Temple University is exploring a potential merger to save University of the Arts, chairman says

Temple University is exploring a potential merger with University of the Arts as a way of saving the nearly 150-year-old venerable institution, Temple’s board chair said Tuesday.

“I’m working with their chair to see if we can put this genie back in the bottle,” said Mitchell L. Morgan, Temple’s board chair and founder and chairman of Morgan Properties. “Can we somehow figure out some type of potential merger? If it’s a win-win, we are interested.”

Morgan said he has reached out to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s office to see what could be done to help UArts, which announced last week that it would close for good on Friday. Temple President Richard M. Englert and Provost Gregory N. Mandel also are talking with officials at UArts, and Morgan said he spoke with the school’s board chair, Judson Aaron, for a half hour on Tuesday. UArts President Kerry Walk has resigned.

» READ MORE: The University of the Arts is closing June 7, its president says

Manuel Bonder, a spokesperson for Shapiro, confirmed the talks.

“While many questions around this abrupt closure remain, our administration is focused on ensuring these students are protected — and we believe it is critically important for them to be able to continue their education,” Bonder said in a statement. “We appreciate Temple’s efforts to step up in this difficult moment and will continue working together as we move forward.”

A spokesperson for Parker declined comment; state Rep. Ben Waxman (D., Phila.,) whose Center City district includes University of the Arts, referred comment to Parker’s office.

Morgan said UArts’ curriculum fits in well with Temple and its Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Boyer College of Music and Dance, and School of Theater, Film and Media Arts.

He said he wished he had learned of the school’s struggles earlier, which would have allowed for more time to save the institution. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education, UArts’s accreditor, withdrew the school’s accreditation on Saturday after UArts notified the commission it intended to close.

“I‘m interested in seeing how they can survive, how Temple can help them, but the most important thing is how can we help the student body,” Morgan said. “We are all in shock.”

Temple already has stepped up as one of the institutions that will work with UArts as a partnership school to help students transfer there seamlessly.

“We all want to ensure that the students, faculty, and staff at UArts are taken care of in any talks of a possible merger,” said Jeffrey Doshna, president of the Temple Association of University Professors, Temple’s faculty union. “We would insist that all of those voices are part of the process, both on the UArts and on the Temple side.

“If this does not move forward, we’d expect to join with our union siblings at UArts to negotiate over how to guarantee that everyone is protected.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.