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Plus, one of the biggest Oscars winners was actually our own Comcast.

The University of Pennsylvania, which is accused of McCarthyism in a new lawsuit centered on Penn’s handling of antisemitism accusations (Getty Images)

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Profs Accuse University of Pennsylvania of McCarthyism in New Lawsuit

The University of Pennsylvania must really be getting tired of isms.

There are the relentless accusations of racism against Penn prof Amy Wax. And there are the heard-around-the-world accusations of antisemitism at Penn — accusations that eventually led to the resignation (read: ouster) of university prez Liz Magill. There have also been accusations of ableism and classism. Well, here’s another one for you: McCarthyism.

McCarthyism is precisely the charge lobbed at the University of Pennsylvania in a just-filed federal lawsuit. The plaintiffs? Huda Fakhreddine, an associate professor of Arabic literature at Penn. Troutt Powell, a professor of Africana studies and history at Penn. And Faculty for Justice in Palestine (PFJP), a self-explanatorily purposed group of faculty, students, staff and others at the University of Pennsylvania.

The lawsuit centers on a letter that the Washington D.C. House committee — the same House committee that Magill and other university presidents infamously testified before — sent to the University of Pennsylvania in late January. The letter demanded a litany of documents relating to allegations of antisemitism at Penn and the university’s response to those allegations. And the letter called out Fakhreddine by name, accusing her of antisemitism.

Whereas critics accused Penn of not doing enough to respond to claims of antisemitism, the plaintiffs in this case say that the University of Pennsylvania is now guilty of McCarthyism by cooperating with the committee and providing documents to it about them when, claims the suit, it has no actual legal obligation to do so. The suit alleges that Penn’s actions have resulted in doxxing and death threats.

The suit accuses the University of Pennsylvania of violating the plaintiffs’ Freedom of Speech and invading their privacy, among other alleged offenses. The plaintiffs are asking the court to order a permanent injunction against Penn, barring it from complying with the committee’s letter.

The University of Pennsylvania does not comment on pending litigation. You can read the entire suit for yourself here.

Comcast Was One of the Biggest Winners at the Oscars

If you’ve lived in Philadelphia for a long time, it’s easy to think of Comcast as “that cable TV company.” And it’s easy to forget that Comcast is actually a hugely diversified company and that one of its main holdings is NBC Universal. That means Comcast did quite well for itself at the Oscars on Sunday night.

Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts at the Oscars on Sunday

Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts at the Oscars on Sunday (Getty Images)

Oppenheimer was the big winner. And guess what movie company produced Oppenheimer? Yep. Universal Pictures, which is a division of Universal Studios, which is part of Comcast’s NBC Universal. Oppenheimer, which received 13 nominations, won the Oscar for Best Picture as well as several other Oscars. And here’s a bit of interesting trivia for you: Oppenheimer has made more money at the box office than any Best Picture winner in the past 20 years. And what’s the only place that you can stream Oppenheimer? Yep. Peacock, which is also owned by Comcast.

Cha-ching. But that’s not all.

The Holdovers received five Oscar nominations and won one. (More on that win below.) And what movie company produced The Holdovers? The indie movie studio Focus Features. And what company owns Focus Features? You guessed it! You can also watch The Holdovers on Peacock.

While on the Subject of Comcast…

If you’re a Comcast internet customer, now might be a good time to reboot your modem. This is because Comcast says it just increased internet speeds for subscribers who use their Connect, Connect More, Fast, and Xfinity Prepaid services, in some cases quadrupling speeds. And all you have to do is reboot.

Connect: 75 Mbps to 150 Mbps
Connect More: 200 Mbps to 300 Mbps
Fast: 400 Mbps to 500 Mbps
Xfinity Prepaid: 50 Mbps to 200 Mbps

Local Talent

But getting back to the Oscars … I’ve been telling you for weeks that you’d be smart to bet on Mount Airy’s Da’Vine Joy Randolph to win Best Supporting Actress for her work in The Holdovers. And she did just that! You can read my pre-Oscar interview with Da’Vine here. (You’ve probably been pronouncing her name wrong, as she explains.)

Da'Vine Joy Randolph during her Oscars speech on Sunday

Da’Vine Joy Randolph during her Oscars speech on Sunday (Getty Images)

As for the rest of our local talent, well … Overbrook High School alum Colman Domingo (Rustin) and Jenkintown’s Bradley Cooper (Maestro, duh) both lost to Cillian Murphy, star of the aforementioned Oppenheimer. It was not a good night for Cooper. At all. Cooper also directed and co-wrote Maestro, which received seven Oscar nominations. It won none. Zilch. An absolute shutout. In his entire career, Cooper is 0-for-12 at the Oscars. Gotta sting just a little.

And outside of the world of motion pictures, I’m excited to learn that acclaimed Philly chef Ange Brance is opening Kampar very, very soon.

Ange Branca

Ange Branca (Photograph by Kerri Sitrin)

Speaking of Philly chefs doing cool things, longtime Philly restaurant veteran George Sabatino is doing something he’s never done before: He’s cooking in the suburbs.

By the Numbers

9,700: Atlantic City homes expected to be exposed to flooding by 2050 as a result of the rise in sea levels, according to a new study. That study says that Atlantic City is among the most vulnerable cities in the country to this type of flooding.

9th: Ranking of Pennsylvania on a list of states in the country with the most expensive gas. Our average of $3.54 a gallon is 15 cents higher than the national average.

$4.5 billion: Value of unclaimed property that Pennsylvania holds in its state treasury. And there’s a new battle playing out in Harrisburg over that property. (And if you want to check to see if you have any unclaimed property — I recently found $12 in my name! — go here.)

And From the You’re-Breaking-Up Sports Desk …

The Eagles are busting up that old gang of ours bit by bit: Fletcher Cox is the most recent Bird to announce his retirement. He’ll be missed.

On the Sixers front, on Friday night against the Pelicans, the starters were Kelly Oubre Jr., Tobias Harris, Mo Bamba, Buddy Hield and Kyle Lowry – still no Maxey or Embiid — and they got off to a terrible start, down (gulp) 36-15 after a quarter. It was their worst start, in fact, of the season. Woo! The second quarter sucked, too; when the score hit 50-20 at 6:40, the crowd started to jeer. By the half, they were 2-for-19 on threes and losing 66-34. Ugh. It was their lowest-scoring half since 2015. The second half was … not as bad. Kate and Alaa were workin’ hard to talk comebacks, but nobody believed them. And then … and then … a 17-2 Sixers run in the fourth cut the lead to nine with two minutes to go. At least the crowd — as much of it as had stayed — had cheered up. Six points! Five points!

But at least it got fun at the end. On Sunday, the going sure was slow at the beginning of the game against the Knicks, with starters Bamba, Lowry, Harris, Cam Payne and Oubre; they only managed 15 points in the first quarter — but then, that’s all New York had, too; it was cold in Madison Square Garden.

The Sixers ran off a 10-0 spurt in the second and took a sturdy lead — which they held until Jalen Brunson reentered the game. At the half: 37-31 Sixers. The Knicks took it closer in the third, tying it halfway through, but it was not a pretty game. Our shorthanded Sixers hung in there, though, partly thanks to Hield’s four treys. And oooh, fisticuffs! Well, a shoving match between Oubre and ’Nova product Donte DiVincenzo, who tackled Kelly’s knee and got T’d up, along with Isaiah Hartenstein and Paul Reed. The Knicks made it tight at the end, but miraculously, this time, we hung on.

“A good ugly win,” Alaa declared, and so it was. Rematch on Tuesday night in our house; buckle up! Apropos of nothing, with this piece, Mike Sielski almost managed to make me feel sorry for Ben Simmons, who’s out for the rest of the season. I said almost.

How’d the Phils Do?

On Thursday, they lost to Tampa Bay, 3-2. Starter Aaron Nola gave up six hits and three earned runs in 3.2 innings. He did strike out five, though. On Friday against the Astros, we picked up five runs in the first three innings; Bryson Stott poked a homer, and starter Ranger Suárez went 3.1 innings with five strikeouts in a big 6-3 win.

On Saturday, they squandered a grand slam by Edmundo Sosa and a homer by Nick Castellanos in a 13-5 shellacking by the Blue Jays. Noah Skirrow took the loss after giving up five earned runs in a single inning pitched.

On Sunday, the Phils managed to come back for a 9-7 win over the Pirates despite starter Max Castillo giving up five runs in his three innings pitched. Kody Clemens, son of Roger, whaled his own grand slam in the fourth inning of the winning effort.

They play the Yankees today at 1:05.

Any Doop News?

Sort of? They got their Saturday-night home match against the Seattle Sounders started, but the rain was so hard that it was called off 15 minutes in. Highly unusual for soccer, but probably the right call, IMHO. I was driving in that freaking downpour. Match to be completed at a future date.

And in College Hoops?

Temple was never really in its Thursday-night game against the University of Alabama-Birmingham. Final score: 100-72. Yikes.  In even worse news, the school’s program is being investigated for gambling, per Sports Illustrated. 

On Saturday’s slate, St. Joe’s (19-12) beat visiting Davidson, 89-71, behind Rasheer Fleming’s 23 points. Tenth-ranked Creighton, who knocked off top-ranked Connecticut earlier this year, started their game against Villanova with a 32-8 run but just barely beat the Wildcats (17-14), 69-67, on a last-second fadeaway jumper. La Salle (15-16), visiting Loyola Illinois, lost 64-54. In a game that was rather short on defense, Princeton smothered Penn (11-18), 105-83, at the Palestra.

On Sunday, Temple (12-19) came from way back to win its final regular-season bout, against the University of Texas-San Antonio, 84-82. Hoot! And Drexel (20-11), playing in the first round of the CAA tourney against Stony Brook, led 36-28 at the half. In the second, forward Amari Williams headed to the locker room with an ankle injury, which slowed the Dragons down; the Seawolves came within one with two minutes to go, then tied it up 71-71 at the buzzer and took the game to overtime, then to a second overtime. Williams returned but clearly wasn’t himself in what became a 91-88 Dragons loss. Tough one. Williams, BTW, was recently named the conference defensive player of the year for the third straight year.

The Flyers also played.

All Philly Today sports coverage is provided by Sandy Hingston.

Victor Fiorillo

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