Penn President Larry Jameson sat down with The Daily Pennsylvanian last week to discuss the recent surge of federal scrutiny and administrative turnover.
Jameson — who was appointed as Penn’s 10th President on March 13 after a 15-month interim tenure — spoke with the DP about the Trump administration’s crackdown on higher education and the University’s executive decision-making process. He additionally addressed allegations of administrative mismanagement from both inside and outside the University.
In the wake of a July settlement to resolve a Title IX investigation and Penn’s recent rejection of the preferential federal funding compact, Jameson declined to comment on the University’s ongoing conversations with the federal government. He described Penn’s relationship with the White House as “powerful, amazing, and valuable,” but stated that commenting further would “undermine the next time” governmental negotiations took place.
“Our sense is that funding should be based on competing for the best ideas,” Jameson said about Penn’s compact rejection. “So those principles make sense. We identified some areas of separation … but I haven’t had any further contact about this. I don’t know what steps they will take and follow up on.”
He also emphasized the significance of academic freedom in the feedback he gave the White House, calling it the “bedrock of what makes American universities so effective in their creativity and innovation.”
“The ability to not always follow conventional wisdom, but to think differently, has allowed us to innovate and create,” Jameson added. “To me, this is just a critical function of our identities as universities. I think if we were asked to be conformist, it would limit our ability to pursue these innovative ideas.”
Jameson addressed Penn’s “faithful” response to “complaints and inquiries” from various sources of scrutiny.
He confirmed that Penn sent a “congratulatory letter” to 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump when he was elected, but clarified administrators have sent letters to its affiliates “regardless of political party,” citing the University’s policy of institutional neutrality.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently alleged in a lawsuit that the University failed to provide documents for an antisemitism complaint investigation. Jameson said that Penn has, in fact, “produced hundreds and hundreds” of documents.
“We’re always cooperative, but when there are situations that we feel that we need to stand up for the rights of either students or faculty or employees here, then we also take that position,” he continued.
Jameson discussed the “advice” he has received from outgoing Wharton School Board of Advisors Chair Marc Rowan, who was a chief architect of the preferential federal funding compact. He emphasized that Rowan maintains “public positions of his own choice” while remaining involved in University decisions.
“[Rowan] is very close to what goes on at the University, and like many of our alumni, has views, as he shares privately and publicly about things we should do or don’t do at the university,” Jameson said. “I tend to listen to equal viewpoints and take them into consideration.”
He further explained that decision-making at Penn is a “step-wise process” rather than centralized actions.
“I think people use that term of governance as though it all happens here, in the President or the Provost’s Office,” he said. “In reality, it’s distributed very broadly through the University, which allows people who know the most about these topics to be the ones who are managing the content and the processes and procedures.”
As the University’s graduate workers’ union voted to authorize a strike, Jameson also touched on recent labor developments on campus — and reaffirmed his commitment to the “best education, the best research opportunities, and the culture, the climate, the policies, and the procedures to support those missions.”
“I certainly respect their right to do this and understand what some of the interests are that they’ve raised,” he said. “At the same time, the University really has an obligation to take care of the elements that are important to the University. This will ultimately, I think, get resolved in a good way.”
Jameson emphasized Penn’s obligation to students through the recently announced Penn Forward strategic framework, characterizing it as one of the “most important things that we’re doing.” He said that “not all of this will roll out in a single moment,” and provided a tentative timeline including 2030 and beyond.
“The energy is super high,” he said. “Whoever comes behind you will inherit a University that’s really ready to adapt to the future in a constructive way.”