On his first day of school, new Temple president John Fry meets with public safety staff and gets an update on enrollment

Midday Friday John A. Fry’s wife texted him: “How goes it, Owl?”

“So far, so good!” Fry responded.

It was the first day of school for Fry, who officially became president of Temple University, home of the Owls, on Friday. He wore a cherry-red tie with “T’s” for Temple — one his predecessor Richard M. Englert frequently donned — and a pin with the scales of justice and the words “leadership” and “integrity” in honor of late president JoAnne A. Epps, the former law school dean who died suddenly last year.

» READ MORE: As Drexel’s John Fry gets voted in as Temple’s next president, here’s what he plans to do

“When I was suiting up, I was thinking of the two of them,” said Fry, 64, who led Drexel University in West Philadelphia for 14 years before crossing town to take the helm at Temple. “I’m following in the footsteps of really great leaders.”

The day was packed: He met with the provost and vice provost for enrollment management and learned that applications are coming in strong. He listened to student government leaders pitch what he thought were very constructive improvements to campus shuttle service. At a presidential transition team meeting, plans were made to expand campus shuttle service if a SEPTA strike occurs.

There was lunch with outgoing president Richard M. Englert, a personnel matter to resolve and a visit to the College of Liberal Arts where he stopped in at a few classes and heard a promising pitch from dean Richard Deeg on expanding study abroad opportunities to Latin America and Africa. He got a tour of main campus led by student ambassadors, strolled by a student pep rally for the basketball team at the Bell Tower and met with about 40 officers and leaders in the Department of Public Safety.

Fry announced on a campus welcome video that campus and neighborhood safety would be his first priority.

» READ MORE: As Temple’s next president, John Fry says safety will be ‘an early priority’

“Public safety is the cornerstone of any institution,” he said. “If people don’t feel safe, if they don’t feel like they are in a good public environment, it really sort of distracts them from the work they are supposed to be doing, whether as students, faculty or staff.”

Temple’s campus in recent years has been rattled by shooting deaths of former student Samuel Collington outside his off-campus apartment in 2021 and Temple police Sgt. Christopher Fitzgerald in 2023, yielding new safety efforts and a decrease in aggravated assaults, robberies and thefts around campus.

Fry said while he focused on safety at Drexel and in an earlier job as an executive at the University of Pennsylvania, he’s not too familiar with North Philadelphia. He asked for officers’ help.

“I need to go out on some patrols on different shifts so I can really sort of learn the geography,” he said. “I need to get to know the neighbors, the campus, the dynamic between neighborhood and campus.”

» READ MORE: As new semester gets underway, Temple cites drop in crime alongside new crime-fighting measures

Fry’s safety focus was welcomed.

“We are thrilled and appreciative that President Fry made public safety his first meet and greet on his first day,” said Jennifer Griffin, Temple’s vice president for public safety. “His words were inspiring, and we look forward to supporting his vision for Temple.”

In the welcome video, Fry cited enrollment as another of his five priorities. Temple has experienced about a 25% enrollment decline since 2017. But this fall, the university welcomed 4,926 first-year students, a nearly 30% increase over last year. And while overall enrollment declined 1.7%, it’s a much smaller drop than last year, possibly signaling Temple might be turning a corner.

Fry acknowledged the benefit of having both improvements in safety and enrollment as he begins.

“There’s a sense of confidence — not overconfidence — but confidence and momentum,” he said. “There’s really strong hope here that I get to work with. ... What I want to do is build on that momentum.”

» READ MORE: Temple sees 71% jump in Black students in fall’s first-year class

Senior finance majors Conor McCabe and Alex McShane cited public safety and enrollment as two major issues they would like to see Fry address.

“I would love to see more smart kids come here on full rides,” said McShane, 21, of Phoenixville.

“When you see students going above and beyond, that inspires other students to do it,” agreed McCabe, 21, of Havertown.

They both said they looked forward to meeting Fry on Friday. The two help manage Temple’s student investment fund, a project under which students oversee a portion of Temple’s endowment, and Fry is scheduled to come to their class, they said.

Fry also cited academics and research and philanthropy among his top priorities. He said it’s not too early to start thinking about a fundraising campaign to culminate in Temple’s 150th anniversary in 2034.

“There’s a lot of preparation that has to get done,” he said, “feasibility studies, making sure the team is built in the right way. I need to get to know thousands of people. That buildup is going to take a while.”

Rounding out his priorities, he cited the aspiration for an innovation corridor stretching from main campus up Broad Street to the medical school campus less than two miles away. But he also in his video said he envisions a move south, toward Center City.

» READ MORE: College president as urban planner

He said during the interview that Temple is interested in potentially purchasing some of the shuttered University of the Arts’ prime property when it goes up for sale via bankruptcy. Temple has a Center City site at 15th and Market Streets.

“Should we have a more visible role and site in Center City? To be determined,” he said.

After UArts abruptly closed in June, Temple attempted to negotiate an acquisition but the Hamilton Family Charitable Trust, which has contributed about half of UArts’ endowment, opposed the transfer of the endowment to Temple. Now, the matter is in Orphans’ Court.

» READ MORE: University of the Arts asks judge to distribute endowment with partner schools

Several students said they hope the start of Fry’s tenure will bring stability in the top job, following the resignation of Jason Wingard in March 2023 after less than two years and the death of Epps in September 2023.

“We haven’t gotten to see any cohesivity of leadership on campus yet,” said Kate Pavlovcak, 19, a sophomore advertising major from Richboro.

She hopes the school now can focus on issues, such as helping students who don’t have enough to eat.

Despite spending the prior 22 years as a college president, 14 of them leading Drexel and eight at Lancaster’s Franklin & Marshall College, Temple marks Fry’s first partially public university.

That’s “part of my learning curve,” he said.

Fry wants to develop a good working relationship with the board of trustees; Drexel’s board of 63 members was about twice the size of Temple’s and he said he never once felt it was crossing the line from governance to management.

He’s learned from prior presidencies that a balance is needed between “getting out of the gate fast and making things happen” and listening and learning.

“I’m going to get a lot of advice early on ... which I’ll absorb and respect but in the end, it is going to be my job to synthesize all that and then at a certain point in time to lay out my point of view based on what I’m hearing but also on my own intuition,” he said.

He also notes the importance of getting to know people personally and professionally early on, building trust, credibility and friendship.

“It pays off later,” he said.

But on the unusually warm November day, Fry just enjoyed strolling the campus he now oversees, taking in vistas up and down Temple’s main walks.

“I was feeling extremely lucky,” he said.