Feel the Temple spirit:
Relive moments from Innovation with Impact and the investiture of President John A. Fry in this photo gallery
During its third-annual Temple Made Days celebration, Temple University’s capacity for research and creativity, commitment to student success, and engagement with our neighbors near and far was on full display.
On April 3 and 4, more than 600 members of the university community and invited guests came together for a celebration of Temple, featuring a special Innovation with Impact series highlighting the university’s global contributions and culminating with the investiture of John A. Fry as the university's 15th president.
Experiential opportunities and pop-ups could be found around campus, including a hands-on collaborative art project, jazz pods and free french fries in honor of Fry Day. Stella’s cafe, located inside Charles Library, even offered special signature drinks in honor of the week’s festivities, with a nod to Temple’s international campuses.
As the university welcomed a new chapter in its history, it was a week that underscored Owl pride and spirit.
During a series of panel discussions, Temple faculty members came together for cross-disciplinary conversations on the most pressing and consequential issues of our time, including the future of AI, community health equity, the challenges faced by women in sports media and how to commercialize research discoveries.
“I think community service is imperative and necessary for all schools and colleges and the future of Temple. It’s not just about the services we provide, it’s certainly how we can understand what the community needs.”
The Arts and Innovation showcase displayed the breadth and depth of Temple’s artistic talent, from the musical to the theatric to the visual.
The Cybersounds concert held in Rock Hall featured a performance by the Boyer College Electroacoustic Ensemble Project, also known as BEEP, Temple’s electronic music ensemble that strives to create novel sound experiences. The performance consisted of an electronic orchestral performance using instruments made by students, a remix made live in real time and a multigenre electro-acoustic pop song.
An event titled Community Poetics and Ethno-photography provided a photographic and theatrical/poetic narrative of the history of Philadelphia’s neighborhoods over the span of a few decades. Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon, professor at the School of Theater, Film and Media Arts and senior associate dean of strategic initiatives and innovation in the Center for the Performing and Cinematic Arts, performed original spoken-word poems inspired by archival photographs taken by Joseph V. Labolito, senior university photographer in Temple’s Strategic Marketing and Communications division.
All were welcome into Tyler School of Art and Architecture for Artscape. Visitors were able to stroll through the Temple Contemporary gallery and the Edgar Heap of Birds Family Gallery, experience thesis exhibitions by students, and, in the courtyard, witness the “Tree 40 Fruits” by 2025–2026 Jack Wolgin Visiting Artist Sam Van Aken, a newly planted multi-grafted tree producing 40 varieties of fruit.
Amid the panels and performances, there were ample opportunities to stop and have some fun.
President Fry joined students for a rousing game of bingo in the Howard Gittis Student Center. On their way into bingo, students were able to grab some french fries and Coca-Cola beneath a banner reading “FRYDAY.”
To offer a taste of Temple’s global campuses, Stella’s in Charles Library served Cherry and White Matcha, a matcha drink inspired by Temple University Japan, and Caffè Temple, a chilled espresso drink inspired by Temple University Rome.
Visitors were invited to join in the painting of a mural in O’Connor Plaza while smooth sounds from live jazz pods filled the air on Polett and Liacouras walks. The day was punctuated by a performance by the Josh Klamka Quartet at a jazz cafe in the lobby of the Temple Performing Arts Center.
At Temple Talks, nine of Temple’s faculty members shared the most important ideas guiding their work and the impact it can make on the world—all in less than six minutes. From global migration law to deep-sea research to media literacy for children to power hierarchies in collaborative art spaces, faculty members described the discoveries that will shape the future.
“It’s important to me that we shine the spotlight on our faculty, on their ideas, their discoveries and their commitment to knowledge that drives change because faculty are the heart of Temple. They make us who we are.”
Following Temple Talks, President Fry sat down with Ellen Cooper, FOX ’85, president and CEO of Lincoln Financial Group, for a keynote conversation.
“I’ll tell you, as I walked around today, I got a little emotional because this is where it all started for me. Temple University is a very special place.”
President Fry’s investiture ceremony officially welcomed a new chapter in Temple’s history. In the company of city of Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, university trustees, university leadership, select student leaders and honored guests, President Fry gave an address that surveyed the current landscape of higher education while providing certainty that Temple will rise to meet any challenge.
Concluding his remarks, Fry announced a $27.5 million gift from Sidney and Caroline Kimmel to support the building of the Caroline Kimmel Pavilion for Arts and Communication, the new home for the Klein College of Media and Communication and the Center for the Performing and Cinematic Arts. The monumental gift is the largest in the university’s history.
“Temple’s mission is clear, compelling and distinctive. In the five months that I’ve been here, I have witnessed a culture that unapologetically upholds that mission. And there is no other place that I’d rather be to do this important work.”
The Investiture Orchestra and Investiture Choir provided musical accompaniment.
In closing, President Fry’s daughter, Mia Fry, read a poem by Alberto Ríos titled “A House Called Tomorrow.”
The penultimate lines in the poem resounded.
Be good, then better. Write books. Cure disease.
Make us proud. Make yourself proud.
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