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Author: Susan Snyder

  • New University of Delaware president runs with staff and students and wants better relationships with state and local governments

    New University of Delaware president runs with staff and students and wants better relationships with state and local governments

    On Thursdays at 7 a.m., Laura Carlson is by the iconic granite and bronze sculpture of an open book on University of Delaware’s Mentor’s Circle.

    As the new university president, she invites faculty, staff, students and community members to join her there and run a five-kilometer loop through campus. Typically 10 to 20 people show.

    “Rain or shine, we run down to the track on South Campus, loop the track and come back,” said Carlson, 60, who began the treks as interim president last summer and is continuing them in her permanent role, which started earlier this month.

    University of Delaware president Laura Carlson (right) goes on one of her Prez Runs in Mobile, Ala., where the Blue Hens won a bowl game, defeating Louisiana-Lafayette 20-13 on Dec. 17, 2025.

    The “Prez Run” is just one way the psychology scholar — who plans to run her 15th Boston Marathon in April — is building relationships on campus, with alumni and with the community and state. She also runs with alumni, employees, and students during events in other cities.

    University of Delaware appoints interim president to the permanent post

    “I’ve heard that the alumni association is going to put it on their bucket list of 10 things to do before you graduate,” she said.

    Carlson, a Dartmouth alumna who got her doctorate in cognitive psychology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, is focused on strengthening relationships with state and local governments and internally with faculty. Finding new revenue streams to plug holes from terminated federal grants and recruiting students in new national markets also are on her list.

    The Massachusetts native previously served as provost for three years, having come to Delaware after 28 years as a faculty member and administrator at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. She’s the first internal candidate to get the presidential appointment in about 50 years.

    She follows Dennis Assanis, who resigned in June and is now chancellor of the University of California at Santa Barbara.

    Laura Carlson, president of the University of Delaware

    Carlson is visiting classes each semester, including elementary organic chemistry and mechanical engineering.

    “I want to make sure I don’t feel distant from the rhythm of the academic year,” she said. “Anything we value, we should put attention on it.”

    When building a team, she asks participants to pick their top 10 values, such as family, world peace, humor, and authenticity, and rank them. Her top value is always purpose.

    University of Delaware president Laura Carlson talks to fellow runners during one of her Prez Runs in Mobile, Ala., where the football team won a bowl game.

    “I want to live a life of purpose,” she said.

    Partnering with state and local government

    She’s attempting to change the way the partnership with the state is viewed.

    “We lead with what does the state need from us, as opposed to what do we need from the state,” she said.

    Southern Delaware, where the university has a campus in Lewes and Georgetown, has housing, healthcare, education and workforce development needs, and the university can help, Carlson said.

    She said she can envision a public-private partnership for new housing in Lewes, she said, or a classroom building with event space for the community.

    Laura Carlson, president of the University of Delaware, discusses her priorities.

    “If we are a university for the whole state, we need to show up in the whole state, and we need to be responsive to the needs across the state,” she said.

    She’s also looking at the possibility of more residential space for the main campus in Newark — possibly a “sophomore village” — through a public-private partnership. The university has about 7,100 residential beds in Newark.

    “That would take some of the pressure off the city,” she said, noting the tight rental market, and adding that parents and students may prefer on-campus housing options.

    She also wants to help Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer with his plan to bring medical education to the state. Delaware remains one of few states without a medical school. The idea is not to build one from scratch but to partner with an existing medical university, she said.

    “We’ve been in conversations with Thomas Jefferson” in Philadelphia, which has a nonexclusive memorandum of understanding with the state to explore a partnership, she said. “What we offer is the classrooms, the lab space, and so on to do kind of the first part of that medical school type of training.”

    Penn cut doctoral student admissions by 20%, citing Trump’s threats to federal research funding

    Federal government

    Dealing with the federal government could be more challenging. The university has lost 41 grants worth $33.9 million since President Donald Trump took office last year. Those span engineering, biological sciences, arts, and sustainability, she said, and impact 117 graduate students and 27 postdoctoral students.

    In total, $1.1 million in salaries and $2.1 million in stipends have been lost, though the university has been working to find other funding through foundations and industry, she said. No one has lost their job, she said.

    “I’ve been really working hard on … kind of strengthening those relationships with our business community,” she said.

    The school also has experienced a 19% decline in international graduate students following Trump’s pause on student visas and other policies, and the school lowered its doctoral admissions by 19.5% last year amid concerns over federal funding. What will happen with doctoral admissions this year is unclear.

    “Each college is sort of looking strategically program by program and trying to figure out what is the right size for their doctoral programs,” she said. “If they’re compressing their number of students coming in, it’s because they’re trying to prioritize funding for their existing students.”

    La Salle University saw a 40% jump in first-year students, as schools across the region see enrollments trending up

    The school’s overall enrollment of more than 24,000 rose last fall and applications are up 10%, she said. But as another drop in high school graduates begins this year, the university has found success in new recruiting areas such as Colorado and Wake Forest, N.C., where the football team played as part of the school’s entry into Conference USA, she said.

    “We’ve been very strategic about putting marketing in there, convening alumni and really using that as a way to establish ourselves more nationally,” she said.

    Biden Institute — and a conservative counterpart

    She said the university is on course to build Biden Hall, an academic building named for former President Joe Biden, a Delaware native. It will house the school’s Biden School of Public Policy and Administration and the Biden Institute on government theory and practice. The design phase likely will begin this spring.

    Fundraising is also continuing for Siegfried Hall, which will include the Institute for Free Leadership and Enterprise. The donors, Robert L. Siegfried Jr., a certified public accountant and his wife, Kathleen Marie (Horgan) Siegfried, have said they wanted to bring a “conservative” vision and offer a balance to the Biden Institute.

    Carlson said she doesn’t view the halls as conservative and liberal, but rather places where ideas can be vetted. She noted the Biden Institute is nonpartisan.

    “Siegfried is a think tank on conservative economics, but part of that building will be also to sort of question the limits of those policies,” she said. “That’s what we do in any discipline.”

    Personal life

    Here are a few fun facts about Carlson, whose husband, Robert West, is a professor of psychological and brain sciences at the university.

    Last book read: Chris Whitaker’s All the Colors of the Dark.

    Favorite band or musical group: Bruce Springsteen.

    Favorite food: Indian. Greek.

    Favorite vacation spot: “I spend so little time at my house. Some of my best days on break are if you don’t even get out of your pajamas.”

  • A Philly-area university prof is competing in the Jeopardy! tournament of champions

    A Philly-area university prof is competing in the Jeopardy! tournament of champions

    As Joshua Weikert shared ground rules for quizzes in his early morning international relations class, he sought to put his students at ease.

    “I don’t want you stressing out about these,” he said Tuesday, as the new semester got underway at Immaculata University in Chester County. “I myself was a terrible student.”

    Weikert, 47, of Collegeville, may not have been a star student, but he sure knows a lot.

    The politics and public policy professor will compete on Jeopardy! 2026 Tournament of Champions at 7 p.m. Friday on ABC, having won six games when he was on the show in March.

    Joshua Weikert teaches a class in international relations at Immaculata University.

    Over a couple weeks, Jeopardy! shows will feature him vying against 20 other champions, including Allegra Kuney, a doctoral student at Rutgers University’s New Brunswick campus, and Matt Massie, a Philadelphia lawyer who moved to the area in 2024, who also will appear on Friday’s show.

    Friday’s match is a quarter-final, and if Weikert wins, he’ll advance to the semifinals. (Kuney won her quarter-final Tuesday.)

    Weikert won about $103,000 when he competed last year, 10% of which he donated to a memorial scholarship fund named for his late friend, Jarrad Weikel, a Phoenixville man who died unexpectedly at age 40 in 2022. The winner of the champions tournament —which will conclude sometime in early February — will take home a grand prize of a quarter million.

    Weikert will watch the show Friday among family and friends — including his fellow contestant Massie — at Troubles End Brewing in Collegeville, which named one of its beers after him. It’s an English Bitter, one of Weikert’s favorites, called “Who is Josh?”

    At Immaculata, a Catholic college where Weikert has taught since 2016, students and staff are stoked. A campus watch party is planned, President Barbara Lettiere said.

    His appearance last year, she said, has put a welcome spotlight on the school and brought an outpouring of enthusiasm from alumni. On tours, some prospective students and their parents who spot Weikert have recognized him, she said.

    “I never knew that this show was as watched as it appears to be,” she said. “Win or lose, Immaculata wins.”

    Student Ben Divens talks about his Jeopardy-star professor Joshua Weikert.

    Ben Divens, 19, said it’s “jaw-dropping” and “surreal” to know his teacher will compete in the Jeopardy! champion tournament.

    “I knew from the first time I met him he was a super, super smart person,” said Divens, a prelaw major from Souderton.

    “He’s guided us so much in our major already,” added Bailey Kassis, 18, a political science major from Fort Washington.

    “He’s guided us so much in our major already,” student Bailey Kassis said about her professor Joshua Weikert.

    An early gamer

    Weikert said he has watched Jeopardy! ever since he can remember, probably since 1984 when he was 6, and it came back on the air with Alex Trebek as host. He grew up just outside of Gettysburg in a family that loved to play games, he said.

    “We took them very seriously, which is to say that they didn’t just let the kids win,” he said of his parents, both of whom had accounting degrees. “We were destroyed routinely in the games we played.”

    About his performance as a student, he said he often skipped his homework.

    “Just give me an exam,” he said, describing his attitude at the time. “I’ll pass it.”

    He got his bachelor’s degree in international relations from West Chester University, master’s degrees from Villanova and Immaculata, and his doctorate from Temple. He also attended the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, where he studied modern standard Arabic while serving in the U.S. Army.

    Joshua Weikert sets expectations for students as a new semester gets underway at Immaculata University.

    In addition to teaching, he also works as a policy adviser to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives under state Rep. Joe Webster, a Democrat serving part of Montgomery County. He vets legislators’ ideas and offers ideas of his own.

    “The only thing they’ve ever told me no on was [when] I tried to abolish the Pennsylvania Senate,” he said.

    So many bills pass one body, then die in the other, he explained. If there were one legislative body where all House and Senate members served, that might be different, he said.

    Weikert’s office walls are lined with framed newspaper front pages highlighting major events: “Nixon Resigns,” “Nazis Surrender,” “Man Walks on Moon,” “Kennedy Shot to Death.”

    “Every once in a while, I just get up and read one of the stories,” he said.

    He got them from his mother-in-law’s basement and put them up after his wife told him his office needed some decor.

    Weikert’s status as a Jeopardy! champion makes clear he’s a fast thinker. He’s also a fast talker.

    “I don’t really drink caffeine. I just talk this fast,” he told his students.

    His wife, he told the class, tells him to slow down.

    “Keep up,” he tells her, he said.

    The road to Jeopardy

    Since his mid-20s, Weikert has been trying to get on Jeopardy!. Years ago, he got a call from the game show, but he put the caller on hold to get to a quiet place. They hung up.

    “I was like, well, I guess I missed that opportunity,” he said.

    But he kept trying and started taking the online tests, which typically draw 200,000 participants annually. In 2024, he got an email, inviting him to take the test again — and then again under Zoom surveillance.

    Next came a virtual audition and practice game in August 2024. That earned him a place in a pool of about 3,000 people, of whom a few hundred eventually became contestants.

    Weikert got the call last January and was invited to fly to California the next month to compete.

    In reality, his varied interests and life path had already prepared him for the show. He reads a lot. He’s a fan of historical fiction, pop culture, and movies. His work as a public policy scholar helps, too.

    But to try and up his game, he read plots of Shakespeare plays and a book on great operas. He flipped through lists of presidents and vice presidents. His wife, Barbara, a Norristown School District middle school music teacher, read questions to him from old Jeopardy! shows. He knew about 80% of the answers, he said.

    That, however, didn’t stop him from having panic dreams of being on stage and knowing nothing.

    The toughest category for him, he said, is popular music. Movies, history, and politics are his strongest.

    But the hardest questions, he said, are the ones with four or five strong possible answers.

    “Getting a Jeopardy! answer right is more about knowing what it’s not than what it is,” he said.

    Ultimately, he said, it’s impossible to really study for the game show.

    “The odds that something you study would come up is almost zero,” he said.

    It was an intense experience on stage last March, but the staff put contestants at ease, he said. Host Ken Jennings, formerly one of the show’s most successful contestants, told them, according to Weikert: “I promise you something today is going to be a win for you, so just relax and have fun.”

    He has a hard time remembering his winning answers. He readily recalls his dumbest, he said.

    The answer was “sacred cow.” He uttered “holy cow.”

    “Even as it was coming out of my mouth, I knew it was wrong,” he said.

    He’s proud that he only froze on one answer involving lyrics from the B-52’s “Love Shack,” he said.

    There was less pressure competing in the championship match last month, given he was already a winner, he said. But it was harder in that the contestants were the best of the best.

    “During the regular season, it’s a little under a quarter of a second between when you can start to buzz in and when the buzz actually comes,” he said. “In the tournament of champions, that drops to 0.08 seconds.”

    This time, he also prepped by reading children’s books on topics such as basic cell biology, a tip he got from another contestant.

    “It’s the simplest language they can use to convey the information,” he said.

    He also read the book, Timelines of Everything: From Woolly Mammoths to World Wars.

    He most enjoyed the camaraderie among contestants, he said. When filming was over, they hung out in a bar and — watched Jeopardy!.

    “We were yelling out the answers,” he said.

  • Penn calls federal commission’s request for personal employee information ‘unconstitutional,’ ‘disconcerting’ and ‘unnecessary’

    Penn calls federal commission’s request for personal employee information ‘unconstitutional,’ ‘disconcerting’ and ‘unnecessary’

    The University of Pennsylvania in a legal filing Tuesday pushed back against a federal commission’s demand that in effect would require it to turn over lists of Jewish faculty, staff, and students, calling the request “unconstitutional,” “disconcerting,” and “unnecessary.”

    The filing comes in response to a lawsuit filed against the university in November by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, asserting that Penn failed to comply with its subpoena. The commission is seeking employees’ names, home addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses to further an investigation it began in 2023 over the school’s treatment of Jewish faculty and other employees regarding antisemitism complaints that emerged following Hamas’ attack on Israel.

    In its quest to find people potentially affected, the commission demanded a list of employees in Penn’s Jewish Studies Program, a list of all clubs, groups, organizations, and recreation groups related to the Jewish religion — including points of contact and a roster of members — and names of employees who lodged antisemitism complaints. It also sought names of participants in confidential listening sessions held by the school’s task force on antisemitism.

    Jewish students and faculty at Penn ask that their names not be turned over in federal antisemitism investigation

    The request has spurred a backlash from some student and faculty groups, including Penn’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, arguing that the names and personal information should not be turned over to the government.

    Penn has refused to provide the information, and the school doubled down on that position in Tuesday’s legal filing.

    “The EEOC insists that Penn produce this information without the consent — and indeed, over the objections — of the employees impacted while entirely disregarding the frightening and well-documented history of governmental entities that undertook efforts to identify and assemble information regarding persons of Jewish ancestry,” the university wrote in its filing. “The government’s demand implicates Penn’s substantial interest in protecting its employees’ privacy, safety, and First Amendment rights.”

    EEOC sues Penn for failing to release information related to antisemitism investigation

    Also on Tuesday, the Penn Faculty Alliance to Combat Antisemitism, a group of more than 150 primarily Jewish professors, filed a brief in support of the university’s decision not to comply with the commission’s demand.

    “While the Alliance supports the EEOC’s efforts to combat antisemitism at Penn, its members are gravely concerned that the scope of the EEOC subpoena … invokes the troubling historical persecution of Jews and threatens the personal security of the Alliance’s members,” the group wrote in the brief.

    The alliance includes members who have had concerns about antisemitism at Penn, including faculty who were harassed online after attending a trip to Israel following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on the country, said Claire Finkelstein, a professor at Penn Carey Law School, member of the alliance, and faculty director of the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law.

    Among its members are faculty “who have been really on the side of remediating antisemitism, do not believe that concerns about antisemitism are pretextual, do not think that it is a sham issue, and think there are real … issues to address at universities in general.”

    Finkelstein said the alliance has not taken a position on whether the EEOC’s investigation is warranted or needed.

    But the group is adamantly opposed to the subpoena and believes it could discourage membership in Jewish groups at Penn. In its brief, the group notes “the dark historical legacy associated with government lists of Jews,” including how Nazis “frequently demanded that others identify the Jews among them.”

    Penn said in its filing that it had complied with the subpoena except for the list of names and contacts, noting it had provided over 900 pages of materials to the commission. The school noted that it even offered to send notices to all employees about the EEOC’s request to hear about antisemitism concerns with the commission’s contact information.

    The university also asserted that the commission’s demand “is a particularly unjustified use of enforcement authority given the weakness of the underlying charge.”

    The commission, the university argued, has not identified a “single allegedly unlawful employment practice or incident involving employees.”

    “The charge does not refer to any employee complaint the agency has received, any allegation made by or concerning employees, or any specific workplace incident(s) contemplated by the EEOC, nor does it even identify any employment practice(s) the EEOC alleges to be unlawful or potentially harmful to Jewish employees,” Penn said in its response.

    The original complaint was launched by EEOC Commissioner Andrea Lucas, now chair of the body, on Dec. 8, 2023, two months after Hamas’ attack on Israel that led to unrest on college campuses, including Penn’s, and charges of antisemitism. It was also just three days after Penn’s then-president, Liz Magill, had testified before a Republican-led congressional committee on the school’s handling of antisemitism complaints; the testimony drew a bipartisan backlash and led to Magill’s resignation days later.

    Lucas, whom President Donald Trump appointed chair last year, also brought similar antisemitism charges against Columbia University that resulted in the school paying $21 million for “a class settlement fund.”

    EEOC complaints typically come from those who allege they were aggrieved. Lucas, according to its complaint, made the charge in Penn’s case because of the “probable reluctance of Jewish faculty and staff to complain of harassing environment due to fear of hostility and potential violence directed against them.“

    The commission’s investigation followed Lucas’ complaint to the commission’s Philadelphia office that alleged Penn was subjecting Jewish faculty, staff, and other employees, including students, “to an unlawful hostile work environment based on national origin, religion, and/or race.”

    The allegation, the complaint said, is based on news reports, public statements made by the university and its leadership, letters from university donors, board members, alumni, and others. It also cited complaints filed against Penn and testimony before a congressional committee.

    In its brief, the faculty alliance also asserted that the commission could have used other voluntary and informal methods to obtain contact information for Penn faculty and staff, such as setting up a website where people could report concerns.

    Finkelstein, the Penn law professor, said she understands that the commission generally guarantees anonymity to witnesses or complainants, but leaks can occur.

    “When state force extracts sensitive, personal details, those details could (and often do) become public, turning group members into targets for their enemies,” the group states in its filing.

    Penn is creating an office of religious and ethnic inclusion, following concerns about antisemitism on campus

    Penn has done a lot to address antisemitism concerns, said Brian Englander, president of the alliance and a professor of clinical radiology who has been at Penn for 22 years.

    In its brief, the alliance listed antisemitic incidents that occurred on Penn’s campus in 2023, including a swastika left on a Penn building and messages that Penn called antisemitic that were light-projected onto several Penn buildings.

    “Penn is a very different place than what we were experiencing in the fall of 2023,” he said.

    Finkelstein agreed.

    “Penn is not Columbia or Harvard or UCLA,” she said. “The problems that have appeared on those campuses have been much more extreme than what happened on Penn’s campus.”

    “I also think there may be a limit to what university leadership can do in the face of widespread antisemitism that has really affected university campuses all over the country.”

    But there is always room for improvement, she said.

    “To the extent that there is an atmosphere that has made Jewish students and faculty feel unwelcome, or not heard, or vilified, that is something the university has to continue to address and I believe they will continue to address it,” she said.

    Finkelstein was among about 40 faculty who took a four-day, personal trip to Israel in January 2024 and said hey felt attacked for supporting academics there and trying to learn more about the Oct. 7 attacks. An Instagram account by Penn Students Against the Occupation was critical of the trip and accused faculty of “scholasticide.” The EEOC referred to that incident in its complaint.

    “My dean got hundreds of letters,” she said, protesting faculty going on the trip.

    Englander said there probably are members of the alliance who would be interested in talking to the commission.

    “But they would want to do it voluntarily,” he said.

    The alliance, he said, is “straddling this middle line” in that it supports Penn’s refusal to turn over the names, but also recognizes “that antisemitism is a massive problem in the United States right now.”

    “So having government support, whatever the motivation for that, is meaningful,” he said.

  • Pa. public universities didn’t get a state funding increase this year, and they’re preparing for a tough enrollment outlook

    Pa. public universities didn’t get a state funding increase this year, and they’re preparing for a tough enrollment outlook

    The universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education were flat-funded this year for the first time since 2021-22.

    That funding, approved in the state budget deal lawmakers reached in November after a monthslong standoff, follows three years of state funding increases. In 2022-23, the system got a historic 15.7% increase.

    PASSHE includes the 10 state-owned public universities. (State-related universities, including Pennsylvania State and Temple, are funded separately.)

    Cheyney University, which is part of the system, got a special $5 million earmark “to develop and implement an enhanced transfer and workforce development initiative in partnership with a community college.” Cheyney, a historically Black college in Delaware and Chester Counties, and Community College of Philadelphia recently announced a partnership that will allow students to transfer seamlessly from CCP to Cheyney and earn bachelor’s degrees while remaining on CCP’s Philadelphia campus.

    Pennsylvania’s state university system sees first enrollment increase since 2010

    The state system had asked the state for a 6.5% increase in its general appropriation, which currently stands at $625 million. That would have brought in an additional $40 million for the 10-university system, said Christopher Fiorentino, chancellor of the system.

    But he said the system has been preparing for the possibility of a funding freeze and had increased tuition this year for the first time in seven years, raising an additional $25 million.

    Pennsylvania’s state university system sees first enrollment increase since 2010

    “We knew it was going to be difficult, given the revenue situation in the commonwealth,” he said. “We weren’t blindsided by this.”

    He said he was grateful for the system’s appropriation.

    “That’s a huge amount of money,” he said. “… It is a significant commitment to public higher education, and we really appreciate that support.”

    The system has requested a 5% state funding increase for 2026-27, which would allow universities to freeze tuition again, Fiorentino said.

    But Kenneth M. Mash, president of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, the faculty union, said that would not be enough if tuition is to be frozen. And he has concerns about the freeze in state funding this year.

    “Too often, we go in there and act as if this is what we need to maintain the status quo, but the status quo is not good,” he said, citing technology and program needs. “We don’t have the support for students that we should have. We need to start paying attention to the quality of education and make sure it doesn’t suffer.”

    The system has been in a state of readjustment as it has lost about a third of its enrollment since 2010, including merging six of its universities into two entities. The system’s universities are: Cheyney, Commonwealth, East Stroudsburg, Indiana, Kutztown, Millersville, Penn West, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock, and West Chester.

    Planning for a drop in enrollment

    Another enrollment cliff is expected to begin this year as the population of high school graduates begins to drop.

    “The demographics right now going forward are unfavorable, so we have to continue to be prepared for the fact that even if we maintain our market share, we’re going to see declines in enrollment,” Fiorentino said.

    The system is attempting to recruit in new markets and bring back to college those who have some credits but no degree, he said. Older students may want more weekend, night, and online courses, and that is something the system is reviewing, too, he said.

    The system also is contemplating partnering with area doctoral institutions, such as Temple, to bring in doctoral students to teach at the system’s universities. That would save money on faculty hiring, while cultivating new potential talent for the system, he said.

    And the system is reevaluating its programs, he said. Ninety-five percent of students are graduating from half the programs the system offers, he said. Some of the larger enrollments are in business, education, health, and engineering, he said.

    But only 5% of students are enrolled in the other half of the system’s programs.

    “We have to take a look at that,” he said. “How do we redeploy the money that we currently are receiving to make sure that we’re supporting the programs that are critical to the success of the commonwealth?”

    Mash, the union president, said that bringing in doctoral students would create a viable stream of quality candidates, and that, under the contract, the system is permitted to employ a certain number of adjuncts. But he is concerned about eliminating programs with lower enrollments.

    “We should be providing as broad of a spectrum of opportunity for students as we can,” he said.

    Fiorentino said he was pleased to see Cheyney get the additional funding. The school, which has struggled with enrollment, saw an increase of 234 students — nearly 38% — this year, the highest percentage increase of any school in the system. Cheyney enrolls 851 students this year, its highest enrollment since 2014.

    The new effort will allow Philadelphia students to get a Cheyney degree without having to travel to the rural campus, he said.

    “A lot of their market is Philadelphia,” Fiorentino said of Cheyney, “and for a lot of the Philadelphia students, transportation has become more and more difficult.”

    Temple and Penn State were flat-funded again this year. Temple said in a statement that it was grateful to see the budget pass.

    “We also continue to be deeply grateful for the ongoing financial support that the university receives to reduce tuition costs for Pennsylvania residents,” the school said.

  • A former nun and her husband give $5 million to Neumann University for its nursing program

    A former nun and her husband give $5 million to Neumann University for its nursing program

    When Jackie Fegley, a former nun, got married 51 years ago, money was tight. So she borrowed a dress from a friend.

    And when her husband looked at her nurse’s salary the first year he did her taxes, he said: “Do you know you’re borderline poverty?”

    But all that changed over the ensuing decades, and on Friday, Jackie and her husband Bill Fegley Jr., who made his career in accounting, gave a $5 million gift to Neumann University. Jackie is a 1971 graduate of Neumann — then called Our Lady of Angels College.

    Neumann University needed housing. A local convent had space. Now, nuns and students share a ‘dorm.’

    She also spent 10 years as a nun with the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, which founded Neumann in 1965.

    It’s the largest single gift Neumann — a Catholic university in Aston, Delaware County — has received from an individual, and the university in recognition named its nursing college The Jacquelyn Wilson Fegley ’71 College of Nursing.

    “Bill and I were both lucky to receive a good education,” said Jackie, 81, who lives in Blue Bell with her husband, a Drexel University graduate. “So we decided that’s where we’d really like to give our money.”

    Chris Domes, president of Neumann University

    Neumann President Chris Domes said $4.5 million will be used for undergraduate nursing scholarships for students with the most need and highest achievement, and the other $500,000 for lab equipment. The scholarships will begin to be awarded in the fall, with 22 to 25 students benefiting each year and continuing to get the funds over four years.

    Neumann University to purchase convent property of founding order, almost doubling size of campus

    Nursing is the largest major at Neumann, with 368 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled. That’s about 17% of the 2,174-student body.

    “If the scholarships give somebody an opportunity to change their life, it’s amazing,” said Bill, 78, who started his public accounting career with Arthur Young and then founded his own firm, Fegley & Associates, in 1975.

    Domes said he hopes the gift encourages others to invest in higher education.

    “It sends a signal that Neumann is a place that is financially strong and getting stronger,” he said. “It’s a real sign from Bill and Jackie that they believe in what we are doing here.”

    Neumann University President Chris Domes (from left) and his wife Mary Domes, William Fegley Jr. and his wife Jacquelyn Fegley, of Blue Bell and Neumann’s Nursing Health Sciences Dean Theresa Pietsch at Neumann University in Aston, Pa. on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026.

    Born in Chester, Jackie said she grew to admire the Franciscan sisters at her local parish and stayed in touch with them through high school. When she graduated from Notre Dame High School in Moylan in 1962, she joined the order.

    During her decade there, she taught grade school, including one year at an orphanage where the children ranged in age from 3 to 9. She said that’s when she started to think she wanted a family.

    Temple University receives record $55 million gift from an alum who almost didn’t get accepted

    She got her bachelor’s degree while in the order, first taking classes at St. Joseph’s University and then moving over to Our Lady of Angels when it opened. She was part of the college’s second nursing graduating class.

    “I think there were 10 of us in the class,” she said, including other nuns and lay people. “It was a wonderful experience integrating everyone together.”

    After leaving the convent, she worked as a nurse at Holy Redeemer Hospital in Meadowbrook and Nazareth Hospital in Northeast Philadelphia. In January 1974, she met Bill, who grew up in Tamaqua, at a dance at a local pub. In September of that year, they married.

    They have five children, now ages 40 to 50, who work as accountants, a personal trainer, a doctor, and a minimart operator.

    Jackie has remained in contact with the sisters through the years.

    “I love the sisters,” she said. “I still consider myself a Franciscan, just not a Franciscan sister.”

    Bill — whose accounting firm has since merged with Morison Cogen LLP, where he continues to serve as a partner — has served on the foundation board for the Sisters of Saint Francis and has chaired it for about four-and-a-half years. And nine months ago, he joined Neumann’s board of trustees. He also has served as a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania and an adjunct professor at Drexel and Pennsylvania State University.

    The couple has visited Neumann to see how the educational program has grown and were pleased to see its Franciscan spirit thriving.

    “I was really thrilled to see that this was how it was progressing,” Jackie said.

    The couple attended the naming celebration and gift announcement at Neumann on Friday.

    “We’re just pleased that God put us in a position that we’re able to do this,” Bill said.

  • A car accident derailed his education 25 years ago. Now he’s returning to college alongside others with physical disabilities.

    A car accident derailed his education 25 years ago. Now he’s returning to college alongside others with physical disabilities.

    In 2000, Aaron Deede was an 18-year-old Delaware college student who enjoyed acting and had dreams of becoming a playwright.

    But a car accident left him paraplegic with a traumatic brain injury that upended his plans.

    “It was a little detour,” Deede said.

    Now, at 43, he is returning to college along with four other residents of Inglis House, a nursing facility in Philadelphia’s Wynnefield section for people with severe physical disabilities who use wheelchairs and have conditions such as multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injuries, or challenges following strokes.

    Deede and three other Inglis residents on Monday started online classes — some may go in person in subsequent semesters — at Community College of Philadelphia, with a fifth student scheduled to start this summer. Inglis pays for the students’ education from a donor-supported fund.

    “I love it. I can’t wait,” Deede said Friday during a celebration Inglis held for the new students at its Belmont Avenue complex, giving each of them a backpack to start their journey.

    At right is Aaron Deede a resident of Inglis House. He is starting to take classes at Community College of Philadelphia. At left, Jaclyn Monaco, director of Therapeutic Life Enrichment, offers treats during the celebration for students.

    Dozens of Inglis residents — who range in age from 18 to their 70s — have taken college classes over the years, and some have earned degrees. But this is the largest group to start together since the 1990s, said Jacklyn Monaco, Inglis’ director of therapeutic and life enrichment.

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    “Things sort of ebb and flow as far as the types of resident who move in and their personal goals,” she said. “Sometimes they’re recreational goals. Sometimes they’re physical goals. Sometimes they’re educational goals. At this point in time we have a lot of younger folks who are really interested in pursuing higher education.”

    Nikos Rapach, 21, had been planning to join either the Army or the Coast Guard when he was in a car accident and lost the use of his legs and the mobility of his fingers.

    Nikos Rapach, a resident of Inglis House, sets up at his workstation in the computer lab.

    “I’m not going to be able to swing a hammer, so I have to start using my brain more,” said Rapach, who is from Hazleton.

    He is taking English and trigonometry classes at CCP. He will use the computers at Inglis that have adaptive technology to assist with note-taking.

    “Everything here is a stepping stone for me,” said Rapach, who moved to Inglis in May. “I want to go back home. I want to get a job. I basically want to get my life back on track.”

    He aspires to become a history teacher, he said.

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    “Like they say, if you don’t know your history, you are doomed to repeat it,” he said.

    Deede, who came to Inglis in 2023, also would like to become a teacher, preferably at the elementary level.

    Another resident who is taking classes at CCP aims to become a social worker at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said Jeremy Ault, Inglis’ therapeutic education instructor. Another hopes to become an Urdu-to-English translator.

    Stephanie Shea, 59, who is from Maryland and has a genetic neuromuscular condition, is taking liberal arts classes with the goal of getting a degree.

    “It’s kind of a bucket-list thing,” said Shea, who recently got married to another resident. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to have.”

    Founded in 1877, Inglis House currently serves about 180 residents, nearly 40% of whom are involved in educational activities — not just college. Classes are offered at Inglis in subjects such as history, law, science, poetry, and creative writing, as well as foundational skills like reading and personal finance.

    Aaron Deed (right) and Nikos Rapach are starting taking classes at Community College of Philadelphia.

    Inglis staff accompanied the students to CCP’s campus to take their placement tests, register for classes, and visit’s CCP’s Center on Disability, the office that helps students with disabilities.

    “We suggest accommodations based on their needs,” said Lisa Papurt, coordinator of disability services at the center, which typically serves 400 to 500 students with disabilities per semester.

    Those services could include extra time for tests or technology to assist with note-taking or assistance in communicating with professors.

    Papurt said she is excited to see the Inglis students start their educational journey.

    “I hope to be able to support them through getting degrees, graduating, and moving on to a four-year institution,” she said.

    When students entered their surprise celebration Friday, Ault, the therapeutic education instructor, told them it was time for them to celebrate.

    “I’m so proud of you guys for doing so well this past year,” he said. “You guys have been such a pleasure to teach and be part of your lives really.”

    Ault is helping students prepare for entry into college.

    “I’m working on my writing skills and grammar,” Rapach said. “Jeremy has been giving me essay prompts to help me be a better writer so that when I get to college, I’m not trying to relearn everything.”

    He said he’s excited to get started.

    “I feel good,” he said. “I’m ready for it.”

  • Jewish students and faculty at Penn ask that their names not be turned over in federal antisemitism investigation

    Jewish students and faculty at Penn ask that their names not be turned over in federal antisemitism investigation

    Several groups at the University of Pennsylvania representing Jewish students, faculty, and staff are seeking to protect their names and personal information from being turned over to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which is suing Penn for the data.

    The EEOC filed suit in November after the Ivy League university refused to comply with a subpoena seeking information for an investigation it began in 2023 over the school’s treatment of Jewish faculty and other employees regarding antisemitism complaints.

    In its quest to find people potentially affected, the commission demanded a list of employees in Penn’s Jewish Studies Program, a list of all clubs, groups, organizations, and recreation groups related to the Jewish religion — including points of contact and a roster of members — and names of employees who lodged antisemitism complaints.

    In a legal filing in federal court this week, several groups argued that their personal information should be kept private.

    “In effect, these requests would require Penn to create and turn over a centralized registry of Jewish students, faculty, and staff — a profoundly invasive and dangerous demand that intrudes deeply into the freedoms of association, religion, speech, and privacy enshrined in the First Amendment,“ the groups charged in the filing.

    EEOC sues Penn for failing to release information related to antisemitism investigation

    The motion was filed on behalf of the American Academy of Jewish Research — the oldest organization of Jewish studies scholars in North America — Penn Carey Law School’s Jewish Law Students Association, the national and Penn chapters of the American Association of University Professors, and the Penn Association of Senior and Emeritus Faculty. All the groups include Jewish students, faculty, and staff whose information could be affected, according to lawyers involved in filing the motion.

    No matter the EEOC’s motives, “creating a list of Jews in an era where data security is questionable, against the backdrop of rising antisemitism … and white supremacy, is terrifying,“ Amanda Shanor, a Penn associate professor of legal studies and business ethics and one of the lawyers who filed the motion, said in an interview.

    The groups argued that providing the personal information to the commission could harm future membership.

    “The prospect that the subpoena or a similar future subpoena could be enforced will chill the Jewish community members’ willingness to join and participate in these organizations for years to come,” the filing said.

    And while Penn has resisted compliance, the groups worry that could change if President Donald Trump’s administration applies financial or other pressure, according to the filing.

    Trump administration restores $175 million to Penn after deal reached on trans athletes

    Penn last summer entered into an agreement with the Trump administration over transgender athletes after $175 million in federal funding was paused. Penn agreed to apologize to members of its women’s swim team who were “disadvantaged” by transgender swimmer Lia Thomas’ participation on the team in the 2021-22 season and remove Thomas’ records, giving them instead to swimmers who held the next-best times. The school also agreed to abide by Title IX — the civil rights law that prohibits sexual harassment and discrimination — “as interpreted by the Department of Education” in regard to athletics and state that all its practices, policies, and procedures in women’s athletics will comply with it.

    Lawyers for the groups in the EEOC case pointed to that settlement in their filing.

    “The proposed intervenors cannot leave their rights to chance and must be permitted to protect their rights,” lawyers for the groups said in their filing this week.

    Shanor said while Penn “has been very firm on this in a way that I am very struck by and impressed with,” it is important for the faculty and students to “assert those interests directly and explain to the court from the people who actually would be harmed by this why this is unconstitutional.”

    Steven Weitzman, a professor of religious studies at Penn, said he got involved in part because the EEOC was seeking the names of faculty and staff who participated in confidential listening sessions as part of Penn’s task force on antisemitism.

    “We promised the participants it would be confidential,” said Weitzman, who, as a member of the task force, helped set up the listening sessions.

    Penn provided notes from the sessions, but not participants’ identities, he said.

    As part of the Jewish studies program, his information also would have been vulnerable to the EEOC’s demand. He said even though Penn did not provide the information, the commission somehow got his personal cell number and called last week. He does not intend to call back, he said.

    Asking the university to compile a list of Jewish faculty and staff is wrong, he said.

    “Even if their motives are perfectly benign, they can’t guarantee they will always control that information, and it’s setting a dangerous precedent,” he said.

    Penn declined to comment on the groups’ filing, but in a statement in November, the school said it had cooperated extensively with the EEOC, including providing more than 100 documents and over 900 pages.

    But the private university refused to disclose the personal information.

    “Violating their privacy and trust is antithetical to ensuring Penn’s Jewish community feels protected and safe,” Penn said.

    Penn provided information on employees who complained and agreed to be contacted, the school said, and offered to reach out to employees and make them aware of the EEOC’s request to speak with them.

    The original complaint was launched by EEOC Commissioner Andrea Lucas, now chair of the body, on Dec. 8, 2023, two months after Hamas’ attack on Israel that led to unrest on college campuses, including Penn, and charges of antisemitism. It was also just three days after Penn’s then-president, Liz Magill, had testified before a Republican-led congressional committee on the school’s handling of antisemitism complaints; the testimony drew a bipartisan backlash and led to Magill’s resignation days later.

    Lucas, whom Trump appointed chair last year, also brought similar antisemitism charges against Columbia University that resulted in the school paying $21 million for “a class settlement fund.”

    EEOC complaints typically come from those who allege they were aggrieved. Lucas, according to the complaint, made the charge in Penn’s case because of the “probable reluctance of Jewish faculty and staff to complain of harassing environment due to fear of hostility and potential violence directed against them.“

    The EEOC’s investigation ensued after Lucas’ complaint to the commission’s Philadelphia office that alleged Penn was subjecting Jewish faculty, staff, and other employees, including students, “to an unlawful hostile work environment based on national origin, religion, and/or race.”

    The allegation, the complaint said, is based on news reports, public statements made by the university and its leadership, letters from university donors, board members, alumni, and others. It also cited complaints filed against Penn in federal court and with the U.S. Department of Education over antisemitism allegations and testimony before a congressional committee.

    “Penn has worked diligently to combat antisemitism and protect Jewish life on campus,” Penn said in its November statement about the EEOC lawsuit.

  • Temple, Villanova, and Penn State are among local schools beginning to pay athletes. Here’s how it’s going so far.

    Temple, Villanova, and Penn State are among local schools beginning to pay athletes. Here’s how it’s going so far.

    At local colleges with major sports programs, some student athletes are now getting paychecks — from their athletic departments.

    Pennsylvania State University, Temple, Villanova, St. Joseph’s, Drexel, and La Salle are among the Pennsylvania schools that have begun to directly pay athletes following a settlement last year in federal class-action lawsuits over student athlete compensation.

    The move arguably ends college athletes’ status as amateurs and begins to address long-standing concerns that players haven’t fairly profited from the lucrative business of some college sports.

    Big 5 schools are (mostly) buying in on new NCAA revenue-sharing rules. Here’s what they’re saying.

    It also raises questions about how schools will fund the athletes’ pay and whether equity complaints will arise if all athletes are not comparably awarded. Some also question how it will impact sports that are not big revenue makers.

    Locally, most colleges have been mum on how much they are paying athletes, and some have also declined to say which teams’ athletes are getting money through revenue sharing, citing competitive and student privacy concerns. Villanova, a basketball powerhouse that has 623 athletes across 24 sports, said it will provide money primarily to its men’s and women’s basketball teams.

    Erica Roedl, Villanova’s vice president and athletic director, speaks during a news conference at the school’s Finneran Pavilion in 2024.

    “Our objective is to share revenue at levels which will keep our basketball rosters funded among the top schools in the Big East [Conference] and nationally,” Eric Roedl, Villanova’s vice president and director of athletics, said in a June message after the court settlement.

    St. Joe’s, another basketball standout, said its arrangement is also with men’s and women’s basketball athletes, like its peers in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

    Temple University established Competitive Excellence Funds that allow all of its 19 teams to raise money for revenue sharing, but declined to say which teams are currently distributing money to athletes.

    “Donors could, if they wanted to, make sure their money went to a certain sport,” said Arthur Johnson, Temple’s vice president and director of athletics. “They have that ability.”

    Other local colleges, including St. Joseph’s and Villanova, also launched funds to help raise money for revenue sharing. And all three schools also plan to use athletic revenue.

    Under the revenue-sharing framework established by the court settlement, each college can pay its athletes up to a total of $20.5 million this academic year. Football powerhouse Penn State, which has about 800 athletes, has said it intends to reach the cap, according to a June 7 statement from athletic director Pat Kraft.

    “This is a rapidly evolving environment that we are monitoring closely to ensure our approach remains consistent with applicable rules, while supporting the well-being and academic success of our student-athletes,” said Leah Beasley, Penn State’s deputy athletic director for strategic engagement and brand advancement.

    Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft gives two thumbs up to the student section following a 31-0 win in a football game against Iowa in 2023.

    ‘It’s a job’

    To athletes, revenue sharing seems only fair, given many are so busy practicing and playing through summers and other breaks that they don’t have time to work.

    “It is a job at the end of the day,” said former Villanova University basketball player Eric Dixon, who holds the Wildcats’ record as all-time leading scorer. “You put a lot of time into it every single day, every single week.”

    Players get hurt and can see their sports careers harmed or halted, said Dixon, who grew up in Abington and played at Villanova from 2020 to 2025. College may be their only time to earn money for their sports prowess.

    Villanova’s Eric Dixon drives against Alex Karaban of UConn during the 2025 Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York.

    Dixon didn’t benefit from revenue sharing. But he got money through external name, image, and likeness (NIL) endorsements and sponsorships that the NCAA began allowing in 2021. Dixon declined to specify how much he received, but said it was “seven figures” over four years and allowed him to help his family.

    Like some other schools, Villanova, he said, provided players with financial guidance so they could make wise decisions on how to use their money.

    External NIL arrangements, though, he said, were a little “like the Wild West.” (NIL compensation is allowed to continue under the lawsuit settlement, but deals of more than $600 have to be reported.) Revenue sharing from colleges will offer athletes more predictable income, said Dixon, who now plays for the Charlotte Hornets’ affiliated team in the G League.

    Tyler Perkins, a Villanova junior from Virginia, currently plays for the Wildcats, who won national championships in 1985, 2016, and 2018. While he declined to say how much he is receiving, he said revenue sharing is helping him prepare for his future and “set up for the rest of my life.”

    Maddy Siegrist, also a former Villanova basketball player who now plays for the Dallas Wings in the WNBA, is pleased universities are able to share revenue directly with athletes.

    “It will be interesting to see how it all plays out,” said Siegrist, the Big East’s all-time leading scorer in women’s basketball and Villanova’s overall highest scorer, of men’s and women’s basketball.

    Dallas Wings forward Maddy Siegrist celebrates a three-point shot during a WNBA basketball game against the Chicago Sky in 2024 in Arlington, Texas.

    While the big revenue sports are likely to see the money first, she said, “I would hope there will be a trickle-down effect where almost every sport is able to benefit.“

    A lawsuit spurs changes

    For years, there have been growing concerns that athletes were not getting their fair share of the profits from college sports, which make money on broadcast rights, ticket sales, and sponsorships. Meanwhile, coaches can be among the highest paid in a university’s budget.

    In 2020, former Arizona State swimmer Grant House became the lead plaintiff in House vs. NCAA, a class-action antitrust lawsuit that argued athletes should be able to profit from the use of their name, likeness, and image and schools should not be barred from paying them directly.

    The settlement approved in June of that suit and two others against the NCAA requires the NCAA and its major conferences to pay $2.8 billion in damages to current and former Division 1 athletes. Another provision gave rise to the revenue sharing.

    It initially applied to the major sports conferences: the Big Ten, Atlantic Coast Conference, Southeastern Conference, and the Big 12. Penn State belongs to the Big Ten and the University of Pittsburgh to the Atlantic Coast.

    But other athletic conferences, along with many of their members, decided to opt in to the agreement to remain competitive in select sports. St. Joseph’s, La Salle, Villanova, Drexel, and Temple all are part of conferences participating in revenue sharing with athletes this year.

    “We support student-athletes’ ability to pursue value among their peers and to leverage commercial opportunities that may benefit them or the institution,” said Maisha Kelly, Drexel’s vice president and director of athletics and recreation.

    Temple belongs to the American Athletic Conference, which said its members must agree to pay at least $10 million over three years to its athletes. Johnson, Temple’s athletic director, noted that total also includes new scholarships, not just pay.

    No tuition, state dollars to be used

    Pitt alumnus J. Byron Fleck has called on the Pennsylvania State Board of Higher Education to advise three state-related colleges — Penn State, Temple, and Pitt — not to use tuition dollars, student fees, or state appropriations to fund athlete payments. He also asked lawmakers to take action.

    “It doesn’t relate to any educational or academic purpose,” said Fleck, a 1976 Pitt alumnus and lawyer in California.

    Fleck said he was especially concerned about how Pitt could afford it. Pitt had a $45 million deficit in its athletics department budget in 2023-24, according to Pittsburgh’s Public Source.

    Karen Weaver, an expert on college athletics, higher education leadership, and public policy, said the same concerns about public funds being used to pay athletes have risen in other states, including Michigan and Washington.

    But Penn State, Temple, and Pitt all said in statements that they would not use tuition, student fees, or state appropriations to fund revenue sharing with athletes.

    “Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics is a self-sustaining unit of the university,” said Beasley, Penn State’s deputy athletic director.

    Pitt said it would use athletic revenues.

    In addition to donations, Temple, too, is using athletic department revenues, such as ticket sales, but it is also looking at other “nontraditional ways” to raise money, Johnson said.

    “We’re turning over every stone,” he said.

    Weaver, an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said she worries that as the caps on revenue sharing get higher and costs grow, schools, especially those tight for cash, may start raising recreation and other student fees. The University of Tennessee added a 10% student talent fee for season ticket renewals, according to the Associated Press, while Clemson is charging a $150 per semester student athletic fee, according to ESPN.

    Roedl, the Villanova athletic director, said in a statement that it had launched the Villanova Athletics Strategic Excellence (VASE) Fund to raise money for the payments.

    “Additionally, we are looking for other ways to maximize revenue through ticketing, sponsorships, and events, and identifying cost efficiencies throughout our department,” he said.

    St. Joe’s, which has about 450 student athletes, said that it started a Basketball Excellence Fund to raise revenue and that payments also are funded by the basketball program. Athletes that receive funds “serve as brand ambassadors for the university,” the school said in a statement. “… These efforts have included community engagement — particularly with youth in the community — and marketing initiatives that directly support the Saint Joseph’s University brand.”

    La Salle declined to say how much student athletes receive or in what proportion.

    “We can share that any funds provided to students come from external sources and not tuition dollars,” said Greg Nayor, vice president for enrollment management and marketing.

    Weaver, author of a forthcoming book, Understanding College Athletics: What Campus Leaders Need to Know About College Sports, said plans that call for the bulk of revenue sharing to go to football and basketball players would lead to legal action, charging that female athletes are not being treated equally.

    “Any day now I expect we’ll see a huge Title IX lawsuit,” she said.

  • Accreditor asks Rosemont College for information on public relations announcements, student records, finances

    Accreditor asks Rosemont College for information on public relations announcements, student records, finances

    Rosemont College’s accrediting body has asked the school for information on its student records and finances and policies “to ensure truthfulness in public relations announcements.”

    The private, suburban liberal arts college has until Tuesday to submit a report to the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, according to an announcement on the accrediting body’s website.

    Rosemont announced last spring that it was planning to close for good in 2028 and that nearby Villanova University is purchasing its campus. The college’s enrollment for the fall semester stood at 428, down about 45% from last year.

    Rosemont College enrollment fell by 45%, but many students and professors want to stay until school closes in 2028

    The freshman class of 21 students is just a quarter of the size of last year’s first-year enrollment. And it will be the last freshman class to enter the 104-year-old Catholic college.

    It’s unclear what prompted Middle States to ask Rosemont for the report; the body doesn’t elaborate on its posted actions. Rosemont President Jim Cawley did not respond to a request for comment.

    The questions are a likely indicator that more action is coming, which could be as basic as accepting the college’s report, or could be more serious, such as an accreditation warning. Colleges need accreditation to keep their students eligible for federal aid.

    Financially strapped Rosemont College will merge with Villanova University

    Middle States also asked Rosemont to provide evidence of “fair and transparent policies and procedures regarding the evaluation and acceptance of transfer credits, policies and procedures for the safe and secure maintenance and appropriate release of student information and records, including student athletics” and “full disclosure and financial information … that includes realistic enrollment and budget projections and the assumptions on which they are based, is adequate to support educational purposes and programs.”

    The college in 2022 received a warning from the commission that its accreditation could be in jeopardy because it did not appear to be meeting requirements around planning, budget and academic assessment. But in 2023, the warning status was removed and the school’s accreditation was reaffirmed through 2028-29.

    It could become increasingly challenging for the school to operate as it enrolls fewer students each year until its closure. Another hit could come next year, when NCAA sports are discontinued and more athletes may transfer. Under the merger agreement, Rosemont is expected to receive some financial support from Villanova through 2028.

    Rosemont was one of 13 colleges The Inquirer examined in 2024 and found was in poor financial health, using an index developed by a finance executive at a small college in Illinois. The school had reported operating losses for five straight years through June 2023.

  • These college journalists from Philly-area schools are working to support each other and seek funding for their work

    These college journalists from Philly-area schools are working to support each other and seek funding for their work

    Haverford College senior Jackson Juzang earlier this year had been talking to a school administrator about the need for more resources to support student journalism.

    The administrator, Chris Mills, Haverford’s associate vice president for college communications, asked if there was a network of student newspaper journalists in the region that Haverford could join and seek support from.

    There wasn’t.

    “So I decided to create one,” said Juzang, 22, an English major from Pittsburgh who serves as associate editor of the Clerk, Haverford’s student newspaper.

    Jackson Juzang explains why he started the Philadelphia Student Press Association.

    He established the Philadelphia Student Press Association as a nonprofit and created a board with student editors from 11 college news organizations around the region, including Temple, Drexel, Villanova, St. Joseph’s, La Salle, Rowan, Rutgers-Camden, Bryn Mawr, Swarthmore, Haverford, and Eastern.

    With the slogan “Rooted in Philly, Reporting for All,” the group — which collectively represents about 400 student journalists — is seeking funding from organizations to support student journalism at a time when college budgets are tight and the news industry faces challenges, including rising print costs and lower readership. The association already has held workshops with more planned next year, and its 21-member board meets monthly and discusses common issues and problems and brainstorms solutions.

    “We have so many people coming from different regions, but we are united in the sense that we are all here for the same reason,” said Claire Herquet, an editor at the La Salle Collegian.

    At a recent meeting, members talked about artificial intelligence and what to do if an editor suspects a student writer used it, Herquet said. There were two instances over the past semester when she read an article submission and thought the terminology and phrasing didn’t sound like the writer, she said.

    “If I didn’t have PSPA, I wouldn’t have people to lean on,” said Herquet, 21, a junior communications major from Camden. “It would just be me versus the problem.”

    Herquet manages communications for the association. She has been reaching out to foundations about obtaining grant funding for the association. Some college newsrooms are better funded than others and can give writers and editors stipends.

    She’s hopeful that uniting the newsrooms will result in better experiences for students and more funding.

    La Salle’s publication is only digital; there is no print version. Costs are minimal, but funding would cover professional workshops for students and costs, such as travel, associated with their reporting.

    The Whit, Rowan University’s student news site, prints a newspaper once a week and receives financial support via student government, but print costs are rising, said junior Katie Thorn, who serves as managing editor.

    “We’re trying to figure out with the budget we have if it is possible and what we are going to have to sacrifice to keep our paper printing,” Thorn said.

    Thorn, who is serving as treasurer for the association, said it’s been helpful to learn that other student organizations are facing the same challenges.

    “Journalism as a whole is such a scary world right now,” said Thorn, 20, a journalism major from Mantua, Gloucester County, “and you’re kind of throwing yourself into the fire. Am I going to find a job? Where does my future lie? Having people who support you and uplift you is a great thing.”

    Haverford College president to step down in 2027

    Haverford’s student newspaper has received funding via the president’s office and is able to pay its writers, Juzang said. In January, the Clerk will publish its first print edition.

    But the Clerk would like resources for deeper reporting and investigative work and mentorship, he said.

    Juzang, who hopes to pursue a graduate degree in communication management next year at the University of Southern California, said he’s invested thousands of dollars of his own money to get the association started. He currently works as a research/editorial intern for NBC Sports.

    He said the association also has received support from the Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.

    Juzang said he would like to help schools, including Widener and Lincoln, that used to have student news sites revive them. He also has begun talking to student journalists in other metro areas, including Washington, Boston, New York, and Baltimore, about starting an association for their university newsrooms, he said.

    Mills, the Haverford communications administrator, was pleased to see Juzang take that conversation the two had last March and create a mechanism for student journalists to share their experiences and learn from each other.

    “It’s really important for the students to share resources and knowledge and wisdom,” he said. “For those of us who value student journalism, it’s great to see them prioritizing this and making the time to do it.”