Protesters gather after UArts in Philadelphia abruptly cancels info session amid impending closure
University of the Arts abruptly canceled a virtual information session Monday amid questions over the school's impending closure.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- There is a lot of tension in Philadelphia's Center City, stemming from the announcement of the abrupt closure of the University of the Arts at the end of this week.
Frustration grew to outrage when the school canceled a town hall meeting moments before it was supposed to begin on Monday, where many were expecting answers.
That prompted protests on the South Broad Street campus that extended overnight Monday into Tuesday.
"We plan on meeting here until our demands are met," said student Rayne Smith. "Our main demand is that the administration actually talks to us and tells us what's going on. We have a lot of questions about how quickly the university decided to close down, about how long they knew this information -- we know they didn't file their taxes in December."
University of the Arts Students remained outside Hamilton Hall throughout the night, demanding answers.
Many learned through a news alert last week that their school would be imminently closing.
READ MORE: The University of the Arts in Philadelphia announces sudden closure
The university said since the situation continues to unfold rapidly, they couldn't adequately answer questions.
The Middle States Commission on Higher Education told Action News it withdrew accreditation on June 1 because the university failed to provide timely notice of its closure or a required plan for students.
The commission said UArts notified the agency on May 29 that it was closing in just three days, although it later announced a closing date of this Friday.
In a news release, the school blames the closure on decreased enrollment, mounting debt, and an urgent crisis, but did not provide details of the crisis.
UArts is now asking people to share questions they have through a Google form and says it will put answers to frequently asked questions on the university webpage.
"They need to answer these students right now, like at the end of the day you're being a coward," said parent Frank Thorne.
"Some people have been here for years and now have to pack up and go somewhere," said one of the demonstrators. "This is ridiculous, they should have told us when they knew. I had to find out on Instagram."
The university says it will help current students by developing "seamless transfer pathways" to other local schools, including Temple, Drexel, and Moore College of Art and Design. There has been no word on if there will be another town hall.
