Save the Academy Coalition Blog

We are grateful you joined us today before the Legislative Oversight Committee hearing on the closure of the Academy of Natural Sciences.

We are here today because the public deserves answers.

We hope today marks the beginning of a public record explaining why Drexel University and the Academy Board ever thought these decisions were permissible without public input.

We want to know:

• How did Drexel and Academy leadership come to the conclusion to close the museum with no prior fundraising campaign and with only one month's notice?
• What is the ACTUAL plan for the collections and future public engagement, and how will these be supported without a public-facing museum?
• What is the plan for the Academy's museum building, which needs major renovations?
• Who is making the decisions, and are they properly guided by expertise?

In today's hearing, we hope to see leadership questioned forcefully and determinedly.

We want to hear from staff voices, many of whom remain silenced under NDAs or out of fear for their jobs, and from Philadelphia's cultural leaders.

Today is not the end-all, be-all, but we hope it marks the beginning of both accountability and a brighter future for this institution.

Monday, October 26, at 2 p.m., Philadelphia City Council's Committee on Legislative Oversight holds its hearing on the closure of the Academy of Natural Sciences museum. The resolution that called it, introduced by Councilmembers Nina Ahmad and Jeffery Young Jr. on September 17, gives the committee the power to subpoena testimony and documents. It is the first time Drexel and the Academy's leadership are asked to answer for the closure on the public record.

Be in the room. City Hall, 1400 John F. Kennedy Boulevard. Everyone goes through security, so come by 1:30 p.m. Small handheld signs are fine; nothing on a stick, no large banners. Public comment comes at the end of the hearing. A full room tells Council that Philadelphia is watching.

If you cannot be there, the hearing page has everything we know, including how to add it to your calendar: save-the-academy.org/council-hearing. We will post what happened here afterward.

Then Tuesday at 6 p.m.: one month without our museum. The candlelight vigil is at the museum, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Bring a candle or a phone light. We are keeping the light of the Academy alive, and we are not done.