Announcements

Combatting climate change is one of the paramount challenges of our time. We write today to update the University community on a significant new initiative that Penn is undertaking as part of our deep and wide-ranging efforts to respond to climate change. We are pleased to announce that the Office of Investments has established the goal of reducing the net greenhouse gas emissions from Penn’s endowment investments to zero by 2050.

It has been one year since the pandemic began changing the ways we live, work, and learn. Though it has been a time of unprecedented challenges, the Penn community has shown remarkable resilience. Critical tools such as PennOpen Pass and Penn Cares have engaged all of us in our collective responsibility to protect ourselves and each other, and to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The next critical step in our fight against the virus is vaccine distribution.

Penn is committed to providing its students, faculty, staff and postdocs of Asian descent with a safe, welcoming and supportive campus environment, and denounces the troubling surge of violence, hatred, and discrimination the country is experiencing.

With the widespread distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine now underway, at this time Penn expects a return to an in-person teaching, research and residential environment for the fall of 2021.

For the Class of 2021, Penn will hold one limited in-person undergraduate Commencement ceremony at Franklin Field on May 17th.

Athletics director M. Grace Calhoun will be leaving the University of Pennsylvania on April 19 to become athletic director at her alma mater, Brown University. The announcement was made today by Penn President Amy Gutmann and Provost Wendell Pritchett.

When the pandemic began last year, many faculty and staff members started working from home as the nation learned to navigate life during this challenging time. We deeply appreciate the commitment and dedication of every member of the Penn community in carrying out your roles and responsibilities, whether you are performing your job from home or on campus.

We deeply appreciate your continued commitment to keeping Penn a healthy and safe environment in which to live, learn, and work by following the public health guidance we have instituted for those on and off campus. Wearing masks, keeping physically distanced, and washing your hands remain the most critical tools to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

This past year has been fraught with many challenges—from a global pandemic that has forced unprecedented life changes, to the civil, political and racial unrest that is continuing to unfold. Despite all of this, we have been working collectively with our partners in Penn Medicine and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health to create an environment to bring the Penn community back together safely. We invite you to read this letter from Dr.

Nothing is more foundational to American democracy than respect for the peaceful transfer of power. Fueled by the dangerous propagation of falsehoods and disproven allegations, a mob on Wednesday assaulted this bedrock value of American democracy, storming our nation’s Capitol in an attempt to block the constitutionally mandated counting of certified electoral votes in our 2020 presidential election.