For Drexel University’s Department of Public Safety, establishing their presence on campus is a top priority. Among their most recent efforts to selflessly serve the Drexel community is a series of informative presentations called “Your Safety is our Goal,” aimed at educating about safety and situational awareness for all.

“[The presentations] talk about Public Safety programs, who we are, and why you might want to call Drexel Public Safety instead of the Philadelphia [police department],” community relations police officer Kim McClay said. An emphasis is placed on services Drexel’s Public Safety can provide to all community members on and off campus at all times.

The creation of these informative, interactive presentations came about in January as Drexel welcomed a slew of new students to its campus amid a time of increased violent crime, community relations police officer Thomas Cirone said, and they have grown in popularity over the past six months.

With a focus on overall situational awareness, the “Your Safety is our Goal” presentations compile many of the Department of Public Safety’s more specific efforts, like personal and property safety, programs such as the Drexel Guardian App and Rape Aggression Defense classes and Drexel’s alcohol amnesty policy, among others.

“We hope [to teach] a skillset that people can learn and take with them,” McClay said of the presentations.

“We tell [attendees] that everything we are showing, teaching you here is stuff you can use everywhere, even back in your hometown,” Cirone said.

While Cirone and McClay spearheaded efforts to create the “Your Safety is our Goal” presentation, they said several other members of Drexel’s staff play essential roles in educating through the presentation. Among these are David Hollinger, Director of Fire and Emergency Services and Amy Spiller, Victim Services Coordinator.

Cirone and McClay prioritize educating Drexel’s student population on these issues, but they target staff, as well.

“We do [these presentations] upon request, for both students and staff,” Cirone said. “We have dates scheduled to present once per month, usually toward the end of the month, and also offer varied times to make it accessible to all.”

McClay explained that the presentation can be tailored specifically to whom they are presenting. As an example, an emphasis was placed on discussing Drexel’s alcohol amnesty policy during a run of the presentation to a student group.

At the forefront of the presentation series is making students and staff aware of the amazing resource they have in Public Safety. Cirone and McClay encourage all Drexel community members to save (215) 895-2222 in their cell phone contacts to quickly contact Drexel Police when needed.

“Besides being 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, call [Drexel Public Safety] because we know the campus inside and out,” McClay said. “If someone calls and says [they need help] at [Lancaster Walk] or the Dragon statue, the city [police department] is not going to know what that means, but we will know exactly… we know the things unique to Drexel.”

Members of the Drexel community can also utilize the Drexel Guardian App to connect with Drexel Public Safety. The app has a button to connect with the department via a phone call or through a text messaging service, which can be even done anonymously.

When contacting Public Safety, you have every right to stay anonymous, Cirone said. This does not lessen the seriousness of the issue, and dispatch will not be upset.

Of course, Public Safety prefers knowing the name of the reporter in the event a follow-up is needed, but the most important thing is having the information, McClay said. So, it is important to always contact the department when necessary, even anonymously.

“We want to know what is going on on our campus,” McClay said, “and each person is going to know their specific area better [than us].”

According to Cirone and McClay, something members of the Drexel community may not know is that Public Safety is always a resource, even when you are not on campus.

“We will never, ever turn you away,” Cirone said. If you make a call to Public Safety when off campus, “[dispatch] will keep you on the line while another dispatcher notifies Philly PD to get you help.”

“If you are a Drexel student [or staff member], we will always help you,” McClay said.

Another important topic discussed in the presentation series is theft, which is consistently the number one crime committed on campus.

“It is usually a crime of opportunity,” McClay said. “You don’t want to always assume everyone is a lawful citizen.”

According to Cirone and McClay, good practices to prevent theft include not leaving valuables unattended, securing bikes and other property with heavy duty locks and utilizing Public Safety’s property registration program.

An urban campus will be susceptible to urban issues, McClay said. “It is a safe campus, but you need to be aware of your surroundings. What we don’t want people to say is ‘Oh, I wish I had known, if somebody had mentioned that.’ We are trying to get ahead of that [with these presentations], to get on the offense.”

Cirone and McClay also encouraged the use of the safe transaction zone offered by Public Safety. When buying or selling an item, the in-person exchange can be done in this safe, well-lit and monitored area.

Another topic covered by Public Safety in the “Your Safety is our Goal” presentations is active shooter training, which Cirone and McClay say is something not talked about enough.

“Now is the time to think about what you would do [in the event of an active shooter situation], not when it happens,” McClay encouraged. “With predatory violence, every second counts. If you have a plan ahead of time, you won’t have to waste time thinking in the moment, and you can immediately take action.”

Cirone and McClay said that their involvement in this area has gone as far as working with architects of new buildings on campus to address design flaws that would be dangerous in active shooter situations.

“We [have asked] whether they take precautions into account [in the design], and they usually say ‘no’,” McClay explained.

Cirone said glass designs, which are featured in many new buildings, are aesthetically appealing but do not provide adequate protection in the event of an active shooter.

Dr. Mary Gallagher Gordon, Vice Dean of Strategic Operations and Academic Services in the College of Nursing and Health Professions, is even taking these steps into account to design the layout of space in a new building, Cirone said.

“[Gallagher Gordon] thought ahead [after our presentation] about how they can plan for this situation,” McClay said.

While the “Your Safety is our Goal” presentation series also addresses many other topics, McClay said the opportunity for questions at the end is especially helpful.

Cirone and McClay are glad to see the turnout of both students and staff at these presentations, and will continue educating about these important safety measures. They continually encourage all members of the Drexel community to be involved and utilize Public Safety as a resource in any time of need.

“We’re here for the Drexel community at all times, so use us,” Cirone encouraged.

“Safety is always a shared responsibility, and we can’t do it all by ourselves,” McClay said. “So, we are asking people to be engaged for their own safety, and to assist us in keeping our campus safe.”

For more information, or to ask about scheduling a “Your Safety is our Goal” presentation, members of the Drexel community are encouraged to contact community relations officers Thomas Cirone at tjc94@drexel.edu and Kim McClay at kam556@drexel.edu.

All members of the Drexel community are continually encouraged to save (215) 895-2222 in their phone contacts to quickly get in touch with Public Safety 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year.

Drexel University’s Office of Student Life held its 10th-annual Memorial Day Primer event May 26 to pay tribute to members of the Drexel community who have served the country and to remind students about the true meaning behind Memorial Day each year.

As a COVID-19 precaution, this year’s Memorial Day Primer was held virtually via a Zoom webinar with an open invite. Although led online, the annual program featured all of its hallmark activities.

The event began with a rendition of the National Anthem sung by Tiffany Dydak during the Presentation of the Colors. Following, Matthew Pron, a Drexel Veterans Alumni Network president, U.S. Marines veteran and Drexel Class of 2016 graduate, led the Pledge of Allegiance.

“Together we are gathered to honor and remember all who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country,” Father Remigio Morales, Director of Spirituality at the Newman Center, said, beginning with an invocation.

Throughout the event, many members of the Drexel community had the opportunity to present and share words about the powerful impact of those currently in uniform and those who have served.

Anne Converse Willkomm, Assistant Dean of the Graduate College and Assistant Clinical Professor and Department Head in the Goodwin College of Professional Studies, spoke about her father’s service during World War II. Although she does not remember hearing many war stories as a child, Willkomm says lessons from war were woven into many aspects of her childhood.

“Quippets about friendship, fear and fortitude,” Willkomm said. “Surely lessons [from war] meant for the younger generations.”

Willkomm’s latest work is a novel she is currently writing about her family’s history of service. She shared about the powerful interviews she conducted with her father for the novel.

Chris Young, U.S. Army veteran and Drexel Class of 2012 graduate, presented to honor the late Chuck McNally, Jr., U.S. Army veteran and former Assistant Dean and Academic Advisor in the College of Arts and Sciences. McNally passed unexpectedly in September 2020 and is deeply missed by many at Drexel, especially those involved in veteran student efforts.

“It is because of people like Chuck that Drexel is so successful in supporting student veterans,” Young said, honoring McNally’s legacy of being welcoming of all, and always helping and being truly dedicated to the student veteran community at Drexel.

MaryAnn McNally, Chuck’s wife, joined in to read “In Flanders Fields,” a famous war poem by John McCrae, alongside her children Lucy, Charlie and Grace; Grace is a student at Drexel University.

In addition to honoring Chuck, Dr. Rebecca Weidensaul, Assistant Vice President of Student Life and overseer of the Office of Veteran Student Services, called for a moment of silent reflection to remember two more Drexel veterans: Johnny Cook, U.S. Army veteran and former College of Engineering student, and Adrian Jordan, U.S. Navy veteran and former College of Arts and Sciences student, both of whom were tragically lost in the past year.

“[We gather] to remember all of these Dragon Patriots who gave their all here at Drexel and are deeply missed,” Dr. Weidensaul said.

Jessica Wisniewski-Hagen, U.S. Navy veteran and former Drexel Veterans Task Force member, also spoke about Action Tank Living Memorials, which will plant a tree in honor of all Drexel veterans this November.

To conclude the ceremony, Jake Karwoski, a student in the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health, and a member of the Drexel University Concert Band, played Taps on his trumpet in honor of the Retiring of the Colors.

While Memorial Day marks the unofficial start to summer for many, Weidensaul reminded attendees that the weekend should be both of celebration and of solemnity. Several at-home crafts and coloring activities were provided to show support of the powerful meaning behind Memorial Day.

Although all attended separately from home, the sense of togetherness and community at the 2021 Memorial Day Primer was as strong as ever.

“It is so important to remember the sacrifices people have been willing to make for our country, and we need to continue to appreciate that,” attendee Jim Hartz said following the event. “These moving tributes are all part of an important tradition that we as Americans, veterans and citizens need to be mindful of. Thank you for reminding us all how important it is to reflect and remember the sacrifices of ordinary people who stepped up.”

“Memorial Day is one of the most emotionally-charged days of the year,” Captain RJ Salavec, Assistant Professor of Military Science in Drexel’s Army ROTC, said; but Memorial Day serves as a powerful symbol of gathering and reflection.

A full-length recording of this year’s Memorial Day Primer can be viewed online at this link.

Despite a year of unprecedented circumstances, Drexel received a 10 percent increase in applications and 3,136 active confirmation enrollments as of May 7 for the incoming undergraduate class of 2025/2026. As a result of the pandemic, the admissions office adjusted some of their policies and outreach strategies to students and families, among those being a test optional policy.

Drexel received 34,500 undergraduate applications this year, compared to 31,250 applications last year.

“A lot of that, I’m sure, can be attributed to some of the efforts and a lot of the new initiatives we’ve put in place this year,” Evelyn Thimba, Senior Vice President of Enrollment Management, said in an interview. “We also went test optional this year, and we think in some terms that that also helped increase the number of students who applied.”

Drexel received 500 more enrollment deposits this year than the university did last year. By the fall, Thimba remarked that the projection for the incoming class will be about 2,800 students.

The gender distribution for the upcoming class is similar to last year’s, which was 48.6 percent female students, according to DrexelNow. Additionally, 20 percent of students who have confirmed their enrollment identity are underrepresented students of color, as compared to about 14 percent last year. Thimba clarified this demographic can be defined by students who identify as Black or African-American, Latinx or Native American students. Of the confirmed students, 27 percent are first generation college students, an increase from last year’s 26 percent.

The incoming class will be made up of around 10 percent international students, which is generally the same number Drexel has every year.

“Last year, even though about 10 percent confirmed, far fewer ended up enrolling in the fall. We think this year we will have better conversion rates in terms of students actually showing up, but there’s still the visa process that students need to go through,” Thimba said. “With COVID there’s still a lot of Visa-granting offices and consulates that are closed except for emergencies. We are all watching that number real closely, but our incoming, the number of students who are international and have confirmed their enrollment, is about 10 percent of the class.”

Dragons for the incoming class also hail from across the nation and the world. The top five states that students are coming from are Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Maryland and California, which is consistent with previous years. The top five countries students are coming from this year are India, Vietnam, Nigeria, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Thimba commented on how the COVID-19 pandemic and associated policy changes have affected the admissions process. Admissions officers tried their best to accommodate with circumstances and reach out to students and families through virtual resources.

“We in the Admissions Office did everything we could to identify and remove any barriers for students this year in terms of making sure that our admissions process was as flexible and seamless as it could be because we knew just how difficult a time these students were having,” Thimba said.

The admissions office took into account that students did not have the opportunity to visit Drexel on campus or easy access to their guidance counselors, and were conscious of that in their decision-making, communication with students and application requirements. Thimba believes that, because of many of the changes made, they were able to increase the number of students who applied to Drexel.

Among the new initiatives was hosting many live option sessions as opposed to pre-recorded sessions to have students better connect with the university. The optional testing policy which was implemented for this class will also be continued for the next two years as a pilot, due to its success this year.

“The silver lining of all this is that we at the admissions office at Drexel — and this is not unique to Drexel, this is across the country — have learned different ways to reach students and their families. Many of the options we have will continue to be offered,” Thimba said. “We had access to students who we don’t usually connect with and students also had much more of a front door to the university through the virtual offerings that they didn’t have unless they actually visited us in person.”

Thimba and the admissions office are very impressed with the resilience of the incoming class in spite of the obstacles many have faced in the past year, and is excited to welcome them to the university.

“We are excited for every incoming class, but this class has been tried, and they are in many ways trailblazers in terms of the way that they have conducted their college search and also selected their final academic home,” Thimba said. “So we are so excited for what they are going to add to our campus fabric. I think they are inspirational in many ways and we’re just thrilled they’re going to be joining the Dragon family.”

Drexel University is known for having over 80 diverse undergraduate majors, and even more than 100 minors to supplement their education in a way they see fit.

Nonetheless, the scope of education transforms as time progresses, and it is important for a collegiate institution to provide resources that change with it. With that being said, the University plans on adding eight new undergraduate majors, two undergraduate minors, and a plethora of graduate programs, certificates and courses.

The Climate Change minor is one interesting addition being offered within the College of Arts and Sciences, and it reinforces Drexel’s position to build tomorrow’s leader.

According to the course catalog, the new Climate Change minor “provides an overview of the Earth’s climate system and the science of climate change, as well as how to understand, mitigate, and adapt to its potential impacts from varied disciplinary perspectives.”

In order to complete this minor, prospective students will need to take an array of classes spread over the disciplines of environmental science, biology, entrepreneurship, and even economics.

With global warming and climate change being serious issues for future generations to face, leaders are needed now with innovative ideas—leaders that are properly educated about the issue in itself.

Drexel is also offering four new undergraduate programs within the LeBow College of Business. From a BS in Economics and Business to a BS in Economics and Public Health, LeBow has many interdisciplinary programs from which undergraduate students can choose from.

The new Economics and Data Science degree is a collaboration between LeBow College of Business and the College of Computing and Informatics. Although the combination of disciplines might seem odd, it represents current market trends within the business industry. With much more data-driven commerce emerging, it is important for students to have business acumen in addition to hard computer and data skills.

With the Drexel community fully returning to campus in the upcoming fall, students will also find more options that can lead to new and innovative career paths.

Andre Pak, a sophomore in the Westphal College of Media Arts and Design’s music industry program, co-created the mental health-focused podcast “The New Normal” during pandemic lockdown last year.

The Creative Resilient Youth Collective came up with the idea for the podcast from their “check-ins” during weekly Zoom meetings.

Pak joined CRY as a senior at Central High School, crediting Michelle Delgado, one of the co-founders of the collective, as his mentor.

CRY is in their third year now; Pak was a member of the first cohort of students.

“It was originally supposed to be eight weeks, but because we were so passionate about it, it turned out to last a whole year,” Pak said.

In search of a quarantine project in late April of 2020, the group decided that because they were already having conversations about mental health, they should begin a podcast about it.

“Before I joined CRY, I never really talked about mental health ever. It was not something that my family talked about or my social groups in high school,” Pak said.

The 20-year-old musician works with eight other co-hosts on “The New Normal,” which has four episodes out and over 100 listeners.

The first episode centered around drug use in quarantine, a recurring topic from the group’s check-ins.

“I’m really grateful that I had a program like CRY where I was able to learn the language of mental health and kind of pay it forward, especially being Asian-American … I really want to be a mental health advocate for the Asian community,” Pak said, noting that the topic can be taboo within his community.

When the group could gather in person, they would discuss their feelings that day and the mentality they were bringing into whatever event was happening.

“Sometimes we have good days and sometimes we have bad days. I think that is a testament to how teens experience life every day,” Pak said.

Vulnerability has always been a part of the group’s gatherings, and it has translated to Zoom, where the podcast is recorded.

Podcasting is just one of the artistic mediums Pak is involved with.

“I’ve been writing songs since I was 10,” Pak said.

Within the collective, Pak has also explored photography and videography, and he uses his audio knowledge from his education at Drexel to produce music.

When Pak was 14, he started a YouTube podcast of his own on the topic of pop culture.

The idea for “The New Normal” podcast was a compromise between members of the cohort, who wanted to launch either a radio show or an open discussion project.

“I’m a creative thinker and I tried to fuse everything together,” Pak said.

“The New Normal” was borne out of a desire to dive deeper into a topic the collective felt passionately about, and in four weeks, it was ready to launch.

Although the cohort has been working together throughout the year on several projects, they have not had an in -person event.

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month in May, CRY typically hosts an art exhibit, but it was cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It will be a reunion for the artists, Pak said, on Friday, June 4 at Cherry Street Pier, where the annual CRY art exhibit will take place in partnership with the Young Artists Program. The exhibit will run until June 27.

“The New Normal” is available on Spotify, Soundcloud and YouTube. For more information, visit https://crycollective.com/.

On Friday, April 30, Joe Biden visited Philadelphia during the week of his 100-days-in-office celebration to talk about the $80 billion allocated for railways in the proposed infrastructure plan. He visited 30th Street Station, the location where the first Amtrak arrived 50 years ago, in 1971.

A few footsteps away from Drexel’s campus, 30th Street was full of young people and students as well as many of Biden’s supporters. Even though the station looked like any other day with people waiting for their Amtrak or Septa train, the atmosphere felt different. Multiple PPD officers and Secret Service members surrounded the area without disclosing any information about the president’s whereabouts to civilians. In the minutes before the event started, multiple news anchors were present near the exits.

While people were waiting, a few young activists were talking in front of the station about President Biden’s responsibility to “Free the Vaccine” and make it accessible for the entire world. The activists spoke about the U.S.’s management of the vaccine, India’s COVID crisis and Biden’s promises to make vaccines accessible for “everyone, everywhere.”

President Biden, who acquired the nickname “Amtrak Joe,” is known to have used Amtrak often during his days as senator and vice president. He remained friends with multiple employees and has made it his trademark over the years.

“We have to build back better and today we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to position Amtrak in the rail and intercity rail as well, in general, to play a central role in our transformation and transportation economic future. To make investments that could have America get back on track, no pun intended,” President Biden said. “When I think about climate change, I think about jobs and rail and hopefully the expansion of rail to provide good union jobs.”

Biden talked about cutting greenhouse and gas emissions in half by 2030 and the relation between rail expansion and climate change. He told a story about using Amtrak to visit his daughter for her birthday in Wilmington, DE, so she could blow a candle and immediately go back to Washington, D.C.

The $80 billion discussed on Friday is part of the $2 trillion infrastructure proposal. The money for rail expansion is part of the $621 billion for transportation infrastructure.

Drexel’s College of Nursing and Health Professions will cease operations of its EMS Training Center by June 30. The decision, made in February, was largely due to financial issues in the aftermath of the Hahnemann hospital closure and COVID-19. Now that the Department of Emergency Medical Services’ Training Center (EMSTC) at Drexel is closing operations, Philadelphia will now have only one operational EMS training center.

The department offered a number of services to interested participants, including EMR and EMT training, CPR courses through the American Heart Association, and trauma education courses. Jamie M. Teufel, who is the current EMS Program Director, rebuilt the EMS program that Drexel had first closed in 2008.

In 2013, the College of Medicine at Drexel asked Teufel to redevelop the remnants of the EMS training program that taught EMT and paramedics. By 2015, programs were up and running. The College of Medicine closed the Department of Emergency Medicine in 2019, which is when the College of Nursing took over the department again.

Since 2015, the department has had over 500 students go through their program, with 80 EMT students currently enrolled.

“After COVID hit and because of the Hahnemann hospital closure, we ran into some difficulty as far as finding clinical locations for our students and also had some problems,” Teufel said. “We were off campus for four months, we couldn’t hold any classes for four months because of COVID so that made things much more difficult for us, financially.”

When the College of Nursing and Health Professions finance team looked at the program’s projected finances for the upcoming fiscal school year 2021-2022, they made the decision to cease operations.

“In February, we were given the directive to close our program, finish our current students, and that we were all terminated as of June 30,” explained Teufel. “We currently have 80 EMT students enrolled, so we are finishing the 80 EMT students that are currently enrolled.”

Since March 1, the department has been slowly ramping down its services as all staff will be laid off as of June 30.

Teufel expressed that the department’s main concern right now is to make sure that students are getting their educational needs met and that they get through courses quickly and efficiently. At the same time, students have generally expressed their discontent with the decision.

“I can tell you that students have displayed sadness and displeasure with the decision. They have verbalized that and demonstrated that numerous times,” Teufel said. They have asked us what they can do and our wish to them is that they simply finish the course and be successful.”

An op-ed published in the Inquirer recently expressed frustration with the decision to close the center down. Among her concerns about the situation, EMS educator Amanda Rock cited that the Drexel EMS center closing will mean that the number of newly certified EMTs in Philadelphia will be cut in half.

“The lack of EMS providers in the Philadelphia area is not a new problem,” Rock said.  “But between COVID-19 and Drexel’s disheartening decision to close its highly regarded EMS Training Center, it is slated to become a dire public health emergency that cannot continue to be ignored.”

The future of the EMS program is uncertain, as of now. As the department closes, the American Heart Association Center will be moving over to a different entity within the Nursing college, but the EMS training center and the Trauma education department will either be closed or transferred over to other entities.

“I wish Drexel was able to maintain this program,” Teufel said. “I think we did a lot of good with this program, but unfortunately, the financial situation that Drexel is in right now laid the groundwork for this to be closed down.”

The university affirmed that the program’s closure had to do with financial issues, but also expressed their intent to find a way to continue the program in some capacity.

“The bankruptcy and closure of Hahnemann University Hospital, and a number of external factors negatively impacted the EMS Training Center, and, despite the best efforts to maintain operations, a decision was made by the College of Nursing and Health Professions to close the Center,” Niki Gianakaris, Executive Director of Media Relations, said. “However, Drexel is currently looking into ways to keep the program running.”

Started in 2003 at the University of Pennsylvania, Insomnia Cookies has just opened their brand new CookieLab April 23 in Philadelphia, the city where it all began. The CookieLab is located in the heart of South Philly, across the street from Pat’s and Geno’s, at 833 Wharton Street. This new concept gives customers the ability to create their own cookies and milkshakes.

When you walk in, the store looks like any other Insomnia Cookies location. However, when you open the gigantic colorful door to go to the back, everything changes. You are now in the first ever CookieLab, where everything feels like a speakeasy reminiscing a college bar. Cookie and milkshake lovers can sit down and enjoy what they bought inside the store.

The menu has many unique items, such as the Blueberry Pancake Remix cookie or the purple Galaxy Milkshake. The neon colors and dim lighting make the location look modern and Gen Z-esque. All the sparkly toppings are there on display, waiting for the hungry customer to add it on their custom creation. Pink, blue and yellow are the main colors of the room to fully represent the iconic Insomnia Cookies logo.

“We needed to come up with a concept that’s going to be an evolution to Insomnia, but it’s also going to be a connection back to our college days. Our stores right now are really built for speed, fast-delivery, warm cookies; and this is more about how we bring something more of an experience,” Chief Marketing Officer Tom Carusona said. “We wanted to bring it back to Philly. The whole company was born in Philly, we gotta come back to Philly.”

Insomnia Cookies was created in a UPenn college dorm by CEO Seth Berkowitz almost 20 years ago. Since then, the company has been deeply connected to campus life in Philadelphia, as most college students have been to Insomnia Cookies at least once with late-night munchies. Founded by a UPenn alumnus, Insomnia is a company targeted towards young, busy people who want late night warm cookies.

“I used to make cookies in this exact way. You could call in and we had a couple of different bases and I would mix in anything and everything,” said Berkowitz. “I wanted it to be an experience within itself. I think there’s something about this speakeasy look. It’s supposed to feel like a college bar. Also, a lot of this is about how the business began.”

This new location brings the customers into Berkowitz’s college days and the atmosphere of the era. The business grew in popularity organically and is continuing to do so by adding more innovation along the way. If you are ever in South Philadelphia, CookieLab is right in the middle of city life.

Elijah Anderson, one of the nation’s leading urban ethnographers and cultural theorists, will address the class of 2021 at Drexel’s university-wide commencement ceremony set for June 11 at Citizens Bank Park, according to an April 14 DrexelNow article.

Anderson is the Sterling Professor of Sociology and of African American Studies at Yale University; the Sterling Professorship is the highest academic rank at Yale University, awarded to a tenured faculty member considered one of the best in their field.

Anderson holds a doctorate from Northwestern University, a master’s degree from University of Chicago and a bachelor’s from Indiana University. Anderson is the recipient of the 2013 Cox-Johnson-Frazier Award, the 2018 W.E.B. DuBois Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award from the American Sociological Association, and the 2017 Merit Award from the Eastern Sociological Society.

Dr. Anderson has served on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Political and Social Science and is formerly a vice-president of the American Sociological Association.

He has used his knowledge and skill set in many different roles, including serving as a consultant to the White House, the United States Congress, the National Academy of Science and the National Science Foundation, in addition to editorial positions with various journals, including Qualitative Sociology, Ethnography, American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, City & Community, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, and the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research.

Anderson joined the University of Pennsylvania as an associate professor in 1981, transitioning into a full professor in 1988. During his time at Penn, Anderson was appointed to the Max and Heidi Berry Term Chair in the Social Sciences in 1989, granted the Charles and William L. Day Professorship in 1991, and then Distinguished Professor in 2001.

He has also served as Visiting Professor at Swarthmore College, where he previously worked as an assistant professor, Princeton University, and Ecole des Etudes Hautes en Science Sociales in Paris, France.

Anderson has written and edited numerous books, articles, and scholarly reports centering on race in American cities. The 78 year-old published his first book in 1990, “Streetwise: Race, Class, and Change in an Urban Community,“ winner of the American Sociological Association’s Robert E. Park Award for the best published book in the area of Urban Sociology. Anderson’s other prominent work includes “Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City” (1999), winner of the 2000 Komarovsky Award from the Eastern Sociological Society.

His most recent article, published through Penn’s Institute for Urban Research, explores the impact of the coronavirus on black people living in inner cities. “Because this is such a contagious and lethal disease, we must understand that we truly are all in this together,” Anderson said.

Anderson has had a long and very successful career, garnering several awards. He has investigated and published work ranging from topics like urban education to health and punishment, and understands the societal effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty on three separate charges — third degree murder, a second degree murder and manslaughter — on April 20, for the death of George Floyd.

Over a year ago, Floyd was killed by Chauvin during an arrest in late spring. Floyd laid on the ground, with Chauvin’s knee on his neck for nine and a half minutes while Floyd pleaded for mercy, repeatedly yelling “I can’t breathe.” This event had sparked outrage and protests not only across the United States, but worldwide. Cities such as Philadelphia, enforced strict curfews and had National Guard roaming the streets.

Fast forward to the present, Chauvin is now facing the consequences of his actions. As the Hennepin County District Court announced Chauvin’s guilty verdict, millions of Americans across the country rejoiced. Even more so, Drexel President John Fry released a letter to students, faculty, and the entire Drexel community regarding the court case before the day of the verdict.

In a message titled “Joining Together, Supporting One Another,” President Fry provides empathy to the Drexel community regarding both the Chauvin case, police brutality (more specifically, Daunte Wright and Adam Toledo), and the recent hate crimes targeted toward Asians and Asian-Americans.

“We know that many of you are feeling anger, impatience, and despair as we bear witness to continuing violence and injustice,” President Fry said in his letter to the community.

President Fry also urged the Drexel University community to sustain and even echo its efforts to care for each other in dire times such as now through collaboration and resilience. For example, he mentioned a panel called “Standing in Solidarity: A Frank Conversation About Anti-Asian Hate Crimes” that included over 190 members of the Drexel community engaging in discourse concerning the Asian and Asian-American community.

In the end, President Fry reiterated the importance of ending violence stemming from racism, and implied that the Drexel community must unite together to make an integral first step to promote peace within society.

“The tragedies of recent weeks further demonstrate the need for all of us to continually, collectively commit to ourselves to ending the threat of racist violence and building a country and community that lives up to its promise of racial justice and true equality for all,” President Fry wrote in his letter.