Temple president targets safety, neighborhood improvements and fundraising for early attention in his tenure

Jeffrey Doshna, Temple University’s faculty union chief, was never given the chance to meet with former Temple president Jason Wingard during Wingard’s nearly two-year tenure — despite repeated asking.

Shalimar Thomas said she hadn’t met a Temple president in the eight years she’s led the North Broad Renaissance, a business improvement district aiming to enhance North Broad Street.

But both have already come face-to-face with John A. Fry, who became Temple’s president Nov. 1.

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

“This is somebody who is taking the time to listen to a range of voices, who is taking time to meet with people, who is visible and out there,” said Doshna, president of the Temple Association of University Professionals.

In a message to the 30,500-student campus community last month, Fry, noting he had already visited 16 of the 17 schools and colleges and heard about both “opportunities” and “challenges,” left no doubt that he is looking to move swiftly on areas that may need attention.

Fry has already promised an independent study of university safety staff following years of complaints by the university police union that too many officers are leaving and not being replaced. That review, he said, will begin later this month; the university has hired a company and is finalizing a contract.

Also in a message to campus in December, Fry announced he would appoint a group to look at a university budget process long criticized by some faculty and deans and authorize a “thorough review” of the school’s Institutional Advancement and Alumni Office — its primary fundraising arm — in advance of Temple’s 150th anniversary, just a decade away. A new student services center, which will offer an array of supports all in one place, will open Monday, the start of spring semester classes, he said.

And he has joined the North Broad Renaissance board, pledging to work closely with the group.

“Temple’s presence really has been missing, and we need to fix that, and now we’ll fix it,” he said.

It’s very early in the former Drexel University president’s Temple tenure ― just two and a half months in ― and many presidents enjoy a honeymoon period when they first start. Still, some campus and neighborhood leaders say they are very encouraged by what they see.

“The mood is great,” said Shohreh Amini, a molecular virologist and president of the faculty senate. “We always have faculty who have negative things to say. I have not heard anything negative.”

Student body president Ray Epstein said Fry has “made a strong effort to connect” with Temple’s student government.

“He’s increased the regular meetings between the president and TSG leadership to a monthly basis,” Epstein said, “and at each meeting, he immediately finds ways to push forward initiatives we have been working on.”

Here’s a closer look at Fry’s spring semester plans.

Early on, Fry said leaders of the Temple University Police Association, the union, shared with him concerns about too few officers. In a post on social media last month, the union said the department had lost more than 50 officers since Jennifer Griffin became vice president of public safety in 2022.

Police staffing has remained a challenge at departments around the country, including in Philadelphia.

The university had told The Inquirer last March that the number of sworn officers stood at 81, down from 101 the previous year; in September, Griffin declined to release the overall number of officers, saying the department would no longer disclose that information.

Fry said he wants to take a closer look at staffing and pledged to share the results with the campus.

“We need to sort this out with an independent expert,” he said.

He emphasized that while he believes the campus is safe and has taken all the right steps, he understands the union’s concerns.

“I said, ‘You know, with everything I’m hearing, I absolutely share your concerns,’” Fry said. “‘We are on the same side. Let’s make sure we have adequate staffing and adequate ways of retaining that staff.’”

Sean Quinn, president of the police union, said he welcomed the staffing study.

“We want the truth to be out there,” he said. “It seems like President Fry is interested in doing that.”

Conducting a safety staffing study was one of the recommendations by 21CP Solutions, the company started by former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey. The university commissioned the study in response to the shooting death of a student outside his campus residence in November 2021. The audit was released in April 2023, and since then, most of the recommendations have been completed or are in progress, the university has said.

As for Griffin, Fry said that he met with Ramsey and Griffin and that Ramsey “felt good about the progress ... and also the transparency” that has occurred since Temple received his report. Griffin has cited a drop in aggravated assaults, robberies, and thefts.

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

“When someone like that says you are heading in a good direction, you use that as a baseline,” he said.

Fry said he heard “a very loud drumbeat” of concern about the university’s Responsibility Center Management (RCM) budget model, a decentralized system that has been in place for over a decade and is designed to give individual units more control over revenue and expenses. The university has tapped an expert to examine the system, he said.

“There is a lack of understanding how RCM works, whether or not it is doing the things that people thought it would do,” Fry said.

Amini, the faculty senate president, said the quality of courses sometimes suffered as faculty were forced to teach courses to meet tuition targets.

“I’m so glad that somebody is finally listening,” she said.

She also said she was pleased to see Fry take a look at the advancement office.

Fry said he envisions kicking off a major fundraising campaign — something Temple hasn’t had in more than 15 years ― that could last two or three years in the quiet phase and another five to six in the public phase. Temple only ever had one major, comprehensive fundraising campaign that concluded in 2009 under former president Ann Weaver Hart, the university said.

“I want to make sure we have the right organization, the right staffing levels, certainly the right technology, the right alumni affairs infrastructure so relationships are being cultivated and the right kind of events strategy,” Fry said.

As for the neighborhood, Thomas said she was pleased that Temple “finally, finally” seems poised to join forces with her organization.

“It’s refreshing,” she said, noting that while her group has strong relationships with some Temple groups, it never has with the president’s office. “He knows what it’s like to operate a business improvement district. It’s good to have a president who has that background.”

Fry, who was the chief architect of the plan to revitalize University of Pennsylvania’s West Philadelphia neighborhood when he worked there, said he believes strongly in improvement districts, “particularly ones that set a big table to bring constituencies together.” He was involved in the University City District in University City and later helped launch one in Lancaster when he led Franklin & Marshall College.

Thomas, a Temple alumna, said most important for Fry will be building trust with the community. She wants to see an emphasis on unity, rather than competition and efforts to attract and retain more businesses so people will stop and visit.

Temple last month announced that Iron Hill Brewery would be opening a restaurant near the Liacouras Center. That had been in the works before Fry came, an initiative shepherded by Ken Kaiser, senior vice president and chief operating officer.

“You can imagine what that will be like on game days,” Fry said. “It’s going to be such a great addition to the campus.”