Deciding the future of human remains held by Penn Museum

Senior found not guilty for alleged on-campus assault

The student was accused of injuring a then-sophomore at a party in September 2021

KATIE BARTLETT Staff Reporter

The Municipal Court of Philadelphia found College senior Nicholas Hamilton not guilty for an alleged assault that occurred on campus in fall 2021.

Hamilton was on criminal trial for charges of simple assault and harassment by physical contact, according to court documents viewed by The Daily Pennsylvanian, after being charged by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office. On Jan. 31, Municipal Court of Philadelphia Judge Christine Hope ended the trial after ruling that Hamilton was not guilty on both counts.

Hamilton was accused of injuring a then-Penn sophomore at a party held on Sept. 4, 2021, in the chapter house of his fraternity, Psi Upsilon — also known as “Castle.” The alleged incident sparked a four-day protest outside of Castle and demands to remove the fraternity from their oncampus house.

In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson for the University wrote to the DP that they do not usually comment on legal cases. The Philadelphia District Attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A hearing regarding the Penn Museum’s plans to rebury remains from the Morton Collection is scheduled for Feb. 2, following an objection filed by community organizers.

This hearing, which will be heard by the Philadelphia Orphans’ Court, could help determine which party will be responsible for the remains of Black Philadelphians that have been in possession of Penn Museum since 1966. It is scheduled for 10 a.m. in the Philadelphia Orphans’ Court, and there will be a rally at City Hall in support of local activists starting at 9 a.m.

The museum’s petition, acquired by The Daily Pennsylvanian, is seeking approval to “respectfully bury and lay to rest the cranial remains of these 20 individuals at a historic African-American cemetery and commemorate them with a public memorial service,” according to a spokesperson from Penn Museum in a written statement to the DP.

However, Rutgers University professor Lyra Monteiro and local activist Abdul-Aliy Muhammad filed objections to the museum’s

Sightings Disrupts Student Living

Residents on every floor of Kings Court told The Daily Pennsylvanian that they have seen more mice in their rooms and in the hallways

HALEY SON Staff Reporter

Kings Court English College House is experiencing a “rapid increase” in rodent sightings. Residents on every floor of Kings Court — one of the two buildings in the first-year college house — told The Daily Pennsylvanian that they have seen mice frequently in their rooms and in the hallways since returning from winter break. Students who live in English House — which is separated from Kings Court by a courtyard — did not report seeing mice.

“Half of the people I’ve talked to have found mice in their rooms,” Engineering first year Raymond Feng, who lives on the fourth and highest floor of Kings Court, said.

Faramarz Vakili, the executive director of operations and maintenance at Facilities and Real Estate Services, wrote in a statement to the DP that FRES has been working to address the “recent increase” in pest sightings.

“We believe this uptick is due to the prolonged cold weather and the exterior street work on 36th Street by the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD),” Vakili wrote. “KCEH traditionally has a very low number of pest sightings and this rapid increase in reporting prompted FRES staff along with our pest management contractor to [respond] immediately.” petition. They argued that the reburial of the Black Philadelphians should be overseen by their descendant community — insisting that the museum’s process does not include community engagement.

Vakili went on to write that FRES and pest management have taken several steps to identify and close pest entry points, including perimeter checks, room-to-room inspections, and applying or repairing wall caulking. He wrote that the University has also improved baiting and trapping in common areas of University facilities, added baiting on building exteriors and in mechanical rooms, and installed devices that fill the gap between doors and floors.

“The museum is claiming to be the one that can determine what happens to other people’s ancestors, which has always been the problem,” Monteiro said.

The Penn Museum spokesperson wrote that they “welcome” this next step with the goals of “respectfully burying and laying to rest the cranial remains of 20 individuals at a historic AfricanAmerican cemetery and commemorating them with a public memorial service.”

The Morton Collection was a “major site of the formation of scientific racism,” according to Penn Ph.D. graduate Paul Wolff Mitchell. It consists of over 1,300 human skulls collected by Samuel Morton, an 1820 graduate of what is now the Perelman School of Medicine. In 2020, the museum decided to remove the display of the remains from public view after public opposition.

College and Wharton first year Bryce Li, who lives on the third floor, said that everybody on his floor was told by the college house to submit a maintenance report to demonstrate that the infestation is a floor-wide problem.

“An exterminator came in and set mouse traps, but I’m not sure how effective those are,” Li said. “People have said that the mice they’ve seen are way bigger than a typical mouse trap,” he said.

Vakili wrote that residents of KCECH can help the University control pests by reporting sightings immediately, storing food in containers, cleaning regularly, and clearing out piles of paper and other materials. Feng said that he and his roommate have agreed to stop eating inside their room.

College first year Angela Gomez, who lives on the first floor of Kings Court, said that one solution she has been using is an under door seal. Gomez said that she hasn’t seen a mouse in her room yet.

“I’ve definitely been really scared. Now every time I open my door, I just stand there and listen to see if I hear a mouse,” Li said .

Following the removal in April 2021, students and West Philadelphians protested outside the Penn Museum to urge the museum to return the remains of the collection.

In April 2021, the DP reported on Penn Museum’s original plans to repatriate the remains. Over a year later, in May 2022, the museum filed a petition with the Philadelphia Orphans’ Court, filing a request to bury at least 13 Black Philadelphians from the collection. Then, in July, Monteiro and Muhammad filed objections to the museum’s petition.

The Orphans’ Court is the municipal body that determines which party is allowed to make decisions in cases involving disputes about estates, trusts, and property.

In their written statement, a Penn Museum spokesperson referred to recommendations made by the Morton Collection Committee — a committee that the museum assembled in August

See

“We don’t comment on specific cases, but I can confirm the case disposition is not guilty,” a spokesperson for the Court wrote in a statement to the DP.

The trial began after a private criminal complaint against Hamilton was filed in the Court on Oct. 3, 2022. The proceedings, which started on Nov. 8, were repeatedly delayed after a series of requests by Hamilton’s lawyer for continuance. A joint request for continuance and a subsequent defense advance request for continuance further pushed the ruling to Jan. 31.

Hamilton was represented in the case by Michael Patrick Parkinson, a private attorney for Parkinson, Tarpey & Lloyd, a Philadelphia criminal defense group.

“We were anxious to proceed with a full and fair trial in order to vindicate Nicholas’s reputation and good name,” Parkinson wrote in a statement to the DP. “We achieved exoneration in a court of a law, which speaks more loudly than any hollow allegations or false claims.”

Penn on track to meet 2024 climate goals amid student activist demands

The report found the main campus’s carbon footprint decreased by 45% from 2009 to 2022

ELEA CASTIGLIONE Staff Reporter

Penn is on track to meet the sustainability goals that it outlined in 2019 as it prepares for the fourth iteration of its climate action plan.

On Jan. 23, Penn Sustainability published its annual progress report on the Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 3.0 for the fiscal year 2022. The report — based on data from the previous year — highlighted achievements and areas of progress toward the goals outlined in the University’s five-year plan. It follows a renewed campaign by student activists last fall for broader action on climate, including full divestment from fossil fuels.

Among other findings, the report said that the main campus’s carbon footprint decreased by 45% from 2009 to 2022 — a marginal improvement from 2021’s decrease of 44.3% since 2009. This constituted a smaller change than 2021’s report, which reported a 7.1% reduction in emissions from 2020. However, it marks progress toward the University’s goal of being 100% carbon neutral by 2042.

Nina Morris, the sustainability director of Penn

See CLIMATE, page 2