Dear members of the Temple family:

 

The exciting Super Bowl LII win by the Philadelphia Eagles is a historic event for this city, and I know everyone in the university community shares in the joy. As Philadelphia’s public university and the Eagles’ university partner, we congratulate the team and its fans near and far.

 

As you may know, the city will be making major changes to traffic patterns and public transportation for Thursday’s celebratory parade. Those changes include closing SEPTA’s Regional Rail station at Main Campus, opening the Broad Street and Market-Frankford subway lines for free, and changing many bus routes. In addition, congestion is expected to be very heavy on regional roads. We have also heard from numerous faculty members who have expressed concerns about students and faculty being able to get to campus. As a result, Temple’s U.S. campuses—except for Temple Harrisburg—will be closed, and classes will be canceled, this Thursday, Feb. 8. This includes all night classes, including those at the Beasley School of Law.

 

Only essential employees should report as scheduled to closed campuses. Non-essential employees should not report. The Schools of Medicine, Dentistry and Podiatry will issue their own announcements about closures and clinic schedules.

 

Students in online classes or at off-campus locations should contact their instructors. All residence halls will remain open, and staff will be available.

 

More information on schedule changes will be available through our homepage, www.temple.edu, as it becomes available. Please also review SEPTA service information for Parade Day, and an overview of the event by the City of Philadelphia.

 

As we look ahead to Thursday, I also want to acknowledge that Sunday night’s celebration around campus was largely enthusiastic and safe. That didn’t happen by accident. While most of us were watching the game, a large number of our colleagues were on campus working to keep all of us safe. I want to thank Executive Director of Public Safety Charles Leone, his commanders, support staff, and our police and security officers (almost 100 professionals in all) who worked throughout Sunday night and into Monday morning. Their concern for our safety is unsurpassed. In addition, our facilities management teams were out cleaning the area before dawn. We were open and ready for business as usual Monday morning, thanks to all of their efforts.

 

I am also reminded that our dedicated doctors, nurses and staff of Temple University Hospital continue to provide high-quality care day and night, regardless of what’s happening in the city. Their commitment to the community is amazing.

 

We are all so indebted for everything our terrific colleagues do 24/7 on behalf of our students, patients and everyone in this city.

 

I urge you to celebrate responsibly Thursday. The eyes of the world will be on Philadelphia, and we want them to feel the same happiness that has infused our region since Sunday’s win. 

 

It’s a great time to be part of this championship city! 

 

Go Eagles!

 

Richard M. Englert

President