The January 2024 University Council meeting took place on Wednesday, January 31, in the Hall of Flags in Houston Hall. Interim President J. Larry Jameson introduced himself and stated that he had “a lot to learn” about the “vast enterprise” that is Penn. He thanked the members of Council for their leadership and service.

Moderator Melissa Wilde, professor and chair of sociology in the School of Arts & Sciences, joined Interim President Jameson in thanking the members of Council for their service and reminded those present to remain respectful while making remarks.

Lizann Boyle Rode, associate vice president in the Office of the University Secretary, addressed topics raised by the 23 speakers at the November 29, 2023, open forum meeting. She described improvements to the distribution of menstrual products on campus (including installing new dispensers and transitioning extant ones to not require payment), resources in the Weingarten Center available to disabled students with building accessibility issues, and ways faculty members can participate more actively in University governance; and stated that, while pro-Palestine rallies on campus are not prohibited because of their content, concerned parties may submit concerns regarding potentially controversial events to the Committee on Open Expression, which decides whether the guidelines would be violated. In response to open forum speakers’ thoughts on Penn’s response to the Israel-Hamas War, Ms. Rode reiterated Penn’s commitment to the rights to safety and open expression of every member of its community and described the work of the Presidential Commission on Countering Hate and Building Community, which will address these broad challenges.

Sigal Ben-Porath, MRMJJ Presidential Professor in the Graduate School of Education, and Dawn Maglicco Deitch, executive director of the Office of Government and Community Affairs (OGCA), gave the third focus issue presentation of the academic year, Democracy and Civic Engagement. Ms. Deitch described the work of Penn Leads the Vote (PLTV), a long-standing student-led voter engagement organization housed in the Netter Center for Community Partnerships. PLTV and OGCA implement a data-driven plan to increase civic engagement on Penn’s campus. Thanks to their efforts, Penn has been named to national lists of the most engaged college campuses.

Dr. Ben-Porath, the executive director of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Program, provided an overview of the program. Established in 2019 with a $6 million grant from the foundation, Paideia seeks to cultivate a culture of community engagement in its students. Each year, a class of 25 sophomore students is admitted into the program. These students take interdisciplinary, Paideia-specific courses taught by faculty from across Penn’s schools and participate in civic-oriented events that bring to campus speakers representing a variety of ideologies.

In the new business portion of the meeting, speakers raised topics that included:

• A call for transparency during Penn’s search for its next president.
• The need to make graduate education at Penn more accessible across the University.
• A request for Penn to make alumni privileges available to postdoctoral trainees.
• Concern about the housing difficulties of graduate students living off campus.
• A request for Penn to install gender-neutral bathrooms as part of renovations in the Quad.
• On-campus housing shortages for rising juniors and seniors.
• Concern regarding a perceived lack of empathy and support for Muslim members of the community.
• An announcement that the 2024 Take Back the Night march will include a resource fair to connect survivors of sexual assault with support.

The next University Council meeting will be held on February 21, 2024, and will include an open forum.