While the pace of the summer term on Drexel’s campus feels slow, newly minted Drexel University President Antonio Merlo has hit the ground running throughout his first three weeks on the job.

Merlo assumes his leadership role at a time of great change for Drexel. The university is in the process of an Academic Transformation that will see the school switch from a quarter-based academic calendar to a semester-based calendar, as well as a complete overhaul of the curriculum for every single degree that Drexel offers. 

Additionally, Merlo is inheriting an unfavorable financial situation in which Drexel is working to combat a $60 million operational deficit. These institutional challenges come at a time when higher education is facing political pressure from the Trump administration as well as growing disillusionment about whether the value of a college degree is worth the burdensome investment of tuition. 

In an exclusive interview with The Triangle, Merlo outlined the challenges facing Drexel and how he intends to revitalize the institution in the face of these headwinds. 

How will semesters improve Drexel?

If Drexel faces a problem, Merlo believes that the impending academic transformation will address it. The academic overhaul grants Drexel the opportunity “to really double down on who we are as an institution, what we stand for, what our values are, and really be ready to position ourselves for the next chapter in this university.” 

The most important value that Merlo wants to double down on through the transformation is to make Drexel a student-centric university. 

Merlo, who previously helped maneuver a quarter-to-semester transition while at the University of Minnesota, highlighted three main facets that semesters will help Drexel improve. 

First, the switch to semesters will also afford Drexel students more time to breathe throughout their education. 

“On a quarter, essentially every other week you’re studying for an exam, right? And things are coming at you fast and furious. You have no time to just pause and say, ‘let me look around and see everything that Drexel has to offer,’” said Merlo.
”This is literally going to expand the opportunities available to students, and I am convinced that it’s also going to make the quality of student life better.” 

Merlo is hopeful that with less constant academic stress, students will have more time to enjoy the things that make college so special, such as participating in extracurricular activities and attending sporting events.

On the topic of school spirit, Merlo was cognizant of the fact that school spirit at Drexel is in need of a shot in the arm, something that he says “starts at the top.” 

“I can personally tell you that I’m going to be very invested in making sure that our students’ experience is second to none,” said Merlo. “We want to make sure that our students thrive and have a sense of belonging.”

“To me, the school spirit, the pride – silly things like going around wearing a Drexel shirt or when there is a game everybody showing up wearing the colors – it’s so important.” 

Merlo gestured to his lapel, where he proudly displayed a pin emblazoned with Drexel’s dragon mascot, to prove how he plans to lead by example.

“Even just wearing my dragon pin every day. You’re never going to see me on campus without one of these.”

In addition, Merlo noted that a semester abroad is significantly easier to coordinate than a quarter abroad, thereby creating fewer barriers to the culturally enriching experience of studying abroad. 

Finally, students seeking to transfer to Drexel will have a much easier time transferring their credits, along with themselves, to their new school. Aligning their academic calendar more closely with geographically similar institutions will enable Drexel to collaborate with its neighbors in offering a broader range of classes. 

“Being synchronized with the rest of the world opens up amazing opportunities. In my experience at [New York University], NYU has a lot of collaborations across universities. For example, no university can teach every language in the world, but how about we say we have 10 universities who are within a particular radius, who are each going to offer certain language courses, and then we all tell our students reciprocity,” explained Merlo. “So, in terms of expanding the opportunities for our students, the transition to semesters is going to be an amazing change.”

A new era of leadership

While Merlo has realistically not been at Drexel long enough to have had much influence on Drexel’s habits, one thing is clear: he will be a very different kind of president than his predecessor, John Fry. 

Merlo made it clear that he plans to take an active approach to his presidency.

“I’m not going to be a president that sits in my office and communicates via email as the only way of communication.”

Another priority of the new president is establishing trust with the student body that Drexel’s administration is working in the best interests of its students. 

In recent years, numerous developments have been made on campus that have actively taken away recreational space from students in favor of providing private space to corporate partners. These developments, such as the destruction of Buckley Field and the conversion of The Armory to The US Open of Squash, have been the cause of much hand-wringing amongst the Drexel student body, and while Merlo understands not every move a president makes can be popular, he emphasized his administration’s goals are guided by a north star of serving students. 

“I want to be very clear as to what my priorities are, what my focus is, and the consistency of my message,” said Merlo. When I tell you that we really want to invest in the student experience and be a student-centered and student-focused university, that’s my commitment to all of you.” 

Minding the budget

With the news that Drexel faced a $63 million operational deficit in 2024, many students were left scratching their heads, trying to understand just how that was possible. Tuition will run students over $21,000 per quarter in 2025-2026, and the school has continued to spend money on projects such as the 30th Street Market-Frankford Line Station, which appears to be an unlikely investment for a school concerned about budget deficits. 

However, in the face of a negative cash flow, Drexel consolidated some colleges and laid off 60 staff members. 

Merlo acknowledged the difficulties that Drexel’s finances face, but expressed confidence in the university’s ability to balance the budget after the academic transformation is complete. While some structural changes are being made to Drexel’s operational structure, the bulk of the deficit needs to be offset by increasing enrollment. 

The President was emphatic that the value proposition of a Drexel degree is incredibly attractive. Drexel graduates are more prepared for their careers and tend to earn more money in the years immediately after graduation, according to Merlo.

The value of a Drexel diploma, in tandem with the benefits of the academic transformation, leads Merlo to be hopeful that there is a visible path to increased enrollment. 

“It’s up to us to make the case and explain to families when they’re thinking about, when you want to go for college, that Drexel is a place where you can make an investment that is going to have a huge return,” said Merlo. “All we need to do is put this institution in the right place so that everything we do is aligned with our goals. I have complete confidence that both with the work that this university has been doing, we are going to be in a much better position once we align all of our goals.”

One area where Merlo was able to bring clarity was the development of the Schuylkill Yards project. This real estate development venture that has seen Drexel develop unused parking lots into skyscrapers near campus, has flooded the areas west of 30th St. Station with construction. These buildings are hard to miss, but their use remains largely undetermined.

Merlo, who was at Penn when the development was being conceived, spoke glowingly about the curb appeal that these new buildings have brought to campus, as well as highlighted the benefits they may bring to Drexel’s academic transformation. 

“I always go back to the academic transformation [which] is all about how we can connect schools that are right now [isolated] in their own little corner. How can we connect them to the core mission of what Drexel does?”

While much remains to be sorted out, Merlo said that Drexel resources, which are currently inconveniently located around Philadelphia, can be relocated and made more readily available to students thanks to the Schuylkill Yards development.

“I’m really hoping we will be able to use academic transformation and the new curriculum and this idea about really embracing experiential learning across the board to also leverage this new footprint that was created, so that it is more tangible and immediately valuable to our students,” said Merlo.

While it is still incredibly early in Merlo’s tenure as President of Drexel University, he is certainly not taking the experience for granted. 

Merlo’s favorite part of being President so far? It is not the fancy President’s Office; rather, it comes when he walks to get his lunch during the middle of his day. Merlo chronicled the joy brought to him by impromptu conversations with members of the Drexel women’s basketball team, explaining how his daily interactions with the Drexel community brighten his day between meetings about budgets and buildings. 

“I typically walk to go get my lunch, and I see students excited on the street and saying, ‘Are you the new president?’ The best part is the privilege of being part of this community,” said Merlo.