Committee on Education, August 8, 2024

COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Thursday, August 8, 2024 10:00 a.m. PRESENT: COUNCILMAN ISAIAH THOMAS, CHAIR COUNCILMAN ANTHONY PHILLIPS, VICE-CHAIR COUNCILWOMAN NINA AHMAD COUNCILWOMAN JAMIE GAUTHIER COUNCILWOMAN QUETCY LOZADA COUNCILMAN MARK SQUILLA

240601 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 - - -

Today's date is Thursday, August 8, 2024. This is the Committee on Education. Again, I want to thank everybody for being here. Thanks folks for being concerned about this important issue and we are ready to get started. I note that the hour has come and a quorum of the Committee is present. Mr. Clerk, can you please call the roll of members who are here in order to determine a quorum.

Councilmember Ahmad.

Present.

Councilmember Gauthier.

Present.

Councilmember Phillips. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601

Present.

Councilmember Chair Thomas.

Present.

Thank you. Chairman, we have a quorum.

Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Throughout the course of today we will hear a lot of comments and public testimony. There will be other members that will be joining us pretty soon and when they come, we want to kind of give them the liberty to put any comments on the record that they feel is important based on today's conversation and today's hearing. A quorum of the Committee is present and the hearing is now called to order. This is the public hearing of the Committee on Education 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 regarding Resolution No. 240601. Mr. Clerk, will you please read the title of the resolution.

Resolution No. 6 240601, authorizing the Committee on Education to hold hearings to examine the sudden closing of the University of the Arts, UArts. The impact this sudden closing will have on the Philadelphia higher education system and most importantly the negative impacts on the current student body and staff and alumni.

Thank you. Is there any members of the Committee that wish to make comments before we get started? (No response.) Hearing none. Mr. Clerk, will you please call the first witness that we have to testify on Resolution 24 No. 240601.

Yes. Can we 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 please have Debora Carrera and Val Gay. (Witnesses approached the witness table.)

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning, Chair Thomas and members of the Education Committee. I'm Dr. Debora Carrera, Chief Education Officer for the City of Philadelphia. Thank for the opportunity to testify on Resolution 240601 which authorizes the Committee of Education to hold hearings to examine the sudden closure of the University of the Arts. I am here today to express my deep concern and disappointment regarding the sudden and unexpected closure of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. The University of the Arts has been a cornerstone of our City's cultural and educational landscape. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 For years, it has nurtured and developed the talents of countless students, providing them with the skills and opportunities to pursue their passions in the arts. It has been a place where creativity flourished, young artists found their voice, and a vibrant community came together to celebrate the richness of artistic expression. However, the abrupt decision to close the University without prior notice or consultation with the City, students, faculty and staff, left many in shock and uncertainty. This action disrupted not only the lives of students who invested time, effort and resources into their education but also the faculty, and impacted staff who have dedicated themselves to fostering the next generation of artists. The lack of transparency and communication surrounding this 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 decision was deeply troubling. As City officials, we should have been informed and involved in the decision that would have profound implications for our City's cultural and educational fabric. The sudden closure raised many questions: What led to this decision, and why was it made without warning? What provisions were made for the students without a place to continue their studies? How will faculty and staff be supported during this transition? And what would happen to the University's facilities and resources? After learning of this closure and understanding the tremendous impact on students and families across the City, the Mayor set out to insure that the Governor's office and all Philadelphia elected officials, including those like Councilmember Squilla, Representative 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 Ben Waxman and Senator Hughes, who were receiving direct outreach from families, would share information and work together. On Sunday, June 2nd, Mayor Cherelle Parker convened various stakeholders to attend a virtual meeting with the University of the Arts President, Dr. Kerry Walk, and the Chair of the University of the Arts Board of Trustees, Judson A. Aaron. In attendance were lobbying firm Bellevue Strategies and federal, state and local government officials. During the call, Dr. Walk informed those in attendance that the University would be closing its doors on Friday, June 7th. Dr. Walk shared that the University could not operate as an institution for financial reasons. The University of the Arts informed the Middle States Commission on Higher Education Coalition, and the 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 University lost its accreditation. Dr. Walk shared a town hall for students and staff was scheduled for Monday, June 3rd. Mayor Parker requested from the University representatives the following: A timeline sequence of events; a plan for students, faculty and staff; a timeline for a teach-out plan; information about the endowment; the plan concerning the multiple facilities. She had clear goals, to ensure students had a place to continue their studies, preferably in Philadelphia, to ensure that staff were paid and contractual obligations met, and to ensure that all students had access to transcripts and personal property. On Monday, June 3rd, the University of the Arts canceled the town hall meeting. On Monday, June 3rd, the 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO.

240601 Mayor's Office and the Mayor's Office of Education met with Bellevue Strategies, the lobbying firm for the University of the Arts, to follow up on the Mayor's request. The Mayor's Office asked for audited financial statements, three years of budgets, and Fitch's bond rating report. Our intent was to understand what precipitated this sudden action and to determine the college's current financial status. On Tuesday, June 4th, the Mayor's Office of Education was made aware of Dr. Walk's resignation. We also learned that the University of the Arts Board brought in a national higher education consulting firm to manage the transition and wind-down process. On Wednesday, June 5th, the Mayor's Office of Education met with representatives from Alvarez and Marsal. Jennelle Beaver shared that 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 she would focus on people, students and staff and Jim Grady would focus on finances. The Mayor's Office of Education emphasized the urgency of communicating with students and employees. The team gave no answers about the causes of the closure and promised a plan and regular communication with the Mayor's Office and other stakeholders. On Wednesday, June 5, City officials organized a meeting with Alvarez and Marsal to specifically discuss the University of the Arts' financial condition. Attendees included Finance Director Rob Dubow, the Governor's Office, Appropriations Staff for the House and Senate, City Council, and other local officials. During the meeting, representatives from Alvarez and Marsal were not forthcoming about the college's actions. They focused on what lay ahead, the school closure, 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 and ensuring students transitioned to schools as identified in the teach-out plan. The University provided Fitch's bond rating report, three years of budget and audited financial statements. On Thursday, June 6th, a representative from Bellevue Strategies notified the Mayor of Bellevue's resignation from the University of the Arts. On Friday, June 7th, the University of the Arts closed. On Monday, June 10th, a call center went live to support the University of the Arts students. Alvarez and Marsal informed the Mayor's Office of Education that Joe Hill from Cozen O'Connor would provide technical support to the City. On Friday, June 14th, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education had a virtual town hall meeting with students and their 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 families. Representatives from the Pennsylvania Department of Education and PHEAA were also in attendance. The Middle States Representative made clear they were not aware of the closure prior to the announcement and the decertification was not the cause of the school's closure. During the event, many students expressed frustration and disappointment with how the University failed to communicate any problems and neglected to have any transition period to allow an orderly wind-down. Students also shared their disbelief that the University decided to close without engaging students or their families. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education shared the teach-out agreements with Moore, Drexel, Temple, Mountclair State College in New Jersey, Point Park and New School University in New York, and 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 Arcadia University. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education worked on additional teach-out plan agreements with Harcum College, Five Towns, Rowan University and Alfred University. They indicated other transfer opportunities for over 40 institutions who didn't have an agreement at that time. On Monday, June 17th, the Pennsylvania House Majority Policy Committee held a policy hearing on the University of the Arts' June 7th closure. On Tuesday, June 18th, University of the Arts held its first town hall meeting.

The Mayor's Office of Education conversed daily with Joe Hill from Cozen O'Connor on support for students needing additional credits for graduation, call center data, housing for students living on campus, and employees. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. com, a Frequently Asked Questions document with information on transcripts and diplomas, tuition reimbursement, transferring to other institutions, and campus and electronic system access. Throughout these check-ins, no further information was provided on what caused the closure of the University of the Arts. On Friday, July 19th, University of the Arts declared bankruptcy. Since the closure of the University of the Arts, myself, I have been in communication with Joe Hill from Cozen O'Connor. The impact of this closure extends beyond the immediate University community. The University of the Arts has been a cultural hub, 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 hosting events, exhibitions, and performances enriching our City. Its sudden absence leads a void in Philadelphia's cultural landscape, affecting not only the students and staff, but also the broader community that benefits from the University's contributions. Thank you.

Good morning. Members of the Committee, Chair Thomas. I'm Val Gay, Chief Cultural Officer for Philadelphia and leader of Creative Philadelphia, formerly called the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy. I'm pleased that Mural Arts is now part of our portfolio, fostering new collaborations. As the first Chief Cultural Officer to sit on the Mayor's Cabinet, I am committed to integrating arts and culture into our City's growth and prosperity as we all work towards making Philly the safest, cleanest, greenest biggest city in the 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 country. I am also an alumna of the University of the Arts, where I earned a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance. Speaking on behalf of Mayor Cherelle Parker at UArts' 146th commencement on May 16th, 2024, I was moved by President Kerry Walk's announcement of a historic partnership with Mural Arts and her assurance to young creatives about their future careers. This was music to my ears as one of my chief goals is to work hard to eradicate the starving artist narrative in Philadelphia. Her words continue to reverberate in my ears and no doubt in the ears of the other 2,000-plus people present to hear her that day. Which is, for me, just one of the reasons the unprecedented closing of UArts has had a devastating emotional as well as financial impact on the 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 community, faculty, staff, students, and associated businesses. I've heard from many distressed individuals, including recent graduates questioning their degrees' value, and current students struggling to rebuild their future. Former faculty and staff are facing unexpected job losses, and many in the arts and culture sector are offering support where they can; hiring buskers on the street, performers on events, design and other digital services, and more. Sadly, it is not enough. UArts sudden closure has left a chasm in our community. This crisis highlights our sector's fragility and the urgent need for dedicated funding. I look forward to working together to strengthen our infrastructure and prevent such losses in the future. Thank you, Councilmember Squilla, for inviting me to speak at 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 this hearing. And I look forward to answering the Committee's questions.

Thank you for your testimony. I want to note for the record that we have been joined by Councilmember Lozada, Councilmember Brooks, as well as the sponsor of the bill, Councilmember Squilla. I do want to take a moment to allow the sponsor of the bill to give any remarks or ask any questions that he may have for the administration.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you all our colleagues for being here on the summer day to have this important hearing. Obviously when everybody first heard of the closure of University of the Arts it was a shock, and I think part of the problem is that it was a shock. Nobody knew it 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 was coming. And so there is so many questions that are left out there. And I really appreciate the administration and the Mayor's office stepping up and Office of Education to try to work through the challenges that were presented to us under nothing that we had done, but understanding the challenges of the students of the University of the Arts, the staff of the University of the Arts, the alumni from the University of the Arts. The businesses, the Avenue of the Arts and what it means to have our City have that cultural hub on the Avenue of the Arts. The vibrancy that it brings to our South Broad Street corridor with the students that are there that are living in the area, that are frequenting our stores and businesses, what it means to us. So when we look at this thing, it is actually even bigger than 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 just the closing of a school. It means so much to the City of Philadelphia, and the administration has been really, really helpful in trying to understand what happened, but also being helpful in where do we go from here, how do we try to fix this, what are our goals in the future. And everything that we have done and we heard from the school district, we heard from some of the other partners who have been accepting some of the students and what their challenges are, trying to make sure that people who pay tuition would keep the same tuition rates as they go and transfer. And there is going to be -- the District Attorney's Office who is involved, there is going to be -- there is an investigation ongoing in this and I'm sure over time we are going to find out what happened and 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 why it happened. But I think the goal right now is to make sure we don't make it worse, right. That nobody is unilaterally going to be able to sell off properties and do things without oversight. The Attorney General has assured us there are certain guidelines that they have to follow. But also, how do we then still continue to keep it as a cultural hub. Whether it's a merger with another university or whatever it was. My question to the administration, because you guys have been great on this, as we progress through those -- if there is an eventual merger of the schools or eventually if this school is eventually still intact, so people could use these as a facility and merge with another university they have to change hands, you can't do this, but would you be able to bring 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 this back to the administration and say if there were challenges, if there was transfer of properties, can we as a City help and offset maybe a transfer tax or something else that would go along with that so that we could do whatever we need to do to make sure anything that comes up in the future, we are there to help.

Rob Dubow is here, I'm going to have him come up because he can definitely speak to that question that you are asking.

Okay. Thank you.

Good morning, my name is Rob Dubow, I'm the City's Finance Director. Yes, we would be willing to have discussions about ways we could help, obviously without knowing the specifics, can't commit to anything, but we would definitely be willing to have discussions. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601

I don't think we are going to have specifics at this point.

Yes, understood.

There is still conversations ongoing. Just, the administration has been great, and they have been out in front understanding the heartbreak and the concerns of what had happened, you know, to the students, to the staff, to the school in general. But we, as a City too, have an obligation to try to help, right, and as the school, as the Avenue of the Arts, what it means to us as a City. I think knowing that we will have those conversations, do whatever we can do, I think is also helpful. Because the state is also looking to help out and other folks. I think it's all-hands-on-deck-type timing where we need to make sure that this great 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 cultural hub and institution that we had, if it had to close, can still stay alive. And what it means for the people, the alumni who had degrees from the University of the Arts, right. What does it mean for students who had applied and now transferred to other schools. These are all things that we are not going to be able to answer today in this hearing. But it's good to know that the administration is still very much engaged in this process, has been engaged since the start, has led the meeting. And we were on several meetings, the administration, before the president resigned, and, you know, asking all those hard questions, why, why, why, what happened. But I think the goal right now is where do we go from here.

Understood.

And how 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 do we make sure that we try to sustain what we had in the best possible way, whatever that may be, and look for answers, look for suggestions, look for ways, if it is a merger, that we still could keep these hubs available and active. And do the best we can as a City to proactively engage that. And then as the investigations play out and what happened, for why that happened in such short time without anybody knowing. We are not going to get that answered today either. But that will come through probably a longer process. But we got to make sure we protect the students, the staff and the alumni and everyone associated with the challenge. So if you are willing to have those conversations, it would be great to continue those talks with the other universities that are interested. And, you know, there is a 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 lot of other things associated with it. There is -- people have to be made whole, right, staffing has to be made whole. All those things have to happen. And we just want to make sure, and I know from all the concerns and complaints I received, people want to make sure that we are watching, we are a part of that, right. And people aren't going to willy-nilly just try to sell off assets and do something without anybody overseeing that. So I think if people could hear, yes, the City is still actively involved, obviously we don't have control over private property, but working with the Attorney General's Office and others, if they could hear those things, I think it gives a little more confidence that they are not going to do additional damage from the damage that was done.

And we 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 definitely are still involved and want to stay involved. We agree with everything that you said about the importance of the institution and making sure that things don't get worse.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Councilmember. Chair recognizes Councilmember Ahmad.

Thank you for your testimony. Good morning everyone. Just speaking up, what my colleague, Councilmember Squilla just said about understanding what exactly happened and how there were no eyes on it. So I don't know if you're the right panel to explain this, but was there any ex officio participation on the Board of UArts from the City or the state? Do you know that? So 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 that's one. And the second piece is, where are all the Board members? They were all there watching this happen, so have they -- I know there is a legal arm to this, the State Attorney General and our District Attorney. I just want to make sure those are the questions, the accountability and the transparency that needs to happen, that's why we have a Board, right. So where are they? Who are they? Did we, meaning government, have any representation there? And this didn't happen over night. Something happened, right. And we need to get to the bottom of it. So we can't go forward if we don't know what happened, to avoid what is going to happen in the future. So I just wanted to know if you had any insight on that.

Yes, thank you Councilmember Ahmad. So we found out 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 when everyone else found out. We were made aware when everyone was made aware.

So there was no Board participation?

There was no 8 Board president.

No, from the City or state government, there was no Board member? So, for example, we have other institutions where we have, from the City, somebody on the board. I'm on the --

Oh, was there someone from the City on the Board? No. No. I'm sorry, I didn't hear that part.

No. So this is one of the things that I would love to look at. We are board members of ex officio on many institutions in our City, whether we own it, even if we don't, right. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 So, for example, the Franklin Institute, I'm on the Board of that. So I'm at the Board meeting, I'm following what is happening, we get the reports. So that would have given us an inkling. I would like, going forward, to see all our major institutions should have participation with us. This happened with the whole Hahnemann closing. We need to be proactive, and all of us, not just administration, Council as well, to see what are the assets in our City and how are we safeguarding them. This is an asset in our City. And this has been a huge impact to our young people who have been giving our City, you know, a future looking perspective, this is how we globalize our City. It's critical that we watch our assets. And so that would be something going forward that we should do an analysis of all 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 institutions in our City, not just UArts, for future issues to see how much engagement do we have and how are we following the fiduciary path as well as the other issues that impact us today. Thank you.

Thank you. Noted.

Councilmember Ahmad, I can say there is a list and we are on many of the cultural assets, as I say, the Board as ex officios. I myself sit on several of them, well I haven't -- the fiscal year just started. But to your point, I think that having an audit of everything to see what's missing. And perhaps if an audit had been done previously, we would have seen that perhaps there was something missing. This is a great opportunity for us to take a step back, look at the entire slate and see what needs to be -- who needs to be on 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 which Board.

I mean, and this is not just for our creative economic space.

Agreed. Agreed, yes.

This is for all our spaces to see. And this is a wake-up call for that.

Agreed.

Yeah, thank you for that. I think an oversight analysis, doing an audit and then putting people in the right places would at least not have us in this darkness about what happened, right. But I would not let those Board members off the hook. They need to be accountable. And I don't know, maybe they are, I just don't know that information. But we should not say just because the president resigned, there is no other access to this 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 information. Somebody knows something. So I think we need to be a bit of a dog with a bone on this and support and make sure our law enforcement arm of what's doing, needs to keep us apprised as well as keeping our community, who has been impacted, apprised of what is going on. Thank you very much.

Before I recognize Councilmember Phillips, I just want to note for the record that we have six panels scheduled to testify here today, with over 17 people that we really want to hear 18 from and we want to be respectful of 19 folks' time. I'm going to ask members 20 of the Committee to kind of limit some of our questions and comments so we can make sure that we hear from every single person who actually got here early today to testify, to communicate their concerns and also offer 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 solutions. Chair recognizes Councilmember Phillips.

Thank you, Chairman Thomas. I will respect and agree in terms of limiting our comments. I was thinking along the lines of Councilwoman Nina Ahmad this entire time, what I was going to add to the conversation was slightly different than what she was saying, but I'm in total agreement. It's the idea that there does -- does the City currently have frequent meetings to understand the financial state of its universities and colleges? Is that in place currently?

It does not.

It is not, okay. I think given the state of higher education, not to say something -- what was done in the past wasn't. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 But given the state of higher education, what we see today, tons of closures, one of the new innovative things we can do is begin to have more frequent meetings with our universities and colleges to kind of have a better understanding of where they are financially and other things that are going on at that particular school, the schools. Because as the administration has pointed out, this was -- you know, the lack of transparency and communication, you know, was troubling, right. I think that for us to avoid that going in to the future of our City, we have to find ways to begin to have better transparency. So hopefully that can be one of the resolutions that come out of the hearing today.

Thank you, Councilmember Phillips. I think that Councilmembers agree with 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 everything our colleagues were saying. I just want to add to the fact that when these institutions close, this is wage tax revenue that we are not collecting as well too and we all seen our five-year projections and we know we need every dollar that's possible. Are there any other questions for members of this Committee for this particular panel? (No response.) Hearing none, I want to say thank you all for being here. Thank you for your due diligence as it relates to this issue and we appreciate the continued effort. Mr. Clerk, will you please call the next panel to come testify today.

Yes. I would like to apologize ahead of time in case I butcher anyone's names. Can we please have David 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 Benjamin DeCristofaro, David Timony and Frank Machos. (Witnesses approached the witness table.)

Good morning. Please start by stating your name for the record and then you may begin with your testimony. For the members of this particular panel, we will allow you to provide your testimony consecutively and then after that we'll open it up for questions for members of the Committee. You may begin. MR. DeCRISTOFARAO: David DeCristofaro, Co-Chair of the University of the Arts Alumni Council and University of the Arts Joint Committee.

My name is David Timony, I'm a graduate of University of the Arts, '97, '98 and I'm currently a professor in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 MR. DeCRISTOFARO: If it's okay, unfortunately my time here is short, but I'm honored to be back here. I would like to share a statement just on behalf of Joint Committee. First of all, thank you Council for having us, and thank you Councilman Squilla for facilitating this conversation. I just flew here on a red eye and came right here from the airport, so if it looks like I'm a guide for getting over mountains, perhaps that's what I am. It's doing that that got me to UArts in the first place in many ways. I'm honored to be back here and UArts means a lot to us obviously, and to Philadelphia. It's an understatement, right. They would be hard pressed to find a more passionate group in Philly than our arts community. It's basically them and Eagles fans, right, 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 go Birds. While at UArts, I got to go to Capital Hill with a recording academy and advocate for changes in copyright law in music that got passed, that changed the way that copyright is approached in music all across the nation forever. I got to lead meetings, while I was still a student, with members of Congress here locally at their offices. Last time I was here in these chambers it was to receive a citation of recognition from the City for my work on the Creative Economy and initiatives with City Councilman David Oh, while I was still a student. My first job while I was a student was right outside in Dilworth Park when the area opened after the remodel, working with Center City District, coordinating their summer concert series Live At Lunch. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 At UArts I was a founding member of our student government, Students For Creative Action. That's what we are doing now, we are taking creative action and trying to find solutions. Could I have done all that at Temple and Drexel? They are fine institutions. Maybe a little bit. What I can tell you is with the small class sizes, the dedicated staff, education and mentorship that UArts provided, that taught and shaped me into the person that could reach those heights and that was capable of doing those things, and their willingness to take a chance on me, I couldn't have found that anywhere else. The strength of dedicated development for students looking to hone their crafts and disciplines to their potential provides a model for how UArts could live on in the future. Last time Val Gay and I 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 spoke, we gave the alumni addresses at the University's commencement ceremonies for graduation. A few weeks before that, I held my little sister's hand for the last time while she struggled to breathe for an hour and-a-half and lost her to cancer. A few weeks after that, my University that I loved that made all those things possible for me, and that has impacted my life every day in the year since graduation, suddenly closed due to this crisis. Sometimes injustice happens and sometimes things happen that are beyond our control. As big as this feels to us, there is bigger things in life and bigger things happening in the world. This just also happens to be something that's a big deal to us. I hope sharing why puts that into perspective, just like those bigger things in life and the world puts things into perspective for us too. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 What we have chosen to do about it is respond as best we can. It's a sensitive situation with a lot of moving parts, especially for those who were employed by the University that now doesn't have money to pay them, right, and where restitution is now driving liquidation. This is a very intrepid situation. We have moved quickly to form a joint committee right away between our co-chairs from the Alumni Council and our chair from the Family and Student Council, David Sconer.

And we have been info gathering, learning and streamlining communications with City and State offices. We've learned that the suddenness didn't allow for the advanced warning we would all want. But there are answers to some of the questions that I think by this time we deserve. And I say that without any 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 entitlement, nothing but humility and gratitude for everything that UArts has provided me with, and the City of Philadelphia. We are in the process of collecting notes from the experts and those with insights in our UArts network and collaborative circle that we have been consulting with and talking to that I will be submitting in a report to Councilman Squilla, to your Council, as well as the offices of Representative Waxman, Senator Salvo and the Attorney General who we have all been in touch with, and hope to aide in whatever process might help us learn the answers to those questions. We've also learned that solutions for reopening are, generally speaking, and we will get into more detail, but a form of merger, acquisition with an accredited institution with the overhead to 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 overcome whatever this mystery deficit would be. Speaking hypotheticals now. Or a new iteration of the school that would be open with new accreditation in several years time. Still, outstanding questions remain and that's problematic to say the least, and it has caused a lot of stress and strain and pain in our community. Those are pretty straightforward, we know what they are. But what is this mystery $50 million deficit that's so bad that they had to close our school and still haven't been able to tell us what it is. That's the big one, right. What weren't -- why weren't the records and resources requested by Middle States Commission provided to them by the accreditation loss deadline? A school should have those on-hand, right. And a few days is a good lead time to be able to gather and submit those. These are just 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 healthy questions that we feel we could use some healthy answers to. Why did a few Board members gather to vote to follow through with the closure? They are not required to vote on something like that, they can, but, you know, they are not required to. Why did nobody explore these other options and work together with the people available to explore that? Again, going back to what's this mystery deficit that was so insurmountable that they shouldn't choose to go those routes? Help us understand. That's our appeal to the folks involved. Just help us understand. Tell us how we can help. Those are some of the questions we are hoping will be answered in this process. No one wins in a blame game, our goals are answers and solutions. And, yes, accountability and oversight for those 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 that are currently managing UArts. Right now there is none. Fortunately we've had folks like Representative Waxman that had been very proactive. Middle States Commission, who has done something that I'm pretty sure no office like them has done in history in terms of walking through this process to make sure that our students were taken care of. We cannot express the gratitude to Councilman Squilla, to them, the different offices that have offered to help and have gotten involved. To our community, please reach out and join us in the pursuit of these solutions. Anything that will help, any information that will help. If you just want to help, please reach out and join us. This is the ultimate UArts group project. Let's save our school. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 Thank you. And thank you for having me. If you have no 4 objection, I'm leaving you in the capable hands of David Timony, and thank you again for the honor of being here.

Thank you.

Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you about my experiences as a UArts recruit, student, and alumnus. My full testimony has been submitted for the record and I'm going to be presenting a shortened version, so I'm going to talk. I'm easy to reach outside of this session. My sister attended UArts a year ahead of me and, because of that, I visited campus and the dorms several times. I met other students and attended events. I knew this was the place for me, Broad Street. The vibrancy of the City and a school 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 filled with individuals as committed to their art and craft as I was. I only applied to one university and was accepted. Imagine me, a 17-year-old kid from DelCo being accepted to my dream school for both undergraduate and graduate study. That was 35 years ago. While at UArts I got what I call the full experience. I lived in the Furness Dorms where I made lifelong friends. I lived on Rodman Street where I rented from a notorious known slumlord just like everybody else. A. Winston's, I drank gallons of coffee at the Last Drop. I made friends with Fergie at McGlinchy's and, as far as I know, my picture is still on the wall at Locust Rendezvous from some strange lonely New Year's Eve with my housemates. I found the joy of playing music for dance and I regularly played 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 with Group Motion at the improv sessions in Philly and later toured with him to Arizona. My ensemble premiered works by well-known avant garde composers. My band played Dobbs, Khyber Pass, Revival, and even here in the Great Hall at UArts. I spoke on a panel at the Philadelphia Music Conference. I was the opening act for Mikey Wild and the Mess. All experiences that reinforced that I had found my place. I volunteered at an after-school program down on 16th and Bainbridge helping kids with their homework and literacy skills. I've wanted to be a teacher since first grade when I met Mrs. Burland. And that's a separate story about the influence one person can make. I completed my practicum at Durham Elementary, which no longer exists, CAPA, and many other mainstays of the School District. I did my 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 student teaching at University City High School and it was that experience that spurred my commitment to staying here. I worked at Tower Records Classical Annex and I worked for the Welcomat right when it became the Philadelphia Weekly. After graduation, I took a job at Girard College where I worked for years as a music teacher and 13 then later transitioned to being a 14 learning specialist. 15 Since 2014, I've been the Chair of Education at Delaware Valley University where I am now a full professor with tenure. I've spent a lifetime in education and I have a clear perspective from which to speak to you today. But what I want you to understand, first and foremost, and maybe most importantly is that I moved to Philly from DelCo in August of 1990 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 and I never left. A first generation college student. The son of a hairdresser and a shipyard electrician. Some of you could probably calculate the economic and social impact of that move, and I'm just one of those people. Every excuse that has been provided by the University of the Arts, exclusively through their representatives, is not nearly enough in part or in whole to warrant the closure of a university. Enrollment, rising costs, asset and debt management, the upward creep of the discount rate, these are common problems. Nothing new or remarkable. These are the types of issues that you and I deal with on a regular basis and not one of us came to work today to throw in the towel. It's part of the job and we do it because we are committed to the success of those around us and those 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 who depend on us. This is exactly why talk of malfeasance and criminality at UArts continues to surface in the void of actionable information.

The former President and Board of this University demonstrated how little they understand and the diminutive beliefs they hold about the arts when they assumed that shutting down this institution was a simple administrative decision. You cannot close The Arts. Councilmembers, this is not a closure, it's an abandonment; a cowardly dereliction of duty. A neglectful and disrespectful disregard for its history and for the City that has always loved it back. The incompetence at the cabinet level and the cowardice at the Board level have failed to satisfy the key requirements of their positions: Protect the mission and protect the financial viability of the 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 institution. It's shameful to consider that not a single individual is willing to take a stand for the University and its constituents then, but we are here to take that stand now. I echo the sentiments of one of your own Councilmembers who urged us to stop speaking about the University of the Arts in the past tense. This institution is still open. But while we are here conducting a premature autopsy, opportunists are picking at the bones and scheming on how they can profit in the convoluted situation. For tuition-dependent institutions like UArts, time is of the essence. The longer it remains shuttered, the more pressing these issues become. I request that, in the interest of time, we focus on what is most important, the current and future 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 students of the University of the Arts. Let us set aside investigations and blame for the moment in order to focus on opening the doors and planning for the next class to enter those halls, dorms, and studios. I would like to recommend the appointment of an interim Board and interim Leadership Panel who can return to those offices and start solving the problems of this institution. Give us the keys so that competent and inspired problem solvers may take the opportunity to make this right. The City deserves it. The citizens deserve it. And students past, present, and future deserve it. Let us get on with the good work of reopening UArts and getting this deserving institution on its feet. There is plenty of work to do, and guess what? We have lots of help. And I thank you.

Thank 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 you for your testimony. Are there any questions from members of this Committee for this particular panel? (No response.) Hearing none, thank you for your recommendations. Thank you for your experience. And thank you for taking the time to share that all with us today. Very much appreciate it. Mr. Clerk, will you please call the next panel to come testify before us today.

Can we please have Zoe Hollander, Brynn Smith, Brittney Mallon and Toni Aquilone. (Witnesses approached the witness table.)

Good morning. Please start by stating your name for the record. Also I know that there are folks who have never testified in City Council before, it's pretty easy, it's 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 like riding a bike. The only thing that I would ask is that you make sure you speak into the mic because there is several of you and we need to make sure that everybody on our tech team can hear everything that you're saying. So make sure that you speak into the mic so we hear you when you testify. You may state your name, begin with your testimony. We will allow all of you to testify consecutively and then we will open it up to the Committee for questions.

My name Brittney Mallon.

My name is Brynn Smith.

My name is Zoe Hollander. Hello, I'm Zoe Hollander and I was a rising senior, Musical Theater major at the former University of the Arts. Thank you for having me here 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 today. In March of 2021, I visited Philadelphia with my family for the very first time. At the time I was a senior in high school and 99 percent certain that the University of the Arts was where I wanted to spend my next four years. However, I had never been to Philadelphia before, as I was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota and I figured it was probably a good idea to visit the city that I planned to pursue my higher education in. When I visited UArts with my family that year, the University was completely virtual, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and none of the buildings were open to the public, so the best I could do was walk up and down Broad Street and take pictures of the outside of the buildings and do my best to peer in and catch a glimpse of what could be inside. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 About four weeks ago, in July of 2024, I returned to Philadelphia after a brief visit home and found myself in an oddly paralleled experience. Once again, I found myself walking down Broad Street, looking at the outside of the buildings, unable to enter, and doing my best to see what could be inside. The difference now, however, was that unlike three years ago, I knew what was inside and further who should have been inside. By now, I think it's quite clear that the abrupt closure of the University of the Arts has had devastating affects on so many lives in so many ways. From a student perspective, particularly one of a rising senior, it's hard to put into words just how big of a loss this is. The added fact that this is now the second time myself and many of my peers have lost a senior year, the 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 first being due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is almost like extra salt in the wound. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic was completely unpredicted and unavoidable, the closure of UArts could have been, if not avoided, handled with much more care and respect for the community. The fact that I, like many of my peers and professors learned about the closure through social media and group chats is frankly unforgivable. The day the news broke, my mind immediately went to my wonderful teachers and mentors, all of whom are brilliant artists that I deeply admire, and all I could feel was anger and deep sadness at the way they had been disrespected. It's now been over two months since the University of the Arts closed and there are still many 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 questions that remain unanswered. In the practical sense, I still am not a hundred percent certain what this next year will look like for me. I have decided to complete my degree at Temple University and I'm very grateful for the warmth, openness and transparency in which they have received me and many of my peers. Truthfully, the communication from Temple regarding the UArts transfer has been worlds beyond that of the UArts administration. However, it has not been, as UArts promised in many of their early communications, a, quote, seamless transition. Because I was not in Philadelphia when UArts closed, I was unable to attend any in-person events or orientations meant to help with the transfer process. And while there were some virtual events and minor communication with the University for 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 about a month, I felt largely in the dark. And even now that I have been back for about a month, I'm still experiencing difficulties, largely with financial aid. I have had four virtual meetings and sent well over E-mails 10 to the Financial Aid Office at Temple 11 University because my merit-based 12 scholarships and grants that I was 13 receiving from UArts do not seem to be 14 transferring correctly to Temple.

And 15 I am currently on track to take out 16 more in loans to attend Temple than 17 I've ever had to at UArts, even though 18 Temple tuition and fees cost 19,000 19 less than UArts. 20 And I don't fault Temple Financial Aid for this because everyone I have spoken with has genuinely been trying to help, but rather my frustration lies with the University of the Arts because it 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 seems that some important information is missing that has resulted in this process being dragged out, adding more stress to an already stressful situation. Not quite what I would call a, quote, seamless transition. I am moving forward now because I have to, but that doesn't mean I forget what's been lost. I had plans for my senior year. I was cast in what was going to be the fall main stage musical. I had planned performances for the improv comedy troupe I founded during my sophomore year. And I had plans to produce my own musical revue with friends and mentors. I was going to go to London and study at the Globe Theatre on the winter short travel course, an opportunity that the brilliant faculty in the Brind School of Theatre Arts worked on for years to establish for their students. I was going to prepare for 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 and perform my senior showcase, my introduction to the professional theater industry, under the tutelage of my trusted professors and mentors. And it is true that potential opportunities and connections may lay ahead, but that doesn't take away from those that have been lost. Truthfully, the fact that the UArts community has lost so much while still not knowing what exactly happened is hard for me to stomach. It is hard to truly find closure when those responsible for this situation have seemingly faced no accountability or consequences. Instead, we find ourself having to pick up the pieces of their mess, all while not truly knowing how we got here. Money does not just disappear and information does not just cease to exist, and to claim so is a slap in the face to all of the 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 artists that made this University what it was. Artists are everywhere. They are on your TV screen in your favorite comfort show, in your Spotify playlist you play on the way to work, in the stories you read to your children, the logos of your favorite sports team. Take a look around, you will see something that has been created by an artist. Art is important, and devaluing it in favor of profit sets an example that we are disposable. If anything, the past few months have shown just how resilient this community of artists truly is. The UArts community has been through a lot this summer, and there is not a magic button to press to fix it all and make it all better, but I think the least we deserve is true answers as to how this happened. Thank you. ) 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601

Hello, my name is Brynn Smith and I was also going to be a senior Musical Theater major with a music minor at UArts. I was going into my last semester of school, with credits left to finish both my 8 major and minor. I was on track to 9 graduate early, in seven semesters 10 instead of eight. And I would love to 11 share with you that I have fully 12 prepared my plan for my senior year 13 and I know exactly what it's going to 14 look like, but that would be a lie. 15 I have spent this entire summer sending and receiving, it feels like hundreds of E-mails, to different people involved with different programs and schools. Finally, as of Tuesday, I am starting to finalize my plan for the fall, which begins in less than a month. But that had nothing to do with help from UArts or the seamless transition they failed to give us. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 I was given an incredible opportunity to spend my fall semester studying acting in London at the British American Drama Academy, and then I will come back to Philadelphia in the spring to take my remaining couple of classes and receive my BFA at Temple University. This is only now made possible because of the unimaginable amount of kindness and generosity I have received from administration at Sarah Lawrence College, BODA and Temple University. They felt that after everything I had been through at UArts, they wanted to make sure that I had a plan to finish my education that I could be excited about. The reason this plan took the entire summer to work through is because of the failed promise by UArts to help relocate us to new universities. Due to a lack of information, schools like Temple are 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 just now receiving and being able to process financial information from UArts. And I didn't know how my scholarships and financial aid would transfer over, which was the final piece of my puzzle. And it's by no means the fault of any of the people and programs I have been in communication with. Because UArts gave no warning to anyone, including the schools that are now part of the teach-out programs, these schools could not have been prepared for the influx of students they have been communicating with and taking in. The people I have E-mailed and spoken with at all of these programs have been working harder on behalf of UArts students than anything our Board and President did. The departments are working as hard as they can to figure out things for us. But they simply couldn't prepare the 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 resources necessary to admit and add so many students to their programs before our closure. The process of researching schools, reaching out to programs, submitting applications and figuring out my plan this time around has been so much harder than it was when I was a senior in high school. I can confidently say this has been the most stressful summer of my entire life. Additionally, it feels like a much bigger and more difficult decision because I know that wherever I end up will be where my degree is ultimately from. When I committed to UArts I knew that if it wasn't the place for me, I would have the option to transfer and find a school that would be my fit. Now I do not have that luxury. I'm so close to being done that I won't have a chance to transfer no matter if it's my fit or not. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 Wherever I go from here will be the school named on my Bachelor of Fine Arts. I committed to UArts based on a gut feeling that I was where I was supposed to be. I never seen the school and never been to Philadelphia prior to move-in day. But I knew that it was where I was supposed to end up. And it was probably the biggest risk I've ever taken, but it was worth it. If I could go back in time to being a senior in high school choosing where I could go to college, even now, I wouldn't change a thing.

The three years I got to spend at UArts were the most incredible years and I have never felt such a sense of belonging as I did at UArts. And that had nothing to do with the institution itself. It was the people that were magic. The incredible people I got to work with, professors I got to learn from, 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 friends I made and art I got to see and be a part of, that was the UArts I loved. That's what made this whole experience so much harder. But in the words of JJ Milne of Winnie the Pooh, how lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard. But now, even if some miracle happened and UArts reopened right now with a new Board and President, I don't think I would go back. I could not confidently put my trust or money in an institution that has treated me and the people I love so terribly. I have never felt more disrespected than I did when the Board canceled our promised town hall meeting ten minutes before its scheduled start. That was the moment I realized it was never about the art or any of the people for those running our school. To them it was about the 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 money they could get from us. And honestly, I could never forgive them for just throwing away every incredible member of the faculty and staff like they were disposable. The professors I had at UArts are artists I look up to and admire. It disgusts me that there are people who would treat them like they were nothing at all. They are what make UArts worth going to. More than I was worried about what I was do next, I was worried for my professors who had established their lives, careers and families in Philadelphia, and who had lost their jobs completely out of the blue. I hope now that we students are finally settled and getting ready to attend our new universities, that the same openness, kindness, and help is extended to the amazing staff and faculty from UArts to help them find 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 their new paths. When we found out about the UArts closure, I was in Disney World. I was at the happiest place on earth, shaking and in tears, talking to my mom because all of the plans I had for my future had been stripped away from me. I am a planner. I don't do anything without having a thoroughly thought through plan first. I had already set my goals for what I wanted to accomplish in my last semester at UArts and how that would prepare me for the real world. But the scariest part of all of this is, and the thing I kept repeating to my mom was, I don't know what I'm going to do. At the final community rally on June 7th, I was standing at Hamilton Hall, listening to the speeches being given, feeling a sense of community. And I was waiting for movers to arrive to move me into my new apartment that was closer to the 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 University of the Arts, that no longer existed. There was some sort of poetic cruelty about that. I had packed up my entire life into boxes to move closer to a University that didn't exist anymore. We watched the people in charge fail us time and time again, and we deserve better. My professors deserve better. We have a right to know what happened to the millions of dollars they received from us students every single semester. Life continues to go on. And we all have to keep moving forward to new jobs, new schools, and new versions of our lives, but we can't stop demanding answers. After everything we have been through at the hands and mismanagement of UArts, we have the right to know what happened. And to hopefully hold people responsible for their actions. And I know we will all be 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 okay, we will persevere, and find new places to land, but I am not excited about it. I moved to Philadelphia specifically to go to UArts, and now I'm just hoping that I found the right school to attend in a few weeks. I am being resilient, not because I want to be, but because I have been left with no other choice.

Thank you. )

Hello, My name is Brittney Mallon and I was a rising senior Illustration major and Print Media minor at the University of the Arts. Some of you may have seen a few of my sketches that documented the first court hearing of the UArts closure in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Before I continue, I just want to thank the United Academics of Philadelphia Union for giving me the opportunity to share my part of this disaster. I, unfortunately, saw some 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 of the signs that something wasn't right throughout this past year. Between UArts selling buildings, shutting down programs, and combining programs, something just was not sitting right with me, but I thought that they would hold out for one more year. The immediate closure of UArts caused my future to no longer be a straight path. I was forced to find a university that has an illustration program equal to or better than UArts in about three weeks. Very few schools even offer Illustration programs and even fewer have really good print making facilities, so that left me with very few options and a very short amount of time to decide where I wanted to transfer to complete my degree. I also happened to renew my lease for my apartment on May 1st, so while it would be easier for me to 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 stay in Philadelphia to finish my degree since I already have my apartment, I have decided to transfer to the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, because I feel that they are a better fit for me, and will provide me with the opportunities, resources and facilities I need to complete my senior year and become a successful artist. This means that I will have to move back into my parents' house, even while I am still paying for my apartment for the rest of the year, because breaking my lease is the same price as splitting it with my roommate for the rest of our lease. I was also left unemployed with the closure of UArts. At the end of the spring semester I had accepted two teaching assistant jobs for UArts' summer precollege program in July, one for a screen printing class and the other for a character design class. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 I had decided to accept these jobs despite the little money it paid, with the intention of getting professional experience, and the potential of getting hired back after I graduated next year to teach the screen printing precollege course. I was also supposed to continue my work study job as a print shop monitor in July as well. Between having to continue to pay for my apartment and not working a majority of the summer, I am going to be struggling to pay for my student loans throughout my senior year. Leaving Philadelphia also means that I will have to leave behind all of the friends and connections with faculty members and the communities that I spent the last three years making, behind, and start over completely at a new school. I'm scared that I won't get the same 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 opportunities my senior year as a transfer student. So much of an artists' success relies on the connections that they make, specifically in school, and I unfortunately will no longer have those connections at the school I'm transferring to. This past semester, I also had the opportunity to work with Mark Tocchet and Daniel Fishel to design a mural for the University of the Arts' new school store. Over the four months, I worked tirelessly on creating a mural that represents the creative community of UArts. I was supposed to complete this project over the summer, but now it will never see the light of day, and I will not be compensated for the work that I completed. Participating in the art markets run by the Traditional Media Club at UArts are some of the best 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 memories I have there. I would share a table with my best friend Cass, and we would get to hang out as we sell our work together.

I was supposed to be the president of this club next year, but now that won't happen either. I was excited to start my thesis and be a part of the annual Ely Illustration Thesis Exhibition next year. I was looking forward to continuing to work with amazing faculty such as Kevin Mercer, Jon Reinfurt, Ralph Giguere, and Daniel Hertzberg. The teachers are truly what made UArts an amazing place and worth achieving a higher education despite the price tag. Their guidance, advice, and resources are invaluable. And my heart immediately went out to the faculty when I found out that UArts was closing its doors. Philadelphia has a rich history of art, and is a community 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 filled with artists and patrons of the arts, and is full of inspiration. The University of the Arts was one of the first schools to have an Illustration Program. The loss of UArts not only directly impacts the illustration community, but contributes to the loss of a creative community where artists across all fields can come together and collaborate. The Avenue of the Arts is dwindling and affects America as a whole since Philadelphia is one of the main hubs for the arts. With the closing of PAFA, DCAD, and UArts, institutions where young aspiring artists can go to learn and hone their craft are disappearing, slowly pushing the arts out of creative communities such as Philadelphia. The University of the Arts community needs to, and deserves to know why this happened. Why did they close so immediately without any 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 notice? The students and the faculty should not be the ones paying the price for the Board of Trustees' mistakes and lack of communication. We need answers. Thank you for your time. )

Thank you all so much for your testimony. Sorry to hear what you experience, especially listening to the senior year experience both in high school as well as the collegiate level is heart wrenching, but we also appreciate you for making yourself vulnerable, because at the end of the day, I know folks think that we know everything that's going on, we really don't, we only know what you tell us. And to be able to put a face to some of the stories that we have read and heard about really weighs heavily on us and puts us in a position to be able to 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 advocate for some of the things that you recommended today. So thank you for your testimony. Chair recognizes Councilmember Squilla.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you for the courage to be here and tell your stories. We received a lot of E-mails from students in similar situations and it's different when you read it in an E-mail then when you hear it when you're testifying in your voice and what it means to you and what had happened to you. It's unacceptable to be able to have a university act in this way. Yes, we need to find answers. Yes, we need to try to help you transition and go through these challenges and find your spaces in arts and culture because Philadelphia 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 is a great arts and culture city. And we need people like you to be in Philadelphia to keep it thriving. So we need, as a City, also to step up and do the things necessary to find the answers. And finding answers is not going to solve the problem, right. What it can do is prevent it from happening again. This happened to you, and what you are here to do is you are being selfless in the sense that you don't want it to happen to anybody else. And that's something great that you're doing for the arts and cultures world here in Philadelphia. But it says a lot about your character and what the University of the Arts meant to you. We reached out, we have been talking with Temple and they have had some challenges getting information from University of the Arts, to say the least. And you mentioned about 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 the illustration program, Temple has now created a degree in illustration that they never had before. And they have been trying to do the best they can, just like some of the other universities. And we all need to step up though, we all need to know how important this is, and to the students, but also to the faculty and staff. And all of you guys have mentioned how important it was, the faculty and staff at the University of the Arts were. You know, when you have an arts and culture institution that is so important to the City of Philadelphia, to be able to say one day it's one of the reasons why you're proud to be in Philadelphia and the next day it's not there, it's unconscionable. As our colleagues have said, maybe we as a City not really only 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 need to hold people accountable, but to be on the watch for these things in the future. These institutions, they are part of the City of Philadelphia, we partner with them, but they run sort of on their own. And maybe we need to do more work. We will work with the administration to see how that looks, what their bylaws are and what we are allowed to do and not allowed to do. It's important from this challenge that we learn from it and then we make sure that it doesn't happen again. Your testimony today, and believe me, I heard from a lot of your roommates, and if you still have challenges with your landlords, we have been trying to partner people who are looking for space with people who are leaving and trying to fill, so maybe they could sublease their space out. If you want to reach out to my office, we have a bunch of students 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 that are doing both, that we are trying to coordinate with. And also working with the landlords to see if they could discount some cost when people need to leave. Again, this is thrust on us and we want to make sure you know that we as a City care about you, we care what you do and we are proud of you being here today, speaking up not only for yourself, but also for the future of the culture of the arts in the City of Philadelphia and that means a lot. So thank you for being here, we appreciate your testimony. And continue to reach out. Continue to advocate. And continue to hold people accountable until we get answers that we deserve, all of us. Thank you so much. (Applause.) THE PANEL: Thank you.

Hold on. Hold on. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 Thank you Councilmember, we appreciate your remarks. We appreciate your leadership on this issue and really going over and beyond the call of duty to support the students and faculty who have been dealing with this unfortunate catastrophe. Any other questions or comments from members of this Committee for this particular panel?

Just wishing them good luck.

And Disney World is the best place in the world.

Thank you all. Thank you for your testimony. We appreciate it. Thank you for being here today. Mr. Clerk, could you please call the next panel to testify before this Committee today.

Yes, can we 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 please have Jasmine Jiang, Quinn Bauriedel and Nathan Renner-Johnson. (Witnesses approached the witness table.)

I'm Quinn Bauriedel.

I'm Jasmine Jiang.

And I'm Nathan Renner-Johnson.

Good morning, and thank you for your time to hear about the impact that the UArts closure has had across our City, our region, our nation. My name is Quinn Bauriedel, I am one of the Co-Founders and Co-Artistic Directors of Pig Iron Theatre Company. And I had been an Associate Professor and Program Director at UArts until a few months ago. Pig Iron has been making original plays in Philadelphia since 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 1995 and during our nearly 30 years we have collaborated with dozens of UArts alums, faculty, and students. None of the founders from Pig Iron are from Philadelphia. We all came here. We made our lives here because this City offered such an arts hub. It has been a great home for us largely because of the artists that we have encountered and because of UArts. And what has been lost is tremendously profound. It has been the hub, a magnet, the creative center of this City. UArts brought people here and kept them here. At no point during our nine years did I ever think the University would close its doors without creating some sort of plan to honor the students' enrollment agreement, that they would complete what they started. We just heard the impact. We have 21 current and 14 future first-year 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 students without an easy path to completely their degree that they passionately crave. Our program is unique and there is no easy teach-out plan and none have been offered. At no point did I consider that our relationship, Pig Iron and the UArts, would abruptly come to an end with UArts owing Pig Iron $300,000 for expenses incurred to run the program, a nearly insurmountable amount of money for a company our size. Imagine yourself as a 27-year-old emerging theater artist, with one more semester of your MFA left. Or as a 31-year-old international student who had been welcomed to the U.S. and Philadelphia with future global exchanges on your mind. Or as the faculty member with 13 years of teaching under your belt, a child in college and the sudden need to find another income stream despite 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 having years of professional artistic experiences under your belt, a Pew Fellowship, et cetera. These are the bright lights that have been greatly dimmed. The stories are as unique as the art that they make. Our field is often uncertain. We sign on to that to some degree. But we don't sign on to Board neglect, financial mismanagement or disregard for the value that we bring to the City. This hearing is a chance to remind you and the City's caretakers that a deep investment in the arts is essential. It is attractive. It brings people here. And with this collapse of UArts, important questions need to and are being asked about how this happened and what can be done to rebuild what has been broken. Your concern, your investigation are crucial and we hope there is a way to 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 save UArts, preserve this legacy, support Philly's artists and insure a vibrant future for artists and creative life in our City.

Good morning, my name is Jasmine Jiang and I am the managing director at Pig Iron Theatre Company. You just heard from my colleague, Quinn, about what our organization is facing in the wake of the sudden closure of the University of the Arts. About the students 16 stranded mid degree and offered no 17 equivalent teach-out options because 18 our graduate program is unlike any 19 other in the region or unlike any 20 other in the nation. 21 About the $300,000 in reimbursements owed to us by the University that are now delayed indefinitely. About the sudden dissolution 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 of a nine-year partnership that was key to our business model and the fulfillment of our mission to train the next generation of daring performing artists. In spite of Pig Iron's nearly 30-year history of producing world class art here in Philadelphia, in spite of the outsized impact of the Pig Iron School, which has produced 140 alumni who have gone on to win OBI awards, receive Pew Fellowships, teach at prestigious universities, tour internationally and even found their own companies here in the City, in spite of the fact that we did nothing wrong, Pig Iron is now facing an existential threat as we work to find a new institutional partner so that we can fulfill our commitments to our staffs, faculty, staff and community. These are unique challenges, but Pig Iron is not alone in our concern about the ripple effects this 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 closure is going to have on Philadelphia's creative sector. Already we have seen brilliant artists and educators, formally employed by UArts, forced to take their families and their talents out of the City. We have seen potential students, employees and business partners hesitate to make Philadelphia their destination amidst this instability. We have seen the once bustling Avenue of the Arts, the heart of Center City, become a ghost town. The arts are key to connecting our communities, making our neighborhoods safer and more vibrant, and driving our workforce and economy. 1 billion per year. And the return on investment in the arts is high. In fact, each and every arts ticket purchased leads to an average of $50 additional spent into the 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 economy. All of this is in spite of the fact that Pennsylvania ranks No. 5 33 in state arts funding, with only 85 cents spent per capita. For reference, in New York this funding is well over $5 per capita. On behalf of all of the artists and arts non-profits impacted by the UArts closure, we urge the City to make sure that this moment is a canary in the coal mine, rather than a harbinger of doom. This is our chance to talk about and invest in the future of the arts in Philadelphia. We thank you for your tireless work on this investigation. As you untangle this unprecedented and unconscionable series of events and search for answers, we ask that you keep our vital one-of-a-kind arts scene in the conversation. We ask that you consider increasing local dedicated arts funding, to include us 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 in efforts to revitalize and beautify the City. And most pressingly, to insure that the new vacant UArts buildings are repurposed intentionally and thoughtfully, and not just sold off to the highest bidder. From artist housing to professional performance venues, to cultural co-working spaces, the arts community has a number of proposals to make sure that there are still the creative hubs and gathering spaces that are key to the vibrancy of this City. A more detailed list of these proposals has already been shared with Councilmember Squilla and Councilmember Landau. I am regularly blown away by the resilience and the adaptability of artists, by how much we achieve with very little. I am even more excited, however, by the thought of how much we could achieve with your support. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 Thank you.

Hello. My name is Nathan Renner-Johnson. I am an Executive Director of Philadelphia Scenic Works, which is a nonprofit that works with arts organizations, primarily theater companies like Pig Iron to produce mission projects that advance their missions. From within this work I have seen firsthand how the ecosystem for arts organizations has deteriorated over the year, how the pandemic drastically exacerbated this deterioration, and how vital University of the Arts was to supporting arts organization and the arts ecosystem in Philadelphia. The University of the Arts provided a crucial pipeline of artists to the City. It provided reliability for the artists who worked there as faculty and staff, so they could live 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 in and around the City while developing art of their own. It provided stability to other art-making organization, like Pig Iron, and it provided venues to create work, rentable studios, performance spaces and it created a vibrancy on and around South Broad with 1500-plus people learning, working, patronizing local businesses. Without the University of the Arts, the City has a really big hole to fill. To be clear, the arts are really crucial to our City. Arts promote tourism, they bring patrons and their wallets in from the suburbs and beyond. And these patrons don't just spend money on the arts, they spend money on restaurants and shopping and parking and bars. And the arts activate streets and neighborhoods at off hours. The performing arts particularly offering year-round 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 events at night that promote public safety and vibrancy. And over the past 40 years, Philadelphia has evolved into a destination City with a wonderful restaurant scene and a leading arts and cultural community, to go along with its great recognition for history and sports. And the Wilma's Tony Award this year, which is the first of its kind in Philadelphia, is just one recent proof point. However, as evidenced by the closure of UArts, we are slipping backward, not moving forward. And UArts is just one example. Someone before mentioned PAFA ending its degree-granting program. We lost 11th Hour Theatre Company during the pandemic, which is a community asset and lead producer of musicals. There are many other theatre, opera, dance, music organizations that are offering less and less programming year over 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 year, reducing staff sizes and struggling to stay alive in this post-pandemic economy. We now have an opportunity at this moment to decide whether UArts is a tipping point on a downward spiral or an inflection point towards a strong, more collaborative, sustainable investment in the arts. You know, when your house burns down, you don't just build it back the same, you build it back better and fix the problems. While we certainly all want clarity and accountability for what happened in the UArts demise, I strongly urge the City to also look forward. To take advantage of the opportunity to be big and bold in imagining how the UArts real estate and other assets can be used to support the arts and do so in a stronger way. There are many fantastic 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 ideas on how this real estate can be used to support artists. One of which I'm going to talk just shortly about is the centralized arts hub that can capitalize on the collaboration between arts organizations and artists and small businesses, using buying power, economies of scale, and shared resources. This hub could have shared spaces such as work studios, rehearsal halls, performance studios, film studios, music studios. We can have shared support services, such as back end office management, marketing, graphic design resources, metal, wood, paint shops, custom shops. And we can reduce material and financial waste through shared material libraries, such as raw crafting and building materials that are used by fine arts.

And rental items, like props, scenery and costumes, which can be used by film, photograph, theater, music, 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 opera, ballet. I know this might seem like a lot of different ideas but the crux is the way in which they are all incorporated and can collaborate together. For example, the reuse of materials works so much better in a hub where people are -- because there is built-in inputs and outputs for materials. Arts organizations who use support services can easily pull from materials libraries. com, sending money out of the City, less waste at the end. A hub is also ideal for educational purposes because students have the opportunity to work on lots of different projects for lots of different arts organizations all over the City collaborating in one space. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 And there are already organizations that do this kind of work on partial or smaller scales that have skills or infrastructure that are able to scale. Obviously my organization, Philadelphia Scenic Works, is collaborating with dozens of other theater companies and arts organizations to provide services year-round, resources, work spaces, while simultaneously offering training and education. But there are other organization, ReSource Exchange and RAIR are two fantastic organizations offering two different models on how to reuse materials that enable artists to reuse old materials and divert waste from the landfill. InterAct Theatre Company, around the corner, is hosting many different performance companies in their space each year. And efforts like these 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 contribute to Philadelphia's economy by attracting artists and tourists, creating jobs, promoting public safety and positioning the City as a leader in sustainable arts practices. But, it's only on a small scale. With strategic partnerships, collaboration and investment amongst organizations and with the City, the UArts closure, I think can be a point to be morphed into a real asset for the City, not to just continue what is already there, but to build upon that and improve upon that. The skills, ambition and passion all exist and we just need the partnership and the vision of the City leadership to make it happen. Thank you for your time. )

Thank you so much for your testimony. Are there any further questions from the Committee? 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 Seeing there is a question from Councilmember Mark Squilla.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Nathan, I got to say, you spoke fast. You had to really pay attention. Thank God we had it in writing. I like the ideas. Every challenge brings an opportunity, right. And it's hard to see an opportunity in the University of the Arts closing. But I think we, as a City, and with all our brilliant people that we have here, have to look at what opportunities do we have to not only solve this problem, but then to try to grow the culture of the arts in these buildings in the institutions. How do we repurpose them or use them for student learning? You know, and there is a lot of conversations going. There is a lot 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 of people that couldn't come testify today because there is still ongoing conversations and there is investigations and things that are happening that they can't really speak about, but they need to hear these things too, right. They need to hear what opportunities do we see so when we are putting these plans together, to incorporate those type of things into the plan where if we are going to reuse these building. To me, these buildings always have to be University of the Arts buildings, no matter if it's a merger we anybody or whoever is there, have to remember University of the Arts, and it has to be part of the arts cultural hub in the City of Philadelphia. Whatever plan we come up with, at the end needs to include that. I think repurposing it, seeing what we could use it for, what 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 other opportunities we have is an important reason to have this hearing, right. Because if we just sit here and talk about what happened and what happened and then we find out what happened, but we are not resolving it for the future or reusing it for what the purpose -- and what the mission was for the University of the Arts, right, we have to keep that mission alive. We have to make sure the institution, like we said with Temple creating new degrees for those things, again it's not the University of the Arts, but who knows, maybe it will call Temple University at the University of the Arts or something, whatever, whoever organization is merging here. But they have to be willing too to give up something, right. This is not just a monetary commitment from Temple and you receive students and so 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 you're getting more tuition. But it has to be -- if it's Drexel, some of the other universities that we are talking with, if they are coming in and saying this is also -- we don't need to make a profit on this, this is something that's an institution here on the City of Philadelphia, it's a brand, it's a name, and it's really something we need to build. So hearing from you guys today is really important for us and also to share with all these negotiations are going on. And making sure that we, as a City, whatever those final agreements are, could weigh in and say, yes, but it has to be used for these purposes, it has to be part of the University of the Arts legacy, which is so important for us here in Philadelphia. So I really want to thank you for testifying. I want to thank you for giving some additional ideas. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 And feel free, you and your friends and your networks, anybody else you know, have other ideas, other ways to merge these organizations, other ways to merge universities, other ways to -- from what I'm hearing too from the students, there is universities that have art programs, but not what the University of the Arts had, right. How can we incorporate whoever that merger is, how can we incorporate that into that new program, whatever it looks like, right? And how can we add those features to whatever happens in the future? So again, keep up the great work. Keep sending E-mails and coming up with ideas of what we could do and how we could make the City whole again after this debacle.

But I just think with your talents, your ideas, it will help us as a City help the final decision making process as this plays out. And 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 hopefully it gets to a place where we could say, you know what, this was devastating but something good did come out of this and the legacy of the University of the Arts will be here forever. Thank you.

Thank you Councilman Squilla. Are there any other questions from the member of the Committee for this panel? The chair recognizes Councilwoman Nina Ahmad.

Yes. Thank you so much for your creative perspectives on how to rise from the ashes. I don't know if there is one already, is there a task force already constructed around this which would have feedback from people like you people, your own students and with other institutions, to not only -- not just for the accountability and to 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 know what happened, but going forward maybe with our office -- I don't know what Val's office is called, who just testified.

Arts and Culture.

Including the bigger sort of membership nonprofit, you know, sort of the alliance. I think this sort of behooves us to have that kind of a perspective, to vet out best practices, good ideas. Because the other important thing is the property. What's going to happen with that. And keeping an eye on that is really important. So I would highly recommend, and we can talk later offline about what that creative panel, a task force can look like, and who participates and how we have everybody's voice there. But really to come up with action items, right. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 It's great we are all talking. And we do a lot of this in Council, but having outcomes from this is going to be critical, because as many of you and people before mentioned, it is driving our economy. We are already in the hole for many things. So if you have no 10 humanitarian interest in this, one should have an economic interest in this and look for that intersection. So I look forward, maybe we can talk and see how something can come out of this. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilwoman Nina Ahmad. Are there any other questions or comments from members of the Committee for this panel? (No response.) Thank you, seeing nothing, Mr. McNegle -- thank you so much for your commentary today, I appreciate you all. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 Seeing that there is no more questions for this panel, Mr. McNegle, will you please call the fifth panel that we have to testify on Resolution 6 No. 240601.

Can we please have Mark Campbell, Christina Mattei and Bradley Filbert. (Witnesses approached the witness table.)

Thank you so much for being here today. Can you please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony, beginning with the first person who was called.

My name is Mark Campbell and I'm a former faculty member, program director, school director and college dean at the University of the Arts.

My name is Christina Mattei and I am former faculty at UArts. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601

And I am Bradley Filbert, I am former adjunct professor and the Executive Vice President of the United Academics of Philadelphia.

Thank you.

I was at the University of the Arts from 1996 to 2023. And I was also on the search committee in the summer of 2015 that concluded with the hiring of the former President David Yager. I wanted to come here and speak and join with others in strongly advocating for the discovery process and full disclosure of the circumstances surrounding the closure of UArts, a process directed especially toward the apparent abrogation of the fiduciary responsibilities of the senior leadership and the Board. I make this plea to our public representatives and 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 to the community generally. I consider full disclosure to be our collective ethical responsibility, and I ask all persons involved to support the discovery process. This includes members of the UArts Board, such as it remains, as well as any legal entity representing the University during the transition period. And here are my reasons why: As others have stated, the long history of UArts, its place in the cultural life of Philadelphia and its cultural heritage stand as self-evident reason to seek a full accounting. Add to this the sudden nature of the closing, something that has drawn national, even international attention. Imagine the impact on students, staff and faculty, hearing of the immediate closure on a Friday night on the last day of May. It was 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 like a catastrophic act of nature, an earthquake where suddenly everything has changed. Given this, we owe all who have been severely affected a rigorous discovery process. And as personal stories tell it best, I would like to tell you that my wife, Laura Frazure, a member of the union bargaining team, had just received her hard-won promotion to associate professor at UArts weeks before the announced closing. As we know, these processes are years in the making with many, many responsibilities required of faculty standing for promotion. Laura also -- excuse me, Laura has also received the President's award for distinguished teaching given her commitment to her students, and this was announced at the last UArts commencement, what turned out to be the last UArts commencement. Imagine 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 the relief and joyous sense of accomplishment, and contrast it with where we are now. There are other compelling reasons for what I am asking. In order to fully consider senior leadership's abrogation of fiduciary responsibility, we need to take a hard look at the previous administration. So I'm looking past President Kerry Walk, who served for nine months, to former President David Yager, who served through 90, through June of 2023. Does anyone doubt at this point that during those 90 months there was elaborate shell game being played with University finances? All at the service of costly, self-aggrandizing capital projects intended to support the narrative that David Yager was a successful president. No one can argue with capital improvements, unless it means diverting money away from other critical concerns, like 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 financial solvency. But few knew at the time that the University President was playing high stakes, high risk gamble with UArts' future. At the breakfast on the morning of this year's commencement, a senior staff member sidled up to me and said, David put us in a really bad place financially. And I didn't know about it. I didn't know about the real cost of the capital projects, I have E-mails to prove it. I can add this claim in my own experience, and those of many others, as a lack of transparency was a hallmark of the Yager presidency. After all, transparency requires trust, respect and a communitarian sense of collaboration. Given the radically centralized form of governance during Yager's administration, the former president made all decisions, at least 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO.

240601 for those concerns he knew of, from major financial decisions, down to what tiles to be used in the Hamilton Hall bathroom renovations. What follows is that former President Yager would or should have known of the true state of University finances. The absolute lack of transparency kept most of us from knowing. It goes even further than that. Apart from concealment, there was a counter-factual narrative propagated, externally and internally, of unprecedented financial solidity and fundraising success. 2 million capital campaign that concluded in fiscal terms just recently. The two are related. In both cases, information was apparently manipulated to create the impression that the money was real 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 and in the coffers, and that the President should be credited, even for a gift committed in 2007, eight years before he arrived at UArts. This branding of success, not to be confused with successful branding, might have cleared the way for significant raises to senior staff and the University's top earners during the difficult COVID years, including and especially former President Yager and the VP for finance. Check out the Pro-Publica posting for the disturbing details. It is clear that the propagation of this counter-factual narrative greatly increased the severity of the closing's impact on all concerns. If these claims are true, in whole or in part, then the former President, with a few on the Board and in senior staff, his gang of four, prioritized a false narrative of presidential success over the actual 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 state of University affairs. A fair accounting, as stated, is an ethical concern. And in legal terms, it is how we choose to engage with one another. It could also have material effect, as all employees should receive compensation, not only for work completed, but given the contractual agreements and certainly the counter-factual manipulations, all should rightly receive their due severance as each person attempts to imagine and build their new future, suddenly, and in the immediate moment. From a personal perspective, I grew up in Mayfair and went to Lincoln High because they are a vocational art track. I don't mind telling you that my mother was senior class president at St. Hubert's during World War II. I have lived most of my life in Philadelphia, I was married in City Hall, and my heart belongs to the 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 City. I am also a UArts alum. I clearly remember after taking the Market-Frankford El, walking down Broad Street going to my portfolio review as an 18-year-old, my oil painting was still wet. Of course I wanted to be cool, so I glanced at my reflection in a store front window to check it all out. I thought I looked about ten years old, but what can you do. What I remember most clearly was then asking myself a question as I walked on, I wonder what will happen to me? What did happen, as it did to so many others, was the transformative experience, something well beyond an 18 year old's expectations. So I want to say finally that my heart belongs to UArts as well. And to the many people, including teachers, students, friends and colleagues, past and present, who 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 made that vital world. Thank you. )

Good morning, my name is Christina Mattei. Check, check, one, two. Check, check. That's how we musicians do it. My name is Christina Mattei, I moved 3,000 miles one year ago from Los Angeles where I was a music producer, professional, curating studio at Mack Sennett Studios. I was a recording academy voting member for the Grammy's. I spoke on panels for women in music, Apogee Studios. I performed solo works with orchestras, debuted works in Central Park, and I have traveled around the globe making works. I left Los Angeles one year ago. I spent my entire savings as a single mother providing fully on my own to teach at University of the Arts, to work with this very prestigious, respected university. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 The staff was so devastated -- they were dedicated at the time to shift gears into advance music production in art education. I was honored to be there. There is nothing like the heart of Philadelphia and the art and music scene here. The staff was 150 percent dedicated. I was working with the Dean Kevin Haden and Donna Faye and the Director Michael Johnson who brought me here to help create an innovative future development that aligned with current trajectories in music, art and business that no other university had. No other university had such innovative thoughts on interdisciplinary work and where the commercial world was going. I have been -- I have lived in London, I have lived in New York, I have lived in Los Angeles, I am really respected in what I do, I teach part time at Berkley. Nothing exists like 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 the University of the Arts. I uprooted my entire life and my son, who is right there, as a single mother to live here and build here because of this City and the heart of this City. I worked countless free hours preparing programming for the 2024 and 2025 school year for the University to shut down. This is greatly affected my son who is with me today because I can't afford child care for the summer. I am sleeping on my couch as a grown woman and renting a room in the apartment that I live in now in Philadelphia to cover rent and make sure food is on the table. This abrupt closure is real. I spent my whole savings to move here for this University. I have former students that are coming over to work with me on solo work because they don't have any 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 resources, I'm the one with the studio in my home that I'm now sleeping in. Because the school is now closed, they are broken, they are depressed, they are lost in what to do and I have opened my doors to them, it's the best that I could give. In history books there are two things that are remembered, war and art. Look in this building, look at the intricacies on here, everywhere, it's art. Can you imagine this being gone? The founding artistic historical culture that has put Philadelphia on the map is gone. There was no place like UArts with such drive and passion and talent. It needs to be preserved, respected and brought back to Philadelphia, the legacy it has provided for the City, the people of the City, the art communities, the school, the non-profits, the educators, it's 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 essential. There is a very real devastation financially happening right now. I'm hearing lots of long term perspectives of how to do better. But I am not hearing anything about the devastation that we are experiencing now, literally the food on our plate. And the amount of teachers that are out of work and like, where to go? What to do? No 13 funding, because all the grants that we were going to be applying for were partners with the University of the Arts, that's why we were here building our work as a community together. In Europe they consider artists, professors, like surgeons. D. surgeons. We are surgeons of the sole. And you just took that from Philadelphia. Where did that go? ) This is unjust, we deserve 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO.

240601 justice, the artists, the City, the teachers, the families effected, we need justice now. We need help now. Thank you.

Good morning for about five more minutes. My name is Bradley Philbert and I'm a former UArts adjunct professor and the Executive Vice President of the United Academics of Philadelphia. UAP is a metro-wide AFT local that has worked since 2013 to unify and support over 15,000 higher ed workers in the Philly area, including in two chapters at UArts. Our UArts faculty chapter 18 formed in 2020 and won a first contract after three years of negotiation. Our staff chapter 21 colleagues were still bargaining when UArts closed. Throughout, these negotiations were defined by failures of transparency with UArts 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 administrators. Just this November, then President Kerry Walk compared the risks of transparency in our negotiations to the kind of panic that instigates a bank run. She spoke of the University's hidden structural deficit, which to address, would require boosting enrollment and fundraising. By April, it was clear that first-year enrollments exceeded expectations and that the last fundraising campaign had surpassed goals by $17 million. Nevertheless, two months later, 700 of my colleagues and I were laid off in a seven-minute Zoom webinar. Our collective bargaining agreement contains provisions on financial crisis, layoffs and severance, as well as rights in any merger or acquisition of the school or its programs. As a union, we are using every means available to us to 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 account for the University's refusal to meaningfully bargain following the closure. A cabal of high-level administrators created this catastrophe over months and years. They now rely on silence and obfuscation to escape justice. But they must be held accountable. We know concerns about structural financial problems extend back to last fall at least. We are aware of liens and financial agreements affecting the school's assets, but we need a complete picture of the University's finances and how they got in such precarious state, to help workers get what they are legally owed. We've received no notice to date of any bankruptcy filings. We ask the Council for help in furnishing this information by exercising it's oversight authority of Philadelphia Authority for Industrial 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 Development, which issued bonds on behalf of UArts. We also ask the Council to subpoena key current and former administrators to compel their cooperation. Former Presidents David Yager and Kerry Walk, former Finance Vice President Stephen Lightcap, and current Board Chair Judson Aaron have avoided public scrutiny for too long. We are united as a union to fight for justice. We need the Council's aid in getting the answers that will help us win that fight. Thank you. (Applause.)

Thank you so much for your testimony. Are there any questions or comments from the members of the Committee? We are going to recognize Councilman Mark Squilla. And I'll come around to others.

Thank you Mr. Chair. On the part of the -- I 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 guess investigation part of what's going on, has this information been shared with the Attorney General?

Yes. The information is with the Attorney General. The information is in public filings. The information has also been helpfully put together in a piece in David Murrell in Philly Magazine that came out this morning.

And Mark, you had some information too you said about previous president. Was that information also shared with the Attorney General, do you know?

I'm not sure, it is being covered in today's article 19 as well by David Murrell.

Okay. I mean because that is an ongoing process and, yes, unfortunately with our hearing, when we first wrote the Resolution, we have to state that we would subpoena folks in the Resolution 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 and we didn't do that at that time. So we did reach out to folks to testify, they weren't compelled by subpoena in order to be here. That's why some of them weren't here. Some of them would not testify anyway because of ongoing negotiations and lawsuits, so if they did testify they would say that we are not able to say anything during the current litigation process. But this hearing is -- when this hearing is over, it doesn't mean we are done. So, you know, we will hopefully at the end of this call, have the hearings left to the Chair so that we could reconvene again, the more information we get as the investigation continues, and that knowing that the challenge that you face, all of you, are being heard, and we do also want answers. And it has been silent and it has been quiet. And when we ask 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 questions, there are no answers, right. So when the investigation -- when we talk to the Attorney General's Office, some of these other parties, there is only so much they could tell us too, even though we are the elected officials. So knowing that we are going to keep pressuring this for accountability purposes, but we are also going to say, you know, where do we go from here? How do we, first of all, protect this from ever happening again? How do we re-create somehow the University of the Arts? How do we re-imagine it? How do we do that? How do we have programs like your program, Christina. Is that something that if there was a new merger of sorts or new organization that came in and took over and kept the University of the Arts' name, is that something that you would still like to create and keep this program? 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601

Yeah, it's needed for society. There is literally nothing that exists in terms of future like education in an interdisciplinary with the technologies of music and just all the art technology shifting so fast. There literally isn't a place -- I mean there is universities attempting to do it, like people have offered me jobs and I'm like I don't want to move there again. You don't have the resources to do it. And it's not a thriving city that I'm passionate about. There is New York, LA, Philadelphia. You know, this City has it, you just need to keep the buildings open so we can continue it, you know.

And that's our goal, hopefully to get the point to keep them open. But the goal would also be whoever does that, would 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 be able to have the resources necessary -- or maybe the City and the State, you know, the Governor's Office is involved, the Mayor has been very actively involved, right, and we have other philanthropists and other people who are interested. But how do we then incorporate something like some of the programs? Like I said, we heard Temple has created a new Bachelor's program. But it's not the same, right. So how do we then incorporate something like that into whatever happens, whatever comes of the properties and how we re-imagine that?

I mean a thoughtful solution, I mean someone like Kevin Haden who was the dean, Donna Faye, Michael Johnson, the people running the show there, those were the only three people that I was 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 working closely with. But I know that there was a whole team of people that were working towards that. And with overhead being like, no, we can't change this, we can't do this, that is too much money, slash, why do you think your enrollments are low. Because you're not listening to your deans. You're not listening to your directors. You're not listening to your staff. So if you brought those people in in a place of -- in a position of power, you could really change the whole trajectory of this City in a really good way.

Thank you. Thank you for that.

Thank you, Councilman Squilla. The Chair now recognizes Councilwoman Rue Landau.

Thank you so much, I'll be brief. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 First of all, thank you so much for all of you for being here. I'm not a member of the Education Committee but wanted to be here in person to hear all of your testimony because it's so heartbreaking about what happened to the students, to the faculty, to an institution that has been so important to Philadelphia. My mom attended the Philadelphia College of Art, the precursor to the University of the Arts, and so I have seen firsthand how important this institution has been throughout Philadelphia's history. And I appreciate so much, Christina, hearing you talk about the unique nature of Philadelphia's arts and culture community. You know, my mom is an artist, I wish it trickled down to my hands, it didn't, I do have it up here though. I hold you all in the high esteem that you talk about. I think 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 you are all just magical people in whatever ways in which you can express your art. I really am so impressed by you guys. You're super unicorns, and it's just so amazing to have you all in Philadelphia. I can promise I will work so hard with this Committee and with Councilman Squilla to do everything we can to make sure that we keep as many of you in Philadelphia and kind of re-imagine this space, with all of your input. I agree, this should not be top down, this must be bottom up. You are the people who know the most and the best about what is needed here, about how unique your crafts are, and we will do everything we possibly can to right this wrong and to elevate all of you. So thank you very much for being here.

Thank you for that. I would say as we are going through this, it's important to keep 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 in mind that the University of the Arts is not a brand or logo, right, it's the people, right. And it's 700 faculty and staff members who now have no jobs, no prospect of severance. They need to be made whole so that they can strengthen the arts community as opposed to the abandonment that they are currently facing.

Thank you so much Councilwoman Rue Landau. I want to just quickly add the Moore College of Arts is still here in the City of Philadelphia, and, you know, there is a way in which we can further partner with them amongst some other universities that might be interested in that space, that could be a potentiality as well. And then also there are several offices in the City that can provide job support for a lot of the professors, just letting them know things that we can do to support you 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 as you transition into new opportunities, hopefully it will be with us, that we can figure out where we can go. But Temple University I know has a couple individuals that are there supporting a lot of professors there. So helpfully we can figure that out. But we want you guys working, we need you here in the City of Philadelphia. Thank you. All right. Seeing there is no further questions for this panel, we want to thank you. And Mr. Clerk, Mr. McNegal, could you please call on the next panel to hear Resolution No. 240601 to testify.

Yes. Can we please have Angela Riechers, Madison Claus. We are going to jump a little bit and also add in Rosea Reeder.

A correction for the record, his name is 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 Mr. McMonagle. I love it, this is great. Sorry about that. (Witnesses approached witness table.) All right. Thank you so much for your presence today. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.

Hi, I'm Madison Claus.

Hello, I'm Angela Riechers. MR. McKAY: Hello, my name is Jon, J-O-N, McKay.

Good afternoon and thank you for hearing our statements today. My name is Madison Claus, and until June 7th I was a full-time staff member at University of the Arts in the School of Theatre. I was a member of our Staff Council, serving this past year as the Vice Chair, and I am also a member of 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 our Staff Union, serving on the Organizing Committee. In addition to being a staff member for three and-a-half years, I am an alum of the School of Theatre, having graduated in 2017 with a BFA in Musical Theater. My husband, Sean, and I were married just this past January at St. Luke and the Epiphany, which is right around the corner from Juniper Dorms where him and I were RAs together my senior year. Sean was also an adjunct faculty member for the School of Design. In the dozens and dozens of conversations that I have had in the month since the Inquirer informed us of the imminent closure of the University, I have been asked lots of questions. One question that is always asked is, did you know? Did you have any idea? And the answer is a simple, yet resounding, no. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 That Friday, May 31st, our fall 2024 production assignments were sent out for at least five anticipated shows. We had finalized the core schedule and I had registered our dozens of first year incoming students for our classes. As we headed into the summer, there was a general sense of both excitement and relief, that maybe we all finally had a real handle on things again after the tumultuous time of the pandemic. I was also really looking forward to the Staff Union's contract being finalized by the start of the academic year, especially since it has been over two years since we voted to unionize. Another common question I've been asked is, what are you going to do next? And I honestly don't know. The best part of my job was working with young artists in Philadelphia, and the University of the Arts was a 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 rare and special place. Many of us who were working at the University are now facing limited options, some of us pondering complete career shifts or considering moving out of the City in order to find jobs in arts higher education. And that's the scariest question that I have for myself: What is going to happen to Philadelphia now that UArts is gone? This City has been my home for 11 years, and I love it. I don't want to leave. I want Philly to continue to be a vibrant, diverse, thriving city of art. I'm here to ask City Council to help hold the Board of Trustees accountable for their actions. We deserve the severance we are legally owed by the University of the Arts. We deserve answers about how and why the University closed in the manner that it did. Thank you.

Hello, and I 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 do want to thank the Council for hearing us today. My name is Angela Riechers, and I was Program Director and Associate Professor of Graphic Design at UArts since 2018. Prior to this, I worked in editorial magazine design as an art director in New York for 10 years. I was the Art Director of 11 Harper's magazine, and also of O, the 12 Oprah Magazine, and about a dozen of 13 others along the way. 14 I taught design at New York 15 City undergraduate and graduate 16 programs as an adjunct and I write 17 about design and typography for many 18 design-related print and online 19 publications. 20 My experience with UArts up 21 until this June was completely 22 positive and fulfilling. At this 23 point I had taught at nearly half a 24 dozen other schools and I liked UArts 25 and its students the best of all. It 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 had a wonderful culture of support, creativity, collaboration, dedication, and I'm going to say it, love. Kindness was considered a virtue and it was in abundance. The students and faculty helped each other all the time. I loved my job. When I heard about the UArts sudden closing, of course I felt very bad for myself, as one does. But I also immediately thought, what about our students. So throughout June, the deans and program directors and many of the schools counseled students individually over Zoom. I did this work while I was away on vacation that I had planned in March, because I could not imagine leaving students to hang the way the University left us, the employees and the faculty to hang, with no information or resources. 5 credits away from his diploma. We don't even know what 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 to do with that. So to me, this is the greatest shame here, exposing young people to such a massive failure of adult responsibility, lack of communication and support. By closing the University in the shameful manner that it did, the administration made a mockery of our communal beliefs about caring for others and setting a terrible example for students about behaving in the adult world. Program directors spent all of last year doing admissions and outreach, which was not technically part of our jobs, but we wanted UArts to succeed. I traveled to Florida in a snowstorm. I traveled to two-year colleges in Bucks County, Delaware and New Jersey. I went to high schools and design programs. I attended portfolio review days in New York and Philadelphia. I invited high school students to lunch to help them learn 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 more about our graphic design program. Some applicants sat in our courses to meet our students and faculty and our students were unfailingly helpful and kind to them. In short, we did everything we could to insure the success of UArts because we really believed in it. So, you know, apart from the personal and professional disappointment, the impact of the UArts closure on me personally has been that I sold a 10-room apartment in New York where I had live all my life, where both my adult children lived and where all my friends and professional contacts were. I bought a house in Philadelphia thinking it would take me through retirement, because I had a contract of employment ending in 2030. So apart from the other financial hardships, I now have a 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 mortgage and no income, and as of the end of this month, no health insurance. Our students are quirky and talented individual artists with so much creativity to contribute to this City and the world, especially in the world of templates and AI. They cared about design, but more importantly they cared about community and each other. So many current and former students reached out to me with concern for how I was doing even in the middle of their grappling with their own situation.

A couple of our graphic design students' final capstone projects were for the benefit of Philadelphia communities, including a program to seed-bomb vacant lots with native grasses and wild flowers and a branded proposal to build a motocross track out on unused land near the airport so that the kids who ride ATVs 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 and dirt bikes around Philadelphia streets would have somewhere better and safer to go. So the loss of UArts means that such beautiful projects by young people will find homes elsewhere in other communities and other places not here in Philadelphia, and that's the real loss. Thank you. ) MR. McKAY: Sorry about that, I just had to take all that in. My name is Jon Hakeem McKay. First and foremost, I am a servant of Christ. I am also the grandson of the late Barbara L. McKay who retired a City of Philadelphia juvenile social worker. I'm currently the president and founder of Life Outside the Streets where our mission is to treat trauma through arts, education and information using brain health. I'm also a graduate of 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 Girard College, which was founded by Steven Girard who died the richest man in America and donated the money to build Delaware Avenue and tear down all the wooden houses in Philadelphia and build brick houses. He also donated, you know, Girard College. And when yellow fever came here, he opened up -- all the capital moved to DC, him and the mayor stayed here and, you know, basically nursed those that were dying, and you know, kept the City alive and bailed America out two times out of his own pocket when George Washington needed the money. I say those things to say that America, and I myself, a shout out to Girard College, we have a unique experience with dealing with situations like this. And this is an opportunity. And as an organization, the first thing I want to say is my condolences to all the students and staff for your loss with the 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 University of the Arts as we formally know it, because a loss is a loss and that's grief. I want to extend services and support to the students. I didn't come here to plug that, but that's what the people need, you understand. We cannot overlook that, that's the first thing we got to do to stop the bleed, you understand. Like I heard that they were getting counseling, but I would even move as one -- just one of the ideas to fund and save the University of the Arts, the City of Philadelphia, I have confidence that they would step up and provide those services, those counseling services, and the monies to provide those counseling services. And if they were to work with an organization like mine or somebody else, but with mine, we would dedicate at least half of that to the organization, and that bill of therapy is more than enough to keep the arts 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 open. So that's just one idea. But let's get to my notes. In my notes I have here, I'm here as a concerned citizen and a community advocate. Love has a transformative power to heal, build and attract the resources needed to accomplish any task. I learned that from Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, and the Bible of course. Offering counseling services and condolences is the number one thing we need to do. We also need to raise funds to supplement the income and housing and education for the students and staff that are impacted. So raising the money, you know, for the University to stay open is one thing, but the immediate thing to stop the bleed right now is to take care of that. And I'm confident that the City of Philadelphia and all of us here, we can do that quickly. The University of the Arts, 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 in Philadelphia's mission, is to advance human creativity, which it believes is a vital skill for success in today's society and a catalyst for social and economic change, which we heard over and over through the testimonies here.

And I think that, you know, when you look at the climate of the City of Philadelphia and the violence and everything in Philadelphia, we don't have to do much more research to stand on that. Again, our mission at Life Outside the Streets is to treat trauma through arts, education and information. God laid Life Outside the Streets on my heart after I graduated Girard in 2002. And I recognize that, you know, even though Girard College is smack dab in the middle of Philadelphia, the difference between me and my loved ones and my friends and family and the citizens in Philadelphia was simply a curriculum. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 Not simply a curriculum, but in addition to having a safe space to learn, but the curriculum. That's when I created Life Outside the Streets to bridge that gap. To basically create a Girard College for all Philadelphians. I say that to say in about -- in high school one day -- I was a troubled student there. I wasn't the best student. I wasn't this model citizen that I am today. One day I was the only person in detention. And the person that was running detention, he actually had an audiovisual department. And he had me help him with this film instead of sitting in detention. And now fast forward, you know, you guys will learn a lot more, to me that day I was the only person in the detention, and audiovisual and the arts became my safe haven and it 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 transformed my life. And throughout my career at Girard, you understand the audiovisual, the Girard Educational Technology Service Department became my safe haven whenever I would get kicked out of class or leave out of class I would go there. And upon graduating, I started Many Strong Records and Life Outside the Streets, which is a vehicle of the arts to save my community and lead my community. So I wanted to give my testimony of, you know, how the arts saved my life. Now let's get down to business. We need to raise money, you know, and I know we have that here, so I will argue that if we were to call on organizations like Live Nation, Rock Nation, NBA, ABC, CBS, Fox, CW, the Liacouras Center, Wells Fargo, the Del, all the theaters and entertainment venues, the Philadelphia 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 Police Department, the City of Philadelphia, the state level, the Governor, the president of the United States, the future president of the United States, Kevin Hart, Meek Mills, a Million Dollaz Worth of Game, Gillie Da Kid and Jay-Z and Beyonce, Philadelphia sports teams, the University of the Arts current students and alumni, the Department of Behavioral Health, DHS, the School District of Philadelphia, the Giard College Estate, the Philadelphia Tourism Department, the City Commissioner and the real estate department, fellow universities, schools and colleges, and the Free Masons of the Philadelphia to raise money to save the University of the Arts, we would have the funds today. I gave that short list because they are all direct beneficiaries of the arts. I would argue and I would even move to call 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 for an audit to see how many members, professionals that are actually graduates or that came through the University of the Arts that work now inside and all around these organizations. I heard earlier, another part of my proposal, to save the arts was increasing in the dual admissions program, because if you have a dual admissions program or a greater one, because I didn't know if you guys had one or not, but having a greater one, I imagine that would allow the City funds towards high schools and our students to actually add to that and make things a lot more fundable because we know our grade school students probably get a lot more support from the state and federal levels than universities and things of that nature in a different way. I also believe that calling on the current students and alumni -8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO.

240601 well, the University of the Arts to launch a corporate positive marketing campaign. I'm 40 years old, I turned 40 this year, all glory be to God, but I grew up with campaigns like Be Cool, Stay in School, Say No to Drugs. And there is actually zero corporate marketing positive messaging campaigns. And I believe, This is Your Brain and This is Your Brain on Drugs, those campaigns is why my peers and demographics are not so strung out on drugs and I believe by creating that and listening as a fee for service that the University of the Arts does, if the City of Philadelphia had to pay the University of the Arts in partnership with Life Outside of Streets or anybody to do that, again, that would be a way to raise funds, because this is something that the City needs. And just other arts and visuals, one of the things I brought 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 with me was a signage around how to deal with a mental health crisis. I created an info graphic for that because everywhere we go on SEPTA and all across the City, you know, we know people are having mental health crises, but there is no signage or steps or awareness to deal with that. So that signage campaign in itself, you know, as a fee for service with us hosting it will generate the funds we need to keep the school open. And lastly, fundraising concerts and exhibits that feature current and alumni students' work at partnering venues and institutions will quickly, quickly, quickly, quickly give us the funds that we need. Just one concert, in particular Jay-Z, he came here after, you know, basically causing violence in our City and causing division back in 2000, he came here and was throwing 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 concerts down in our City and raising millions of dollars. So we already know that concerts and things can raise money and they are going on each and every day and week in our City promoting violence and destruction. So if we can just take a step back and use those same venues to do something positive, we will not only save the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, but we will save all the children and families in Philadelphia. That's my time. )

Thank you so much for your testimony today. Are there any questions or comments from members of the Committee? Dr. Nina Ahmad -- Councilmember Dr. Nina Ahmad.

I'm sorry I missed, I was trying to listen at my desk. I just ask questions of 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 this young man who had a plethora of ideas. And we should pay attention to many of them. This conversation around putting maybe a panel or a task force together, I would love to see you part of that, if that happens, make sure we have your information. I wanted to just ask you, did you say you are from an organization called Life Outside the Streets? MR. McKAY: Yes, that is an organization I founded, it's Life Outside the Streets.

Is that part of Girard in any way? MR. McKAY: No, it's an independent 501(c)(3) that was inspired by my experience at Girard.

So I think regardless of what happens next, the fact that people are thinking outside the box is what I want to 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 commend you for. There is a lot of people remaining to be made whole, people who have bought their houses and have leases, all of those things, I don't know if there is even an effort to have sort of a fund to address some of these immediate needs that people have been put into economic crisis because of this. I come from a tiny country called Bangladesh, and there was a concert for Bangladesh when the country was fighting for its independence by the Beetles. You mentioned Jay-Z, I know the Beetles. And people know -- that branding is a lot why people know the name of the country. So branding matters, messaging matters. And I think an outcome from this kind of hearing is something more tangible, what could that be is up to discussion. But I really commend you for bringing all these ideas to the 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 forefront and saying there are many, many stakeholders who could, if they wanted to, transform and make a fund to support all the folks who are impacted. And maybe this is a conversation with our unions to have other unions join in, you know. There is a whole host of things that could be immediate response. And I thank you for highlighting mental health care. I don't know if you know, there is a new urgent care that opened up the Office of Behavioral Health that people can walk in to get support, so that's the first one. But I think your thought about giving care to people who have been impacted by this, because this has a huge psychological impact. And I hope we can work, if people need support through our Office of Behavioral Health, to support many of you. But thank you again for your 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 detailed testimony. MR. McKAY: Absolutely. Can I say one thing in response to that? The one thing I want to say is with all due respect to that urgent care center, Life Outside the Streets actually launched the first urgent healing center that does that independently. We don't get much exposure to publish that, which is a basically on that same model. But we did it virtually and we also had a space. But I also left out two industries that I know we can get support from, which is the churches and the Free Masons from Philadelphia. And lastly, you know, as a behavioral health student at CCP, adding behavioral health to education and brain health to education, hence Dr. Daniel Amen who has built, developed a practice around healing the brain using spec imaging, you 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 understand, I just think that on a proactive preventative side, adding that to the curriculum at the University of the Arts and across the City is a thing that on the long -- you know, on an expended prevention plan that I would like to propose. And I just would like to close with what I was supposed to open with, which is prayer. And I just prayer that the Lord softens the hearts and prepares the hearts of all those involved to expedite, you know, healing Philadelphia and getting this matter dealt with, in Jesus name we pray, alleluia, amen.

Thank you. I also like to briefly acknowledge the presence of former state representative of the 195th District, Donna Bullock is here today, now the Executive Director of Project HOME.

I would like to 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 quickly share that there has been a relief fund organized through the union, and so that was community members helping community members. It would be really helpful if we could get the money we were owed from the University as well.

Thank you so much. Are there any further questions from the members of the Committee or comments? The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Quetcy Lozada.

I just want to thank everyone that joined us today. I appreciate you taking your time to come share with us how you have been directly impacted. And I want to just acknowledge Councilmember Squilla's leadership on this issue. It's always a learning opportunity when you're leading different discussions and so I 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 just want to say I'm grateful for that. I look forward to continuing the conversation and trying to figure out how do we support students and their families and their path forward. How do we insure that this doesn't happen again in any of our institutions. And how do we support teachers in figuring out how they also are made whole and how they don't give up on the profession of becoming teachers because we haven't been able to figure this out as quickly as they need in order to continue to provide a quality of life for their own families. So I appreciate all of the testimony and I look forward to continuing to work together to figure out how we address all of those who have been impacted by this. I just wanted to make sure that I said thank you to all of you. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601

Thank you. I echo those same sentiments and I think the rest of the Committee as well echoes those same sentiments. There is no other further questions from members of the Committee or comments? (No response.) Okay. Thank you so much for your testimony. Hearing none, I want to thank all the panels of witnesses for their participation today.

Wait, we have another panel.

There is another panel?

Yes.

Mr. Clerk, can you please call the next panel for Resolution No. 240601.

Can we please have John Levis-Staff, Michael Brothusen and Sam DeHart. And I 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 apologize if I butchered any of those. (Witnesses approached witness table.) SAM DeHART: My name is Sam DeHart. MS. MacDONALD: My name is Sara MacDonald, I'm here for Michael Grothusen who had to leave for a doctor's appointment. You have his testimony in writing, I'd be happy to read this for him or I know your time is running -- this has run a long time.

And Mr. McMonagle is going to share all written testimony for the record. If you want to say a few words, you can. You don't have to read the whole thing. It's up to you.

Yes, please state your name for the record and proceed. Thank you. MS. MacDONALD: Well, you have his document. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601

We have it. Thank you. Sam. SAM DeHART: Good morning. My name is Sam DeHart and I'm former staff. Working at UArts gave me a sense of purpose and connection as an activist and artist. I loved the work I did for the University as an IT professional and as a member of the staff union bargaining team. I am angered and hurt by the University's sudden closure and am dismayed by its treatment of the University community, the UArts community. Thank you for the opportunity to speak here today. I was employed by University of the Arts from January 2019 until May 2024 in the IT department with the title of Business Analyst. During the course of my 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 employment, I experienced discriminatory behavior by management in several forms. This included withheld training, isolation of work, refusal to acknowledge or use pronouns, and subtle and overt derogatory comments regarding gender and race. In one particular occurrence, a supervisor made a racially charged joke in the context of a spontaneous introduction to former President Yager. In several instances, I experienced confidentiality and physical space violations that did not stop after repeated requests and discussions. I did not know who to trust and felt isolated from co-workers. This caused severe stress and anxiety. After filing for reasonable accommodations in response to and attempting to have discussions regarding a new supervisor's preferred 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 schedule, I was disciplined and ultimately quit due to the stress. A report was filed with HR in 2024 regarding management's behavior and this was also raised at a high-level during a DEIA committee discussion that occurred in 2022. In the context of having a complex PTSD condition, undergoing gender transition and working towards an autism diagnosis, I found my experience of working at UArts to be damaging on multiple levels. I am here today because I seek to understand what occurred with the UArts shutdown as I seek closure and healing from this experience. I am here today in solidarity with the union and former coworkers as we all navigate next steps. The value of what this community lost with the sudden closure of the University cannot be quantified or measured. The UArts community deserve wholeness. 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 This City deserves wholeness and answers. Thank you. (Applause.)

Thank you so much for your testimony. Are there any questions or comments from members of the Committee?

One question.

Yes, the Chair recognizes Councilman Mark Squilla.

Sam, during this time was there an arbitration or did you deal with Human Relations or anything about these challenges at the work site? SAM DeHART: I reported this to HR in 2024. Prior to that I was unable to -- didn't know who to trust because it involved the former HR director, the AVP and informed my supervisor who became the AVP of IT, 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 it involved the president, the Title IV Coordinator worked for the president. Who do I talk to? It took me five years to be able to write this.

Obviously it's in the past. In the future too, Human Relations is great. The City has a Human Relations Department also that could help. Also the union probably has some other areas where you could get additional help or at least seek arbitration or at least put a grievance in against the supervisors at that time. But we never want to see discrimination in any way in any institution or any job here in the City of Philadelphia and we will be willing to help in the future.

I concur. Are there any other further questions from the members of the 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 Committee? Questions or comments? (No response.) Thank you so much for your testimony. Mr. Clerk, are there any other panels of witnesses for today?

Mr. Chair, there are no further panels, but we did receive written testimony from Jennifer Mulcahy, Sara MacDonald and Eugene Bolt, and Annika Abel and an anonymous impact statement that we also submitted for the record.

Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Those will be submitted for the record for today's hearing. I want to personally just say thank you to all who came today and testified, this is really, really important. And are there any members for public comment today? (No response.) Okay, thank you. There 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 being no further questions from members of the Committee and no other witnesses to testify, I will ask that -- I will ask that there is anything else that anyone wants -- no other panelist, right? We are good?

There is one public comment.

There is a public comment. Hearing there is a public comment, Councilman -- Chair recognizes Councilman Mark Squilla.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As we heard today from the devastation that has happened to the students, staff and members of the faculty, and really the City as a whole, it's really important for the Board of Directors to hear that. We would like to send the transcript to them, to the Board of the University of the Arts so they are hearing exactly what we are hearing. And 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 there is a fiduciary responsibility to that Board and there is an ongoing investigation. I want to read one other statement from Temple, who we have been reaching out to a lot of the institutions who are making these so-called seamless transitions, that are not really seamless, but transitions for students and that Temple had said that the faculty and staff have been working to try to make the transfer of the students as seamless as possible. Temple's goal has been to make transferring as easy as possible. On the same day of closure, Temple announced and launched a website for students. They made it clear they would transfer as many credits as possible to endure the students stay on track for graduation. So far, more than 300 former and prospective UArts students have 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 committed to enrolling at Temple this fall. Faculty and staff are working hard to help students complete their degrees. UArts transfer students who chose to live on campus will find support. Temple's Dean of Student Affairs has worked to create two floors of housing in Johnson Hall and Hardwick Hall. To date, nearly 70 former UArts students have been assigned to live there, that number is expected to grow. In working to accommodate UArts transfers, Temple has developed pathways for students to finish their studies. This fall, Temple's Tyler School of Art and Architecture will launch the bachelor of fine arts in illustration. The program will accommodate more than 30 transferring UArts students so they can continue their education in illustration. Temple faculty and staff have worked 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 to find ways to insure UArts -- has been complicated and still getting information from UArts. Temple will try to continue to do their best to make this transfer possible. We want to thank Temple and other institutions for their work and care knowing that it's not completed yet. We still need more help and support and we want to make sure that this hearing will continue to call to chair so that as we get more information, as we can hold more people accountable, that information will be disseminated to everybody that testified here today. Thank you.

Thank you Councilmember Mark Squilla. There being no further questions from members of the Committee and no other witnesses to testify, I will ask if there is anything else, the final ask, present in this hearing whose name we have 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 failed to call that wishes to offer testimony on this Resolution being considered today, Resolution 240601. (No response.) Council President Johnson has joined us and he would like to offer a few comments.

Yes, I just wanted to stop past. First and foremost, I want to thank my colleague Councilman Mark Squilla who hails from South Philadelphia, I want to thank him for his leadership in addressing this issue. And I just want all of you to know that as Council President, I will work in partnership to support all the efforts of Councilman Mark Squilla to address your issues and your concerns. I thought it was very, very important for me come past and express my support publicly. And also I have a special interest in making sure that we 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 address the issues of the workers. From my understanding, the workers organized with their union, and also that a deal with University of the Arts a couple months, prior to all of this unfolding, so we want to make sure that the workers there are made whole, but also want to work in partnership in making sure the students are made whole, as well as being supportive of the negotiation that's going on with Temple University. So I wanted to stop past and show my support. Again, Councilmember Mark Squilla, thank you very much for your leadership stepping up to the plate and making sure we address this issue.

Thank you Council President Kenyatta Johnson, thank you. All right. Hearing no 25 further questions or comments or 8/8/24 - EDUCATION - RES. NO. 240601 witnesses being present, this concludes the business for the Committee on Education. We will now recess this hearing to the call of the Chair. Thank you very much for your attendance today. (Committee on Education concluded at 12:45 p.m.) C E R T I F I C A T I O N I hereby certify that the proceedings and evidence noted are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me in the foregoing matter, and that this is a correct transcript of the same. ------------------------------------ Michelle A. Landman - Notary Public (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)