THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 2017
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HAPPY FINALS!
The DP will resume normal publication in the fall. Look out for The Daily Pennsylvanian Summer Edition published weekly starting May 25th
INSIDE PENN’S ANNUAL MILLION DOLLAR LOBBYING OPERATION
Penn’s considerable lobbying expenses are due in large part to its sizable health care system CAROLINE SIMON Senior Reporter
Penn’s Expenses on Lobbying over time 1.2
Millions ($)
1.0
1.18 1.03
Ivy League Schools’ Contribution to Overall Lobbying Expenses
2% Dartmouth
1.06
3%
13% Cornell
0.8
Penn
0.6
30%
Fiscal Years 2010-14
0.4 0.2 0.0
Brown
2012
2013 Fiscal Year
P
2014
enn spends over a million dollars each year trying to influence legislation on the state, local and national level — and that’s almost twice as much as any of its peer institutions. It’s common for large research universities to invest funds in lobbying, but Penn spends far more on lobbying than other Ivy League university. According to a report from Open The Books, a database of government spending 29.6 percent of the $17.8 million the Ivies spent on lobbying from 2010-2014 could be traced back to Penn. That’s almost twice as high as Columbia University, the school which spent the next highest amount on lobbying. Columbia was responsible for just 17 percent of
17% Columbia 8% Princeton
Ivy lobbying expenses, followed by Yale University at 15 percent and Cornell University at 13 percent. So where is all that money going? In a statement on its Form 990, a tax form the University submits every year that requires disclosure of political activity, Penn described its dependence on government money to continue its operations and how it lobbies to maintain that support over time. “The University, a private non-profit educational institution, receives direct annual non-preferred appropriations from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” the statement read in 2012, 2013 and 2014. “The amount and continuation of these appropriations are not guaranteed.
Task force under fire for narrow focus
Yale
12%
15%
Therefore, the University maintains an office of commonwealth relations in order to support, justify and coordinate these appropriation requests before the state Education Department, other appropriate agencies of the Executive Branch and the General Assembly. “ Penn’s lobbying expenses are also in part driven by its massive health system, which frequently lobbies for health care-related legislation. While Penn’s Office of Government and Community Affairs employs its own lobbyists, the hospital system and medical school employ external firms such as Van SEE LOBBYING PAGE 6
Penn’s new provost: Wendell Pritchett
Pritchett is currently a professor at the Penn Law School SYDNEY SCHAEDEL Senior News Editor
Students unsure of how U. will enforce new rules for off-campus organizations JINAH KIM Senior Reporter
The University task force charged with looking into off-campus organizations released eight recommendations last week. But it’s still unclear how the Penn administration plans on implementing these suggestions, which include having off-campus organizations register with the University. As part of an official designation as “Identified Off-Campus Groups,” off-campus groups, which typically act like underground fraternities and sororities, would be required to provide Penn with member lists and contact information, abide by the University’s alcohol and hazing policies and potentially register events. But requiring that off-campus groups register with the school and be subject to the same regulations as recognized on-campus groups appears to contravene the very reason that many such groups choose to move off campus. And administrators have not made it clear how the University hopes to incentivize registration. The Division of Public Safety said in a statement that “all details will be worked out as the task force moves from the recommendations to the implementation work.”
Harvard
PENN NEWS
Wendell Pritchett earned his bachelor’s degree at Brown University, his J.D. at Yale Law School and his Ph.D. at Penn. He is currently a Penn law professor.
STUDENTS FLYER LOVE STATUE PAGE 3
SEE TASK FORCE PAGE 2
Wendell Pritchett, a professor at Penn Law School with a career of scholarship in urban policy and race relations, will be Penn’s next provost, Penn President Amy Gutmann announced Wednesday afternoon. Pritchett is currently the Presidential Professor of Law and Education at Penn Law. The current provost, Vincent Price, announced in December he would leave his post in the summer to become president of Duke University. “I have every confidence that
The allocation of physical space is political and it speaks volumes.”
Wendell will be an exceptional partner and inspiring presence for me and the entire Penn community,” Gutmann wrote in the announcement. Pritchett is also Penn’s first black provost. An Ivy Leaguer from the start, Pritchett spent his undergraduate years at Brown University with a major in political science. He graduated in 1986, and received his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1991. He came to Penn to get his Ph.D., which he earned in 1997. In 2002, Pritchett became an assistant Penn Law professor before being promoted to a full professorship in 2006. He was the associate dean for academic SEE PRITCHETT PAGE 2
PENN RELAYS ISSUE BACK PAGE
- Emily Hoeven on the financial benefits that Locust Walk fraternities receive PAGE 4
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