President Hart is in this month’s Philadelphia magazine as one of the city’s most influential citizens. The editors wrote that President Hart’s profile was raised by the announcement of Temple 20/20, an ambitious new vision for Temple’s Main Campus that will “renew and reinvent” North Broad Street. (read a previous post with media coverage of the 20/20 plan)
From left to right: Master of Ceremonies Brian McDonough, MD’85, School of Medicine Board of Visitors chair E. Ronald Salvitti, MD’63, School of Medicine Dean John M. Daly, MD’73, Temple University President Ann Weaver Hart, Board of Trustees chair Patrick O’Connor, School of Medicine student government president Daniel Mueller and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter. Photo by Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University
Though students, faculty and staff have been using the building for several months, the official Medical Education and Research Building ribbon cutting today brought to North Broad Street Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and hundreds of the contributors who made it possible. The 11-story building, 480,000 square feet at Broad and Tioga streets, is impressive, and the news coverage has been glowing (the Philadelphia Daily News did a story about a week ago, and NBC10, 6ABC, Philadelphia Business Journal and others covered today’s event). Also, check out The Temple News video tour.
With his vast wardrobe of Temple gear, I would bet that alumnus Bill Cosby probably is the Owl who has granted Temple the most primetime television coverage—aside from the NCAA, of course. Last night, Cosby accepted the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. He’s the 12th awardee to be honored for humor with a social impact. Unfortunately, his Temple gear didn’t make an appearance.
Temple football’s winning streak continues! After stomping the Rockets last weekend, the Owls are headed to Annapolis to take on the Midshipmen on Halloween.
Dave Yanovitz – one of our alumni club leaders down in the capitol area – is organizing a get-together in the Germantown Elementary School parking lot prior to the game. Let Dave know what you’re bringing by registering online at myowlspace.com/dcalumni.
Dress up as your favorite player, as Hooter the Owl or simply in your favorite Temple gear and join the Alumni Club of Washington, D.C. for an informal tailgate before the game.
Hoot! Hoot! Go Owls.
Homecoming and Parents’ Weekend 2009 was a great time, from Friday’s Gallery of Success alumni awards to the tailgate and win against Army on Saturday to the parents’ brunch on Sunday morning. Many former Temple News writers, editors and photographers braved the cold and rain on Friday, and it was well worth it. The alumni panel included Steve Sansweet of Lucasfilms Ltd., Mike Sisak of The New York Times , and Barry Levine of The National Enquirer. Between the panel and the evening reunion — which had surprise guest Danny Bonaduce, by the way (he was the nephew of longtime journalism professor Jackie Steck) — a number of former News staffers toured the current newsroom, chatted with student staffers and reminisced about their days on campus.
Saturday began with a healthy debate — “Should Your Taxes Build Stadiums?” — by two sporting opponents, Temple sociologist Kevin Delaney (author of Public Dollars, Private Stadiums: The Battles Over Building Sports Stadiums) and political scientist Joe McLaughlin (who helped secure public funding for both the Wachovia Center and Lincoln Financial Field). Phillies Fun at Citizens Bank Park followed, and the Phillies’ imminent National League win gave the ball park extra energy.
Die-hard Temple fans started setting up tents in the Lincoln Financial Field parking lot around 9 a.m., and by 11, the Cherry & White banners were flying and the scent of grilling hung in the air. It was much more comfortable and just as lively inside the West Club suite with the Temple University Alumni Association, where about 500 fans shared lunch with the Temple cheerleaders and Hooter before watching Temple beat Army 27-13. (The win made the Owls’ first four-game winning streak since 1985! The next game is at Toledo on Saturday, and our next home game is Nov. 5 against Miami (Ohio).)
Saturday evening, alumni of the Temple Honors program gathered with director Ruth Ost, current Honors students and Honors faculty members in Shusterman Hall. Sunday morning, parents of current students brunched and sipped champagne in Mitten Hall.
If you missed it, mark your calendar now for Alumni Weekend: April 9-11, 2010. The weekend will include tours of the newly opened Baptist Temple, “Taste of Temple” discount night at Main Campus vendors, the Founder’s Celebration black-tie party in Center City Philadelphia, and more.
(Meanwhile, check out the photos of Homecoming at myowlspace.com/photos)
Earlier this month, the Queer Student Union — Temple’s largest student organization for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersexual and allied students — hosted a National Coming Out Week resource fair and rally at the Bell Tower. Hundreds of students and employees, as well as representatives from more than a dozen student and community organizations showed their support of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersexual and allied students. Read the Temple Newsroom story.
When students graduate, the Temple network for LGBTQIA continues … Temple LGBT Alumni is an active affinity group that hosts happy hours, reunions, and most recently, a very cool project co-sponsored by Temple Theaters and the soon-to-open Baptist Temple: “The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later” in Tomlinson Theater.
It’s a good time to be a sports fan in Philadelphia. Not only are our beloved Phillies going to the World Series, but the Temple Owls, too, are enjoying their longest winning-streak since 1985. Golden’s team has now racked up four straight wins in the MAC.
The Owls are attracting attention from the sports media. You can catch the team tomorrow on ESPN College Gameday’s “Touching Traditions” segment.
The Owls are heading to Toledo this weekend to take on the Rockets at 7:00 PM. Toledo might be my hometown, but you’ll catch me rooting for the Cherry and White.
Though there might not be a Temple alumnus to root for in the Phillies’ postseason, Henry Burris, SCT ’98, a former Temple quarterback, earned a CFL (Canadian Football League) championship ring in 2008. Burris is quarterback for the Calgary Stampeders, who won the 2008 Grey Cup championship. He also was named the Grey Cup MVP for the 2008 season.
I’m constantly amazed at how many women who were ahead of their time have graduated from Temple. For example, The Wall Street Journal online recently profiled Bea States, CST ’54, MED ’67, one of a handful of women of her generation to embark on a career in biochemistry. Born in the 1920s, States earned both an undergraduate degree in biology and a medical degree from Temple. According to the Journal, States dedicated her professional career to studying childhood diseases.
Temple University Alumni News 