Rodin Legacy >

One of the first action items on President Rodin’s agenda was to restore University City’s status as one of the city’s most diverse and attractive places to live. To achieve that goal, Dr. Rodin launched an ambitious initiative to improve neighborhood safety and security, strengthen public education, add new neighborhood amenities, stimulate economic development, and promote homeownership.

This initiative has succeeded spectacularly. A new, University-assisted public elementary school has become a selling point for families with children. Crime in University City has fallen 31 percent since 1997, and house values have jumped 88 percent in the last five years. Neighborhood business districts have had new life injected into them by the influx of new residents, and Penn-sponsored projects have added useful amenities, including a supermarket and movie theater, to the neighborhood. In addition, Penn has harnessed the intellectual firepower of its faculty, the curiosity of its students, and the skills of its employees to help its West Philadelphia neighbors address urgent community needs through an academically based community service program that has become a worldwide model.

• Penn partnered with the School District of Philadelphia and Philadelphia Federation of Teachers to open a new, University-assisted Pre-K-through-8 public school in the heart of University City, with innovative learning environments and smaller class sizes.

• Graduate School of Education faculty and staff have strengthened Penn’s existing partnerships with three other West Philadelphia elementary schools; through mentoring, teacher training and other programs, these partnerships have promoted higher student achievement, greater parental involvement and innovative school environments.

• Penn founded the University City District, a special-services district funded by West Philadelphia's major institutional employers that has improved the cleanliness and safety of the University City community.

• Penn has invested $510 million in new construction projects since 1998, with $125 million going to women- and minority-owned businesses.

• Penn's University Square added 150,000 square feet of new retail space, the largest commercial investment in West Philadelphia history.

• Commercial development projects along 40th Street have brought new amenities to the area that serve both Penn and its community, including a full-service supermarket and multi-screen cinema.

• Penn has purchased $310 million in goods and services from West Philadelphia businesses; annual purchase volume has risen more than 400 percent since 1995.

• New businesses spawned by Penn economic-development projects have created 400 permanent jobs, with West Philadelphia residents holding more than half of them.

• The University and Citizens Bank launched a $28 million initiative that provides low-interest financing for residential and small-business development in West Philadelphia.

• Nearly 340 faculty and staff have purchased homes in University City through Penn’s Guaranteed Mortgage Program and Enhanced Mortgage Program.

• Penn raised more than $50 million to create a fund that helps preserve moderate-cost rental housing options in University City.

• The Penn-sponsored UC Green beautification project enabled University City residents to plant 400 trees and create seven public gardens on 25 neighborhood blocks

• Penn has taken a leading role in launching the Knowledge Industry Partnership, a region-wide initiative to attract students to the Philadelphia area’s colleges and universities and retain them after graduation.

• Academically based community service became a global movement under the leadership of Penn’s Center for Community Partnerships, which has worked with faculty to develop more than 130 service learning courses that address community issues in West Philadelphia.