President Richard Englert sent out an email this afternoon to students, staff, and faculty announcing that Temple University will no longer be giving funds to the Philadelphia Police Foundation. From now on the money, received through charitable donations, will be given to social justice programs at the university.
This announcement comes after an online petition was created for Temple to cut ties with the Philadelphia Police Department after George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests occurred in the city for several days. In the description, the students detailed the mistreatment of the Philadelphia Police Department towards Black Lives Matter demonstrators and students and called for Temple to stop partnering with the PPD and stop donations to its foundation.
Englert previously stated in an email on June 7th that the university would not be cutting funds to the Philadelphia Police Department. Englert said doing so would not be in the “best interest of Temple students, faculty and staff, and our neighbors in the surrounding community. Shared responsibilities and patrols among the Temple Police Department, our Allied Universal security partners and the Philadelphia Police Department help keep us safe”
In the email, Englert also addressed an altercation between a police officer and a Temple student caught on a cell phone video. Police Staff Inspector Joseph Bologna could be seen striking Temple Engineering student Evan Gorski with a baton at a protest near the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on June 1st.
President Englert said the university was “extremely disturbed by the violent treatment of a Temple student by a Philadelphia Police officer during a recent off-campus protest. We have reached out to the student and will continue to support him throughout this process.”
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