TO:  Members of the Faculty Senate

FROM: The Faculty Senate Tri-Chairs

• Tulia G. Falleti, Class of 1965 Endowed Term Professor of Political Science, Chair of the Faculty Senate
• Eric A. Feldman, Heimbold Chair in International Law and Professor of Law, Chair-Elect of the Faculty Senate
• Vivian L. Gadsden, William T. Carter Professor of Child Development and Education, Past Chair of the Faculty Senate

SUBJECT: Faculty Letter to Penn Trustees

The letter below was circulated by email to all standing faculty on December 14, 2023, with an invitation to co-sign and to share with other members of the faculty. It was forwarded to the Penn Trustees in care of Medha Narvekar, Vice President and University Secretary, on December 18, 2023, on behalf of the letter’s signatories, together with the list of 1,214 signatures received as of the time the letter was transmitted.

To the members of the Board of Trustees:

The undersigned faculty members of the University of Pennsylvania unambiguously reject the view that the Board of Trustees, the schools’ Boards of Advisors, alumni, or donors should determine Penn’s academic priorities or governance policies. The Faculty Handbook makes abundantly clear that the Board of Trustees delegates the management of the University to the President and the decision-making process to the shared governance of faculty, staff, and students (Section 1.A.). The current efforts of some members of the broader Penn community to reverse our longstanding governance structure threatens the freedom of the faculty to conduct independent and academically rigorous research and teaching. Penn’s academic excellence is built upon decades of shared governance in which the faculty play a central role in crafting policies around teaching, research, and all other aspects of our University’s academic mission, grounded in the principles of academic freedom and open expression. These principles and policies strengthen our process of knowledge creation and dissemination, while making our institution one of the foremost leaders in higher education in the U.S. and globally. We oppose all attempts by trustees, donors, and other external actors to interfere with our academic policies and to undermine academic freedom.