Cecil B removes Temple T
Apparently Temple banners were stealing Cecil’s thunder at the Cecil B. Moore stop
Temple is at the height of its scholastic and athletic game. We have seen a surge in national ranking not just in football, but in academics, recently coming in at 115 in United States colleges, and within the top 75, 10 and 150 for Economics and Business, Social Sciences and Computer Science respectively. Not to mention that we are kicking ass on the football field, beating Penn State for the first time in 74 years and being nationally ranked this week at #21.
However, some community members clearly aren’t a part of our fan club.
After community members expressed concerns that the signs adorning the roofing of Cecil B. Moore station were an attempt to brand the station as “Temple Station,” banners saying “Temple University,” were left in an abandoned pile on the corner of Broad and Cecil.
The week of labor that workers put in to beautify the station and the money spent on the banners were laying on the sidewalk, discarded like a piece of gum that has lost its flavor. I forgot to mention that the advertisement was part of a contract with the university that was so conveniently forgotten about.
Temple University is one of the proudest members of the Northern Philly community. The station, located on the outskirts of campus, is a hub of transportation of students and community members alike. In no way was Temple disrespecting Mr. Moore, a lawyer and civil rights activist who died in 1979. The signs simply beautified the area, brining more attention to the station. Now students and other community members can stare at the drab green roof that probably could have used a paint job back before I was even born.
An advertisement does not make the stop “Temple Station.” It is still Cecil B. Moore, and will continue to be so long in the future. Would Mr. Moore even care, were he alive to tell us? The answer, most likely, is no, considering he seems like a smart man who would rather not throw away the money and labor that went into that sign.
Temple always has the back of their neighbors; clearly they just want to tear us down.