Drexel students who have been around campus during the past few terms may have noticed one of the university icons missing: the Biowall at Papadakis Integrated Science Building.

“Because this was a hydroponic wall that required continuous water flow to sustain the plants, the plants began to die off very quickly once the water was turned off to investigate the extent of the damage,” Durham‘s email said. “Ultimately the wall was taken offline and before the plants were removed and discarded, faculty & staff in PISB were notified and invited to take some home but I am unsure how many were actually taken.”

After months of investigation and research on the issue and its solution, the renovation process began, said Nancy Trainer, Associate Vice President and University Architect at the Real Estate and Facilities Department, in an interview.

“The Biowall served really well during 10 years,” Trainer said. “It was a fairly early example of a biowall on the university setting and the technology has changed a lot since then.”

According to Trainer, once the old base of the Biowall is removed, the renovation process will take three phases: the construction of the new structure, the installation of a new system of lighting for the plants and, the attachment of the new plants.

“This sectional division will also facilitate maintenance in the future because if only a part needs to be repaired or changed, we wouldn’t need to repair the entire wall,” Trainer said. “Also, this new system has a growing medium, similar to soil, which is the system more modern Biowalls are using. … So, it’s an update after 10 years, and it will help with the maintenance of the Biowall and extend its life”

The majority of the renovation work is expected to be done by mid-September, Trainer said. After that, the installation of the lights will begin as soon as the production company has them ready.

“We’re glad the Biowall means something to students and that [they] care enough to ask what’s going on,” Trainer concluded. “ … We were just taking care of it and making it last longer.”

All community members must wear masks in all indoor shared, instructional and research spaces on campus as a precaution against the Delta variant regardless of vaccination status, Drexel announced in an email Aug 3. This change comes weeks after Drexel previously announced that vaccinated students were encouraged, but not required, to wear masks.

The mask mandate was reinstated as Drexel works to keep up with the changing circumstances surrounding the Delta variant. According to Senior Vice Provost for Community Health and Chief Wellness Officer Marla J. Gold, “The Delta variant is now affecting regional viral transmission levels, cases and hospitalization. Consistent with newly published data concerning the Delta variant, Drexel is now requiring that all students and employees wear a face mask whenever they are in Drexel instructional and research spaces — even if they are fully vaccinated. Specifically, masks are to be worn in classrooms, lecture halls and seminar rooms. Masks are also now required when in Drexel libraries and in designated research laboratories/spaces. In addition, masks must be worn in all public spaces and settings where members of the public will use University facilities or visit the University.”

However, some exceptions for this mask mandate include certain unnamed “pedagogical issues” for faculty and students in their dorm rooms among roommates or by themselves, said Gold.

Drexel’s new mask mandate is consistent with new CDC recommendations released July 27.

“In areas with substantial and high transmission, CDC recommends fully vaccinated people wear masks in public indoor settings to help prevent the spread of the Delta variants and protect others — this includes school,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said.
This new CDC recommendation also caused Philadelphia officials to reimplement a citywide mask mandate Aug. 12.

According to Acting Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole, “Everyone in Philadelphia must wear a mask when going into any business or institution, with an exception for those that require vaccinations. Restaurants and bars will need to require masks for all staff and customers, except when people are seated and actively eating and drinking.”

In addition, Philadelphia officials announced Aug. 13 a regulation mandating vaccination for all employees and students at Philadelphia colleges and universities, with the exception of special medical or religious circumstances, said Gold and Janet Cruz, Director of Student Health.

Drexel is well on its way to meet this compliance. Gold and Cruz revealed that approximately 80 percent of the campus community showed proof of vaccination in an Aug. 19 email. The email also stated that number is rising daily as the fall quarter approaches.

With the Delta variant once again causing COVID cases to spike, mask wearing and vaccination are highly reccommended. Although following all mask mandates is important in combating COVID 19, vaccinations still remain the most effective method of prevention. As such, the University continues to urge vaccination among its students and staff to get the 80 percent reported vaccination rate as close to 100 percent as possible.

Here in America, the lifeblood of the modern startup is the entrepreneur. 

In today’s culture, launching a company is as simple as one well-connected person having a very good idea. From Microsoft and Google to Apple and Amazon, titans of Silicon Valley and beyond rise from nothing to become skyscrapers of industry from the well-nurtured ideas of lone visionaries and their indomitable will to create.

At least, that’s what they want you to think.

Jobs. Zuckerberg. Gates. Buffet. Even as far back as Edison, the founding father of the cult-of-personality tech business, companies have tried to pitch their spokespersons as magnanimous faces-of-the-company who know everything about the field and built everything from scratch. We eat it up, of course. Who does not love the conqueror, the leader, the CEO? Much easier to relate to a company’s goals, to understand its vision, when said ideals are preached through a charismatic figurehead Wizard-of-Oz style. 

In reality, companies are built from people. The story so many know about Steve Jobs being the face to Steve Wozniak’s brain has some founding — Wozniak really did build the first two Apple computer models personally. But to imply that it was the actions of these two men in a Los Altos garage that single-handedly resulted in the world’s most valuable brand would be reductive of the cumulative actions of 40 years of employees. Wozniak left Apple in 1985. Every single product since then has been designed, tested, manufactured and shipped by countless employees microengineering everything from screws to camera lenses. To treat the achievements of a company as exclusive to the top brass would be to disregard countless small achievements.

What I am trying to pin down, exactly, is this great American fallacy of singular action. Everyone in the U.S. wants to be the hero, the inventor, the great leader, the first-place prize. None of us want to admit all the collective action that went into everything we ever accomplish. Amazon started when Jeff Bezos had a good idea, yes — but software engineers, managers, designers and thousands of other workers making hundreds of thousands of decisions built it into the company it is today.

But of course, the myth continues. They are giants, standing alone, with nobody on their shoulders. Pay no attention to the 40,000 people behind the curtain.

The afternoon of Wednesday, Aug. 4, around 1:30 p.m., Drexel students were awed by a visit from Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid, who was spotted playing tennis on campus at the Buckley Tennis Courts.

Embiid played with Sixers manager, Daryl Morey, and two others in a friendly doubles match at the 34th and Lancaster tennis courts behind 7–11.

This wasn’t Embiid’s first time on campus, either; he was spotted on the same courts at least once before this term.

Over 45 spectators gathered to watch Embiid play tennis, and he took pictures with fans from behind the protection of the court fences once he was done playing. However, he and Morey declined to give an interview to The Triangle because of the pandemic.

Miguel Maquiran, a rising senior, spotted Embiid when he was walking by the tennis courts on his way to play basketball. Maquiran saw someone tall playing tennis, and that caught his attention because he remembered hearing that Embiid had played on campus a couple of weeks ago. This time, Maquiran found Embiid himself.

“It’s just crazy watching him on TV and seeing these freak athletes in person, it’s just something else. Definitely just seeing him on campus […] casually playing tennis is just like, wow, he’s one of us,” said Maquiran, who also enjoys playing basketball. Although Maquiran likes the Sixers, he is a Knicks fan.

Isabel Kuzy is a junior student-athlete part of Drexel’s Soccer Team. She found out Embiid was on campus thanks to her teammates and went with some of them to Buckley to watch the basketball player.

“I feel blessed by his presence,” Kuzy said, referring to Embiid. He is Kuzy‘s favorite player at the Sixers. “Very inspiring to see a dual athlete, a beast on both courts: basketball and tennis.”

Drexel Tennis is only affiliated with the courts during their practice times, so they had no involvement in Embiid’s visit. Some wondered how Embiid gained access to the courts, as a Dragon Card is required for entrance — although the gate is usually unlocked for access to all. Dragon Card holders, however, do get priority over others to use the courts. Embiid enjoyed full access to the usually busy courts, with no other matches being played next to him.

Although it is unclear why Embiid chooses these courts in particular, Drexel students and spectators were well-behaved and the visit was a safe one.

“I know the big question on everyone’s mind is what’s gonna happen to Ben Simmons after his interesting play of performance,” Maquiran said. “But I know that they recently got Andre Drummond, and obviously he’s got a feud with Embiid, so I’m excited to see how that goes, and hopefully they could go all the way in the championship. That’d be really cool.”

“For the next season, I am definitely expecting Joel to take the team on his back and lead us to the championship,” Kuzy said as she watched the game with some of her teammates. “Trust the process: go Sixers and go Birds!”

After a year of virtual learning and interactions, Drexel University will let second-year students attend an in-person Welcome Week Sept. 13-19, Drexel announced in an email July 6.

The national lockdown caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic caused many universities — including Drexel — to shut down their campuses for an extended period of time. Many second-year students have not been able to set foot on campus and enjoy college life. In order to properly welcome second-years to the university and celebrate reopening, Drexel has decided to give them a redo of the traditional Welcome Week, which, unlike last year’s, will be in person.

“We know how hard the past 18 months have been and how much it has affected students,” Drexel’s Director of Special Events, Kaitlyn Delengowski, said. “Since this is the first time many second-year students will be physically on campus, we want them to know how excited we are for them to join us in person as Dragons! … As such, we made the decision to offer in-person Welcome Week to the incoming second-year class.” According to Delengowski, some of the scheduled events include: the traditional Kickoff at The Franklin Institute, a Drexel Night at the Phillies, a Glow into Rush, and a Live Drag Queen Bingo. These events are just four of over 300 programs scheduled throughout the week. The schedule is currently being finalized, and it is expected to be released late August.

One student, Siani Wright, says she will be attending Welcome Week because she wants to start her second year fresh and get the experiences that she missed after a long and disappointing year.

“Honestly, I was extremely disappointed when I found out last year’s Welcome Week would be online because I was totally expecting to have a great opener to my college career, which wasn’t the case,” she said. “And honestly, I did not attend any of the virtual activities.”

However, this year, Wright is glad that she has the ability to have a proper opening to her college career. She says she looks forward to being able to experience the joy of welcome week, meet new people, and have an overall great time.

Due to the two-year housing agreement, many second-year students will be on campus. However, formal move-in dates for second years happen at the end of Welcome Week. To accommodate students and maximize those able to attend Welcome Week, all campus housing — Canaris Hall, The Summit, University Crossings and Chestnut Square — gave students the option to move in earlier to partake in Welcome Week.

Some students have taken advantage of this, but other students plan to commute to attend the various festivities.
One such student is Kala Summers, a Philadelphia native.

“Since Welcome Week was virtual last year, I thought it would be nice to attend this year’s event, even if I have to commute, since it is in-person and I get the chance to physically participate, meet new people, and see peers I’ve already become friends with,” she said.

Summers is especially excited because she says this is the first large-scale school event that she and many of her peers have attended since many schools shut down in March 2020.

“A lot of second-years missed out on key celebrations in their life: prom, graduation, etc. and even the most important parts of their freshmen year were stripped from them. I think if we weren’t included in events like Welcome Week 2021, a lot of the rising sophomores would’ve felt left out of a once-in-a-lifetime event,” she said.

According to an email sent by the Office of Student Life, any second-year who wishes to attend Welcome Week is encouraged to download the DrexelOne Mobile App because it will include a section dedicated to helping students manage their Welcome Week itinerary. Due to health and safety restrictions, registration caps for programs may be in place. So, students are encouraged to register as early as they can. The Welcome Week section of the app will be available in late August.

Delengowski said she hopes that as many students as possible partake in this upcoming week of festivities.
However, since the university is pushing an in-person approach, it is unsure if there would be any virtual or later activities on-campus for second-year students on co-op outside of Philadelphia or on study abroad programs.

“I’d just want to reiterate how excited we are to welcome everyone back. We’ve been planning all these programs for quite a while and are ordering some Welcome Week exclusive swag that you won’t find anywhere else — we truly cannot wait to welcome you to campus for the first time,” Delengowski said.

 

The evening of May 1, at 9 p.m., Drexel Student, Elaine Ficarra, was selected from a group of 10 women to be crowned the Centennial Miss Philadelphia at the CEG Performing Arts Academy in Philadelphia.

There, the women took part in a long day of competition, consisting of a talent portion, a private interview, a red carpet, and a social impact pitch.

According to Ficarra, winning means a lot to her, but being crowned Miss Philadelphia as the organization celebrates 100 years makes her win even more special.

“I am honored to represent 100 years of an organization of people who have voluntarily made a positive contribution to the city of Philadelphia. I am also proud to be the first Filipino-American Miss Philadelphia in the Program’s 100-Year History! It is heartwarming to know that I can help empower and represent the wonderful AAPI community that is ever-present in the diverse city of Philadelphia,” Ficarra said.

Ficarra, 20, is a student in Drexel’s Pennoni Honors College majoring in Biology and minoring in Theater and Communication.

But outside of the classroom, Ficarra said she is involved in a wide variety of activities.

“I am in STEM and the performing arts. I have always feared the saying ‘jack of all trades, but master of none.’ Although this is true, I am quite an organized and committed person. I take the Drexel slogan ‘ambition can’t wait’ to heart. I have found that when I am passionate about something, I can make the time for it,” Ficarra said.

Ficarra’s ambition lends itself to singing and advocacy.

“Being both an Honors biology student and Miss Philadelphia, I can advocate and be a role model for other women in STEM. Additionally, the interviews I do as Miss Philadelphia are giving me beneficial experience for my new ambition to be a medical correspondent, who would report on public issues within the medical field for TV networks. As an aspiring singer and professional entertainer, Miss Philadelphia gives me the voice and platform to perform both covers and original songs that have a positive and empowering message. My hope is to inspire others through music that speaks to my social impact initiative,” Ficarra said.

Ficarra’s social impact initiative centers around suicide and mental health. Ficarra wishes to end the stigma that surrounds discussions of mental health struggles. By partnering with Chester County Suicide Prevention Task Force and Prevent Suicide PA, she is using open conversations and her music to share the message that “The World is Better With You in it,” she said.

However, winning Miss Philadelphia has provided Ficarra with more than just a platform for her message. Ficarra was also rewarded with a $5,000 cash scholarship, which she intends to use for her tuition costs at Drexel. She also received a full tuition scholarship to Cabrini University, which Ficarra said she intends to use for her Master’s degree.

In addition, winning Miss Philadelphia gave Ficarra the ability to compete in Miss Pennsylvania in mid–June. She became the third runner–up in that competition, granting her another scholarship.

In the future, Ficarra hopes to share her passion for music and continue to make a positive impact on both her Drexel community and her Philadelphia community, she said.

And to her fellow Drexel Dragons, Ficarra gave the following advice: don’t be afraid and take all necessary steps to achieve your goals, even if it‘s scary, because you never know who you will meet or what you will learn.

To be able to attend classes during the upcoming Fall 2021 term, all Drexel students, faculty and staff will have until Sunday, August 1 to submit proof of vaccination through the Drexel Health Checker App or webpage.

Earlier in the spring, Drexel University decided to require full vaccination for all students returning to campus in Fall 2021, with only certain religious and medical exemptions permitted.

“The pandemic is a stark reminder of how individual decisions can affect others. We protect ourselves and each other when we get vaccinated,” the email stated.

The email also provided mask guidelines, stating that masks indoors are required for unvaccinated persons and recommended for those vaccinated.

Students who do not submit their vaccination info will see a hold in their accounts — a risk of “interruption of studies,” as stated in an email sent to students Tuesday. Additionally, non-exempted students who do not comply with this requirement will face restrictions from campus housing and facilities, and may even face disciplinary action (including dismissal as a student).

Due to the increase in COVID-19 presence and the rampant Delta variant, the city of Philadelphia announced an official recommendation July 22 for all persons — including those already vaccinated — to wear masks in all indoor spaces.

The metropolitan has experienced an uptick in average daily COVID-19 cases, increasing to 74 cases per day over the last two weeks, the City of Philadelphia announced July 26. However, throughout the rest of the country, COVID-19 is on a rampage. As of July 27, the United States has suffered a seven-day average of COVID cases of 56,635, where it was 35,058 cases a week before.

Drexel sent an email to its community members Tuesday morning regarding its official stance on masking within the University campus. Staying consistent with the Philadelphia Department of Health, the University encourages vaccinated people to wear masks indoors, and requires unvaccinated individuals to wear masks indoors at all times in addition to weekly COVID-19 screenings. It also advises Drexel staff, faculty and students carry a mask with them at all times.

To help students, new signs will be placed across campus on buildings to reflect the new recommendations.

Drexel admits that the COVID-19 guidelines may be difficult to track, stating that, “We recognize these may be confusing guidelines at a time of changing science.” However, the university is maintaining regulations to provide a safe and welcoming atmosphere to the entire community. COVID-19 cases are extremely low within the campus, the university has also required that all students receive the vaccine before returning to campus in the upcoming fall term.

Drexel announced Maisha Kelly as the new Athletics Director on June 16. She is the first Black woman to be selected for this position in the university’s history.

After a 10-year tenure at Bucknell University working as the Senior Associate Athletics Director, Kelly decided to come back to her Philly roots. As a Saint Joseph’s undergrad alumna and a Temple graduate alumna, her connection to Philly has always been very deep. Before Bucknell, she worked as an academic advisor and life skills coordinator for the athletics department at Rutgers University and as an Academic Advisor for student-athletes at Vanderbilt University. She has played an important role as Bucknell’s deputy Title IX coordinator and the president’s diversity council. In addition, she organized Bucknell Athletic’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council.

“Maisha is a proven, high-energy leader who no doubt has an ambitious vision for Drexel Athletics,” President John Fry said in a DrexelNow article. “She has a demonstrated ability to work with all campus constituencies and understands the vital importance of nurturing student-athlete leaders. We are honored to welcome her to the Drexel community.”

Kelly served as the Athletics Director of Championships for the NCAA for nearly three years. During her college years, she captained the track and field team. She has been in the world of sports for about 20 years. Her experience and her student-first attitude made Drexel think that she is the perfect choice for this position.

​​“I look forward to joining an organization genuinely committed to partnerships and excited to return home to a city that has impacted who I am as a person and a professional,” Kelly said. “Working with a team of talented administrators and coaches presents me with the opportunity to lead a comprehensive intercollegiate athletics department, where competitive success is a product of the overall student-athlete experience, and where excellence is pursued academically, athletically and personally.”

Multiple people gave guidance during the national search for a new Athletics Director. According to DrexelNow, the pool of finalists included candidates from conferences such as Big East, Big Ten, SEC and Big 12. As the new Athletics Director, Kelly will oversee 18 varsity teams. Her job starts after a successful period in Drexel sports — the men’s and the women’s basketball teams, as well as the men’s lacrosse team, won the College Athletic Association championships, the women’s lacrosse team won their first NCAA at-large bid and Drexel Rowing won the overall points at the Dad Vail Regatta.

Kelly officially started her position on July 19.

On July 12, Executive Director  Jennifer Johnson Kebea of the Lindy Center for Civic Engagement announced that she would be taking on a new position as President of Campus Philly. After 12 long years at Drexel, Kebea shared her reflections and experiences at the Lindy Center with the Triangle. This interview has been edited for clarity.

The Triangle: Can you tell me a little bit about your background and how you first became involved with the Lindy Center?

Jennifer Kebea: I was at Drexel for 12 years, almost to the day. Before then, I was the Inaugural Director of Career Programs for Campus Philly. I got to know the Center for Civic Engagement at that time because we were co-hosting a nonprofit career panel. It was like 2008 and the middle of a pretty serious job recession in the United States. A lot of people were not hiring interns; they weren’t thinking about that space.

But Drexel was a bit of a shining star. They were hiring, their enrollment numbers looked good and they were building. It was exciting to work with colleagues on that campus and see what was really growing there. Just like they always say: You network and get to know folks, and that’s how I landed at the Lindy Center as the Assistant Director.

In 2010, John Fry came to Drexel and gave a speech for the university during convocation. It was the first time the university was getting an opportunity to hear him speak and share his vision about the university. He could’ve said anything he wanted, but he chose to really reflect on A.J. Drexel, who founded Drexel to be a university that served regular, ordinary, everyday people.

He asked: Would A.J. Drexel be proud of our university? And his answer was no, we’re not doing enough. We are situated in Philadelphia, right next to Powelton Village and Mantua and other neighborhoods in the periphery of Drexel, and our school is not as deeply engaged as it should be. He really put forth a challenge for us to really dig into the civic engagement mission, along three different dimensions. This idea that the university would lean into its academic mission with engagement in community-based learning or community-engaged participatory research, encouragement of public service by mobilizing our “people power,” and calling out the institution as an entity was a pretty new concept in higher education.

Over the next 10 years, things unfolded in really significant ways to lay the groundwork for an institution that is deeply committed to this work. I’ve been part of it ever since, and it’s been a tremendous honor, for sure. Over time, I went from being an Assistant Director to the Associate Director to the Interim Director for a long time, and then finally I was the Executive Director for about the last eight years.

TT: It’s really interesting to hear you talk about this and how Drexel is at the forefront of this civic engagement-led movement across US campuses. So, thank you for that additional context! 

JK: Sure! And to your point about Drexel leading the pack, […] there are other institutions that are doing this work very deeply as well, but to have the very top leadership at Drexel say that this is important and we’re going to do this holistically and throughout the whole campus, that was a very big deal.

KR: For sure! And what are some of the initiatives and accomplishments of the Lindy Center that you feel the proudest of? 

JK: Over my time at the Lindy Center over the past 12 years, we’re really affording undergraduate students the opportunity to think critically about their own civic identity. How do you show up as a citizen in the world, and think intentionally about your own civic pathway? I mean, whatever community you are defining for yourself, how are you going to show up and really participate?

CIVC 101 has been an opportunity to allow students to reflect on that, and think more deeply about how they’re showing up in the world, no matter what lens they’re looking at the world through. That’s something that I’m certainly proud of, because it’s a one-of-a-kind course in the U.S., especially when you think about scale.

Just this past year, 94 percent of incoming students indicated that they wanted to attend college to contribute to the greater good. That’s such a big statistic and speaks miles to the types of students we’re attracting to Drexel — students who are civically engaged, who are thinking about this type of work, who want to contribute. 79 percent of the incoming class indicated that Drexel’s commitment to civic engagement was a real reason, an important factor as to why they came to Drexel, which is a huge marker of success to me.

We’re introducing students at the very entry-level through CIVC 101, but that’s not supposed to be a be-all-end-all. That’s supposed to be a springboard into other types of opportunities and inspire you to be engaged. To kind of move the pathway along, we’ve trained […] over 150 Drexel faculty on community-engaged learning principles, so that they can infuse all that pedagogy into their teaching and research with their students.

The other big thing I’ve been really proud of, especially coming after an extremely tense election year, is just kind of reflecting on how the Lindy Center has shown up in that space. Ultimately, over the last decade, we have helped over 10,000 students register to vote through a module in CIVC 101. According to the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, Drexel, for the past couple of election cycles, consistently registers about 5 percent above the national average. Our students are turning out at greater rates than what the national average is, and I think that speaks highly of our group for sure.

TT: That’s great! Thank you for sharing those achievements. It’s exciting to hear Drexel’s increasing capacity and initiatives related to civic engagement, and I’m excited to see what the future brings for Drexel in that area. The next question is more so related to the end of your time at the Lindy Center and wrapping things up as Executive Director. How do you feel about leaving Drexel after 12 years?

To put it in a nutshell, it’s certainly bittersweet. I mean Drexel has been home to me for 12 years. I’ve continued my education here, made tremendous relationships with different faculty, peers, staff and colleagues at Drexel — not to mention the thousands of students that are now in my network, that I’ve been so grateful to learn from and with along the way.

I also just turned 38. I was at Drexel for a third of my professional life — which is a long time! In that regard, the opportunity at Campus Philly really spoke to me, and I didn’t take it lightly to leave Drexel at all. The alumni office is currently running a campaign right now with the hashtag #ForeverDragons, and that represents me through and through!

I would also add that I didn’t completely leave! I’m still teaching for the Goodwin College of Professional Studies, for their nonprofit management program, and also for the School of Education and their higher education leadership program. So I’m still kind of around on the periphery and […] just so excited to see where things go next!

TT: Are you looking forward to your new role as the President of Campus Philly? What are you hoping to accomplish in your new role?  

I have a long history at Campus Philly. When they were founded, the first Inaugural Executive Director of Campus Philly came to my campus for a meeting with some of our campus leadership. I was really just captivated by their mission. As a student, I was just coming to grips with being a biology major, and that wasn’t my pathway. I actually loved higher ed and realized that this was a career and space where you could grow, make an impact. I was an intern for them back then in 2004 and 2005, and just a few years later, I joined and worked as their Inaugural Director of Career Programs.

When I first started at Campus Philly, they were thinking a lot about “brain drain” — this concept of making sure we don’t lose our college-educated talent in the region. In order for Philadelphia to grow and become successful, we needed to have that type of talent in place. However, over time, Campus Philly certainly realized that we have a lot of work to do internally in our own city about success for Philadelphia and what that looks like. Right now, we are in critical COVID recovery. How do we make sure the city feels open again for college students to come and enjoy and be here? And it’s not even our first-year college students; it’s our second-year college students, too, who didn’t have the opportunity to have that first experience on campus.

The second space is going through some rebranding with the Campus Philly mission. Campus Philly fuels inclusive economic growth by empowering diverse college students and recent graduates to explore, live and work in the Greater Philadelphia region. In other words, success for every college student is what we believe. How are we ultimately setting up pipelines that allow for more local Philadelphia high school students to access higher education, to be successful, to find success in higher education in Philadelphia? And then also enter the workforce in this booming economy that Philadelphia is poised to experience in the next decade? So, that’s something we’re going to be working on very closely and I’m going to lean into my experience at Drexel and how the university thinks about cradle to career workforce development.

TT: What’s one farewell message you have for the Drexel community?

It’s a two-part answer. For Drexel: as an institution, we have realized that community engagement is a multifaceted, multi-generational commitment. It requires a long-term institutional commitment to the work, and I would encourage Drexel administration, faculty and staff to lean into that. It is a long game to […] realize the successes that we’re really just seeding at this point in time.

And then for students: just reflecting on this changing shift I’ve seen in the last 12 years in the way that students come prepared to college to be activists. Gen Z is really off the charts when it comes to activism. They are asking all the right questions, they are really speaking truth to power and being critical of the very institution that they go to school at, the very communities that they belong to. Those types of conversations have to keep on happening, and I would encourage students to keep leaning into that.