The UA is confident that in the next year at least one new late-night dining facility will open around campus.

Unfortunately, owing to Philadelphia’s high crime rate, it’s very difficult for dining facilities to remain open late at night. Most recently, we saw this when the 24-hour Philly Diner on 39th and Walnut, having been the site of a fatal shooting over Winter Break in 2005 and most recently another shooting this past Spring, agreed to close its doors at 1am Sunday to Wednesday and at 2am on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

With Philly Diner’s closure, only very few vendors, such as Wawa, McDonalds and the Fresh Grocer, serve food on campus after 1am. Less than a day after the early closure deal was announced, the UA began to forcefully lobby for additional late-night options.

We agreed in large part with the DP’s editorial:

Now, with Philly Diner’s earlier hours, the only eateries left open are fast-food places ill-suited for large groups or students who want to study while grabbing a bite. At 2 a.m., most students at Penn are still awake. Registered parties end at that time and few privately hosted parties end earlier. After a night out, most students need to wind down. And students spending all night studying need a place to refuel in the middle of the night.

That being said, the UA also supported the decision to close Philly Diner early, as it was guided by honest and thoughtful considerations of student safety. In planning for a new late night option, the UA has insisted that safety should be Penn’s highest priority to ensure that incidents like those surrounding Philly Diner won’t happen again.

The UA has lobbied the Division of Public Safety and Real Estate Services for new late-night dining options; we’re confident that at least one new offering will be available soon. Watch this space for details!