronavirus and police killings with resolve, but we must put pressure on our future president to support his words with concrete actions.