University Council: December 2 Meeting Coverage	Print Issue
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At the beginning of the December 2 University Council meeting, Penn President Amy Gutmann spoke—in light of events at other institutions’ campuses—about the persistence and prevalence of racism. She said that she and her leadership team have been meeting with students concerning incidents of bias and other forms of behavior counter to Penn’s values. She said that such behavior is distressing and destructive and that Penn must not be complacent and cover flaws but rather use shortcomings to be smarter and partner together. She noted that the Campaign for Community (C4C) is a way to address such topics constructively.

EVP Craig Carnaroli presented a look at “Penn Connects: A Vision for the Future—A University Transformed.” The Plan represents the strategic aligning of Penn’s vision, in the Penn Compact, with the resources from the Campaign for Penn and the execution of the vision. He provided a retrospective of the planning process since 2004. In 2006, a long-range plan was approved and the following year, it was integrated with the Making History Capital Campaign.

In recent years, Penn has acquired 56 acres— the US postal lands and the DuPont Marshall Labs. Those actions spurred an interest in sustainability; the Green Campus Partnership was formed and Penn launched the Climate Action Plan. Dr. Gutmann signed the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment.

Penn Connects has resulted in numerous new and renovated buildings as well as more open space, including Penn Park, funded by a $3.8 billion investment. Penn has attracted private investment and generated economic development and has transformed the campus environment. Penn has learned to be a good neighbor; the President stressed that Penn is not expanding to the west of campus into residential communities.

Penn Connects continues to make more progress and garners recognition for preservation, construction, design and sustainability with 13 LEED-certified projects to date.

The Open Forum included seven presentations by Penn staff, students and an alumnus.

The first pertained to a staff member who has worked at Penn full-time and then part-time before returning full-time, but is not able to bridge the time or count the part-time years toward the ‘Rule of 75’ for purposes of retirement benefits. Council’s Personnel Benefits Committee is investigating this and will make recommendations.

A student who had been sexually assaulted while studying abroad spoke about the need for more resources for survivors who are not on campus and the need for a more supportive environment. Sexual assault will be the focus issue at next month’s Council meeting.

Another student spoke about religion as a form of diversity and a desire for more institutional awareness of various religions’ holidays.

Then, four speakers addressed divestment of endowment funds from the fossil fuel industry; some favored divestment and one spoke against it.

A proposal to divest had been put forth by the group Fossil Free Penn in October. As a result, an Ad Hoc Advisory Committee will be formed to determine if the proposal meets the University’s high standards for divestment. Secretary Leslie Kruhly explained that the Committee will consist of faculty, staff, students and alumni. Those interested can self nominate by January 22.

See https://secure.www.upenn.edu/secretary/divestproxy.html