Story by Stephen Orbanek
Photography by Ryan S. Brandenberg, CLA ’14, and Joseph V. Labolito
It’s Monday morning—Aug. 25, the first day of classes for the 2025–2026 academic year. Temple University students rush over to the 12th Street Vendor Pad, affectionately referred to as “the Wall,” gathering in small groups at tables to grab a morning bite. The wait for an iced coffee from Richie’s is a bit longer than usual. It signals a trend that likely will not be letting up anytime soon.
This fall, Temple welcomed 5,379 new first-year students, an increase of more than 9% over last year’s class, making the Class of 2029 the largest incoming class in the institution’s 141-year history.
While walking to class for the first time, many of these students gaze intently at the newly renovated and reimagined Paley Hall. The 306,000-square-foot LEED- and WELL-certified facility has opened its doors for the first time today after a two-and-a-half-year construction process. State-of-the-art in every way, it is easy to see why the building has already established itself as a signature landmark on Temple’s campus.
“There is a buzz about this place, and you can feel the electricity when you walk around campus.”
—John Fry, president
“There is a buzz about this place, and you can feel the electricity when you walk around campus. You can feel it when you walk inside an impressive structure like Paley Hall,” Temple President John Fry says. “We have students coming from all over to attend this university, and it just feels special. It is a good time to be an Owl.”
More folks are choosing to become Owls, too. Temple’s total enrollment, including its international campuses and locations in Rome, Tokyo and Kyoto, now stands at 33,048, which represents a slight increase over last year. And the university has now seen two consecutive years of first-year enrollment growth.
A renewed commitment to access and excellence
If there is a buzz at Temple, it is for good reason.
One year ago, on Nov. 1, 2024, Fry began his tenure as Temple’s 15th president. He will be the first to say that he did not come to Temple with a playbook. He also is quick to point out that he arrived at a time when Temple was already experiencing considerable momentum.
But, without question, that momentum has only continued to grow during the past year. When Fry, who previously served as president at Drexel University and Franklin and Marshall College and as executive vice president at the University of Pennsylvania, discusses why he chose to come to Temple, he emphasizes the university’s historic mission.
“There is a real sense of purpose here that I have not seen at other institutions,” he says. “Faculty, staff, students and the community rally around Temple’s mission, and that is a real strength for us. It is one of the main reasons why I am so bullish about Temple’s future. Everyone is bought-in here. Everyone wants to see this institution succeed.”
The mission that Fry references is 141 years old, dating back to 1884. Founder Russell Conwell recognized that “acres of diamonds” could be found right in Temple’s backyard as he believed that every student, regardless of background, should have access to a high-quality education.
That mission has never left Temple, and over the last year, it has only grown stronger.
In February, the university launched Temple Future Scholars, a scaled college pipeline program that supports middle school students in Philadelphia. This came on the heels of the 2024 launch of Temple Promise, a last-dollar financial aid program for qualifying first-year, full-time undergraduate students who reside in Philadelphia County and earn admission to the university. In March, Temple also became the 18th member of the University Innovation Alliance—a coalition of public research universities committed to increasing student success, reducing equity gaps in higher education and ultimately raising the number of college graduates in the United States.
This has coincided with Temple continuing to have a stronghold on Pennsylvania as nearly 63% of the incoming Class of 2029 hails from the commonwealth. Temple also continues to see strong interest from out-of-state students, with first-year enrollment up in key areas that include New York, Georgia and the District of Columbia.
“We are Philadelphia’s public research university and one of Pennsylvania’s flagships, and we have really focused on owning our backyard,” says David Boardman, interim provost and dean of the Klein College of Media and Communication. “We have taken a boots-on-the-ground approach in recruiting students, increasing recruitment visits to schools, and bringing more students and families here to campus, and what we have found is that Temple resonates with students and families, both here locally and across the country.”
“When communicating with students, our enrollment team has really done a tremendous job of sharing why this could be the place for you,” Fry adds. “Students see the practical education that they receive here and the opportunities to work as interns or out in the field. So, there’s a sense that this is a learning by doing community and not some ivory tower. That resonates with students.”
Temple will continue to amplify its growing research portfolio by advancing discovery and innovation in the life sciences and biomedical research, for example.
Temple has joined the University Innovation Alliance, which is a consortium of public research universities working to improve student success and increase the number of college graduates in the U.S.
Setting a clear philanthropic vision
The message does not just resonate with students and their families. It also has the same effect with alumni, friends and donors.
Fast forward six weeks into the semester, on Oct. 10, when the university community came together to celebrate the official opening for Paley Hall. Before a crowd of several hundred students, faculty, staff and community members, President Fry dropped a bombshell.
“Today, I am thrilled and deeply moved to announce that Chris Barnett, CLA ’10, has just made a $55 million gift to the College of Public Health (CPH), the largest gift ever to Temple University,” Fry said to the crowd of several hundred in attendance.
Fry’s words barely made their way out of his mouth before they were greeted with vibrant applause and a standing ovation. He then shared that in recognition of the gift, which is also the fourth largest gift ever to a school or college of public health, CPH would now be known as the Christopher M. Barnett College of Public Health. The entire scene was remarkably similar to the one that unfolded just six months earlier.
On April 4, as his investiture ceremony came to a close, Fry emphasized the importance of philanthropy, noting how it would be key to the university moving forward. He then stunned those in attendance by announcing that the university had received a $27.5 million gift from Caroline and Sidney Kimmel to support the Caroline Kimmel Pavilion for Arts and Communication.
Two historic gifts—the two largest gifts in Temple’s history—received within just six months’ time.
And, according to Fry, the best may be yet to come. Temple has more than 380,000 living alumni, which is among the largest alumni bases in the country. As the university approaches its 150th anniversary, it plans to launch a comprehensive campaign, and engaging those alumni will be key in terms of optimizing that campaign and setting it up for success.
“We have so many successful alumni, and they are capable of giving,” Fry says. “It’s up to us now to go out and make the case that this is a cause worthy of their support, and I think that is an easy argument to make. The incredible generosity that we have seen from Chris Barnett and the Kimmels reflects that, too.”
Al Checcio, Temple’s senior vice president of institutional advancement, agrees.
“When it comes to fundraising at this institution, I am incredibly optimistic and believe Temple has the potential to really be a leader in this area,” says Checcio, who previously oversaw the highly successful Campaign for USC at the University of Southern California, which raised more than $6 billion well ahead of schedule and was the largest fundraising campaign in the history of higher education when it launched in 2011. “This is a university with a deep alumni base and a resonant mission. There is so much capacity for our giving and alumni engagement to increase, and I have full confidence that we will see just that in the years to come.”
Driving innovation, amplifying research and spurring civic engagement with a place-based approach
What underscores the importance of the Barnett and Kimmel gifts are the causes that they will support.
While the Caroline Kimmel Pavilion and its state-of-the-art facilities will serve students and faculty, the building also provides an opportunity for the university to enhance its relationship with its North Philadelphia neighbors, and the building’s visibility from North Broad Street will help spur community engagement.
Similarly, Paley Hall includes an immersive simulation center that includes a replica park, restaurant, corner grocery store, North Philadelphia row home and an ambulance bay. There is also the Aramark Community Teaching Kitchen, a cutting-edge culinary classroom that will serve as a hub for nutrition education, hands-on cooking instruction and community engagement.
Together, the two facilities help support a broader place-based approach, which revolves around the creation of a multidimensional innovation corridor that stretches along Broad Street, traveling from Temple’s Health Sciences Center to Main Campus, and then south to the Avenue of the Arts. Also key to this approach is the reimagination of how Temple engages with the North Philadelphia community.
“Temple is a vital part of the fabric of Philadelphia, and civic and community engagement has always been an important focus for me,” Fry says. “I wanted to take steps to ensure that we deepen our relationship with both the surrounding neighborhoods and larger Philadelphia communities.”
One of those steps is creating a new division at the university, Community Impact and Civic Engagement, which is designed to leverage the university’s economic strength, social capital and other resources to support and advance the well-being of North Philadelphia families at every life stage. This summer, the division announced a new initiative, Owls for Philly, a universitywide volunteer program that allows eligible employees to take paid time away from work to volunteer and serve with community organizations.
“Temple is a vital part of the fabric of Philadelphia, and civic and community engagement has always been an important focus for me.”
—John Fry, president
Students are drawn to the practical education Temple provides, including hands-on learning in studios.
As an R1 institution, Temple has had research expenditures exceeding $297 million on average during the last three years.
It all helps further support a place-based strategy. The vision for that strategy further developed in February when Temple acquired Terra Hall, the former home of the University of the Arts, which will provide the university with a permanent home in Center City and along the Avenue of the Arts.
Since then, Temple’s commitment to the arts in Philadelphia has further expanded thanks to a partnership with the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the university plans to explore potential new collaborations in the months to come.
“When we talk about the Innovation Corridor, we are really talking about a five-mile stretch that starts at Terra Hall and then you work your way up Broad Street,” Fry says. “This is something that is going to develop over the years, but already, if you think about the Avenue of the Arts, Temple University has become the educational anchor for that area. We have gone from having a limited presence at 1515 Market St. to now being the major anchor, and that illustrates how quickly this can develop.”
The corridor will also play a key role when it comes to amplifying Temple’s growing research portfolio. An R1 institution, which is the Carnegie Foundation’s highest designation of research activity, Temple has had research expenditures exceeding $297 million on average during the last three years. Fry says he hopes to see those expenditures grow in the years to come and plans to advance discovery, creativity and innovation at Temple by building on the university’s strengths in the life sciences and biomedical research, while also establishing leadership in emerging technologies like generative AI.
Temple’s Class of 2029—comprising 5,379 first-year students—is the largest incoming class in the university’s 141-year history.
This work is already underway at the Innovation Nest, aptly nicknamed the iNest, which launched in 2024 and works to commercialize new innovations from researchers, spur student innovation and support the growth of startup companies affiliated with Temple. Located at Temple’s Health Sciences Center, the iNest and its opening was recognized in November 2024 by Technical.ly Philly as the publication’s Power Move of the Year.
Over the next several years, Fry said the Innovation Corridor will further take shape, and helping to guide that process is the update of Temple’s Strategic Plan, which is slated to be approved by the Board of Trustees this winter, and its campus development plan, which was developed over the course of the last two years in collaboration with Sasaki. Both plans are expected to be shared with the Temple community in early 2026.
Moving forward, they will serve as the university’s compass—ensuring Temple leverages its position as an anchor institution in the city of Philadelphia—and will ultimately lead to the creation of an Innovation Corridor that serves both the Temple and Philadelphia communities.
“This is a process. We have our anchors in Main Campus, the Health Sciences Center and Terra Hall, so what can we do to enhance and complement those anchors? We need to create places that Temple students, employees and alumni will enjoy. These must also be places that will benefit the entire North Philadelphia community, too,” Fry says.
So, how soon until the Innovation Corridor and place-based strategy fully take shape?
“It’s not going to take one year,” Fry says with a pause. “But it’s not going to take 20 years either. And we are already on our way.”
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