The Netter Center Responds to COVID19
The Netter Center Responds to COVID19
We hope this message finds you safe and well during this most difficult time. Our offices may be closed, but the Netter Center has continued to engage our many partners including Penn students and faculty, West Philadelphia youth and families, and many other community members, as well as continued our work to advance the democratic mission of higher education with national and global partners. Read below to learn about some of the ways in which the Netter Center has been responding to COVID-19.

Plus, join us for Penn's Virtual Alumni Weekend, May 16th:
Conversation with Dr. Harkavy @2pm ET!
Twitter Facebook Instagram YouTube

Universities must help shape the post-COVID-19 world

University World News
Netter Center director Ira Harkavy and European colleagues Sjur Bergan, Tony Gallagher, and Hilligje van't Land call on academics, university administrators, government officials, and community partners to work together to develop democratic civic universities dedicated to producing knowledge and educating ethical, empathetic students for just and sustainable democratic societies.  They argue that doing so is essential if we are to create a better post-COVID-19 world.   
Also featured in Penn Today.
Penn Alumni Virtual Weekend Events

Join us for Penn's Virtual Alumni Weekend, May 16, 2020


Penn's in-person Alumni Weekend may be postponed, but Alumni Relations is working hard to bring you engaging virtual events throughout the day on Saturday, May 16. Join the Virtual Alumni Weekend Event page on Facebook for programming updates and details.
Welcome and Reflections from Rev. Charles L. Howard, Ph.D., C’00, University Chaplain
11:30 AM EDT -- Location: Facebook Live
Grit and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Q&A with Professor Angela Duckworth
Noon – 1:00 PM EDT - Location: Zoom and Facebook Live
Angela Duckworth, Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Psychology, will discuss grit and resilience in the time of COVID19, and answer questions from alumni.
Virtual Parade
1:15 PM EDT -- Location: Facebook Live
Take a virtual stroll down Locust Walk featuring the 2020 Reunion Classes with narration from the voice of Alumni Weekend, Kyle Kozloff, W'90. Share your favorite parade memories using #LOVEPenn. Don't forget to tag @PennAlumni!

The Netter Center, Civic Engagement, and Higher Education’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond: A Conversation with Ira Harkavy, C70, GR79

2:00 PM EDT
Join Ira Harkavy, Associate Vice President and Founding Director of the Netter Center for Community Partnerships, and Rita Axelroth Hodges, C'05, GED'15, Assistant Director of the Netter Center, for a discussion on the work of Penn and the Netter Center, civic and community engagement, and the role of universities in the current global crisis and beyond. Read Ira's recently published article Universities must help shape the post-COVID-19 world in University World News.
Location: Zoom and Facebook Live. To attend the Q&A on Zoom you must register online. 
A Toast to Dear Old Penn!
3:00 PM EDT -- Location: Facebook Live
Sing along to Penn favorites like Drink a Highball and The Red and Blue

Provost's Graduate Academic Engagement Fellowship at the Netter Center (PGAEF@NC)

The Provost’s Graduate Academic Engagement Fellowship at the Netter Center for Community Partnerships (PGAEF @ NC) is an opportunity for PhD students across all schools and fields at the University of Pennsylvania. The two-year Fellowship involves participation in an interdisciplinary faculty-student seminar on community-engaged research and teaching, the opportunity to design and teach an ABCS course or engage in other kinds of research and teaching in connection with the Netter Center, a $5000 research fund for each Fellow, additional support to attend and present at conferences, and a full fellowship in the students’ second year.
Penn Today featured the inaugural PGAEF@NC Fellows for 2019-2021, Paul Wolff Mitchell (SAS - Anthropology) and Michael Vazquez (SAS - Philosophy) in February 2020.
Abigail Dym (SAS - Political Science & GSE - Education Policy), Ava Kikut (Annenberg - Communications), and Sophie Maddocks (Annenberg - Communications) [pictured above] were recently named the 2020-2022 Fellows.

University-Assisted Community School (UACS) Programs Go Virtual

The UACS team has been communicating regularly with school principals and families about ways we can support online learning and other forms of virtual social, emotional, and physical engagement.
We have been issuing "Letters from Netter", a new weekly newsletter with information and virtual enrichment activities for UACS youth and families in West Philadelphia, as well as our 125+ part-time staff. 
  • The week of April 20th, in coordination with the School District of Philadelphia's launch of digital learning, we began a comprehensive virtual after school enrichment schedule for K-12 students across six West Philadelphia university-assisted community schools.
  • For K-8 students, this includes academic tutoring, STEM activity, at-home recess, dance, lacrosse, and more.
  • High school students are engaging in photography and digital media production, health sports and fitness, psychology and Spanish clubs, and college and career preparation. 
  • Virtual family-friendly activities through our UACS Nights program includes line dancing, cooking with families, painting at home, as well as a “COVID-19 Mic Check”, a weekly pulse check for the community to share strategies and get support.
  • The Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative (AUNI) is teaching Instagram Live nutrition education lessons for students across the seven high schools, as well as Facebook Live cooking demonstrations for adult participants at senior centers and other community sites (see photo above right featuring Sweet Potato Black Bean Quesadillas).  
  • Penn Reading Initiative tutors recorded personalized videos to send to the students in West Philadelphia they worked with before schools physically closed. 
  • Bridges to Wealth has been offering digital financial literacy and entrepreneurship programming for students and adult community members. (See May 7th feature from Penn Today here.)
  • Young Quakers Community Athletics has posted regular at-home workouts on their Instagram page. 
  • The Rebel Ventures Crew launched a new Healthy Deliciousness at Home series - a combination of Instagram stories, Facebook videos, and blog posts - to stay creative in the kitchen. 
  • This programming will continue throughout the academic year, and we are now planning for virtual K-12 summer programs.
We have also shared a compilation of our remote UACS professional development and community engagement efforts with colleagues in our national UACS Network, the Coalition for Community Schools, and Philadelphia Community Schools. 

Academically Based Community Service (ABCS) Courses Go Virtual

Examples of ABCS Remote Engagement

ABCS Summit 2020 Online

The Netter Center Student Advisory Board has led efforts to bring our annual ABCS Summit online through creation of a new website through which ABCS students can share digital submissions, as well as exchange ideas through discussion boards.

Penn Student Newsletter: Self-Care Edition

Two Netter Center Civic Development Interns, Jackson Maxwell (C21) and Emma Francis (C22), have created a new bi-weekly Self-Care Edition for the Netter Center Student Newsletter.  Netter Center student group leaders have contributed tips on staying well during isolation, activities to try in quarantine, and more. 

Other ABCS Spotlights this year

With Quaker Days Canceled, Here are 10 Things to Consider About Penn (featuring ABCS)

By DP Editorial Board, Daily Pennsylvanian, April 7, 2020

New Engineering ABCS course will promote energy education in Philadelphia high schools

By Shriya Karam, Daily Pennsylvanian, December 4, 2019

In new ABCS course, Penn students will teach moral philosophy to high schoolers

By Chih-Ning Kuo, Daily Pennsylvanian, December 8, 2019
Wharton introduces new Academically Based Community Service course
Daily Pennsylvanian, September 15, 2019

Collective Cimb: 2020 President's Engagement Prize Winners 


With the President’s Engagement Prize, seniors Hyungtae Kim, Kwaku Owusu, and Mckayla Warwick will work to combat poverty in West Philadelphia through education, shared resources, and community collaboration.
The group will partner with West Philadelphia Financial Services Institution, the Enterprise Center, and the Netter Center for Community Partnerships, specifically at Sayre High School.


Penn Voter Engagement 

The Netter Center's Penn Leads the Vote issued a COVID-19 customized voter guide, particularly to support Penn student registration and vote-by-mail ballots. 

Anchor Institutions Task Force

The Anchor Institutions Task Force (chaired by Ira Harkavy and directed by David Maurrasse of Marga Inc.) hosted its 10th anniversary conference in New York on October 24-25, 2019. AITF recently issued a Statement on COVID-19, describing the role that democratic anchor-community partnerships should play in helping to build equitable communities in the aftermath of this crisis. AITF has also shared a framework and examples of the multitude of ways in which anchors are engaging with their communities and addressing the combined public health and economic crisis.

powered by emma
Subscribe to our email list.