What Penn lost in its deal with Trump | Morning Newsletter
🏛️ And the fate of UArts’ buildings.
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
It’s a new week, Philly, and one with lots of clouds and showers in the forecast.
University of Pennsylvania agreed this month to meet the Trump administration’s demands over transgender athletes — a deal that has sparked concern among members of the school community, as well as some higher education observers. Read on to learn how the agreement came to be.
And all former University of the Arts buildings have sold. From the Arts Bank to the former Gershman Y, see the nine properties’ different futures.
— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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“Personalized” letters of apology to aggrieved swimmers. A public statement affirming a commitment to Title IX “as interpreted by the Department of Education.” The removal of a transgender athlete’s name from a list of individual records.
Following two months of negotiations, President Donald Trump’s administration unfroze $175 million in federal funding to Penn after the university agreed to these concessions and more. The agreement made Penn the first Ivy League school to strike a truce with Trump on the issue of trans athletes’ participation in women’s sports as he seeks to force elite schools to adhere to his conservative agenda.
The Education Department commended the institution’s willingness to accept the terms and its “good faith” efforts to negotiate.
But those inside and outside the Penn community have voiced strong concern that it had capitulated to a deal that would make all trans students less safe, and higher education overall vulnerable to more federal attacks.
Reporter Susan Snyder explains how the agreement unfolded, and the resulting backlash.
A little over a year since UArts’ sudden closure, all nine of the school’s former properties are officially off the market. Here’s what’s happening to a few of the iconic buildings:
🏛️ Hamilton and Furness Halls, purchased by the firm that redeveloped the former Bok Vocational High School in South Philadelphia, will become artist studios, small offices, maker spaces, and artists’ apartments.
🏛️ Terra Hall was acquired by Temple University to become its Center City campus.
🏛️ Philadelphia Art Alliance, sold to the Curtis Institute of Music, is slated to be used for academic and arts spaces — but it suffered water and fire damage during a July 4 blaze.
Commercial real estate reporter Jake Blumgart has more.
In other art-space news: Philadelphia’s newest and smallest art museum, with just a half dozen works, has made its debut in the green room of the Academy of Music.
What you should know today
One person is dead and two others are wounded following a Saturday night shoot-out in Levittown, police said.
One of three suspects sought in the gun battle that wounded eight people outside 7 Elements lounge last weekend turned himself in and has been charged with attempted murder, police said.
Democrat Janelle Stelson, who lost her congressional race against U.S. Rep. Scott Perry by a razor-thin margin last year, is launching her rematch campaign for 2026.
Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill regulating the use of artificial intelligence “deepfakes” in election campaigns.
Members of AFSCME District Council 33 are voting on a tentative contract agreement until July 20. If most vote no, the union and the city could be back at square one.
State financial support for public transit is often a divisive issue in Pennsylvania, but veterans of funding fights say the rhetoric this year about SEPTA has sometimes run nastier than usual.
Greg Grillone helped run Veterans Stadium for 20 years. Now, pieces of it are in his Delaware County garage. Check out his salvaged treasures.
P.S. This link was missing in Saturday’s newsletter:
A 33-year-old Philly man is accused of stealing nude images of women and posting them online. His accusers describe how he exploited their trust.
Quote of the day
Inquirer food critic Craig LaBan annotated the Liwetan platter — best eaten with your hands — at Rice & Sambal, Widjojo’s modern Indonesian tasting room on East Passyunk Avenue.
🧠 Trivia time
Which famous Pennsylvanian wrote a book titled Radical Tenderness: The Value of Vulnerability in an Often Unkind World?
A) Josh Shapiro
B) Kim Ward
C) Dave McCormick
D) Gisele Barreto Fetterman
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
🔓 Unlocking: Streaming, video games, language lessons, and much more with our library cards.
🚲 Renting: Bikes and riding scenic trails at the Jersey Shore.
✨ Sparking: Wonder via these Philly-area summer activities for kiddos.
🫘 Begging: Rival Bros. to bring this coffee drink back ASAP.
🗑️ Considering: Better ways to deal with waste disposal in the city.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: Danny DeVito’s hometown
RUBY PARKAS
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Ann Berenson, who solved Sunday’s anagram: Andrew Wyeth. The Pennsylvania artist could have gone anywhere to paint anything. Instead, he spent a lifetime drawing this dairy farm in Chadds Ford.
Photo of the day
📬 Your ‘only in Philly’ story
Think back to the night that changed your life that could only happen in Philly, a true example of the Philly spirit, the time you finally felt like you belonged in Philly if you’re not a lifer, something that made you fall in love with Philly all over again — or proud to be from here if you are. Then email it to us for a chance to be featured in the Monday edition of this newsletter.
This “only in Philly” story comes from reader Bernadette Laganella, who describes a concert with one of the greats:
Many years ago, we had tickets to see Luciano Pavarotti sing at the Academy of Music. A few hours before the opera was to start, the theater was closed due to a problem with the supports in the ceiling.
We were so disappointed to not see Pavarotti sing, and so upset that our beloved Academy of Music had such structural problems.
About an hour later, we were informed that the “show would go on.” The Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul had volunteered to allow the opera to be performed in their church. So all the ticket holders, from many different backgrounds, joined together that night in a love for music to hear the greatest tenor of his time perform at the altar of the cathedral.
It was not only thrilling to hear the opera, but very moving to know that the City of Brotherly Love lives up to its moniker.
And with that, I’m queueing up some Luciano Pavarotti in the hopes of inspiring a little drama and beauty today. Have a good one.
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