News & Brews January 17, 2025
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Suspended UPenn professor sues the university
Tenured University of Pennsylvania law school Professor Amy Wax, who was suspended in September on accusations of “making sweeping, blithe, and derogatory generalizations about groups by race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and immigration status,” has sued the university. The Wall Street Journal explains that Wax’s lawsuit “argu[es] that the school violated her First Amendment rights and has a racially discriminatory speech policy” and “alleges Penn allowed other professors to make far more harmful comments about Jewish people without disciplining them in the same manner.”
Shapiro waffles on Philly funding
First, Gov, Shapiro said he was “adamant and crystal clear” that he wouldn’t back the use of state funds for a new Sixers arena in Center City Philadelphia. But wait! Apparently now that the Sixers’ plans have changed, adamancy and clarity have become indecisiveness and opaqueness. The Inquirer reports that now that the Sixers are staying in South Philly and instead backing plans for “a new multifaceted” project “that includes the revitalization of Market East, an expansive sports hub in South Philly … and the prospect of bringing a WNBA team to Philadelphia — Shapiro says he is interested.” He says he needs to see the final plans first, but this is pretty much Shapiro’s way of avoiding taking any position until the last possible moment while claiming he’s working behind the scenes all along.
Allegheny County GOP gears up to challenge Dems
WESA reports that as Allegheny County Republican Committee Chair Sam DeMarco steps down from his role to take a position with U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick’s office, local GOP leaders are preparing for upcoming elections such as the Pittsburgh mayor’s race, “where at least three GOP candidates may be in contention…. Republicans also plan to contend for the four City Council seats on the ballot this year.” While “[w]inning such races will be an uphill climb … Republicans say taking the fight to Democrats is crucial for the party to grow.”
Fetterman continues to raise Democrats’ ire
The AP reports that when Democrat U.S. Sen. John Fetterman was elected, “many backers hoped he’d challenge convention and the status quo. He did and has — just not in the way many had expected.” Fetterman’s willingness to meet with President-elect Trump, for example, has angered many Democrats. Others, however, “say Fetterman is a smart politician who is acknowledging political reality.”
Former Pa. gubernatorial candidate Paul Mango passes away
Paul Mango, who ran for Pa. governor in 2018 and then served for three years in the first Trump administration, including as deputy chief of staff at the Department of Health and Human Services, has passed away. Mango, a military veteran, graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1981 and spent nearly three decades at McKinsey & Company. We extend our sincere condolences to his family and loved ones.