Hundreds protest at Penn | Morning Newsletter

We’re in for partly sunny skies with a high of 64.

Clashes following Hamas’ attacks and Israel’s counterassault are playing out on college campuses across the country.

The stakes are particularly high at the University of Pennsylvania. High-profile donors are accusing Penn of antisemitism, demanding resignations, and halting donations. On Monday, hundreds of Palestinian students and supporters ditched their classes in protest.

Our lead story explains how we got here.

— Taylor Allen (@TayImanAllen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

Several hundred University of Pennsylvania students, faculty, and other supporters of Palestinians walked out of classes Monday and demanded the school to do more for its Palestinian students.

Reminder: The day-long protest came after president Liz Magill sent out an emailed statement to the campus community on Sunday. She wrote the university “should have moved faster” last month to oppose speakers at the Palestine Writes literature festival who had a history of making antisemitic remarks. The message denounced antisemitism and called out the Hamas attack on Israel, but it did not mention Palestinians or the deaths of people in Gaza from Israel’s military response.

A quick recap: Her comments followed weeks of backlash from donors and board members who said the university didn’t do enough to condemn the speakers, and now, address the war between Israel and Hamas. Some heavyweight donors withdrew support, and one called on Magill and board chair Scott L. Bok to resign. A member of the board of trustees, Vahan Gureghian, resigned in protest on Saturday. One day later, Magill sent out the email.

To the speakers at Monday’s protest, the backlash didn’t justify Magill’s decision to not mention Palestinians in her campus communication.

Read on to get a glimpse of what it was like on campus Monday.

Ranking 23rd out of 26 major downtown areas, Philly’s private sector job growth has been among the slowest of the nation’s large cities, according to a new report.

The Center City District, one of the city’s leading pro-business groups, says the data is fresh evidence that Philly’s reliance on the wage tax makes it more difficult for the city to recover from the pandemic.

With the mayor’s general election next month, the CCD is propping up its analysis of more than two dozen downtowns to encourage the next mayor to drastically change the city’s tax structure.

Note: Philly’s weak private-sector job market predates the pandemic. Philly’s downtown private job growth increased by an average of less than 1% annually between 2011 and 2019.

Among Philly’s 20 biggest employers, most are government entities, or nonprofit educational or medical institutions. Only four are taxable for-profit companies, according to state data.

Continue reading to learn what mayoral candidates Cherelle Parker and David Oh have to say about wages and taxes.

What is Phillies’ manager Rob Thomson’s favorite restaurant in the city?

A) Double Knot in Center City

B) Tacconelli’s Pizzeria in Port Richmond

C) The Saloon in Bella Vista

D) None of the above

Think you know? Check your answer.

💭 Wondering: How many more stores will close now that Rite Aid, aPhiladelphia-based pharmacy chain, filed for bankruptcy?

👀 Watching: A federal judge overseeing the 2020 election subversion case barred Donald Trump from making statements targeting prosecutors, possible witnesses, and the judge’s staff.

Hint: Eagles’ first head coach

WRY DUAL

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Melanie Ellison-Roach, who correctly guessed Monday’s answer: Stella the Owl.

Thank you for hanging out this Tuesday morning. I’ll be back with the latest news tomorrow. 📧