<p>Until Penn advises me otherwise I will assume that he got caught with tons of child pornography on his office PC.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
So members of the admission community would not mind being shown the door quietly and quickly, without a by-your-leave, after dedicating 29 years to the job?
[/QUOTE]
I don't see any evidence of Penn forcing him out. It's been written over and over again: many think he's sick and decided to hasten his already planned departure.</p>
<p>Dean J:</p>
<p>I do not buy your explanation. In my experience, institutions such as colleges are effusive in the regret they express at the departure of a long-time and valued member of the staff. Even in politics, fired employees are usually described as "wanting to spend more time with their families" or "pursuing other options." If Penn had wanted, it could have expressed regret that Stetson's health had moved up his plans to retire. Penn did not. Methinks there is more to the story.
But you are right that, as far as the admission community is concerned, what is important is who the new head of admissions at Penn is. this, however, does not prevent others from speculating at Stetson's real reasons for leaving as abruptly as he did, and for Penn to keep so tight a lid on it.</p>
<p>I wasn't offering an explanation, just some thoughts.</p>
<p>We have a long time staff member retiring next month and the person doesn't want any sort of recognition. The person's was on our staff before most of us were born (hired in 1954!), so some of us were a little sad that we wouldn't be able to send them off with at least some cake. I don't know why the person wants it this way, but making him or her comfortable and happy is more important than satisfying my curiosity.</p>
<p>Our staff member has changed my take on Lee's story. Before, I was sure there was more to the story. Now, I think it's completely possible that he just wanted to leave without fanfare.</p>
<p>Sorry for the typo. Coffee's brewing...</p>
<p>But when asked, Penn did not say that the silence was Stetson's decision. I'm sure that your college, if asked why not more fuss was made would have replied: "xyz wanted no fuss made and we respect xyz's wishes."</p>
<p>Reportedly a student from our HS was accepted at Penn after her parents donated $20K+ to the campaign fund of a noted Pennsylvania politician and Penn alum. The alum wrote a letter of recommendation for her. Otherwise she would not have qualified. Penn apparently admitted her begrudgingly and the acceptance was conditional on her keeping her grades up and not letting them drop one iota. This was in the HS class of '04 or '05. Could something like this be related to the Stetson situation, or is it common practice at leading universities?</p>
<p>My guess is that at Penn and other schools those sorts of issues are resolved at a higher institutional level than the Dean of Admissions and they involve institutional interests beyond his or her purview though the dean might have a strong opinion on the subject.</p>
<p>$20k? That's cheap! Colleges are free to disregard the recs of alums. I doubt this figured in the Stetson case, whatever it might be.</p>
<p>Reason why: Not unusual, especially for Penn from what I have heard and 20K sounds low from some of the stories going around these parts.....</p>
<p>This one has the definitive aroma of a quack-up, not a gracious, quiet, early exit, stage left. Let's get real. This guy had enormous power for a lot of admissions seasons in his little Philly fifedom. Something or someone has gone haywire, here. Stay tuned for the fallout in this falling out.</p>
<p>I believe this was a poltical contribution to a candidate not to the school. There is no telling what the candidate's goodwill is worth to the school, particularly if he becomes governor.</p>
<p>Lets just construct a purely hypothetical situation and put each of you in the big chair at elite u and tell us what the right answer is. The state u and the elite u have been negotiating an agreement to build and share the costs of a $150 million dollars health sciences center. Both med schools are in the same city and there have been a lot of shared projects in the past but there is also a possibility of either canceling, going it alone, or placing it in another city. Big alumni is running for governor and send you a letter for reasons you may or not know that X is a really really great kid even though the application may not show all their special qualities. What do you do?</p>
<p>It is easy to say it is not fair but even elite u admits a lot of kids that are shall we say minimally qualified because they want to look like america, win a few sports contests, have a great band, gain some ink in the national press, make a political statement, you name it.</p>
<p>*[TOS language edit]*The question really boils down to what is in it for me, elite u. and I submit that anyone who says that is dispicable either a fool or a liar or just extremely nieve. Every institution makes accomodations with forces they cannot control.</p>
<p>One of the reasons this is silly is that the gubernatorial elections were in 2002 and 2006. In 2002 there was a hotly contested Democratic primary, and a walkover in the general election. In 2006, the governor's re-election was barely contested. After the 2002 primary, no one was moving mountains for a $20,000 contribution. I doubt anyone ever moved mountains for a $20,000 contribution. The governor is utterly beloved by the business community in Southeastern Pennsylvania, and hasn't had trouble raising money in decades, and in the 2002 primary he was opposed by a pro-life candidate, so he was raising money all over the country.</p>
<p>And . . . his ties to Penn are deep and wide and complex (as would always be the case between a powerful mayor and his city's largest employer, that happened to be exempt from taxation). One donor's kid more or less would have no bearing on anything.</p>
<p>In addtion to which, it is impossible to imagine the governor even implying a threat to Penn over an 18-year-old. Writing a recommendation, sure, but he probably does that right and left. Hardly a ticket to heaven.</p>
<p>I agree about Rendell. He does not need the help of a minor donor to stay in office. </p>
<p>On the other hand, I am sure he has a huge amount of influence at Penn. If he really wanted to get a particular kid into the University, he would not have sent a letter to Stetson, he would have put in a call to Gutmann. He can get her on the phone anytime, she would be delighted to take his call whenever he wants to talk, and if he says admitting a particular person is important to him, that would carry a great deal of weight. Assuming he did not abuse his leverage-and he is too skilled a politician to do that- he could tip in a couple of people a year and you would hear no complaints from Penn. Part of doing business with the governor. Happy to cooperate Mr. Rendell, will we see you at the Christmas party, and come by for dinner the next time you are in town. The same would apply to Specter.</p>
<p>Stetson: there is no way someone with that long and successful a history at Penn would be allowed to leave without praise and public thank you's unless he did something embarrassing at least. If he was sick, and wanted the reason for his departure kept private, they would have honored that request, and said "departing for personal reasons". They would never have said "in the best interests of the University", but would have written pages about how sad they are to see him go, wish him well, grateful for his service... Absent that, the message is clear- fired.</p>
<p>
[quote]
They would never have said "in the best interests of the University"
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That's the key reading comprehension point.</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>$20k? That's cheap!<<</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>My thought exactly!</p>
<p>The Penn student newspaper sums it up well here - <a href="http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/stetson/%5B/url%5D">http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/stetson/</a></p>
<p>There's definitely more to this story. I'm all for investigative reporting...</p>
<p>If the admissions process has not been 100% fair and unbiased, then I want my application fee back. It's that simple. </p>
<p>If it was fair, then I couldn't care less why Stetson left the university.</p>
<p>The phrase "in the best interests of the University" does not sound or imply a scandal but rather a strong disagreement between Stetson and the administration. My bet is that it is either over turning down Stetson's recommendation over a successor or the administration wanting a major shift in admission philosophy before his official retirement.</p>
<p>Interesting thought, padad, but if that had been the issue, couldn't/wouldn't they have just said that by now?</p>