A quarter-century of community partnerships

Glen Casey will be the first to admit it: He wasn’t the perfect student in high school.

“I was always doing the dumbest things; getting into fights, getting arrested,” he says.

A student then at University City High, Casey failed ninth grade, and barely passed 10th.

“I just really wasn’t into school,” he says.

But that was seven years ago. Today, Casey holds an undergraduate degree from Penn in urban studies and economics, and is a fellow at the Netter Center for Community Partnerships—the same organization that’s played a major role in turning his life around.

“The work that the Netter Center does is what gets young students motivated,” he says, “and helps them discover their passion.”

Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the Netter Center is Penn’s primary vehicle for connecting the University to the community, specifically to its West Philadelphia public schools. Its concept is one that, since 1992, has served as a model for other higher education institutions across the country, and even the world.

Read the full story in Penn Today.