Stetson resigns (suddenly) from Penn admissions

[tokenadult]

<p>Yes, particularly reporters who are students at Penn have an interest in this story.</p>

[mini]

<p>I’m betting “hot and steamy”. ;)</p>

[ellemenope]

<p>The administration won’t tell the trustees, its bosses–because the administration feels that the trustees can’t be trusted enough to keep their mouths closed? </p>

<p>As a trustee, I would be very offended…and would insist on being told.</p>

[fireflyscout]

<p>I’m beginning to think it was less of Stetson’s actions and more of Gutmann’s driving this.</p>

[Papa_Chicken]

<p>Stetson Departure | ‘It’s simply insane:’ Kickoff event marked by alums frustrated with lack of explanation
10/22/07
<a href=“http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2007/10/22/News/Stetson.Departure.its.Simply.Insane.Kickoff.Event.Marked.By.Alums.Frustrated.Wi-3047023.shtml[/url]”>http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2007/10/22/News/Stetson.Departure.its.Simply.Insane.Kickoff.Event.Marked.By.Alums.Frustrated.Wi-3047023.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

Saturday night was slated to be a key moment in Amy Gutmann’s tenure as president: the kickoff of the largest capital campaign in Penn’s history and the unveiling of the postal-lands development, which is set to transform the face of University City.</p>

<p>But beneath this spirit of celebration and under the red and blue spotlights surrounding College Green, alumni remained mystified and angry at Gutmann’s handling of the departure of former Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson.</p>

<p>“It’s simply insane,” said George Dickson, who graduated from the School of Arts and Sciences in 1998.</p>

<p>Dickson said he couldn’t understand why Stetson, who served at Penn for 29 years, would leave with no explanation from either the University or from him.</p>

<p>“It just smells” given the past misdeeds of former Penn professors like Tracy McIntosh, he said.</p>

<p>Ronald Stockham, a 1964 graduate, argued that Penn’s refusal to be forthcoming in Stetson’s departure “totally defies” the principles of openness and accountability espoused by the University.</p>

<p>“It’s against everything the University stands for,” he said.

</p>

[Papa_Chicken]

<p>whilst ■■■■■■■■ in the rumor & innuendo gutter…McIntosh references for the curious…</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.prisonsociety.org/ldrshp/editorial12.shtml[/url]”>http://www.prisonsociety.org/ldrshp/editorial12.shtml&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11977583/[/url]”>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11977583/&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2006/11/14/News/ExProf.Could.Fight.Order.To.ReSentence-2457950.shtml[/url]”>http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2006/11/14/News/ExProf.Could.Fight.Order.To.ReSentence-2457950.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[Papa_Chicken]

<p>Stetson Departure | Top donors seek ‘truth’ about dean’s resignation
10/23/07
<a href=“http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2007/10/23/News/Stetson.Departure.Top.Donors.Seek.truth.About.Deans.Resignation-3049880.shtml[/url]”>http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2007/10/23/News/Stetson.Departure.Top.Donors.Seek.truth.About.Deans.Resignation-3049880.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

Another donor, 1984 Wharton graduate Jill Holtz, said she was “very surprised” by Stetson’s sudden departure and the lack of explanation given for his resignation. The secrecy, she said, simply leads to more speculation - a result that she thinks will reflect more negatively in the mind of donors and alumni than what actually led to Stetson’s exit.</p>

<p>“The truth is always the best way to proceed,” she said.</p>

<p>And regardless of what transpired, Wishnow said, if wrongdoing occurred, donors will likely stick by Penn as long as officials are honest.</p>

<p>The University should “get it out in the open and move on,” she said. “Whatever it is, this university can weather the storm.”

</p>

[Saintofme]

<p>In this article from today’s Philadelphia Inquirer the chairman of Penn’s Board of Trustees said he backed President Gutmann on the Stetson issue and that Penn has extended President Gutmann’s contract until 2014.</p>

<p>Here’s the link:
<a href=“http://www.philly.com/inquirer/breaking/news_breaking/20071023_Penns_president_given_new_deal.html[/url]”>http://www.philly.com/inquirer/breaking/news_breaking/20071023_Penns_president_given_new_deal.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[dadx]

<p>Is it common for University Presidents to have contracts, and to have them renewed two years in advance, making it a 7 year contract? I truly have no frame of reference for this.</p>

<p>Is it just me, or does the timing of this make anyone else wonder even more aboutwhat the heck has gone on there?</p>

[JHS]

<p>I’m sure it’s now universal for university presidents to have contracts. And I suspect the same dynamic applies to them as applies to CEOs, star pitchers, and head coaches: If you get into the last year of the contract, and there hasn’t been an extension, that’s an unmistakeable sign of trouble, and a destabilizing factor for the whole organization.</p>

<p>In this case, Penn just formally kicked off a 3.5 billion fundraising drive that will extend beyond the end of Gutmann’s initial contract. It may have been a little early to renew it, but their willingness to announce the drive indicated that she had passed her probation, which meant the contract was going to be extended sometime this year. Ten years is about the average tenure of a university president; as a practical matter, if she didn’t screw up, that’s about how long she was going to be Penn’s president. If she screws up in the future, the contract won’t keep her from being fired, it will just provide the basis for negotiating the financial terms of her departure (and of ensuring her silence on the matter).</p>

<p>I do think it’s clear from this that she has played the internal politics around l’affaire Stetson very well.</p>

[Papa_Chicken]

<p>Stetson Departure | Itching for gossip? Web a hub for Stetson talk
10/24/07
<a href=“http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2007/10/24/News/Stetson.Departure.Itching.For.Gossip.Web.A.Hub.For.Stetson.Talk-3053014.shtml[/url]”>http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2007/10/24/News/Stetson.Departure.Itching.For.Gossip.Web.A.Hub.For.Stetson.Talk-3053014.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

Just as applicants to Penn come from all over the world, people interested in Penn admissions are everywhere, too.

</p>

<p>

On one of the most popular discussion boards for college admissions, College Confidential (collegeconfidential.com), discussions have sprung up among Penn students, applicants, parents and other onlookers about what case for Stetson’s departure they think most likely.</p>

<p>They also let fly their opinions on how Penn President Amy Gutmann has handled the affair, how The Daily Pennsylvanian has covered it, and what impact this departure may have on the admissions world.

</p>

<p>

College Confidential managing director Roger Dooley said that “Web communities have a role to play *by providing a venue to discuss the topic. There is a place for everyone.”

</p>

[reasonwhy]

<p>IMO, the most likely reason for the high level of confidentiality is that it is required by some third party, perhaps as part of a settlement - Not by Penn or stetson, but by someone else involved in the matter…</p>

[ellemenope]

<p>Homeland Security???</p>

[sunnyflorida]

<p>Rofl!!!</p>

[iknewpenn]

<p>I had intimate knowledge of Penn admissions early in Lee’s tenure, can’t say how.
let’s just say as a Penn alum and former DP staffer I was shocked even then that no one caught on to the story then but had reasons not to leak any information—what is it they say about absolute power and corruption? for whatever reason, even decades ago Stetson was a teflon boy and my guess is as Penn and its admissions office gained more prominence no one wanted to examine things too closely. With that groundwork, my guess is that Stetson felt he was at a point where he was untouchable and finally crossed some line----and believe me, the lines of propriety were constantly being redrawn…</p>

[rodney]

<p>Iknewpenn: Honestly, your post is probably the closest assessment I have read since this whole thing started (and I suspect the closest to the truth)…Based on that, I believe that if the truth ever really comes out, there is no telling how widespread the affect would be…It would definitely not be in the interest of the Penn mucky-mucks, both financially and legally, to reveal and I’m guessing that it will stay under-cover (and Stetson will end up somewhere in Tahiti on a beach)…</p>

<p>p.s. And I, too, am an alumni…</p>

[ellemenope]

<p>Now you guys are scaring me…but if things are known (old stories), it is hard to believe that no one has come forward with at least a broad hint about what those stories deal with.</p>

[bostonc]

<p>Iknewpenn: now you whetted everyone’s appetite, it’s cruel not to continue…</p>

[Whistle_Pig]

<p>I’m betting, the story, if not the truth, will become known. There are no secrets in these gigs. Wait, watch, listen.</p>

[Papa_Chicken]

<p>Stetson Departure | News Analysis: Secrecy not the norm for Gutmann</p>

<p>10/31/07
<a href=“http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2007/10/31/News/Stetson.Departure.News.Analysis.Secrecy.Not.The.Norm.For.Gutmann-3068275.shtml[/url]”>http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2007/10/31/News/Stetson.Departure.News.Analysis.Secrecy.Not.The.Norm.For.Gutmann-3068275.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>intro:

University President Amy Gutmann has built her career as a political theorist in the field of deliberative democracy, which emphasizes the political values of openness, transparency and publicity.</p>

<p>Gutmann has for the most part extended her philosophy to her administration at Penn, extolling these principles in her four years as president.</p>

<p>But her refusal to disclose the details behind former Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson’s resignation represents an outlier in a long trend of openness as an academic and administrator. </p>

<p>Gutmann’s seminal work on deliberative democracy, Democracy and Disagreement, written with Dennis Thompson of Harvard University, devotes an entire chapter to the value of publicity, in which she argues that citizens should be trusted more than leaders with the information necessary to make decisions.

</p>

<p>…guess the Stetson information was judged by Gutmann as unnecessary for others to make decisions, or at least the risk of doing so outweighs the benefits of revealing…</p>