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City of Philadelphia

Empowering high school youth through immersive art mentorship
Fourth-years Ejun Mary Hong and Jack Nicholas Roney were awarded a 2025 President's Engagement Prize to pursue their PIXEL project. The pair will collaborate to bring art mentorship, creative skill-building, and industry networking opportunities to under-resourced high school students in the greater Philadelphia area.

Fourth-year students Ejun Mary Hong and Jack Nicholas Roney were awarded a 2025 President’s Engagement Prize to pursue their PIXEL project. The pair will collaborate to bring art mentorship, creative skill-building, and industry networking opportunities to under-resourced high school students in the greater Philadelphia area.

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Empowering high school youth through immersive art mentorship

Penn fourth-years Ejun Mary Hong and Jack Nicholas Roney will use a President’s Engagement Prize to expand their existing initiative dedicated to connecting under-resourced high school students in Philadelphia with art mentorship, creative skill-building, and industry networking opportunities.

6 min. read

How Penn engineers are restoring historic Springfield Mills
Jason Pastor and another lab worker at Penn’s MEAM lab.

Jason Pastor (left) is a senior coordinator of instructional labs at the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM) at Penn Engineering.

(Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering)

How Penn engineers are restoring historic Springfield Mills

The gristmill on Wissahickon Creek, which dates back to 1761, required repairs to its modern machinery upgrades. Volunteers at the Morris Arboretum & Gardens turned to MEAM’s Precision Manufacturing Lab at Penn Engineering for the design of precision components.

From Penn Engineering

2 min. read

Connecting with Philadelphia’s immigrant Asian communities through food
Rahim Ullah stands in front of a class of students speaking.

In conversation with Fariha Khan during the Asian American Food course, Rahim Ullah (standing) speaks about his food truck and experience immigrating to the United States. 

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Connecting with Philadelphia’s immigrant Asian communities through food

Through the Asian American Food course with Fariha Khan, students explore the many depths of the immigrant experience of different Asian ethnic groups to learn about history and culture.

6 min. read

Listening to the city
Aki Di Sandro standing on a sidewalk in downtown Philadelphia.

“I’ve always been fascinated by how different cities sound," says Aki Di Sandro, a student in the Weitzman School’s Master of Urban Spatial Analytics program.

(Image: Courtesy of Weitzman News)

Listening to the city

In a Spring 2025 City & Regional Planning course at Penn’s Weitzman School, students are exploring the connections between urban sounds and neighborhood identity.

From the Weitzman School of Design

2 min. read

Penn lends support to Rebuilding Together Philadelphia effort repairing 11 local homes in two days
Volunteers smiling and carrying tools and supplies during the block build event.

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Penn lends support to Rebuilding Together Philadelphia effort repairing 11 local homes in two days

Marking a milestone block build, 70 Penn volunteers combined forces with Rebuilding Together Philadelphia, a nonprofit with roots at the University, to revitalize owner-occupied houses in the West Philadelphia community. The momentous two-day event involved a block build and speaking program—with a local homeowner sharing a heartfelt message.

2 min. read

Weitzman student and alum designate Penn’s oldest property to Philadelphia Historic Register

Weitzman student and alum designate Penn’s oldest property to Philadelphia Historic Register

The building that houses Penn’s Greenfield Intercultural Center has been listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, thanks to a nomination authored by Ke-An Chiang, a graduate student at Penn’s Weitzman School. Built circa 1845, the Reed-Hubley Residence, a 3-story villa at 3708-12 Chestnut Street, is believed to be the oldest building owned by Penn, outside of Hospital properties, which served several families as a suburban villa before being acquired by the University in 1982.

‘The Academy at Penn’ names High School of the Future and Horace Howard Furness High School for Philadelphia college and career readiness program

‘The Academy at Penn’ names High School of the Future and Horace Howard Furness High School for Philadelphia college and career readiness program

The School District of Philadelphia’s High School of the Future and Horace Howard Furness have been selected as the inaugural participants in “The Academy at Penn,” a new initiative designed to create a national and scalable model to transform high school education and expand college and career opportunities for students from underserved communities. The $8 million-funded project is a partnership between Foundations, Inc., Penn GSE, the Consortium for Policy Research in Education at Penn GSE, and the School District of Philadelphia.