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Charles Anderson, chief counsel, Department of General Services Pamela Cross, deputy general counsel, Office of General Counsel Thomas P. Howell, deputy general counsel, Office of General Counsel Marisa Lehr, deputy general counsel, Office of General Counsel Cathleen McCormack, University Legal Counsel, PASSHE Jennifer Whare, deputy general counsel, Office of General Counsel Brian D. Zweiacher, chief counsel, Governor’s Office of the Budget

In recent years, Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, the nation’s first historically Black college and university and charter member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), struggled with low-student enrollment and was beset by financial woes. 

In 2019, the Office of General Counsel’s (OGC) Cheyney University Legal Action Team, including attorneys from OGC’s central office, the Department of General Services, the Office of the Budget and PASSHE, supported Cheyney through its efforts to monetize campus assets. Income generation was critical to Cheyney as part of its endeavor to achieve long-term financial stability in order to maintain accreditation. OGC created a template facilities-use agreement to use for spaces on campus that will be co-used by the university and third-parties. OGC also provided significant legal support and guidance to Cheyney for other administrative accreditation and financial matters. For instance, OGC worked to establish an agreement between the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) and Cheyney to structure a reduced payment of debt over a period of six years, further bolstering the university’s financial stability.

What was your proudest professional achievement in 2019? 

Cheyney’s successful accreditation is likely the highlight of our team’s history.

What was your biggest professional challenge in 2019?

By President Aaron Walton

As the world continues to adjust to the new environment presented by COVID-19, we reopened our campus on August 10 for in-person learning for the Fall 2020 semester. This decision, one that Cheyney’s leadership firmly believes is the best path forward, was made to support the students’ progress toward their degrees while at the same time mitigating health and safety risks for students, employees and campus partners.

Two filters guide all decisions made by leadership – what is in the best interest of the students and what preserves/advances Cheyney University. The same filters were applied in planning for the fall semester.

While many other universities decided to switch to remote instruction for the fall, our smaller student population and large, remote campus help us to mitigate any risks of potential outbreak. While our enrollment continues grow because of all the great things happening at our campus, we plan to be small enough to have a nurturing environment for all students.

We adapted to the learning environment by establishing a Guide to Fall 2020 Semester that details our new campus life, mitigation plans, strategies for monitoring on campus, ongoing communications and additional expectations for students, faculty and staff. In June, we shared the guide and the plans to resume in-person classes for the fall. We also determined it would be best to have an early semester start and an earlier end to the fall semester (November 20) to avoid a possible spike of COVID-19 during influenza season.

Since mid-March, we have gained first-hand experience in creating a safe campus environment in the midst of the pandemic, while supporting our students’ education needs. During the spring semester, our residential students had the choice to continue to reside on campus or return home for the remainder of the semester. Approximately 100 students decided to stay on campus. We also conducted our on-campus Summer Early Transition program with 40 students.

Because of the measures we put in place since the beginning and the cooperation from our campus community, we have not had a single incident of coronavirus on campus since the pandemic spread to the Philadelphia region in March.

We know things on campus are different than before, but we must continue to do everything we can to keep everyone safe and healthy. That is why we require anyone entering the campus to have his or her temperature checked upon arrival. Face coverings are mandated to be worn by everyone and we maintain small class sizes for purposes of social distancing. The new protocols for dining, residential living and activities are in place to manage and mitigate the virus with every opportunity that we can.

The leadership team has been extremely encouraged by the support that student and faculty have shown in respecting the new protocols to help keep all of us safe. We also appreciate the feedback many students have expressed through our local media about being on campus and in the classroom:

“I’m pretty excited for this to be my first year. I love in-person because you can interact with other students.” – Shadia Jones, freshman (CBS 3, August 10, 2020)

“I work better if the teacher is hands-on, actually talking to me.” – Jailyn Pope, sophomore (CBS 3, August 10, 2020)

“It’s good to connect with your teachers face-to-face.” – Jordan Fluker (CBS 3, August 10, 2020)

“We are wearing masks a lot and we’re not doing a lot in the classrooms because of COVID-19. I’m just happy to be here, this is my dream school, I’ve always wanted to be here.” – Channen Coffee (ABC 6, August 10, 2020)

“We still have to go by guidelines, we still have to stay six feet, and use hand sanitizer.” – Sybria Devaux, freshman (ABC 6, August 10, 2020)

We will continue to do everything we can to keep all of us safe at all times. There are a lot of great things happening at Cheyney and many success stories still to be told.

I’ll see you around campus (socially distanced of course) and look forward to all of your progress this semester.

While other colleges around the nation are experiencing coronavirus outbreaks, Cheyney University has not reported any cases.

Cheyney President Aaron Walton said the university’s success has been due to a number of factors. Since March, the university has been screening for coronavirus symptoms, requiring students to wear face masks, practicing social distancing, limiting on-campus visitors and instituted evening curfews.

“We put all those things into practice and fortunately the students understood that these were the conditions under which we had to operate to keep them safe,” Walton said.

He said since fall classes began on Aug. 10, students are complying with wearing their masks on campus.

“We’ve just finished our sixth week and we’ve not had one complaint from faculty that a student would not wear a mask in class,” Walton said.

According to Walton, everyone is screened for coronavirus symptoms when they enter the campus and the dormitories. If students display any symptoms, they are referred to outside health facilities for testing.

“Fortunately we’ve not had an incident on campus,” Walton said. “It’s nothing short of a miracle. We’re pleased about the compliance of the students.”

The historically Black university has a current enrollment of 628 students. About 76% of the students stay in residential dorms, while 24% are commuters.

Walton said Cheyney’s geographical location and campus layout helps mitigate the risk of the coronavirus spreading on campus.

“Cheyney, from an environmental perspective, is unique in that it does not sit in the middle of a town,” he said. “By us kind of sitting down in a valley with limited access in and out of the university, it gives us greater opportunity to put some safeguards in that other universities that are in a city or in a town really wouldn’t have available to them.”

Earlier this month, the presidents of two HBCUs in New Orleans were criticized after announcing they were participating in a clinical trial for a COVID-19 vaccine and urged their campus communities to do the same. In a joint statement, Dillard University President Walter Kimbrough and Xaiver University President Reynold Verret cited the importance of more Black, Latino and non-white participation in clinical trials.

Walton said he doesn’t see the need to encourage Cheyney students to participate in clinical trials for a vaccine.

“I don’t see a real need right now,” he said. “We’re very focused on mitigating the possibility of having the virus on campus here. I’m not going to subject the students to any issues that I don’t have to right now, with what we’ve put in place to try to protect their health and safety.”

Cheyney is part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, which has experienced more than 800 COVID-19 cases at the other 13 member universities.

Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine issued a warning to college students this week, amid an uptick in cases among 19 to 24-year-olds. She said young adults 19-24 account for 69% of the cases in north central Pennsylvania so far in September. Young adults in this age group accounted for 40% of the cases in northeastern Pennsylvania.

“The most significant different between the case increases that we are seeing now and what we saw in April is that colleges and universities are back in session,” Levine said during a press conference. “College and university students are uniquely positioned now to help change the course of the spread of this virus by changing and adapting your actions to protect yourselves your friends and others in the community.”

A New York Times survey of more than 1,600 American colleges and universities revealed at least 88,000 cases and at least 60 deaths since the pandemic began.

Ayana Jones, Tribute Staff Writer

A strategic alliance between Cheyney University and the Urban League of Philadelphia was established in 2019 to provide students with paid internships with various employers throughout the Philadelphia area. The eight-week fellowship program included virtual internships along with several high-profile guest speakers, each discussing one of Cheyney’s five Core Values. The program was made possible through a grant secured by Senator Vincent Hughes.

Lauren Ballard-Coleman, a senior, pre-med major at Cheyney University received a unique internship opportunity this summer with the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium (BDCC). The BDCC’s mission is to address the needs of education and advocacy for African Americans to reduce the incidence of disease and death from coronavirus. Lauren interned with BDCC throughout the summer working with Black doctors, nurses, and medical students in Philadelphia offering free mobile testing to neighborhoods most impacted by the coronavirus.

Prior to the internship, Lauren had a different perspective on COVID-19, but things changed when she saw how many people the virus affected. As an intern, she was responsible for overseeing data entry and training medical students to enter LabCorp information.

“I was glad to be part of changing the stigma surrounding COVID-19 and representing Cheyney University in this way. Working with Black medical professionals and students to impact the community and gain medical field experience was a life-changing experience for me,” said Lauren.

As Lauren begins her last year of undergrad, she looks forward to continuing her journey of becoming a doctor. She plans to enroll in the Drexel Pathway to Medical School program in Fall 2021, then continues to medical school and achieve her dream of becoming an Obstetrician/ GYN.

PHILADELPHIA — (July 28, 2020) — The Wistar Institute and Cheyney University of Pennsylvania have launched a strategic collaboration uniting the nation’s first independent biomedical research institute and the nation’s first historically Black college and university (HBCU) in order to expand life science research education, training and business development opportunities in Pennsylvania.

Through this alliance, Cheyney students will participate in Wistar’s biomedical research and training curriculum and gain hands-on laboratory experience through laboratory courses and internships that can progress into Wistar’s credentialed apprenticeship program. In addition, as a new member of the Philadelphia Research Consortium (PRC), Cheyney University and its on-campus life-science companies will be able to leverage the research and business communities coalesced around the PRC.

“The creation of a center for biomedical research excellence at Cheyney points to our common goal in establishing a highly skilled, diverse, and equal-opportunity life science pipeline in Pennsylvania,” said Dario C. Altieri, M.D., president and CEO, director of the Cancer Center and the Robert & Penny Fox Distinguished Professor, at The Wistar Institute. “By combining education, business development, and technology training in a seamless, unified framework, we will maximize the potential of our students to become the next generation of scientists, innovators and life science professionals in this region and beyond. Our vision is to merge science and entrepreneurship to create value, jobs, and the technologies of the future.”

Throughout its history, Wistar has offered rigorous biomedical research education and training programs to high school, undergraduate and graduate students, as well as postdoctoral researchers. This new Wistar-Cheyney collaboration will train students in cutting-edge biomedical research techniques and business development curricula that will be integrated into a comprehensive program over four years.

“Cheyney and Wistar are aligned in a forward-thinking strategic collaboration that will benefit from Wistar’s scientific expertise to equip our students to become leaders with careers in life science research,” said Aaron A.Walton, president of Cheyney University. “This new partnership will amplify our ongoing successful efforts to build corporate collaborations on our campus. It also will provide more internships and career development opportunities for our students, preparing them for future careers while earning their degrees at Cheyney.”

Mosaic Development Partners, Cheyney’s corporate partnership facilitator, worked with Calvin R. Snowden Jr. and Robert Carrington, both African American and former Centocor professionals, to cultivate the relationship between Cheyney and Wistar. Snowden and Carrington, who recently formed CBS BioPharma LLC, are committed to increasing the number of minorities in the biosciences field and worked with Anne Schoemaker, Wistar former employee, philanthropist and wife of Hubert J. P. Schoemaker, co-founder of Centocor whose commitment to education and mentorship was legendary.

“The relationship consummated between Cheyney and Wistar affirms that our collective strategy to create a biosciences hub at Cheyney, and one that focuses on student enrichment, research and entrepreneurship, is working,” said Timothy Roseboro, Mosaic’s Managing Director of Commercial Leasing. This agreement marks the sixth biosciences entity to join Cheyney on this journey.

The Philadelphia Research Consortium, a growing research collaboratory, was co-founded by The Wistar Institute together with its member institutions to facilitate impactful research collaborations between start-up companies and researchers across Pennsylvania while reducing barriers that can typically interfere with the ease and speed of entering into new for-profit and non-profit collaborations. Cheyney University will be an instrumental member of the consortium and a conduit connecting Chester County and Philadelphia life sciences and entrepreneurial communities. Cheyney will also benefit from having access to Wistar’s state-of the-art core facilities to advance innovative research and technologies.

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The Wistar Institute is an international leader in biomedical research with special expertise in cancer research and vaccine development. Founded in 1892 as the first independent nonprofit biomedical research institute in the United States, Wistar has held the prestigious Cancer Center designation from the National Cancer Institute since 1972. The Institute works actively to ensure that research advances move from the laboratory to the clinic as quickly as possible. Wistar’s Business Development team is dedicated to advancing Wistar Science and Technology Development through creative collaborations. wistar.org.

Founded in 1837, Cheyney University of Pennsylvania is the nation’s oldest historically Black institution of higher education. Building on this legacy, the vision for Cheyney is to become the premier model for academic excellence, character development, and social responsibility among not only Historically Black Colleges and Universities, but in all of American higher education. The campus is located on 275 acres straddling Delaware and Chester Counties. Read more at cheyney.edu.