Everyone Out for PILOTs!
On March 4th, we march forth!
Penn’s new president and the trustees will process down Locust Walk on 3/4/22 at noon. Come join us, grab a sign, and show these university leaders the importance of PILOTs.
What Penn Owes Philadelphia Families
We invite all Penn faculty and community members to a conversation about Penn’s impact on West Philadelphia and the city, and its history of dispossessing and displacing Black, Brown, and immigrant families. What is Penn’s civic obligation to the public schools? How can Penn help preserve affordable housing around its campus? Learn how you can support the efforts of the Coalition to Save the University Townhomes, and Penn for PILOTS.
AAUP-Penn Event: "Community Justice and the Ivory Tower: A Conversation with Davarian L. Baldwin"
AAUP–Penn organized “Community Justice and the Ivory Tower,” featuring Davarian L. Baldwin (author of In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower: How Universities are Plundering our Cities (Bold Type Books, 2021), in conversation with Krystal Strong, Abdul-Aliy Muhammad, and Jolyon Baraka Thomas. This panel discussion with faculty and community activists addressed the university’s role in gentrifying and policing neighborhoods in cities across the country, with a focus on Penn and West Philly.
Davarian L. Baldwin is the Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of American Studies and founding director of the Smart Cities Lab at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut
Abdul-Aliy A. Muhammad is a Philadelphia-born organizer, writer, and co-founder of the Black and Brown Workers Co-op
Jolyon Baraka Thomas is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Penn and an organizer with Penn for PILOTs
Krystal Strong is Assistant Professor of Education at UPenn and an organizer with BLM Philly
Organized by AAUP-Penn, the University of Pennsylvania chapter of the American Association of University Professors.
Sponsors: Civic House, Wolf Humanities Center, SNF Paideia
Penn Co-sponsors: Penn for PILOTS; Police Free Penn; Fossil Free Penn; Latinx Coalition; Asian Pacific Student Coalition; Penn Association for Gender Equity; Lambda Alliance; United Minorities Council; UMOJA Coalition; Penn Community for Justice; GET-UP; University of Pennsylvania YDSA
Community Co-sponsors: The Paul Robeson House; Scribe Video Center; Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture; People’s Emergency Center
Information Session
Penn for PILOTs will be holding an Update Session on March 22nd from 2-3pm EST to discuss strategies and next steps to ensure that that Penn’s pays its fair share to Philly’s underfunded schools.
We last wrote all of you who signed the Penn faculty and staff statement in support of PILOTs to celebrate Penn’s $100 million commitment to the School District of Philadelphia in November as evidence of the impact of our campaign. We also underlined, however, that public schools are not charities, and public education cannot depend on donations. We, therefore, continue to support the citywide campaign for Penn—and Philadelphia’s other wealthy nonprofits—to make a yearly commitment to pay 40% of what they would in property taxes to support the city’s schools. In Penn’s case we estimate that obligation to be about $40 million—four times its current “gift.”
We are, therefore, planning this PILOTs Update Session as a chance to review what we have accomplished, answer questions, and develop plans to make Penn’s “gift” an opportunity to hold Penn to account for meeting its obligations to the city’s schools in the year ahead. If you are interested in attending this session, please register for the zoom details. And please forward this invitation to any faculty and staff who might be interested in attending this session!
Thanks again for your support on this important issue and we look forward to continuing our work together.
Press Conference
The University of Pennsylvania’s Board of Trustees is facing unprecedented public challenge from faculty and staff for refusing to meet and discuss Penn’s obligation to make payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs) to the Philadelphia public schools. After months of silence from the trustees, faculty and staff have called a press conference by Zoom on Sept. 22 at 4 p.m. to discuss the need for accountability from the trustees—and to call on them to reverse course at the September 24 meeting of the Trustees’ Budget and Finance Committee.
Conversation: Why PILOTs Matter
September 9, 2020 Zoom webinar hosted by the PENN GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS ASSOCIATION and the ANDREA MITCHELL CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF DEMOCRACY, this virtual panel of experts and activists will discuss the recent activism for Penn to pay PILOTs (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) and, more broadly, the question of Penn's responsibility to public education and community justice in Philadelphia.
The panelists are DEVAN SPEAR, Executive Director of Philadelphia Jobs with Justice, SARAH MIN, Penn Community for Justice, RICK KRAJEWSKI, Candidate for Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the 188th District, Penn Class of 2013, and DENNIS CULHANE, Professor and Dana and Andrew Stone Chair in Social Policy, Penn School of Social Policy & Practice.
Co-sponsored by PENN DEMOCRATS, GEAR UP AT PENN, PENN AAPI POLITICS, CIVIC HOUSE, and the SNF PAIDEIA PROGRAM.
Information Session
On July 21, we held an information session for Penn faculty and staff that covered the following topics related to PILOTs:
1. Welcome and introduction (2 minutes)
2. Overview of the city-wide campaign and the rationale for PILOTs (7 minutes)
3. Can Penn afford this? (5 minutes)
4. What are Penn’s arguments against PILOTS? (3 minutes)
5. Next steps (5 minutes)
6. Q&A (35 minutes)
Slides from the event are available here.
