Temple University has asked its schools, colleges, and administrative units to cut a total of $60 million to help offset a projected deficit for 2026-27.
President John Fry shared the plan in a message to the campus community Friday and said a reduction in employees is “inevitable.”
The message did not reveal how many layoffs the university is considering as it attempts to close the $85 million projected gap. The board of trustees’ executive committee is scheduled to meet next week to consider the proposed budget. The university’s current budget is $1.3 billion, excluding the health system.
“Unfortunately, some reduction in force is inevitable, given that nearly 70% of Temple’s operating budget is spent on compensation and benefits,” Fry said in the message. “It is my promise that any employee’s separation from the university will be handled equitably and compassionately.”
He noted that a faculty retirement incentive program this year drew 77 takers — 3% of full-time faculty — andwill lessen the need for layoffs. Those faculty are scheduled to leave by the end of this month and their departuresultimately will save $15 million annually. The elimination of vacant faculty and staff positions also hashelped, he said.
Fry did not detail the cuts that are planned but said that colleges, schools, and administrative units each received a budget reduction target.
Units were asked to make a 5% cut last year, but this year there is a range of percentages among schools, colleges, and administrative units, a university spokesperson said. The spokesperson declined to say how many layoffs will occur.
Some potential cuts that have stirred discussion include a reduction in adjunct professors and a pause in doctoral student admissions by some programs.
Jeffrey Doshna, president of the Temple Association of University Professionals, said Fry’s message seemed to address some of the issues the union has been raising, but said more information is needed, including how many people will lose their jobs and from what areas.
“Hopefully, they will continue to respond to what we are calling for,” he said, including greater transparency, participation in decision-making, and no job cuts.
Temple has been trying to cope with lost revenue from a precipitous slide in enrollment and uncertainty around federal funding. Fry has been warning since early April that the university “must act decisively and with a sense of urgency” to address the projected deficit. An internal Temple report obtained by The Inquirer in April said layoffs were coming.
Fry reported to the board of trustees last week that this year’s fall enrollment looks promising, with deposits by first-year undergraduate and transfer students up over last year at the same time.
He said in his campus message that making the $60 million in cuts is “an important first step toward returning the university to a balanced budget over the next three years.”
Fry acknowledged that the budget reductions “can create uncertainty and anxiety.” But he said the administration has attempted to be transparent and has held meetings with faculty senate, deans, and schools, colleges, and administrative units.
“Navigating through this stark financial reality is not easy,” Fry said. “I recognize the difficulty of this present moment. We will emerge from this process stronger and on a more sustainable path moving forward.”
Philadelphia police are investigating whether three men shot near the Hunting Park Recreation Center in the last month — two of them fatally and just six days apart — were targeted by the same gunman, according to law enforcement sources.
The two men killed this month were found partially undressed and shot in the torso inside the large North Philadelphia park, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. A third man was shot in late May and survived.
Police believe the same person was involved in both killings, the sources said, and are looking into whether the men had met the suspect through a dating app.
Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore said investigators have identified a person of interest interest in the case, a man in his late teens or early 20s, after capturing his image on surveillance footage as he entered and exited a Broad Street Line station.
The man — whom investigators did not identify — is considered armed and dangerous, Vanore said at a news conference Monday.
Philadelphia police said this man is a person of interest in the shooting deaths of two men near the Hunting Park Recreation Center in separate incidents within the last 10 days.Courtesy of Philadelphia police
“All three incidents are perpetrated very similarly, in the same geographic area,” he said. “We’re believing now that they’re all connected and being done by the same person.”
On June 20, officers responded to the park, at 1101 W. Hunting Park Ave., shortly after 10 p.m. and found Martin Higgins, 45, on the bleachers of the baseball field, suffering from a gunshot wound to the torso. He died at the scene, police said.
Then, on June 26, police responded and found another man just before 11 p.m. suffering from multiple gunshot wounds near the basketball courts. Police have not yet identified the man but said he was 29-years-old.
Police now believe a third shooting last month is linked to the gunman.
In that May 29 incident, a 55-year-old man was shot in the elbow and torso in the park just before 10 p.m.The victim later told investigators that a man wearing all black who appeared to be in his 20s approached and told him that he was being robbed, according to Vanore.
Vanore said investigators had yet to determine a motive tying the cases together, though they believe robbery is the motivation behind the shooting that was not fatal.
Asked whether the victims had met the suspect on a dating app — a detail law enforcement sources said they are investigating — Vanore declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
“If that is [part of the case], that’s something we’ll have to develop moving forward,” he said. “But at this point we know that this individual appears to be preying on people.”
Higgins’ relatives could not be immediately reached for comment Monday. An obituary shared online said he was a graduate of Temple University’s business school and worked as an inspector for the city’s Community Life Improvement Program.
“Marty was known for his passion for clothing, style, and self-expression,” the obituary said. He had a “kind heart, generous spirit, and unwavering support for those he loved” and “was the person who showed up when someone needed him, always making time for family and friends no matter what was going on in his own life,” his family wrote.
He was one of six children and was an uncle to many nieces and nephews.
Meanwhile, as investigators continue to search for the gunman, they are asking anyone with information about the crimes to contact the homicide unit at 215-686-3334 or submitting an anonymous tip at 215-686-TIPS (8477).
Dozens of bees crawled along the frame in Frances Ratay’s hands as she looked down at the colony in awe.
The 70-year-old retiree from South Philadelphia ordinarily would avoid bees out of fear, but this spring she suited up for a study on therapeutic beekeeping at the Half Mad Honey apiary in the Navy Yard. Led by Temple University occupational therapy student Meghan Robertson, the project tested if beekeeping could improve mental health and well-being in older adults.
Seeking to fill that gap, Robertson measured the mental health of 13 older adults (average age of 73) before and after a six-week beekeeping study. She found significant improvements in the average well-being, depression, and stress levels of the cohort immediately following the intervention.
Her research is unpublished and has not yet been peer-reviewed. The limitations include the small sample size and lack of a control group or long-term data.
The six sessions of the program taught participants about the structure of a beehive and the different roles in a colony.Ryan S. Brandenberg / Temple
Ratay was among those who saw improvements in well-being, as her fear of bees transformed into a greater appreciation for nature.
“It was really life-giving to me,” she said. “It makes me feel worthwhile.”
Lessons from the bees
Half Mad Honey founder Amelia Mraz started beekeeping as an undergraduate at Temple in 2016.
At the time, she was at a low point in her ownmental health, dealing with anxiety and depression. Beekeeping became a meditative practice.
“Your worries just kind of melt away because you’re so immersed in the community of the bees,” Mraz said.
She founded her Navy Yard-based apiary with the goal of bringing therapeutic experiences outside of the clinic into nature.
Mraz offers beehive tours at Half Mad Honey that are designed to help participants practice stress reduction skills and mindfulness techniques.
Partnering with Robertson for her research in senior citizens was a natural extension of that work.
The study occurred at the Navy Yard-based Half Mad Honey.Ryan S. Brandenberg / Temple
Together, they designed six weekly sessions where participants learned about the structure of a beehive, painted boxes for the bees, opened the hives to identify different roles in the colony, and tasted the honey.
“They saw bees being born, they saw bees coming back with pollen on their legs, they saw the queen,” Mraz said.
Ratay, who retired from her career as a biology teacher last year, enjoyed learning about how bees work together to maintain the well-being of the hive.
Witnessing their interdependent nature boosted her own self-worth and feeling of belonging.
“It made me realize that no role is less important than another,” she said.
Robertson chose to study older adults specifically because they’re at an increased risk of experiencing mental health challenges due to loneliness, retirement, and major life changes, she said.
She assessed the participants’ well-being on a scale of 0 to 100 using the World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index. The mean score increased from 66.15 before the program to 75.38 after.
The participants’ average depression score improved from mild to normal, while their average stress score decreased from moderate to normal.
The study included 13 older adults.Ryan S. Brandenberg / Temple
Ratay said the experience touched on her spirit of adventure and reminded her it’s never too late to try new things. She’s since returned to Half Mad Honey to help Mraz with the hives.
“It not only buoys you up and gives you confidence, but it allows you to tackle the next fear,” she said.
A small step forward
Robertson’s next step, having recently graduated from her occupational therapy program, is to finish writing a paper detailing the research.
Meanwhile, Mraz aims to continue developing therapeutic beekeeping programming, with the goal of bringing it to mental health organizations and expanding it beyond six weeks.
Though the data is still preliminary and too small in scale to generalize beyond the study participants, Mraz is excited to have more quantitative evidence behind the practice.
“It’s really my personal mission to share the joy, the relaxation, and the lessons of pollinators with folks,” she said.
Amelia Mraz (left), Amanda Geraci (center), and chef Natasha Pham are near their Half Mad Honey’s hives in Philadelphia. They use their beehives for mental health therapy.JOSE F. MORENO / Staff Photographer
Another participant, Deborah Rosan, struggled to find purpose outside of the house since she stopped working as a schoolteacher two years ago.
The 70-year-old from Ardmore had felt isolated and anxious adjusting to life outside the classroom.
Participating in the program reminded her that, “with conscious effort, I really do not need to experience the feelings of being superfluous and sidelined in culture just because I’m older,” she said.
Jack Pinkowski relished his time as a photojournalist for Temple University’s student newspaper when he was enrolled there in the 1960s.
And he always admired the work of his father, the late Edward Pinkowksi, an historian and author who founded a small newspaper in the Montgomery County borough of Bridgeport.
This month, Pinkowski, a 1968 Temple grad, and his wife, Monica, gave Temple a $1.25 million gift, a portion of which will for the first time endow the editor-in-chief position for the Temple News, as well as increase other staff salaries and pay for some story-related travel and new equipment.
Pinkowski said the need for journalists has never been more important, and he lamented the struggles print journalism has faced.
“We hope to show it a lifeline, give it some support to encourage people to go into that as a field of endeavor,” said Pinkowski, 78, of Plantation, Fla. “This named editorship is a tribute to my father for starting a newspaper and having a lifetime as a critical mind that searched for facts and put them together and brought stories to the enjoyment of people.”
Of the gift, $250,000 will be used to create an endowment for the student newspaper, and the remaining $1 million will fund scholarships of up to $10,000 per academic year for students to study at Temple’s Rome campus. Applicants must have knowledge of, coursework in, or a commitment to promoting Polish or Italian studies, history, or culture.
The Pinkowskis made their money by investing in and managing real estate as well as through other careers.
The couple both worked in businesses with global ties — Jack as an importer of furniture and Monica as an importer of gourmet foods to restaurants — and saw the merit in global study. They also both attended a study abroad program for adults at Temple Rome in 2024.
Given the federal government’s policies affecting foreign students, Pinkowski said, he thought it was important to support the Rome campus so that students have an alternative way to attend an American university.
Temple president John Fry said he especially likes that the gift is so personal and that it is widening access to students to participate in both studying on the Rome campus and working for the student newspaper.
“These are two really important experiences that many students have to forgo, and I think the Pinkowskis are making both of those possible,” Fry said. “Its meaning and impact are significant.”
The gift comes as the college prepares to close a record fundraising year, led by a record $55 million gift from alumnus Christopher Barnett in October and a large gift in April from alumna Jane Creamer Sullivan and her late husband, Thomas J. Sullivan, to start its new honors college.
A boost for the Temple News
John DiCarlo, managing director of student media and adviser to the Temple News, said its portion of the Pinkowski gift will be incredibly important in supporting the newspaper with a staff of 37, which last academic year ran on a $115,596 budget that largely covers salaries and print costs.
Most of the costs were covered by the university, with the newspaper responsible for raising $23,500 through ad revenue and other means. If the publication exceeds that goal — which it did last year, raising over $29,000 — it can funnel the additional money back into operations, DiCarlo said.
The new endowment, DiCarlo said, will bring in an additional $10,000 to $12,000 annually, depending on its earnings.
Incoming senior Sienna Conaghan, 20, who will be the inaugural Edward Pinkowski Editor-in-Chief, said she is grateful for the funding, which will cover her approximate $5,400 salary. And she is glad that salaries for other staffers can get boosted, too.
“We’re asking them to do full-time jobs on a college student’s budget and a college student’s schedule,” DiCarlo said. “It takes a lot out of them because they really care.”
Conaghan, a journalism major from West Yellowstone, Mont., estimates that she spends about 30 hours a week on Temple News work. She freelanced freshman year, was assistant sports editor sophomore year, and worked as sports co-editor last year.
The experience is more important than the paycheck, said Conaghan, who plans to pursue a career in sports journalism, but the money helps.
“It has really been everything,” Conaghan said of her Temple News work. “I think I’ve learned so much from working at the Temple News, from how to be a journalist and also just how to be an adult and a person.”
The Pinkowskis initially gave a gift to the Temple News in 2023 to help it reach a fundraising goal. The college wanted to be able to pay student journalists a little more because some were having to take on second jobs to generate more income, DiCarlo said. At that time, he said, he had no idea the couple would return with such a large gift three years later; it is the largest gift the Temple News has ever received.
“Monica and I are avid readers and avid followers of print journalism,” said Jack Pinkowski, a graduate of Philadelphia’s Central High School.
Pinkowski said his father decided to start the now-defunct Bridgeport South Side Press in 1950 because the community did not have a local paper. He also wrote history books about the local area, using skills he developed as a journalist, Pinkowski said.
The Pinkowskis have had other career experience in addition to real estate and import businesses.
He was a general contractor and wedding photographer early on and later spent 18 years as an associate professor of public administration at Nova Southeastern University’s school of business and entrepreneurship in Florida.
And she was a flight attendant at one time and as a child grew up working in a family traveling carnival business in Missouri — which helped pay for her education at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Jack Pinkowski said the common thread in their endeavors has been “inquisitiveness and intellectual curiosity and the ability to take something where there’s nothing and make something of it.”
Both Temple officials and the Pinkowskis hope their gift will motivate others.
“I do believe that other people pay attention to that, and it makes them say, well, maybe they can do something as well,” Jack Pinkowski said.
In tricorn hats and tail coats, their locs, microbraids, and wavy tresses gathered into 18th-century low ponytails, 27 Philadelphia-area high school students transformed into America’s Founding Fathers on Wednesday evening at the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts.
The young thespians debated and deliberated the benefits of forming a sovereign nation. Their well-practiced Southern accents and New England inflections echoed in the full auditorium.
In 2½ hours, Massachusetts congressman John Adams (played by Jackson Preisser), Ben Franklin (Jayden Duvene), and Thomas Jefferson (Maxwell Henderson) made the case for liberty, overcoming the petty aristocratic concerns of Pennsylvania delegate John Dickinson (Greg Rist).
Former Mayor Ed Rendell meets cast members (L-R) Abigail Adams (played by Chloe Chau), John Dickinson (played by Greg Rist) and Ben Franklin (played by Jayden Duvene) during opening night of 1776: The Musical at the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts on Wednesday, June 24, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
On a set that looked remarkably like Independence Hall, the students staged the Tony Award-winning 1969 Broadway musical1776 and argued for and against liberty with witty songs and sophisticated dialogue.
The reenactment of the signing of the Declaration of Independence was everything Ed Rendell, the elder statesman and the brain behind the production, wanted it to be.
“It’s been my dream for quite some time to see this production happen,” Rendell said to The Inquirer, his voice a raspy whisper, worn and weary from Parkinson’s disease. Sitting in his wheelchair at the red, white, and blue step and repeat, Rendell smiled as CAPA’s lobby was turned into a dining room for dignitaries hours before the play began.
“In honor of America’s 250th birthday, we wanted to use 1776 to teach high school students the sacrifices and compromises it took to form this great nation,” he said.
Rendell’s love for 1776 is rooted to the night in 1969 when he watched the colonial drama unfold on Broadway, starring William Daniels as John Adams, Ken Howard as Thomas Jefferson, and Howard da Silva as Benjamin Franklin. Daniels, Howard, and da Silva starred in the 1971 Oscar-nominated film of the same name.
“I loved it,” Rendell said, whose favorite ballads from the play are Franklin, Adams, and Jefferson’s quirky performance of “The Egg,” in which the forefathers humorously choose the bald eagle as America’s national bird. (That didn’t really happen during the Second Continental Congress, but it’s a nice touch.)
Another of Rendell’s favorite songs is “Is Anybody There?,” a melancholy number during which Adams asks himself if his dedication to the cause of independence is worth it.
“It struck the right chord, giving all the facts about how we came to our freedom, our independence,” Rendell said. “When I became mayor, I went back and studied it and began to think of it as an important civics lesson. There were so many things I didn’t even know.”
A former president, a mayor, a speaker walk into a play
The 1776 opening night saw the attendance of a who’s who in Philadelphia politics, business, and civics.
Former President Joe Biden was in the house on the opening night of Rendell’s theatrical milestone. After he was presented with a copy of the declaration signed by the cast, the former president delivered a nine-minute speech about the importance of teaching American history in present-day America, although he did not mention President Donald Trump by name.
“What I can tell you is that from the moment the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, we have been in a consistent battle for the soul of the nation,” Biden said as guests prepared to dig into barbecued chicken, brisket, and ribs, Rendell’s favorite.
Former President Joe Biden displays a signed poster from the cast as former Mayor Ed Rendell looks on during the opening night celebration of 1776: The Musical at the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts on Wednesday, June 24, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
“Even when there is darkness,” Biden said, “we’ve summoned our angels and crawled back from the brink. We are trying to do that now.”
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia), and State Rep. Joe Ciresi (D., Montgomery) were also in attendance. Philadelphia School Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr.; Temple University president John Fry; and David L. Cohen, the former senior executive vice president to Comcast and U.S. ambassador to Canada, were on hand, too.
“When Mr. Rendell calls, people come out,” said Adrian R. King, a partner at Philadelphia-based law firm Ballard Spahr and a former Rendell staffer.
Their attendance reflected their respect for Rendell, a former governor of Pennsylvania and mayor of Philadelphia who, in his political heyday in the 1990s, led the efforts to reimagine South Broad Street as the now-bustling Avenue of the Arts. CAPA’s 1997 opening was a part of that plan.
John Adams (played by Jackson Preisser, middle) and John Dickinson (played by Greg Rist, right) are seperated during a scene from the opening night of 1776: The Musical at the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts on Wednesday, June 24, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Rendell’s baby
Rendell has dreamed of this production for years. He began working on it in earnest last year, bringing on veteran Philadelphia arts administrator Karen Corbin to executive produce. Phillip Sean Brown, director of theater at Bryn Mawr’s Shipley School, was roped in to direct.
“The governor had very specific ideas of what he wanted,” Brown said. “He wanted to show the history of our country, show the drama of the birth of a nation, and have the students learn everything they could about the craft of theater.”
The first order of business was securing the rights to the late composer Sherman Edwards’ script and music. That will cost about $45,000 by the end of the run, Corbin said.
Casting began in February and auditions began in March. Forty actors from eight area high schools were picked for the multicultural, gender-fluid rotating cast, giving the revival of the 57-year-old production Hamilton vibes.
In addition, Brown said, more than 30 students were hired as musicians and production crew.
Cast members posed with guests before opening night of 1776: The Musical at the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts on Wednesday, June 24, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
“They worked with professionals in theater lighting, costume, sound, and props,” Brown said.
Students were paid $150 a week during rehearsal weeks, and will make $300 a week through the eight-week performance. The entire production cost $850,000 including a $150,000 grant from the state.
There will be 50 shows through Aug. 15 at CAPA. Actors will also perform vignettes of the musical throughout Philadelphia’s historic district, including Carpenters Hall.
‘All good things take compromise’
Students’ exposure to the arts and history has been priceless.
“This experience represents striving forward — as an actor with my cast,“ said Mason Daly, a CAPA graduating senior whose biting Southern accent for South Carolina congressman and segregationist Edward Rutledge was chilling.
Daly’s role as Rutledge is particularly eye-opening. 1776 tells us that Jefferson’s original draft of the declaration included a clause abolishing slavery in America. Rutledge, however, would support America only if that part of the declaration were struck.
Jefferson laments to Franklin, saying, “Mark me, Franklin … if we give in on this issue, posterity will never forgive us.” But he does give in.
“Playing him, I learned to value the nuances of the perspectives of even those we disagree with,” Daly said.
“It’s about his personal compromises to get to the yea vote that allowed independence to go forward. That dialogue, that discussion, that back-and-forth between him and the various colonial representatives is the basis of our democracy and government.”
Former Mayor Ed Rendell during opening night of 1776: The Musical at the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts on Wednesday, June 24, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
The actors’ parents bubbled with excitement.
“My child is really being taken seriously as an actor in this production,” said Justina Barrett, chief learning and engagement officer at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and mother to Sage Wentz, who played Col. Thomas McKean of Delaware. “This whole play is about the messy business of making the United States. It was hard. These guys weren’t nice. It wasn’t pretty. In many ways, we are divided then as we are now.”
Although difficult, this idea of forming a new nation through compromise is what Rendell hopes is the ultimate lesson for all involved.
“We can’t get anything done without compromise,” Rendell said. “We have to get back to a government that is working toward the good of the government. The Civil Rights Act took compromise. Women’s rights took compromise. All good things take compromise.”
“1776″ will be performed at CAPA, 901 S. Broad St., through Aug. 15. Tickets start at $11. For more information, go to the Celebrating 1776! website.
For most Americans, the U.S. Supreme Court occupies a seat on the back burner. We know it is important, but so much of what it does seems unconnected to our daily lives.
Every now and then, it pops up in the news when something major is on the table and briefly grabs our attention — overturning Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to choose to have an abortion grabbed the headlines, as did throwing out Donald Trump’s tariffs. But, outside of the circles of lawyers, judges, and academics, most of what the court does goes unnoticed. For a brief moment, the nation pays attention. Then the spotlight moves on.
Enduring consequences
Over the next two to three weeks, before the justices depart for their four-month summer recess, the court will issue a series of decisions in cases it has been considering for months. They have listened to the lawyers argue their cases for hours, reviewed thousands of pages of briefs submitted by lawyers, interested organizations, and government officials, and debated among themselves.
Any day now, decisions will be handed down that could alter the legal landscape for decades to come. These cases will affect millions of people, directly and indirectly. These decisions become the law of the land, and their impact will endure for decades. While the court can later reverse its own decisions, it rarely does. So the decisions it makes in the next two to three weeks will endure long after many of us are dead. In 1954, for example, the court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education finally ended desegregation, 50 years after the same court had infamously approved it in Plessy v. Ferguson.
More recently, in 2022, the court reversed Roe v. Wade, ending a constitutional right to abortion that had been established since 1973.
In short, the decisions it makes in the next couple of weeks are not likely to change for half a century or more. Given what the court is about to decide, all of us have a stake in the outcome.
People demonstrate outside the U.S. Supreme Court Building in 2025 before justices hear oral arguments in a birthright citizenship case, one of many critical issues before the court.Jack Gruber / USA TODAY NETWORK
President Trump signed an executive order ending automatic citizenship for those born in the United States unless they meet certain conditions, despite the Constitution (in the 14th Amendment) explicitly conferring it to “all persons” born in the United States.
The stakes in this case extend far beyond immigration policy or the end of birthright citizenship.
The issue is not simply whether birth in the United States confers automatic citizenship. More fundamentally, it asks whether a president may effectively amend the Constitution, eviscerating rights and guarantees formerly entrenched in American society, literally with the stroke of a pen.
The Constitution is meant to endure and survive political winds — and it has for 250 years. In that time, aside from the Bill of Rights, there have been only 17 amendments. The Constitution provides a process for changing its provisions. It is purposefully neither quick nor easy. The framers understood that fundamental rights should not fluctuate like a weather vane depending on who occupies the White House. Constitutional rights are meant to endure and survive political winds — and they have for 250 years.
Executive orders signed by the president, any president, are not among the methods the Constitution provides for rewriting its guarantees.
Critical decisions
The decision is critical. If a president’s signature on an executive order can override constitutional guarantees in one area, where does that authority end? What’s next? The right to remain silent? Free speech? The freedom to practice your religion, safe from government interference? The right to counsel? The guarantee of a fair trial? Presidential term limits? Can Trump end the constitutionally mandated two-term limit with his signature?
Free speech is a central issue. Can students be punished for participating in peaceful demonstrations on college campuses because officials disagree with their views? Does freedom of expression apply equally to all viewpoints, or only to favored ones? If the government can silence one unpopular group today, what prevents it from silencing another tomorrow?
Among the issues that will be decided in the next few weeks are whether states can exclude transgender women from participating in female athletic competitions. Earlier, the court addressed whether states may prohibit licensed therapists from discussing certain issues relating to gender identity with their patients — can they prohibit some of it, or all of it, or none of it. The First Amendment won that battle. Surprisingly. But transgender rights are not a favored policy, and the administration is unashamedly hostile to them, and civil liberties advocates are not hopeful.
The court was asked to revisit long-standing Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. Under what circumstances may police officers enter a person’s home without a warrant, probable cause, or judicial authorization? How far may a warrant reach before it undermines the constitutional guarantee that people should be secure in their homes?
Gun safety advocates rally outside federal court in Philadelphia in 2023 as the Third Circuit Court of Appeals hears oral arguments about a New Jersey law keeping guns out of parks, playgrounds, bars, and other sensitive places. The law was challenged by the National Rifle Association and other gun lobby groups.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The Second Amendment and gun control remain among the most active areas of constitutional law. If school shootings and the murder rate are important to us, we need to be paying attention.
Beyond individual rights, the courts are increasingly confronting questions concerning executive power and the structure of the federal government itself. May a president deploy National Guard troops without the consent of state officials? Can federal employees be dismissed without cause? Does the president have the authority to remove senior agency officials at will, or are there constitutional limits on that power?
Shaping lives
The fundamental right to vote is also at stake, as the plethora of decisions already announced on redistricting and voter rights will undoubtedly shape the political landscape. In the next few weeks, the court’s decisions on mail-in ballot restrictions will add to that mix.
These are not abstract legal debates. They are questions that go to the heart of citizenship, liberty, equality, and the limits of governmental power. They will shape lives, influence public policy, and define constitutional rights long after today’s political battles have faded from memory.
The Supreme Court may not dominate our daily conversations, but the decisions it issues in the coming days will touch every American in one way or another. Whether we agree with the outcomes or not, this is one of those moments when paying attention is not merely advisable — it is essential.
Susan Sullivan is a lawyer and professor of constitutional law and politics at Temple University.
Philadelphia is known for some great things: the Declaration of Independence (happy 250th!), Rocky, and the cheesesteak. It is also known for “killing” hitchBOT, the famous hitchhiking robot that was dismembered in August 2015. A decade later, there’s a new bot in town: the Uber Eats delivery robot, operated by Avride.
When these robots first arrived, I had my own spontaneous encounter with one. I was surprised by how unsettled I felt, especially as someone who has spent years researching them. I am an expert in human–robot interaction, and my research focuses on why people abuse robots. I immediately wondered how long it would be before another robot made headlines in this post‑hitchBOT world.
Uber Eats robot attacked by Philly pedestriansFuncab Karaoke Taxi
Since these delivery robots rolled into town, they have been making headlines for all the wrong reasons: getting beat up, hit by cars, and colliding with pedestrians. These coolers on wheels are having an effect on Philadelphians, and I do not blame my fellow city dwellers.
We are living in a cultural climate where artificial intelligence and automation are often framed as threats to jobs amid inflation and economic anxiety. Layer on top of that Philadelphia’s unique reputation as a destroyer of robots, and the reaction is hardly surprising.
Clockwise from lower left. 1) Last known image of an intact hitchBOT in Philadelphia in 2018. 2) Frame grab from surveillance video of man in No. 12 jersey after tossing what appear to be hitchBOT’s arms to sidewalk. 3 & 4) Man appears to stomp item believed to be hitchBOT.
With innovative technology, there is always disruption. When UberX and Lyft arrived, Philadelphians were up in arms about the traffic congestion caused by rideshare vehicles, a problem the city later officially acknowledged.
Yet in less than a decade, the norm quietly shifted. Today, many of us hail a rideshare instead of a taxi despite the unresolved congestion issue. The question now is whether we will react to delivery robots as another passing disruption, or whether we will choose to use them to actually improve city life.
Garci Peterkin, owner and CEO of Carter’s Cheesesteaks by Garci in the 1000 block of Race Street, demonstrates how food delivery robots work, in March.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
Recently, Councilmember Jeffery Young proposed a $1,000 surcharge on deliveries made by autonomous delivery devices using city sidewalks. That may sound like mere regulation, but in practice it would push the robots out entirely. Before Philadelphia taxes these devices into irrelevance, we should look at how other cities are putting them to work for the public good.
West Hollywood, for example, has had delivery robots on its sidewalks since 2020. On Jan. 1, 2026, the city implemented a new program, the first of its kind, to use data and fees from these devices to improve and pay for sidewalk repairs. In this program, companies that operate delivery robots partner with an accessibility app used by blind and low-vision residents. As they travel city streets, the robots can report real-time obstacles such as blocked sidewalks, helping make navigation safer. The city then uses information gathered by the robots to map accessibility problems and prioritize sidewalk improvements.
The companies also pay a daily fee for each robot in their fleet, plus an advertising fee (about four dollars per day per device) with that advertising revenue directed into a sidewalk repair fund that is expected to bring in roughly $40,000 to $80,000 per year.
In other words, the robots are not just delivering takeout; they are quietly scanning the city, funding basic infrastructure, and making the streets more accessible.
There are a lot of potential benefits: using robot data to measure and assess street conditions, cutting down on short car trips by shifting them to small electric devices, and easing traffic congestion on already strained streets.
These are practical, achievable ways to use technology to help address the climate crisis and long‑neglected infrastructure. This moment should also demonstrate that it’s past time for us to stop pretending we can opt out of technological change altogether.
Philadelphia City Council should resist a blanket $1,000 surcharge that effectively bans delivery robots and instead work with residents, robotic operators, advocates, and experts in human–robot interaction to build a Philadelphia version of West Hollywood’s data‑and‑sidewalk‑repair model.
Uber Eats’ delivery robot in Chinatown on March 10, 2026.Michael Klein / Staff
If we are going to share our streets with robots, we should make sure the companies profiting from them are paying their way and helping fix the sidewalks they roll on.
Will Philadelphia embrace that possibility, or will we become a city of Robo-NIMBYs, elected officials and residents alike?
Lindsay Ouellette is a Philadelphia-based social psychologist and human-robot interaction researcher who studies public responses to robots and emerging technologies. She recently earned her doctorate from Temple University, where her research examined aggression toward robots.
South Philly-raised director and actor Amina Robinson is one of the region’s most celebrated theater makers, known for directing major productions including Fat Ham, Once on This Island, and The Color Purple. Now based in Cherry Hill with her husband and son, Robinson was just named the new artistic director of Norristown’s Theatre Horizon, where she’ll take the helm later this year.
When she’s not directing plays and musicals like this spring’s Ain’t Misbehavin’, the Temple University professor spends her days walking around Philadelphia and visiting family in West Philly. On her perfect Philly day, she takes her family for cheesesteaks at Jim’s before walking around the Schuylkill and, of course, catching a show at her soon-to-be artistic home, Theatre Horizon.
8 a.m.
I get up and I wake up my son and my husband. We decide to get ready and go to Philly for breakfast. We’re gonna go to Eggcellent Cafe on Chestnut Street and I’m gonna eat their truffle avocado toast — it’s so big and good. I’m gonna have their golden turmeric latte, too.
Families and friends gather from all over to watch the firework show over the Delaware River on New Years Eve at Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
10:30 a.m.
We’ll walk breakfast off by taking a nice little walk down Penn’s Landing, right along the water.
11 a.m.
After that, we’ll go visit my mom in Overbrook Park. I would bring her decaffeinated Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, that’s a must. Then we’ll sit and talk with my mom for a little bit. I would see my brother and my stepdad, and probably my nephew, and maybe my brother’s girlfriend would be there, but I really would be going to visit my mommy.
Ken Silver, owner of Jim’s Steaks, corner of 4th and South Street with sign on front of building.The restaurant is under construction after 2022 fire destroyed the cheesesteak restaurant. Photo taken on Monday, March 25, 2024.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
1 p.m.
For lunchtime I want to go down to Jim’s on South Street and get a cheesesteak with whiz and fried onions. I probably need to walk off my cheesesteak, but I’m not going to walk off my cheesesteak. I’m going to let it just sit in my belly for a while.
3 p.m.
Then we’ll go out to the Art Museum area and chill out and walk around. Maybe we’ll have ice cream, there are usually ice cream trucks out there. I love walking around that area so much — I’ve always loved West River Drive and Kelly Drive. When I was a kid, I didn’t know that Boathouse Row was like boathouses, even though it’s called that — I used to always say, when I grew up, I’m gonna live in one of those houses.
Boathouse Row is relit with a new programmable system containing 6,400 LED lights that allow for 16 million color combinations in Philadelphia, Pa. on Thursday, March 7, 2024.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
5:30 p.m.
At night, I’m gonna go to Norristown. There’s this Mexican restaurant on Main Street that’s so freaking good, Taqueria La Michoacana. I would definitely have their beans and rice, and tacos, and I don’t know what else.
7:30 p.m.
I would go see a show at Theatre Horizon. They want to foster empathy and edify the people who come to see the theater. As the incoming artistic director, I’d love to start programs like that to grow the artistic community there, all the while supporting the community that’s already been built there.
New artistic director Amina Robinson at an event for Theatre Horizon’s 2018 production of ‘The Color Purple.’Courtesy of Theatre Horizon
10 p.m.
I’d head home to sit outside and watch the cars go by, just like chill out and relax. Then I’ll lay on the couch and fall asleep watching a television show, probably a Lifetime Movie Network movie.
Half of the nonprofit health systems in Southeastern Pennsylvania had operating losses in the first nine months of fiscal 2026, the systems’ latest reports to municipal bond investors showed.
All had strong revenue growth, with the exceptions of Redeemer Health and Tower Health, the two smallest systems by revenue. The gains at Jefferson Health and Penn Medicine benefited from acquisitions in fiscal 2025.
The reports are not perfectly comparable because of variations in accounting practices.
For example, Jefferson, Main Line Health, and ChristianaCare changed their depreciation rates, which reduced their expenses relative to competitors. Jefferson includes investment income in its revenue, boosting its results.
Here’s a summary in order of revenue, from the region’slargest to smallest systems:
Jefferson Healthhad a $252.6 million operating loss, which it attributed to severe winter weather, restructuring costs related to layoffs, and shortfalls in insurance reimbursement. Total revenue was just shy of $13 billion, up from $11.6 billion last year, which included only eight months of results from Lehigh Valley Health Network.
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia had a $271 million operating profit in the first nine months of fiscal 2026, up from $195.8 million the year before. Total revenue rose 9% to $4.1 billion from $3.7 billion, thanks to strong gains in payments for hospital patients and unspecified other operating revenue.
Temple University Health System had an operating loss of $9.9 million, recovering largely from a $50.5 million loss in the first half of fiscal 2026. In the same period a year ago, Temple had a $10.9 million operating loss. The health system’s revenue was $2.6 billion, up from $2.3 billion last year.
Main LineHealth reported a small operating profit of $214,000, following a winter quarter setback. The four-hospital nonprofit system recorded an $8.5 million loss in the three months that ended March 31. Severe winter weather reduced patient visits, and the health system increased its reserves for medical malpractice expenses.
Tower Health swung to a small operating loss of $3.6 million. During the same period a year ago, Tower had a $4.2 million operating profit. Revenue increased 1.6% to $1.6 billion.
Steep losses continued at Redeemer Health, which reported a $29 million operating loss, compared to a $33 million loss last year. Redeemer’s total revenue rose by less than 1%, to $332 million. Redeemer owns Holy Redeemer Hospital, a 239-bed facility in Abington Township, Montgomery County, not far from Jefferson Abington Hospital.
After years of anticipation, ticketing woes, and infrastructure blunders, the world’s most beautiful game has landed in the City of Brotherly Love.
And soccer fans are feeling it.
The 68,274 attendees erupted when the West African nation broke the deadlocked game in the last seconds of regulation, leaving Ecuadorians stunned and distraught. Some covered their faces in disbelief.
“They fought, but we won,” Ivory Coast supporter Glenn Feidanga said.
Feidanga was the only person dancing in his section after spending the two halves surrounded by Ecuadorian fans. The momentary rivalry eventually gave way to high-fives and kudos.
“Everything is good,” he said.
While the Ecuadorian and Ivorian communities in the Philly-area are small — less than 15,500 residents claim Ecuadorian ancestry, and the number of Ivorians is difficult to estimate because the Census Bureau doesn’t tabulate them — their fans had no dearth of fervor or conviction.
Anything for your team
In the days and hours leading up to kickoff, celebrations have spilled into streets and SEPTA stations across the city — and supporters have been undeterred by oppressive heat and threats of severe weather. On Saturday, a wave of yellow, red, and blue flooded the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, as thousands of Ecuadorian fans rallied and basked in their pride.
The Broad Street Line Sunday afternoon was inundated with Ecuador fans. Teeming train cars were full of yellow jerseys standing shoulder to shoulder, men and women alike. As the train pulled in, a song arose; full throat and deafening in the hot, cramped subway car.
“Let’s go, let’s go Ecuadorians, tonight we have to win!“
As the throng made its way out of the NRG Station, the fans’ hearts and voices swelled again.
A young Ecuadorian soccer fan sits under the Ecuadorian flag during a flag waving event at the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, ahead of Ecuador’s first round World Cup match against the Ivory Coast on Saturday, June 13, 2026.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Pacho Flores would go to any length for “La tri,” the nickname for the Ecuadorian national team. He had traveled from New York City and had paid $650 a ticket for his family of eight to see his team play in Philadelphia.
“It’s the most beautiful thing in the world,” Flores, a 62-year-old Ecuadorian native, said. “We have to follow the team to every game. It’s a blessing to have them play so close.”
Pacho Flores (left) and his son, Alex, dance wearing thickly knit Diablo Uma masks ahead of Ecuador’s World Cup match against Ivory Coast in Philadelphia Sunday, June 14, 2026.Michelle Myers /
Despite the 90-degree day, Flores and his son, Alex, wore thickly knit masks of Diablo Huma — an Indigenous protective sacred figure from the highlands of Ecuador — to represent his native town of Cañar.
“It’s not that hot inside the mask,” Alex said, wiping sweat from his brow, “and it’s worth it because we have to win.”
“Either way, we will still love the team,” his father added.
Ecuadorian soccer fan Demetrio Govrea watches fans during a flag waving event at the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, ahead of their first round World Cup match against the Ivory Coast on Saturday, June 13, 2026.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
The family won’t have too much time to idle: They head back to New York City on Monday morning to pack for La tri’s match in Kansas City on Saturday against Curaçao.
Ivory Coast fans Justin Bambara, Samska Lejah, and Couby Ouedraogo flew from Niger to New Jersey, then drove two hours to Philadelphia, and were confident in their team’s chances.
Members of the Ivory Coast national football team react while watching the Sixers Stixers drum line perform following their practice at Subaru Park in Chester on Friday, June 12, 2026 Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
“The yellows,” Bambara, 49, said, referring to the Ecuadorian fans’ jerseys, “need their support; we don’t need that, we are going to win.”
“We will invite them to beers once they lose,” Lejah, 55, said.
In the middle of it all, there seemed to be a marriage being put to test. Aurora Brown of Jacksonville, Fla., was attending FIFA Fan Festival with her family Saturday and said she is cheering for her home country, Ecuador. Her husband, Jamaal Brown, who had to stay back in Jacksonville, recently found out through a DNA test that he has Ivorian connections and is rooting for Ivory Coast.
Aurora Brown and the family pick out a soccer jersey for dad at FIFA Fan Fest in Philly. Dad Jamaal had to stay back home in Jacksonville, where he will be rooting for the Ivory Coast. But Aurora is sticking with Ecuador.Michelle Myers
“If they weren’t playing against Ecuador, the whole family would be Ivory Coast fans,” Aurora said.
“Ivory Coast is going to win and I will celebrate with some drinks,” Jamaal said over the phone.
“We are winners.”
Ticketing woes continue
This is the most expensive World Cup ever, and astronomical ticket costs and “dynamic pricing” have been a big gripe for many soccer fans.
Jayden Quezada, 17, and his parents spent $4,350 on Saturday to get three tickets to the next-day game through TickPick, a resale website. The trio traveled from Bensalem to Philadelphia hoping for an Ecuadorian victory. By the time they arrived at the stadium Sunday, the tickets were yet to be transferred to their FIFA app.
They were turned away at the door.
“They have been the biggest fans since before I was born and they don’t get to go back often because of work,” Quezada said of his parents who were trying to reach TickPick representatives on the phone. “We are probably going to try to get a refund but missing the game would be really sad because we were looking forward to feeling the Ecuadorian pride.”
Like the Quezadas, more than 50 people waited for help with their failed tickets, including Monica Rojas and Jose Avil who bought a pair of tickets and parking on StubHub for $2,000, only to learn their purchase had been refunded.
“I don’t know what we are going to do,” Avil said. “It feels defeating — now all we have is the tickets and the desire to watch them.”
Fans wait outside SEPTA’s NRG Station near the stadium following Ivory Coast’s victory over Ecuador Sunday night.Michelle Myers
Fan festivities
Meanwhile, watch parties were underway from Spring Garden to South Streets.
Ecuadorian singer Johann Vera commanded center stage at FIFA Fan Festival, roaring “¿Listos?”— “Ready?” — to a sea of yellow jerseys dotted by Ivory Coast orange.
“I thought there were more Ivorians in Philadelphia but I guess not,” said Swann Nemin, a Temple University student from Ivory Coast, visiting Fan Festival with her two Ivorian friends, Ornella Kouame and Naïke M. Their friend, Phoebe Mattes, who they joke is “Ivorian by preference,” joined too.
Ecuador takes the field for warm-ups before facing Ivory Coast in the World Cup Group E soccer match in Philadelphia on Sunday, June 14, 2026.David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
The World Cup brought the friends together who were looking forward to dancing and celebrating with people from all over the world.
“I feel like it’s not only people from Ecuador but also people from South America that are cheering for Ecuador, in the same way that people from all over Africa are repping Côte d’Ivoire,” Nemin said.
Aleyda Alvarado, a Fishtown resident originally from Mexico, admitted that she isn’t the biggest soccer fan, but the World Cup always gets her and her friends to come out and celebrate.
“Everyone is here from different countries, but during the World Cup, we’re all just fans,” Alvarado said before kick-off. “That’s how soccer bring people together, and what makes me love it.”
At the dozens of tables across Brauhaus Schmitz, the German beer hall in South Philly, beer steins were dangerously close to empty. The Caddick family eagerly watched TV screens around the bar and rang cowbells as their team, Ecuador, closed in on the net.
Soccer fans watch Ecuador take on the Ivory Coast during a World Cup soccer watch party at Brauhaus Schmitz on Sunday, June 14, 2026.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Karina Caddick, 56, of Horsham, was born in Ecuador, just outside Guayaquil, a port city and the country’s largest metropolis. She moved as a baby, but her family made sure to instill in her the importance of and love for soccer.
To watch her native country’s team compete on her home country’s soil is quite special, she said.
“It’s unbelievable that we’re able to watch [the game] here,” Caddick said. “To be in Philadelphia and see all the yellow shirts, it’s incredible.”
But not everyone gets the hype. Outside Brauhaus, a man was overheard asking, “Why does everyone like soccer so much?” For those with connections to one of the participating countries, the answer is obvious.
“Soccer is everything to Ecuador,” Caddick said. “It is the main sport. It’s their spirit. It’s what calls them.”
