Protesters push Drexel to accept funding to keep museum at Academy of Natural Sciences open
The museum at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, the oldest natural history museum in America, closed to the public Sunday, but for many the fight isn't over.
While the Drexel Board of Trustees reception was being held inside the National Constitution Center Tuesday, protesters carrying signs and wearing dinosaur costumes gathered to push the university to accept a funding offer from the William Penn Foundation that could cover the museum's operating costs for at least another year.
"I can't wrap my head around the fact that the academy and Drexel is not taking that offer immediately," Clark Perks of Save the Academy said.
"I really can't see an excuse when you have the opportunity to give the kids of Philly access to science; why you wouldn't take that offer," said Sarah McAnulty, another Save the Academy organizer, said.
McAnulty organized the Save the Academy volunteer effort to keep the future of the academy top-of-mind and called on Drexel leadership to let go of the academy.
"I want the academy to have the freedom to negotiate whatever is best for them," McAnulty said.
In a statement, Drexel said in part: "Drexel has previously offered the academy a path to disaffiliation, and we have been, and remain, open to that possibility. We continue to engage in good-faith discussions with the academy about its future."
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Mayor Cherelle Parker have backed efforts to preserve the academy. Protesters who gathered said the fight is far from over.
"I think this has been a wake-up call to appreciate the cultural institutions that we have," McAnulty said.
