Temple University will not pursue a merger or acquisition with the shuttered University of the Arts, the public institution said Thursday.
The two Philadelphia-based universities have been in talks for months following UArts’ closure, with reports that a deal was on the table.
In a Thursday message to campus, Temple leaders said that “the university will not be moving forward with a transaction at this time.”
“When we were first notified of the imminent closure of UArts, we had hoped to preserve as much of the institution’s legacy as possible,” President Richard Englert, Provost Gregory Mandel and Chief Operating Officer Ken Kaiser said in the message. “We moved swiftly to expedite a due-diligence process that, under normal circumstances, would have taken a year or more.”
The university brought on outside experts and held conversations with state and local officials.
“After an exhaustive effort by our internal and external team, we were unable to identify a solution that would be in the best interest of Temple’s community and mission,” the Temple executives said.
At the same time, they said Temple was committed to preserving UArts’ legacy as a Philadelphia arts institution. They noted Temple would “continue to explore opportunities with other non-profit organizations that might allow us to revitalize and activate UArts’ facilities.”
According to a Philadelphia Inquirer report citing unnamed sources, the talks stalled over a major UArts donor — the Hamilton Family Charitable Trust — which did not want the private nonprofit university’s endowment to be part of the transaction.
Temple has enrolled over 330 UArts’ former and prospective students. Temple executives said the university allocated financial aid dollars to ensure the former UArts students don’t pay higher tuition.
The university has also fast-tracked a bachelor’s program in illustration and emerging media to support some of the incoming UArts students. And it created a UArts “cohort community” in two of its residence halls, according to the message.
