Ed Hermance papers on Powelton Village Civic Association and Drexel University relations, 1999-2001

In 1999, residents of Powelton Village experienced a spate of petty crimes including littering, vandalism, and theft, as well as incidents of homophobic and racist verbal harassment. Residents suspected many of these crimes were perpetrated by Drexel University students under the influence of alcohol. Powelton Village is immediately adjacent to Drexel University, and is home to many off-campus university students.

One such victim was Kurt Conklin, who was openly gay and had three rainbow flags stolen from his property between January and September of 1999. In response, Reverend Patricia Pearce of Tabernacle United Church in West Philadelphia, of which Conklin was a member of the congregation, proposed flying a rainbow flag outside of her Powelton Village home in solidarity. Reverend Pearce then distributed flyers to her neighbors inviting them to participate, resulting in a mass display of over 40 rainbow flags by mostly straight residents starting in November of 1999. Many of the flags were donated by Giovanni’s Room bookstore and Ed Hermance. This mass action was well covered in local LGBT press, including The Philadelphia Gay News and Au Courant.

Harassment escalated from November 1999 to April 2000, including an incident on February 10, 2000, when a flag was burnt, urinated on, and vandalized with the words “kill gays” and “dykes and faggots burn in hell.” Increased racial aggression and overt threats of violence by white male Drexel students against non-white residents of Powelton Village was reported at the same time. In April of 2000 a group of young white men confronting a resident, telling them “spic and colored people do not belong on Winter Street, this is a white street.” This was set against the backdrop of the murder of Anthony MacCullough, a 25 year old gay black man who was shot in the Gayborhood in October of 1999. The murder, which remains unsolved, set the black and queer community of Philadelphia on edge and called into question the city’s ability and commitment to protect queer lives. Following repeated calls for action from Powelton residents, Drexel University President Constantine Papadakis issued a full page letter in the university newspaper, The Triangle, denouncing homophobia and stating a zero tolerance policy for harassment.

At the same time, Conklin and the Powelton Village Civic Association were in contact with Drexel University administrators to demand accountability of the alleged perpetrators and increased security measures in the neighborhood. The Drexel-Powelton Alliance was also formed between Drexel University students, Powelton Village residents, and members of the Philadelphia Human Relations Commission to discuss streamlining the community complaint process, increasing public security, promoting racial and sexual diversity training and organizations on campus, and forming a joint town-gown taskforce to implement these measures. The proposed Drexel-Powelton Task Force was ultimately rejected by the university represented by Anthony Caneris, senior vice president for student life and administrative services. The final recorded meeting of the Drexel-Powelton Alliance was on October 22, 2001.