Temple President discusses safety challenges impacting North Philadelphia campus
PHILADELPHIA - Temple University President Jason Wingard plans to move himself and his family into a North Philadelphia rowhome in an effort to immerse himself in the campus community besieged by crime.
The university-owned home on Carlisle Street will need some renovations before the Wingards move in this coming spring with their 13-year-old son and four other children who are away at shool.
"It's just my thought that a university president can not be as effective as they need to be if they can't engage directly with students, faculty, administrators, community resident," Wingard said.
The move is thought to be a show of solidarity with the Temple University community that's on edge from incessant crime and violence that sometimes victimizes students.
Safety is among the factors that have impacted Temple's enrollment numbers that have slid by 6.4%.
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"Parents want to hear in particular - is it safe," Wingard said. "We tell them that our campus is safe, we tell them that our patrol zone is the safest area in North Philadelphia, but we also tell them that some of our students live outside our patrol zone and that's where the majority of our incidents have happened."
In recent months alone, FOX 29 has covered a rash of crime that targeted Temple University students living in off-campus housing, including three armed home invasions and a robbery.
"The incidents that have happened in our patrol zones - while there have been some - per capita they have been relatively low compared to our peers around the country," Wingard said.
Partnerships with the City of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Police Department are some things Wingard hopes will push back against the crime. They're also working with off-campus landlords in the school's patrol zones to recommend security enhancements.
Still, the university community is begging school leadership to be more transparent about the crime facing the campus.
A student-run instagram account Keep_Us_Safe_TU that was made to inform students and families about crime around campus in real time recently posted a letter to Wingard that demanded better communication.
"Communication during a moment of crisis - during a period of crisis - is really important, so I'm going to try to communicate more," said Wingard who also included Vice President of Public Safety Dr. Jennifer Griffin in efforts for transparency.
Temple on Thursday is set to release an end of the year video in which Wingard will discuss a wide range of issues, including successes and current challenges.
"I'm very sympathetic that students are afraid," Wingard said. "We need to be talking with our students as much as we can so im doing a lot of that."