Temple drops plans for UArts acquisition
Temple College is not going to purchase College of the Arts, which closed abruptly in June, backing off a potential merger alternative, officers introduced final week.
“After an exhaustive effort by our inner and exterior crew, we have been unable to determine an answer that may be in the perfect curiosity of Temple’s group and mission,” Temple leaders wrote, including that the college “is not going to be transferring ahead with a transaction at the moment.”
The assertion famous 330 former and potential UArts college students had enrolled at Temple.
The announcement got here in the future after bondholders demanded UArts instantly repay $51.6 million in debt, in line with a public submitting. Whereas the establishment’s leaders cited monetary points and “unanticipated bills” as the explanations for its closure, the small print stay imprecise.
The UArts board and administration have confronted criticism for the abrupt shutdown, which resulted within the last-minute cancellation of an data session for college kids, prompting accreditors and different authorities to step in to fill the void. The closure course of is being led by a administration agency.
Within the aftermath of Temple’s announcement, United Lecturers of Philadelphia—which represents unionized college and employees on the College of the Arts—launched a press release calling for board leaders to barter severance, as legally required, regardless of the sudden shutdown.
“UArts School and Employees Union members, together with the UArts group as an entire, proceed to mourn the lack of this historic establishment and deserve long-overdue solutions, accountability, and contract adherence from the UArts Trustees whose actions precipitated this disaster,” the United Lecturers of Philadelphia wrote in a press release.
