Wendy Cadge sent the below letter to state senators Pennycuick, Ward, and Pittman on July 14, 2025.
Dear Senator:
As president of Bryn Mawr College, I write to urge you to join your House colleagues in supporting SEPTA and averting the catastrophic service cuts that will affect employers and institutions across southeastern Pennsylvania, including my own.
Bryn Mawr, one of 103 colleges and universities in the greater Philadelphia region, hosts numerous courses, research projects, internships and student service opportunities that rely on public transit. Recently, Bryn Mawr invested in the SEPTA UPass program, enabling our students to ride SEPTA services for free so that they can learn, work, and volunteer in SEPTA service areas. On average, more than 1,000 Bryn Mawr students – 74 percent of our student body – use SEPTA every month of the academic year. SEPTA is equally essential for our 761 employees who commute to our campus from cities and towns across the greater Philadelphia region.
The proposed service cuts to SEPTA – which include full elimination of the Paoli/Thorndike line that serves Bryn Mawr – will have long-term economic effects. Community engagement via public transit keeps college graduates in the Commonwealth. Students come from all over the country and the world to study in the greater Philadelphia area. Access to SEPTA enables them to create a deeper connection to the region, inspiring them to invest their skills, experience, and talents here when they graduate. A study just released by the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania (AICUP) estimates the economic impact of Bryn Mawr College on the Pennsylvania economy to be $268.6 million and 1,760 jobs.
For these reasons, I urge you and your Senate colleagues to follow the model of your House counterparts and vote yes on HB1364. That bill addresses not only the SEPTA shortfall but critical transit services – as well as road and bridge repair – in rural and suburban communities across the Commonwealth.
SEPTA services are vital to higher education in southeastern PA, and higher education is an economic driver for Pennsylvania. On behalf of our students and employees, I request your urgent action to address the SEPTA funding crisis.
Sincerely,
Wendy Cadge
President
