A Drexel University police car remained outside 3414 Race St. late this morning. A Drexel student was found stabbed to death earlier today.
A 22-year-old Drexel University student was found stabbed to death in an apartment near campus that he may have broken into early this morning, according to police.
The student, senior Evan Morris, was found with multiple stab wounds in the body and head at about 5 a.m. in an apartment on the 3400 block of Race Street, according to reports. The block borders the Drexel campus. He was later pronounced dead at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
Drexel President John Fry said in a statement that “we do not yet have complete information about this tragedy, it appears that an altercation between Evan and a student from another university ultimately resulted in Evan’s death.”
News outlets are reporting that the student is being questioned but has not been charged.
The parking lot Drexel recently purchased in front of 30th Street Station. (Photo courtesy of Drexel University.)
Drexel University has purchased a long, thin 3.6 acre lot along JFK Boulevard west of 30th Street Station that will become the “gateway” for its main campus and could include a mix of uses, including retail.
Drexel paid $21.8 million for the land, which is currently a parking lot sandwiched between JFK Blvd. and train tracks to the north (see the map below).
“The prime location of this site will significantly enhance Drexel’s capacity to be a powerful engine for regional economic growth,” said Drexel President John Fry in a written statement. “It provides various options not only for the development of the space for classrooms, research and other academic facilities, but also for sources of revenue for Drexel through potential residential and retail opportunities.”
Fry, who oversaw community development projects while a vice president at the University of Pennsylvania, has said that extending Drexel’s reach into its surrounding West Philadelphia community is a priority.
Fellow West Philly residents Andrew Simonet (choreographer) and Manfred Fischbeck have helped put together a fascinating dance show, which begins at Drexel’s Mandell Theater (3300 Chestnut St.) tomorrow, June 17.
Sam-Gam Bam! (“sam-gam” means “flow together” in Sanskrit) is a collision of classical and experimental American and South Indian dance, a blend of traditional and modern. A classical Indian dance form, Bharatanatyam, which is featured in the show, began 2,000 years ago and represents divine mythology in performance.
The show is a product of collaboration among three Philly-based dance companies: Group Motion, Headlong, and Three Aksha. The companies are quite distinct in style, but find common ground through this presentation of dance.
The shows schedule:
June 17, 18, 23-25 – 7:30 p.m.
June 19 – 2 p.m.
Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. To buy tickets click here.
We forgot to mention a couple of posts ago that there will be two more fundraisers for the Windermere fire victims this week.
click to enlarge
The first will be Wednesday, March 2 at Drexel’s Mandell Theater (33rd and Chestnut) at 7:30 p.m. The event features performances by the Blue Diamond Dragon Step Team, the Chinese Graduate Dance Club, the Treble Makers, Drexel Jhalak, the Drexel Comedy Football Team and more. Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell is also scheduled to be in the house. All proceeds go to the Walnut Hill Community Association fire victims fund.
click to enlarge
A second fundraiser is set for Friday, March 4 from 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. at The Rotunda (4014 Walnut St.). The “Arts for the Cause” show features a bunch of talented performers, including jazz vocalist Rajdulari, Monica McIntyre and the Rosemary Fiki Band.
Here is a video of Monica McIntyre and friends performing “Ghetto Magic” at The Rotunda last January.
In a recent piece in Philadelphia Magazine, the new Drexel president John Fry lays out his hopes for the remaking of the neighborhoods near the campus – the Eds and Meds (universities and medicine/science) approach a la Penn. Fry imagines a Drexel that is the most “civically engaged university in America.” The plan seems to be similar to what has taken place at Penn, where Fry was a vice president under former president Judith Rodin. The plan includes more police, help with faculty and staff mortgages and improved schools.
From the piece:
The short-term goal is to make the northern University City neighborhoods around Drexel more like the clean, leafy, surprisingly safe and prosperous precincts that adjoin the Penn campus, whose very niceness Fry had more than a little to do with creating during a seven-year stint as Penn’s executive vice president under then-president Judith Rodin.
The piece is also sprinkled with contrasts between Fry and the neighborhoods he proposes to revamp – references to his Land Rover, his degrees and the fact that he lives in Bryn Mawr.
Recent Comments