Let’s talk: Drexel University responds to William Penn’s offer on the Academy of Natural Sciences

Even after a massive wave of love and a crescendo of protests over the weekend, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University museum won’t be getting an immediate reprieve.

Philadelphia’s beloved gateway to the natural world will remain shuttered after Drexel University released a statement Monday in response to an offer from the William Penn Foundation to temporarily underwrite operating costs and keep the doors open.

Drexel’s statement neither accepts nor rejects William Penn’s offer. Rather, it suggests that the university is open to talking.

Drexel says that while it appreciates the William Penn Foundation’s “public suggestion that it assist in temporarily keeping the Academy’s museum open,” they have “not received a formal proposal with a defined level of financial support.”

With that in mind, Drexel linked the William Penn offer with keeping both the museum and collections in the current building and what it says is a substantial amount of money that would be needed to bring the building at 19th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway up to snuff.

Drexel said Monday that it looked forward to “continuing to explore the possibility of Foundation support — alongside the considerable commitment Drexel has already made to preserving the research and education missions of the Academy — as we consider the substantial financial and operational challenges, including significant deferred maintenance needs associated with keeping the Academy of Natural Sciences’ collections at their current location.”

“We believe that we are all working toward the same goal, which is to ensure that the treasures of the Academy remain accessible here in Philadelphia over the long-term,” said William Penn executive director Shawn McCaney in a statement Monday. “There are many considerations to determine the best path forward, and our offer of support is intended to help keep the museum open while a plan is developed.”

No meetings between Drexel and the Foundation were scheduled, a Drexel spokesperson said.

“Drexel intends to continue conversations with the William Penn Foundation to better understand and evaluate its offer,” said a Drexel source familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly about it.

The nearly two-century-old natural history museum closed to the public at 5 p.m. Sunday, and while the Academy‘s research and collections remain operational, leaders have said they intend to sell the building and move the collections at some point to an as-yet undetermined location. A public-facing museum experience of some kind is being envisioned elsewhere, but no details are set.

Academy board chairperson Suzanne Biemiller on Monday did not immediately offer a comment.

Citing a challenging financial picture and attendance trends, the Drexel and Academy boards on Sept. 1 abruptly announced the museum’s closure in 30 days without first coming forward with a public appeal for funds to help keep it open. Public demonstrations attracted hundreds at first, and in recent days online petitions topped 100,000 signatures.

With the closure date fast approaching, William Penn last week extended a hand, offering to cover the cost of the operating subsidy Drexel has been providing to keep the museum open for at least another year, “so that the full range of options for the future of the museum could be properly explored, and to provide time to test the interest of other funders and supporters who have not been engaged so far,” said McCaney in a statement.

The William Penn offer was intended to help float the Academy’s museum operations while due diligence was done on answering a number of questions about the Academy’s viability. Among them are determining the costs of addressing deferred maintenance in the building and gauging the level of philanthropic support that could be counted on to fund the museum on an ongoing basis.

Biemiller said last week that the Academy was supportive of the idea.

A Drexel spokesperson said that the Academy board and leadership team undertook an “extensive planning process” throughout much of 2024 and 2025 to identify a path toward long-term financial stability. The effort included an assessment of the Academy’s business model and explored options for a more sustainable financial and operational model, including the level of ongoing support required from Drexel.

Although the university did not publicly reject the William Penn money last week, it said that “no proposal has been presented that would provide a permanent, sustainable path forward for the Academy’s museum.”

Pressure intensified over the past few days, with politicians and activists asking why, if the hurdle was financial, Drexel would turn down such an offer.

“We urge Drexel and the Academy to jointly agree to accept the William Penn Foundation’s gracious offer and keep the Academy of Natural Sciences open for the public to continue to enjoy,” wrote City Councilmembers Nina Ahmad and Jeffery Young Jr. in a statement Saturday.

“Anything else is a clear abdication of their public duty, and a demonstration of their contempt for this priceless cultural resource.”

Drexel says it has contributed $49 million toward the Academy’s budget since the two formed an affiliation announced in 2011. Yet, the institute has still struggled.

“If somebody came in today and said, ‘here’s all the money you need to do all of the deferred maintenance, to do what needs to be done to the building to make sure that you can care for all of the collections and all of the research,’ and it’s feasible to do it there from an economic perspective, which would be wonderful, then I think we would be very open to it,” said the Drexel source. “But we probably still would have to keep the museum closed for a bit, just to be realistic because what needs to be done may not necessarily be able to be done while the museum’s open.”

In the weeks since the impending closure was announced, attendance has soared, and revenue along with it. Estimated ticket revenue for September 2026 alone nearly matched the total ticket revenue for all of 2025, a Drexel spokesperson said.

The Drexel and the Academy boards are in the process of renegotiating their affiliation agreement, brokered in part by David L. Cohen — the onetime Comcast executive and U.S. ambassador to Canada — at the behest of Gov. Josh Shapiro and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker.

“That agreement includes a process for evaluating the future of the collections and the museum,” said Monday’s statement from Drexel. “Until that agreement is fully executed and approved by both boards, we do not intend to alter the plans that the Academy’s board and Drexel have agreed to.”

The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance on Monday lauded the William Penn Foundation’s “generous offer” and said it deserved consideration, but added that responding to one crisis won’t be enough.

“Philadelphia must make a stronger, sustained commitment to the cultural institutions that are fundamental to our civic life,” said the GPCA statement.