Student demonstration protesting the closure of the U. of the Arts, in Philadelphia.  Monica Herndon, The Philadelphia Inquirer, AP.

Dear Commons Community,

Over the past week, faculty, staff, and students at the 150-year-old University of the Arts have been scrambling to make sense of the Philadelphia institution’s imminent closure.  As reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

At the heart of the university’s troubles appears to be the same issues that have plagued numerous other small, private institutions: too few students and rising expenses. The bottom line, one campus-finance expert told The Chronicle, is that the university ran out of cash to pay its short-term expenses.

But University of the Arts leaders have done little to clarify why they took such an extreme measure with just seven days’ notice, announcing a closing date of June 7. A meeting planned for Monday afternoon to answer questions was canceled just minutes before it was scheduled to begin. Efforts to get more information from the board or campus leadership have been met with silence, several faculty members said, and the president, Kerry Walk, resigned on Tuesday without explanation.

Another fine institution of higher education bites the dust!

Tony

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