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Temple president prioritizes campus safety, affordability and neighborhood redevelopment
Summary
Temple's new president highlighted campus safety gains, affordability initiatives including the Temple Promise and Fly in 4 programs, transit reliance and plans for North Broad Corridor economic redevelopment.
Temple University’s president, appearing Feb. 20 before the House Appropriations Committee, made campus safety, affordability and neighborhood revitalization the centerpiece of his opening testimony.
The president said public safety is his “highest near‑term priority,” citing a 10% year‑over‑year decrease in crime and an independent staffing study of Temple’s Department of Public Safety. He told committee members the university is complementing policing with investments in commercial development, housing and regional economic partnerships to create a “safe, vibrant campus and neighborhood.”
On affordability, the president described two signature programs: the Temple Promise, a last‑dollar aid program for Philadelphia County residents with adjusted gross income at or below $65,000 that covers in‑state tuition and eligible university fees (about 500 students have used it so far), and the Fly in 4 initiative, designed to help students graduate in four years and increase financial literacy; participants in Fly in 4 graduate at a reported 15% higher rate.
The president also emphasized Temple’s dependence on public transit. “About 50% of our students, faculty, and staff take SEPTA daily. That’s 20,000 people…on trains and buses every single day,” he said, warning that constructing new structured parking would be costly, time consuming and would not easily replace a robust transit network.
On neighborhood development, the president said Temple plans public‑private projects along the North Broad corridor and in the area between the university’s main and health sciences campuses, aiming to attract jobs and commercial activity that he argues will improve safety through sustained economic use.
Why it matters: Temple’s testimony links state support for higher education to urban economic development, transit service continuity and direct financial aid for in‑county students. Committee members asked about capital projects and state funding transparency; the president agreed to provide additional information to committee chairs on recent capital projects and timelines.
What’s next: Temple will provide the committee details on capital projects and state funding sources, and lawmakers may weigh the university’s affordability commitments as they consider appropriations.
