<p>Penn wouldn't be "curt" and "tight-lipped" about a twenty-nine year veteran official who was retiring for health reasons. You folks need to learn to think if you are "ivy hopefuls."</p>
<p>Sometimes certain people would like to keep severe illnesses private.</p>
<p>I believe Willy got into some serious trouble for not accepting me. Maybe now I can appeal my decision. But, I won't go to Penn now because CORNELL ROCKS!
Or maybe he has some embarassing illness</p>
<p>lots of rumors so far, but no confirmed story and nothing from the folks in close</p>
<p>It's not health - if he were sick there would have been much more official praise - Newzbugg is 100% right - wise up, people and read between the lines. Here is the official release - not one nice word:</p>
<p>"President Amy Gutmann and Provost Ron Daniels have accepted the resignation of Lee Stetson as Dean of Admissions, effective immediately." </p>
<p>Period, full stop.</p>
<p>compare the earlier release when it was announced he was leaving at the end of the school year:</p>
<p>brilliant 40 year career, blah, blah blah - this is what you say when someone is leaving voluntarily. If they are sick/dying, you increase the praise even more.</p>
<p>There are rumors floating around as to the nature of the improper conduct that got him canned. One is favoritism shown to some relative in admissions but that sounds unlikely - admissions is a committee decision and anyway they would handle that quietly if they could - just let the guy leave as scheduled. The one that is coming up most often is an affair w/ an undergrad and that the undergrad is suing Penn. This is the one that is most believable. Penn would need to cut Stetson loose in order to show that legally whatever he did was something that they do not condone and are therefore not responsible for. No words of praise that can be read to the jury. Keep this in mind people for your own future reference - here is a man who put 30 years of his life into Penn but may have made a mistake at the end. Does Penn have his back? No, they drop him like a hot potato in order to save themselves a few bucks in a lawsuit. Look what happened to the Duke LX players - the cowardice of the modern U. administration is absolutely stunning when it comes to some issue that violates PC norms.</p>
<p>"Penn would need to cut Stetson loose in order to show that legally whatever he did was something that they do not condone and are therefore not responsible for. No words of praise that can be read to the jury. Keep this in mind people for your own future reference - here is a man who put 30 years of his life into Penn but may have made a mistake at the end. Does Penn have his back? No, they drop him like a hot potato in order to save themselves a few bucks in a lawsuit. Look what happened to the Duke LX players - the cowardice of the modern U. administration is absolutely stunning when it comes to some issue that violates PC norms."</p>
<p>Wow, you're making a pretty big leap on the basis of an unsubstantiated rumor.</p>
<p>Today's DP editorial:</p>
<p>
[quote]
**Opinion Board | Honesty is the best policy</p>
<p>Penn should be more forthcoming about Dean Stetson's resignation</p>
<p>By: Opinion Board</p>
<p>Posted: 9/7/07**</p>
<p>The abrupt and unceremonious resignation of long-time Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson has left many in the Penn community scratching their heads.</p>
<p>Admissions officers have said they were told by the University not to speak about Stetson's departure and high-ranking administrators claim they were given no information about the dean's resignation.</p>
<p>In yesterday's DP, one senior administrator who wished to remain anonymous was quoted as wondering whether Stetson had encountered either a very serious illness or a very serious legal issue.</p>
<p>The University is doing a disservice to its administrators, faculty, staff and students by refusing to comment on the issue. Their ham-fisted handling of the matter has only invited rampant speculation and left many feeling slighted.</p>
<p>It is certainly possible that the administration - at least those who haven't been left in the dark - has extremely legitimate reasons for being so tight-lipped. Privacy must be respected in certain cases and reputations could be at stake.</p>
<p>But at the very least, they should be forthcoming about why they can't be forthcoming. If the University is trying to protect certain parties then they should explain that.</p>
<p>We deserve something.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>More questions, but no answers</p>
<p>"Wow, you're making a pretty big leap on the basis of an unsubstantiated rumor."</p>
<p>I don't know if the exact rumor is true but it's definitely a fact that they have dropped Stetson without so much as a kind word - I'd bet money that this is related to misconduct and not health. </p>
<p>I might be wrong about whether the misconduct relates to some PC sore spot but I'd be surprised if it doesn't - if Stetson had left his wife to marry another man they'd probably give him a promotion, not fire him.</p>
<p>Here's a comment posted under the DP article.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The MIT level of admissions scandal is a "reach". UPenn guy would need some spectacular extracurricular activities to make it to the top tier in a competitive field. Ordinary financial, professional or sexual improprieties are so whitebread. Even murder has already been done.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>What Stetson did has to be worse than what happened at MIT. If Stetson only falsified his degrees, given that he had already announced his departure anyway he would have been allowed to leave quietly. Whatever he did has to be worse than what Marilee did.</p>
<p>guys, remember all the scandals about admissions official taking kick-backs and gifts from all these student loans companies? I would venture to say this could be the reason. I think I read somewhere that Penn was under investigation.</p>
<p>Your information is out of date. Penn is no longer under investigation for the student loan scandal. Besides, if that were the reason, Cuomo would have released some statement.</p>
<p>
[quote]
What Stetson did has to be worse than what happened at MIT. If Stetson only falsified his degrees, given that he had already announced his departure anyway he would have been allowed to leave quietly.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>If there is a scandal, a sexual affair (of the routine, straight, consenting adult variety) would be the BEST possible situation for the school(s), as it is the one that least impugns the integrity of the admission process. Given the MIT case, if at UPenn it turns out to be phony credentials or misusing the office to favor particular applicants, one would start seeing editorials in national newspapers questioning the general practice of subjective admissions at the top schools.</p>
<p>nothing new or revealing there either.</p>
<p>man, this really is taking forever to break. wow, must be something on the scale of aliens or something.</p>
<p>I guess he's not gonna get the letter that I mailed out last week..-_-;</p>
<p>It's possible that he left because of internal conflict - maybe he clashed with some of the people he worked with and decided he was fed up. That would justify both the sudden departure and the lack of elaboration/kindness in the official statements.</p>
<p>Just "fed up" - not bloody likely. There really has to be more to it than that. A lot more.</p>