University of the Arts trustees: Unspecified ‘urgent crisis’ was cause of abrupt closure

Two days after news broke that University of the Arts would close on June 7, the college’s board of trustees on Sunday issued their first public statement. It offered no concrete explanation for the abrupt move — which came after the school had already admitted a new freshman class to start this fall — but again described it as the result of an unspecified “urgent” financial crisis.

“Under extraordinary circumstances, we diligently assessed the urgent crisis presented and pathways to keep the institution open,” the board’s statement said. “Despite our best efforts, we could not ultimately identify a viable path for the institution to remain open and in the service of its mission.”

The trustees said they voted on Saturday to approve the closure, and said they were committed to supporting students, staff, and faculty through the transition.

The statement largely reiterated the brief comment released Friday by board chairman Judson Aaron and college president Kerry Walk.

“Like you, we are struggling to make sense of the present moment,” that statement said.

They said the school’s finances had been in trouble over years of declining enrollment; the Center City institution last year served 1,149 students, down 44% from a decade earlier.

“With a cash position that has steadily weakened, we could not cover significant, unanticipated expenses,” the Friday statement said, without specifying the nature of those expenses. “The situation came to light very suddenly. Despite swift action, we were unable to bridge the necessary gaps.”

» READ MORE: 'A crown jewel': Questions, anger, and a lawsuit threat follow University of the Arts’ announcement of imminent closure

The statement promised town hall meetings on Monday. On Sunday, the university community was informed that a virtual town hall will be held at 4 p.m. Monday “to share information about UArts’ imminent closure and to address some of the important questions we know you have,” after which a Q&A webpage will be added to the UArts website. A registration link was provided.

The school’s Friday statement also apologized for how the news was delivered: The Middle States Commission on Higher Education withdrew the school’s accreditation and posted a statement before University of the Arts did.

The school also emphasized a commitment to connect students with transfer pathways, including at Temple University, Drexel University, and Moore College of Art and Design.

Individual board members contacted on Sunday either declined to comment or did not immediately return phone calls.

The union representing 350 University of the Arts faculty and staff, United Academics of Philadelphia, has issued a demand to bargain the terms of layoffs, according to UAP president Daniel Pieczkolon. For now, according to the contract, faculty will get $600 payments for canceled summer courses, and health insurance and paychecks through June, the union said.

Pieczkolon said on Sunday that he expects to learn more Monday about the university’s position. He noted that the faculty won their first contract with the school in January — and while financial hardships were evident then, “there wasn’t any indication that closure was a possibility.”

“There is so much we don’t understand about what precipitated this decision,” he said. “Once we get a clear understanding, we want to see as much protection for our members as we can.”

The Pig Iron Theatre Company, which runs a master of fine arts program at University of the Arts, will also be scrambling to identify an accredited institutional partner to host the program, said Pig Iron artistic director Quinn Bauriedel. They were set to have 31 new and returning students enrolled this fall for the devised performance program.

“This puts us in a really precarious position,” Bauriedel said, speaking about both the theater company and its students. “I don’t expect our students could transfer into a different school and complete their degree, because it’s such a one-of-a-kind program.”

The closure leaves a void in Center City, along the South Broad Street corridor known as Avenue of the Arts. In its most recent tax filing, University of the Arts valued its real estate holdings at $94 million, including several marquee buildings along South Broad Street.

City Councilmember Mark Squilla and Council President Kenyatta Johnson, whose respective districts include University of the Arts’ campus, said on Sunday they were still seeking information about the sudden closure, which Squilla described as “a shock.”

Johnson said in a statement that he was “very angry” about the sudden decision, but hoped to “work with local, state and federal officials to see what can be done to help everyone impacted by this sudden closure.”

Squilla, meanwhile, said he was not ready to give up on the school. He said he had reached out to university administrators and city officials, hoping to set a meeting to explore whether the city could help keep the school solvent or perhaps shepherd it through a merger.

“As a Philadelphia treasure, we want to look at all options available to us to see how we can help,” he said, “and to see if we can partner with other providers to keep the school open.”

The University of the Arts news came in a moment of turmoil that is reshaping Philadelphia, as well as its higher education landscape.

On North Broad Street, where the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts announced last year that it will stop granting degrees, current plans call for renting out some institutional space for an arts hub. In Southwest Philadelphia, St. Joseph’s University has been exploring the sale of the 24-acre former University of the Sciences campus since USciences merged into St. Joe’s in 2022.

Developer Carl Dranoff, a board member of the nonprofit Avenue of the Arts Inc., said losing University of the Arts would be a disappointment.

But he said the vacancy would not negatively affect what he described as a flourishing South Broad Street where at least five major development projects are planned or under construction. This summer, the nonprofit will also release a new plan to transform the corridor by greening the median, replacing the parking lanes with expanded sidewalks, sculpture gardens, and outdoor cafés.

“It’s a rarity for a collection like this to come along in a big city where all the main streets in Philadelphia are built out,” Dranoff said. “It would, I would say, easily be absorbed and repurposed into making the Avenue of the Arts even more vibrant than it is.”

An earlier version of this article incorrectly described the board chairman and president’s statement as having been released on Sunday.