At the February 19 Council meeting, Council secretary Lizann Rode provided a follow-up to concerns raised in the New Business portion of the January meeting for space allocated to students’ cultural groups. She said that meetings have been held with student leaders and representatives from the office of the provost, FRES and VPUL and they continue to have substantive conversations about options within the ARCH and Locust Walk.

Senior Vice President of Development John Zeller gave a presentation on The Power of Penn campaign, which has a $4.1 billion goal. The University established strategic priorities before the campaign launched in 2018. The campaign is scheduled to conclude on June 30, 2021. Penn has a donor-centered fundraising approach with a focus on increased engagement of alumni and the external community. 

There are myriad strategic capital projects included across the campus (see map) for which there is a goal of more than $600 million earmarked. Undergraduate student financial aid and support had a goal of $334 million. That has been reached already; the new target is $425 million. Mr. Zeller urged everyone to engage with the campaign at www.powerofpenn.upenn.edu or subscribe to the Knowledge for Good email, https://powerofpenn.upenn.edu/newsletter-sign-up/

The Open Forum portion of the meeting followed his presentation. There were nine students who presented concerns on topics such as voter turnout, sexual violence reporting, invitations to controversial speakers, but most of the time was spent on issues related to climate change and divesting from fossil fuels (Almanac February 18, 2020). Afterwards, Emily Steiner, Council’s moderator, thanked all the speakers for their eloquent and well prepared remarks.