Some 600 staffers at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts were laid off on a conference call Friday, on what the college said was its final day of operations. According to local media reports, some staffers were given the option to work through the end of June.
On May 31, the University of the Arts, commonly called UArts, informed its approximately 1,100 students and 700 staffers of the imminent closure. Confusion and outrage immediately erupted, as students scrambled for a means to salvage their in-progress degrees. UArts leadership has promised to provide its students a “pathway” to other Philadelphia schools, such as Temple University or Drexel University, while staffers have grown litigious: Only days after the announcement, nine employees filed a class action lawsuit that accuses management of violating a 1988 law that requires most employers with at least 100 employees to provide a 60-day notice of mass closings or layoffs.
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The United Academics of Philadelphia, the union representing UArts professors, has called the decision to close the school “cruel”.
The Philadelphia City Council passed a resolution on June 6 to conduct hearings about the closure. A day later, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office and state lawmakers announced that they were investigating the circumstances of the closure, as well as “any transfer or loss of assets.”
“We are looking into holding a hearing and seeing what broader investigative powers we can use in the state legislative committees to investigate,” state senator Nikil Saval said in a statement. “It should wake many of us up to the fragility of the arts infrastructure in Philadelphia, which is extraordinary given how little support it gets.”
UArts is a nearly 150-year-old institution with a formerly respected standing in the Philadelphia art community; its storied alumni roster includes Irving Penn, Alex Da Corte, and Jonathan Lyndon Chase. On May 31, however, the university revealed that it had lost accreditation with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and that it would not offer classes in the fall. Several days later, UArts’s president, Kerry Walk, resigned.
UArts leadership has cited low enrollment and a dire financial situation as the cause of the closure, stating, “With a cash position that has steadily weakened, we could not cover significant, unanticipated expenses. The situation came to light very suddenly.” The school has not disclosed the details of its finances, but the Philadelphia Inquirer has quoted a board trustee who said at least $40 million was needed to bail UArts out of its crisis.