With the closing of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Drexel University has blundered into a spectacular public relations disaster. I could almost feel sorry for them, had their actions not been so cruel and heartless.
When the news first broke, the reaction was a stunned grief. According to Drexel, this beloved museum, the public-facing side of an irreplaceable scientific institution, just didn’t make financial sense anymore. They listed some facts. Attendance was down, and had never recovered from COVID-19. The building at 19th Street and the Parkway required major work. It just couldn’t go on.
Two of the three divisions of the Academy would be spared. Drexel would maintain the Academy’s collection of 19 million(!) specimens and scientific research would continue. To make it financially stable, they would sell the building.
It was a tidy narrative, a problem and a solution presented simultaneously.
After the initial shock and sadness of hearing the news, people started asking questions: How much work does the building need? Why does it need to close so quickly? Has every effort been made to save the museum?
Supporters began to organize, politicians expressed dismay. And then the William Penn Foundation, usually a behind-the-scenes player, made a public offer to fund the museum for a year. It was a bold intervention, effectively calling Drexel’s bluff.
The closest Drexel has come to acknowledging that offer was when they told NBC 10 they hadn’t received a “formal proposal.” Their response speaks volumes.
The museum has closed quickly because Drexel has no interest in keeping it open.
Drexel did not just fail to make every effort to save the museum — they made no effort.
Returning to the bad PR. At a time when climate change is increasingly impacting our daily lives, and when science is under attack from the federal government, hastily shutting down a natural history museum is a very bad look for an academic institution. But for Drexel, that’s the tip of the iceberg.
Denying kids the opportunity to interact with critters and creatures in the Outside In exhibit, to marvel at the dinosaurs and a world long gone (not to mention the diorama’s depiction of a world quickly vanishing), is a crime.
Children are the victims of an expedient, short-sighted real estate scheme, and there is no way to spin it.
In an interview with online journalism outlet Higher Ed Dive, Drexel president Antonio Merlo expressed his desire for Drexel to be known worldwide for their unique co-op education program.
But if they fail to perform the due diligence to save this invaluable museum, that will be secondary. They will be reviled in Philadelphia and beyond, known as an institution that chose to flip some real estate instead of honoring their commitment to steward a precious piece of our culture that made science fun and accessible, and was a breeding ground for future scientists.
As of now, they sit somewhere between the Grinch and Ebenezer Scrooge. Of course, both of these characters had epiphanies and changed their ways, so there’s reason to hope.
President Merlo, it’s not too late. Take the offer.
