On Thursday, school officials announced an increase to financial aid of 6.4% to a record $328 million.  This goes along with the new financial aid program titled ‘The Quaker Commitment” which focuses on support for middle-income families.   Today 46% of undergraduates receive financial assistance with 21% receiving Pell grants.  As part of the Quaker Commitment, the income for families to receive full undergraduate tuition will increase to $200,000 and the value of the family home will no longer be included in the assets being reviewed.   Interim Penn President Larry Jameson believes that Penn’s reputation will improve by making a Penn education more widely available to lower and middle…

The Quakers hoped to finish the road trip weekend in a better mood after their match against Brown, following a heartbreaking close game against Yale the previous evening. However, the Penn men’s basketball team lost to Brown 82-72 without ever taking the lead.  “I thought we were just very inconsistent on the defensive end and, at times, on the offensive end,” coach Steve Donahue said. “[We were] just not playing up [to] how well you have to play to win on the road.” The Quakers (6-16, 2-7 Ivy) battled to keep up with Brown in an intense first half, but they could not overtake the Bears (12-10, 4-5), and they…

On Thursday, Philadelphia City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier presented a resolution to the City Council condemning President Donald Trump, a 1968 Wharton graduate, for calling himself a king.  At the City Council meeting on February 20, Gauthier, who represents University City in Philadelphia’s third district, introduced the resolution. Trump took action in response to a Truth Social post on February 19 in which he exclaimed, “Long live the king!” in honor of the Department of Transportation’s decision to revoke its approval of New York’s congestion pricing system.   In addition, Trump’s statement and a parody of a TIME magazine cover featuring the president with a golden crown were posted on official White…

The National Institutes of Health’s decision to cap indirect cost funding may result in the loss of millions of research dollars and hundreds of jobs, according to a Penn lawsuit filed on Monday.  Senior Associate Vice Provost and Senior Associate Vice President for Research Elizabeth Peloso provided an affidavit in the lawsuit filed on February 10 that led to a judge temporarily stopping the funding cuts. The “vital research at Penn is made possible by funding provided by the NIH,” she stated in the document, naming Penn as one of the “top” research universities in the country. According to Peloso, Penn’s research system currently has 1,803 active NIH awards totaling…

As the most recent in several actions to eliminate mentions of equity initiatives, policies, and practices on University websites, Penn has wiped the main Diversity and Inclusion website. The website, now called “Belonging at Penn,” shut down all of its content on February 14th, including demographic information, student affinity groups, and details about academic inclusion initiatives. A brief three-sentence statement regarding Penn’s “commitment to equal opportunity” can be found on the updated website. “We have initiated a review of our programs in this area to ensure that they are both consistent with the new federal government guidance and Executive Orders, federal, state, and local law, and our values,” the website…