Philadelphia’s Police Athletic League (PAL) serves more than 26,000 children across the city, providing free educational, athletic and cultural after-school programs and teaching essential life skills.
 
On Tuesday, May 11, PAL honored Maureen Rush, vice president for public safety at Penn, at its 2010 PAL Award Dinner and Silent Auction for making significant contributions to the organization for nearly a decade. The event also honored former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Jeremiah Trotter and PECO president and CEO Denis O’Brien.
 
Rush has coordinated numerous activities for the city’s 26 PAL centers --- including annual trips to the Class of 1923 Ice Rink, the Penn Relays and The Palestra --- and helped the Tucker PAL Center acquire a new van.

She joined PAL’s Board of Directors in 2002 and now serves as its secretary. In 2008, she served as chairperson of the Award Dinner, the first to reach the $1 million fundraising mark.

Accepting the award, Rush said that PAL is special because it allows adults to “pay it forward” to future generations and makes a difference in the lives of children. “It gives kids a safe place to go to learn and grow and helps them dream and prepare for college,” she said.
 
Penn’s Division of Public Safety has received numerous accolades this year. Most recently, Penn’s Police Department (UPPD) was cited as the only university police department in Pennsylvania to receive accreditation through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), Inc., and was selected as a “flagship agency” among its peers. To earn accreditation, UPPD was required to comply with 463 standards, codes and state-of-the-art practices. The UPPD has been accredited through CALEA since 2001.