Video related to this article is available below.Issue date: 10/18/07 Section: News
Stetson Departure | Trustees not told reasons for exit
Many not briefed on why Stetson left, and some want answers
Emily Babay
The Board of Trustees is the University's highest governing body, but some trustees are still in the dark about the reasons behind the departure of former Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson.
About half of the trustees who spoke to The Daily Pennsylvanian said they had not been told why Stetson abruptly resigned in late August. Other trustees declined to comment and would not reveal if they knew why Stetson left.
University officials have refused to reveal the circumstances behind Stetson's resignation, and Penn President Amy Gutmann has only said that his departure was in the "best interests" of Stetson and the University.
Gutmann may be pressed to elaborate on that statement when the Board of Trustees meets for its annual fall meeting at the Inn at Penn today.
In interviews with the DP, some trustees have expressed curiosity and anger with the lack of disclosure, saying they should know more about the situation.
"I damn well better get some better information" at the meetings, said one trustee who was granted anonymity because of the sensitivity surrounding Stetson's departure.
The trustee added that it is especially disconcerting that, besides not having been told why Stetson left, the Board of Trustees also lack information about current plans for the admissions office moving forward.
"I think we've been kept too much in the dark," the trustee said.
In the months since Stetson's resignation, the University has been extremely tight-lipped in protecting the reasons behind his departure, and few top-level administrators have been told about the circumstances behind the resignation.
Though trustees are not always briefed on decisions involving University administrators, some have expressed surprise that the University has not been more forthcoming to its highest governing board.
Viewing Comments 1 - 6 of 7
Ricky Ricardo
posted 10/18/07 @ 9:04 AM EST
Looks like there's gonna be some 'splainin to do.
Hopefully, we'll get some transparency and the truth will finally come out.
Lucy
posted 10/18/07 @ 1:49 PM EST
Maybe the Trustees can work on the public safety department while they're at it.
Goose
posted 10/18/07 @ 4:21 PM EST
Or they don't care.
Alum
posted 10/18/07 @ 4:38 PM EST
They may not know what to do about it (the public safety issue), but I find it hard to believe that the Trustees don't care. If they didn't care about Penn, which includes the physical safety of its students and staff, they wouldn't be Trustees. (Continued…)
Alum
posted 10/18/07 @ 7:18 PM EST
alum,
There are 54 trustees. You can read their names here:
http://www.upenn.edu/secretary/trustees/TrusteeNameList.html
Do you really think that most of these people don't care about the well-being of Penn or its students, and are serving as trustees merely to line their own pockets (and violate their legal fiduciary obligations as trustees, incidentally)? To believe that would require an unreasonable--and unhealthy--level of cynicism. (Continued…)
John
posted 10/19/07 @ 12:34 AM EST
Given how much money they usually have to pony up to enter trusteehood, it hardly seems like an avenue to financial gain...
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