December

Drexel University is committed to a spirit of free inquiry, and to the clash of ideas which represents true critical engagement. These ideas form the core of academic freedom. The recent action by the American Studies Association to boycott Israeli Universities threatens to undermine this core commitment and the collaborations and intellectual inquiry through which it operates. We oppose it in sprit and in practice and encourage our faculty to range freely in their scholarship and creative work. In particular, our long-standing commitment to working with colleagues and academic institutions in Israel remains important to us as a community of scholars and to those for whom this research may present life-saving solutions. Open discourse, intellectual skepticism, and deep engagement rather than exclusion remain the surest ways to advancing knowledge and understanding.

A new study conducted by Drexel University environmental sociologist Robert J. Brulle, PhD, exposes the organizational underpinnings and funding behind the powerful climate change countermovement. This study marks the first peer-reviewed, comprehensive analysis ever conducted of the sources of funding that maintain the denial effort. Through an analysis of the financial structure of the organizations that constitute the core of the countermovement and their sources of monetary support, Brulle found that, while the largest and most consistent funders behind the countermovement are a number of well-known conservative foundations, the majority of donations are “dark money,” or concealed funding.

Drexel University’s new Center for Hospitality and Sport Management will host Philadelphia’s first-ever Philly Chef Conference, a conference for chefs, by chefs, on Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 13 – 14. World-renowned chefs, restaurateurs and food writers from around the city, including such celebrity chefs as Michael Solomonov and Kevin Sbraga,as well as Drexel’s distinguished hospitality and culinary arts alumni Josh Lawler, Brett Taylor, Brian Lofink and Nick Macri will come together at Drexel’s Academic Bistro to discuss key issues facing the restaurant industry as well as new food trends, products and techniques. The two-day event is geared toward students and working professionals who aspire to own their own restaurant.

The minimum page requirement for a Drexel communication major’s senior project is 15 pages. But that didn’t stop Farrah Goldsmith and Cherilyn Buscarino from submitting a 97-page report — and planning an event that raised more than $25,000.

We’ve tried to round up some of the Drexel news that most shaped the year 2013, on campus and off.

What if businesses could respond in real-time to schools’ needs for supplies, or offered extensive shadowing or internship programs to introduce students to career opportunities? To encourage greater impacts from collaboration between the business sector and local K-12 educational institutions, Drexel University’s School of Education partnered with America’s Promise Alliance to host the first-ever “Business-Community Innovation Lab” in Drexel’s Washington, D.C. office last month.

Too often, President John Fry said last week, Drexel's Center City Campus has been treated as an offshoot, entirely separate from the University City Campus. It's time for that to end, he said.

Drexel University is opening a new research institute that will strive to answer some of the most challenging questions about energy and environmental sustainability facing the nation today.

Seven months before its scheduled closing date Drexel University President John A. Fry announced the conclusion of the University’s comprehensive fundraising campaign, “Dream It. Do It. Drexel. A Campaign for the Future.” The campaign’s public phase was launched in November 2011 with a goal of reaching $400 million and was expected to conclude in June 2014, but ended early with its goal already exceeded by $55 million.

Drexel, the University City Science Center and DreamIt Ventures are on a mission to support innovators and entrepreneurs in the Philadelphia region and have formed a strategic partnership that creates a hub for start-ups.

Drexel University, the University City Science Center and DreamIt Ventures are on a mission to support innovators and entrepreneurs in the Philadelphia region and have formed a strategic partnership that creates a hub for start-ups to test their wings and the capital that will support their continued growth.

New building projects are seemingly sprouting left and right on Drexel's campus. But how are all these projects being funded? Senior Vice President Jim Tucker spoke with DrexelNow about the issue.

For medical devices, as with many medicines, the market for children is a small fraction of the adult market, and there are far fewer child-sized devices. But, of course, the need exists, even if proper devices may not.

Veronica Marché Miller originally made her collection of holiday cards, "Fabulous Brown Girls," to give to family and friends. Now they're being sold on racks around the country.

The Board of Trustees of the Barnes Foundation announced that Derek Gillman will be stepping down as executive director and president of the Barnes Foundation effective January 1, 2014, to become a distinguished visiting professor at Drexel University’s Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design.

The Philippines are famous for their festive Christmas season, but this year's celebration has been marred by the deadly Typhoon Haiyan. Drexel graphic design student Gerre Mae Barcebal, who has family in the Philippines, is doing her part to help by selling T-shirts she designed to raise funds for relief.

Dollars and cents were a frequent topic of conversation at President John Fry’s town-hall meeting for faculty at the University City Campus this week, and Drexel’s financial numbers paint an optimistic picture, Fry said.

Since 2008, the “Witnesses to Hunger” program at the Drexel University School of Public Health has sought to bring the true experts — those with first-hand experience — into the conversation about hunger and poverty by equipping caregivers of young children with digital cameras to document hunger and poverty.

Could there be any better way to relax before finals than to cozy up to a bunch of cute dogs? Drexel's first-ever Puppy Pawlooza on Dec. 4 will offer students the opportunity to do just that.

Jeffrey Eugenides, David Foster Wallace, Tony Kushner — these are some of the writers who've won the prestigious Whiting Writers' Award, and now Drexel's own Morgan Meis has joined them.

Damien Turchi and his colleagues aim to boldly go way, way farther than anyone has gone before — no matter that they're still students at Drexel.

Jake Owens spent a month surrounded by criminals with machetes and rotting meat in Africa, earning notice from Popular Science magazine.