Penn in the News

Temple University postponed plans Tuesday to study building a $100 million football stadium on its North Philadelphia campus, following opposition from Mayor-elect Jim Kenney. Patrick O'Connor, chairman of Temple's board of trustees, said university officials would meet with Kenney and his team within the next week to talk about the university's interest in placing a 35,000-seat stadium at the northwest corner of campus. O'Connor's announcement came at a meeting of the trustees.

Dan Romer of the Annenberg Public Policy Center comments on the misconception that suicide rates rise during holiday time.

Angela Bradbury and Beth McCarty Wood of the Perelman School of Medicine comment on Alzheimer’s genetic counseling.

Orkan Telhan of the School of Design and Karen Hogan of the School of Arts & Sciences are highlighted for collaborating on a desktop machine that automates genetic engineering.

The United States Supreme Court will hear arguments on Dec. 9 in Fisher v. University of Texas, a case challenging affirmative action in university admissions. Emily Bazelon, a staff writer for the magazine, and Adam Liptak, The Times’s Supreme Court correspondent, have been exchanging emails about the possible outcomes of the case and what they might mean at a moment of debate over race in American higher education.

Jill Fisch of the Law School says, “Current sales practices create powerful incentives for brokers to act in ways that are not in their customers’ best interest.”

In Tennessee this holiday season, people are fighting about how to celebrate. It started when the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s office of diversity and inclusion posted a message advising employees to avoid “an emphasis on religion or culture” at holiday parties. No Secret Santa gift swaps, it advised. No dreidels.

Carl June of the Perelman School of Medicine is featured for leading immunotherapy trials.

Sandra González-Bailón of the Annenberg School for Communication says, “Of course social media doesn’t push you to risk your life and take to the streets, but it helps the actions of those who take the risk to gain international visibility.”

If a predominantly white university with a stepped-up diversity agenda comes trolling for talent, Walter M. Kimbrough knows he may have trouble competing with the money it can offer. But as president of Dillard University, a historically black institution in New Orleans, he says he can make a convincing case for his faculty members to stick around.