Video related to this article is available below.Issue date: 12/11/07 Section: News
Stetson Departure | Pressure on Gutmann absent after resignation
Anthony Campisi
The departure of former Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson has shown how much power Penn President Amy Gutmann wields, raising questions about the role of the Board of Trustees in checking the president's power.
Since Stetson resigned abruptly and without explanation at the beginning of the semester, Gutmann has refused to comment publicly about the departure, only saying that it is in the "best interests" of both Penn and Stetson.
However, Gutmann's reticence to release the details of Stetson's resignation has been greeted with a profound silence on the part of the Board of Trustees - Penn's top governing body - and other high-level figures.
No trustee or upper-level administrator has publicly criticized Gutmann's handling of the departure.
Indeed, most trustees contacted throughout the semester by The Daily Pennsylvanian said they knew nothing about the reasons behind the resignation - and many said they were OK with that.
"As a trustee, I hold [Gutmann] responsible for the operation of the University day-to-day," said Robert Gleason, a trustee on the external affairs committee. "I'm not even concerned about the reasons why anybody leaves."
This opinion was echoed by James Kim, a trustee emeritus - who said he trusts Gutmann to handle the situation - as well as other trustees, who said they accepted the administration's assurance that it was handling the departure properly.
The trustees said they felt it was not their place to get publicly involved in managing personnel decisions.
The way in which these trustees view their responsibility to the University - which affords Gutmann wide latitude in decision-making - stands in contrast with expectations of members of corporate boards.
In the wake of a series of corporate scandals like Enron's collapse and the subsequent passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, private-sector board members are expected to take a more active role in managing their companies and providing a check on the powers of upper-level management.
Since Stetson resigned abruptly and without explanation at the beginning of the semester, Gutmann has refused to comment publicly about the departure, only saying that it is in the "best interests" of both Penn and Stetson.
However, Gutmann's reticence to release the details of Stetson's resignation has been greeted with a profound silence on the part of the Board of Trustees - Penn's top governing body - and other high-level figures.
No trustee or upper-level administrator has publicly criticized Gutmann's handling of the departure.
Indeed, most trustees contacted throughout the semester by The Daily Pennsylvanian said they knew nothing about the reasons behind the resignation - and many said they were OK with that.
"As a trustee, I hold [Gutmann] responsible for the operation of the University day-to-day," said Robert Gleason, a trustee on the external affairs committee. "I'm not even concerned about the reasons why anybody leaves."
This opinion was echoed by James Kim, a trustee emeritus - who said he trusts Gutmann to handle the situation - as well as other trustees, who said they accepted the administration's assurance that it was handling the departure properly.
The trustees said they felt it was not their place to get publicly involved in managing personnel decisions.
The way in which these trustees view their responsibility to the University - which affords Gutmann wide latitude in decision-making - stands in contrast with expectations of members of corporate boards.
In the wake of a series of corporate scandals like Enron's collapse and the subsequent passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, private-sector board members are expected to take a more active role in managing their companies and providing a check on the powers of upper-level management.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 18
Alumnus
posted 12/11/07 @ 7:32 AM EST
We need a Sarbanes-Oxley act for non-profits, to make sure that non-profit boards are doing their job properly by holding management accountable for their decisions, judgment, and actions. (Continued…)
Jack
posted 12/11/07 @ 3:08 PM EST
Franklin said "two may keep a secret, if one of them be dead."
Gutmann made the decision to keep the reason for Stetson's departure confidential and much to her credit (and the DP's frustration) she has been successful at that so far. (Continued…)
alumnus 2001
posted 12/11/07 @ 7:15 PM EST
Penn's trustees have long been little more than a source of financial assistance, at least since I started attending the meetings in the late '90s. You don't get on the Board of Trustees without donating a lot of money to the school, and even then it's more of an honorific and a nice title that keeps wealthy white donors engaged, even if they are treated like bumbling old men. (Continued…)
Patty Martin
posted 12/12/07 @ 11:50 AM EST
A DP reporter should wait outside the presidential mansion every morning and ask her to stop being such a hater of the truth. Also, you should steal the tactics of the 911 conspiracy theorists: use bullhorns and huge neon-rainbow placcards outside her house, and burn Stersons if effigy. (Continued…)
I remember the Old Penn.
posted 12/12/07 @ 1:20 PM EST
Penn in the 70's and 80's certainly was'nt the slick glossy machine it is now. I miss it though. Now, they keep secrets better than the CIA. God knows how many staff/department heads have been paid off to keep quiet in the last few years. (Continued…)
Reader
posted 12/13/07 @ 1:30 PM EST
This is not a news article. This is an editorial.
Wallace
posted 12/14/07 @ 12:00 AM EST
Why can't the DP do its own investigative journalism?
Contact all of the admissions staff that worked with the former Dean over the past 10 years. Ask them if they have any comment. (Continued…)
alum
posted 12/14/07 @ 8:41 PM EST
Keeping secrets is a sure way to erode the support of the alumni(at least the sober ones.) Hey, is that why the booze flows like a river at every alumni function I've attended? Just come clean. (Continued…)
Hey Bill
posted 12/15/07 @ 3:22 PM EST
I see you are a real suck up, and quite sexually confused. What is in your closet?
2010
posted 12/17/07 @ 2:13 PM EST
Why is the DP so desperate to MAKE this into a news story? It reported on a mysterious, then reported on the lack of information about it, then reported about the lack of interest due to the lack of information due to the mysterious departure. (Continued…)
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