THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2018 VOL. CXXXIV NO. 11
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
FOUNDED 1885
Deans urge graduate students to vote against unionization
Take Your Professor to Lunch program revamped
MADELEINE LAMON News Editor
MANLU LIU Deputy News Editor
It has been expanded to offer more opportunities for meals
Students were directed to an FAQ page on the Provost’s website
As Penn’s graduate students move closer to a vote on whether student workers can unionize, the University has increased its efforts to prevent the union from forming. Graduate students, led by the prounion organization Graduate Employees Together - University of Pennsylvania, received permission in December 2017 from the Philadelphia National Labor Relations Board to hold an election deciding whether or not they will form a union. While Penn has not been shy about its opposition to graduate students unionizing in the past, administrators now have been taking a more active role in the past week in reminding students of what they see as the possible negative consequences associated with a unionization vote. Provost Wendell Pritchett and Vice Provost for Education Beth Winkelstein sent out an email to all graduate and professional students concerning the upcoming election. Pritchett and Winkelstein wrote that the location and date of the vote had yet to be determined, but that “any graduate student in Annenberg, SAS, BGS, Design, GSE, SEAS, Nursing, SP2, or Wharton who is providing instructional services and/or performing research this term (Spring 2018) or who did so in the Spring, Summer, or Fall term of 2017 is eligible to vote.” They reminded the students that all graduate students would be subject to the decision and directed them to a recently created FAQ page on the Provost’s OfSEE UNIONIZATION PAGE 7
JULIA SCHORR | DIGITAL DIRECTOR
University may have to give the money back. Information on individual donations is privileged, and therefore this cannot be confirmed at this time. “The actions we took were consistent with our values and ethical principles, and consistent with our legal obligations. The scholarships will be honored under a new name: University Scholarship,” Vice President for University Communications Stephen MacCarthy wrote in an email to The Daily Pennsylvanian. MacCarthy did not provide further comment on the nature of the contract between Wynn and the University and did not address directly whether Penn has any inten-
The Office of New Student Orientation and Academic Initiatives is rolling out an expanded program for students who wish to take their professors or graduate student teaching assistants to lunch. The revamped program was announced after the Campus Conversation, which was the same time Penn announced it would hire five new staff at the Counseling and Psychological Center and undergo an extensive operations review of the efficiency and structure of CAPS. Before this semester, the Take Your Professor to Lunch program had not changed within the last decade, Director of New Student Orientation and Penn lecturer David Fox said. The program began as an initiative of the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education before it became the responsibility of the administration. Recently, it has been expanded as a part of the University’s Campaign for Wellness. While the older version allowed students to book lunch with a teacher once per semester, the new system allows students to initiate up to five lunches or dinners per semester with professors, teaching assistants, or mentors. Each meal, however, must be with a different instructor. Students can dine with their instructors at a variety of Penn’s dining halls, including 1920 Commons and Kings Court English House, and can invite up to two additional students as guests. For lunch, students can dine with their professors or mentors at the University Club.
SEE WYNN PAGE 10
SEE LUNCH PAGE 10
Experts discuss decision to revoke Wynn’s honors Many disagree about whether Penn’s action again former trustee Steve Wynn violated due processs LUCY CURTIS | Staff Reporter
Following allegations of sexual misconduct against 1963 College graduate and former trustee Steve Wynn, Penn removed his name from Wynn Commons, revoked his honorary degree, and removed his name from a scholarship made up of his donations on Feb. 1. In the aftermath of this decision, questions have arisen concerning due process, legal ramifications, and whether Penn would be required to reimburse Wynn after removing his name from campus. According to Penn Law School professor David Hoffman, an honorary degree is neither paid for nor earned so it can be revoked at any time. “I don’t think anyone has any legal right to the honorary degree,” Hoffman said.
A four-year degree is a different matter, however. According to Hoffman, a school could revoke a degree if it were to become clear that fraud or misrepresentation were present while a student was earning it. Barring that situation, once a four-year degree is earned, it cannot be taken away. The second legal question that comes to light is whether or not removing Wynn’s name from campus violated any contract made when he donated to the University. “Universities and other charitable institutions routinely make agreements where they agree to take money for, in part, the promise to put someone’s name up,” Hoffman said. He added that depending on the kind of contract Wynn’s 1995 $7.5 million donation was accompanied by, the
Ruth Bader Ginsburg discusses politics, #MeToo, and millenials Penn Law celebrated her 25 years on the Supreme Court MAX COHEN & JAMES MEADOWS Staff Reporters
Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was honored by Penn Law School on Monday, in celebration of her 25 years of service on the Supreme Court. Her visit was split into two events. The first, a Penn Law symposium, was held on campus in the Michael A. Fitts Auditorium during the early afternoon. There, Ginsburg fielded questions from law students and a five-person panel consisting of two judges, a Penn professor, a prominent women’s rights advocate, and a journalist shared their memories of the justice with the crowd and commemorated her career. The second appearance was held in the National Constitution Center at 525 Arch St. where Ginsburg was honored as the annual Owen J. Roberts Memorial Lecturer with Penn Law. At both events, Justice Ginsburg offered glimpses into her career in law and weighed in on contemporary issues such as the
#MeToo movement, the national political climate, and her hopes for future generations. At the first event, one panelist, John Owens, a circuit judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, clerked under Justice Ginsburg in the late 1990s and marveled at her work ethic. “I’ve never met someone who tries so hard to get to that right answer,” Owens said. “To see how hard she works is very inspiring.” The #MeToo movement has been a prominent topic in Ginsburg’s recent public appearances. She offered support for the movement, while expressing her desire that change affected by the movement help people at all levels of society. “I do hope it will not be just Hollywood stars and other prominent people, that it will go down to the maids in the hotel,” Ginsburg said. “I’m hopeful this movement will succeed in stopping something that should’ve been stopped a long time ago.” During the evening lecture, Ginsburg recounted one of her own encounters with sexual as-
sault as an undergraduate at Cornell University where a teaching assistant offered her an edge on an exam in exchange for sexual favors. “I confronted him and said, ‘How dare you do this?’ It’s just one of the many stories women of my vintage have experienced.” Asked about whether or not the momentum of the #MeToo movement will translate into new legal precedents, she replied, “The laws were always there, it takes people to use them.” When the moderator of the second event Jeffrey Rosen, who is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, steered the conversation toward the national political climate, Ginsberg offered the advice that her mother-in-law gave to her on her wedding day decades before: “In every good marriage it helps, sometimes, to be a little bit deaf,” Ginsberg counseled. “And that is advice that I have applied to 56 years of marriage, and more recently in my current workplace.” When Ebenezer Gyasi, a second-year Penn Law student, questioned her during the earlier
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MONA LEE | NEWS PHOTO EDITOR
Her visit was split into two events: a Penn Law symposium during the early afternoon and an evening event at which Justice Ginsburg was honored as the annual Owen J. Roberts Memorial Lecturer.
appearance about what made her positive about the United States in the long run, Ginsburg responded optimistically. She recalled her time as a college student — when the Red Scare gripped the country and
civil liberties were at risk — and said the country “got over that period.” Ginsburg added that she believes the new generation of Americans to be a force of change, noting that she was heartened by
the recent Women’s March following the presidential election. “If liberty dies in the hearts of the people then no court can restore it,” she said during her closing statements, “but I have faith in this generation.”
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