Dear President Jameson:
I am writing to you as a Penn alumnus (College 1972). I grew up in Philadelphia and was the first member of my household to attend college. I read in the Pennsylvania Gazette that the University now has programs to support students from such families, and was enheartened to see this.
I’m writing to you today because of the University’s responses to pressure campaigns over the past year from the Trump Administration. I was glad to read that Penn recently refused to comply with the Administration’s outrageous demand to submit lists of Jewish students, faculty and staff. Likewise, I was happy to see that Penn joined other colleges and universities in declining to join the Compact for Higher Education that sought to usurp control over hiring, admissions and educational practices in exchange for preferential federal funding.
I’m glad that Penn has started to refuse the Trump Administration’s attempts to exert control over Penn and other academic institutions, especially in light of Penn’s previous capitulations–specifically in deleting DEI language from the university website and in retracting athletic records of competitions won by transgender athletes. I was appalled that Penn caved to the anti-trans agenda of Trump and MAGA allies, regarding athletic events that complied with Title IX and NCAA rules in effect at the time transgender athletes like Lia Thompson were competing.
I urge the University to reinstate recognition of competitive achievements by Penn’s transgender athletes and to restore its commitment to DEI practices and policies that were reflected in statements previously published online..
We can expect other demands for capitulation from this out-of-control, anti-democratic regime. I encourage the University to stand firm against current and future attacks by defending its avowed principles of academic freedom and self-governance, and by reaffirming its commitment to a diverse university community.
Sincerely,
John Ascenzi (College, 1972)