Stetson resigns as dean of admissions

For the past 29 years, prospective students have eagerly torn open their decision letters from Penn hoping to see a letter, signed by Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson, welcoming them to the next year's class.

But soon, another person's signature will appear at the end of those letters as Stetson announced his resignation on Tuesday, effective June 30, 2008.

Stetson began as dean of admissions at Penn in 1978, when the Admissions Office was only processing about 7,000 applications per year, and his first fully admitted class consisted of only 267 students of color and 29 international students, according to a University press release.

Stetson added that when he started, "88 percent [of Penn students] were from New York, New Jersey or Pennsylvania," and he made it his mission to expand recruitment beyond the Northeast to destinations both nationally and internationally.

And over the past 29 years Stetson, and his team of admissions officers who have spearheaded this mission, have successfully increased and diversified Penn's applicant pool - and ultimately its student body.

That current number of applications now reaches nearly 23,000 a year, almost quadruple of what Penn saw when Stetson began his tenure here, and this past year the admissions rate was the lowest in Penn's history at 16.1 percent.

Additionally, the Class of 2011 will be composed of nearly 900 students of color and 318 international students.

Stetson said: "1 percent of the entering class was international," when he started in the Admissions Office, and that number has risen to 13 percent for the incoming freshman class.

For these accomplishments among others, Stetson is fondly regarded among his peers.

Doris Cochran-Fikes, a regional director of admissions who has worked with Stetson for the past decade, said that "he took us from being a regional institution in the '70s to being an international institution" today.

As an example of this, she cited his work in drawing in more California applicants.

"He had the idea of starting a regional office in California, and the seeds of that idea that he planted in the late 1970s have grown," Cochran-Fikes said. "Now, California is the state that sends us the largest amount of applications."

Elizabeth Spegele, another regional director of admissions, agreed with Cochran-Fikes on the important role Stetson has played as dean.

"I just finished my first year here, and I had a fantastic year," she said. "Dean Stetson is really, truly knowledgeable in this field and brings that knowledge to every single interaction."

And Stetson will bring his knowledge to his new role as a national consultant to other colleges and universities on admissions.

"Hopefully, I have learned a lot and can be helpful" at other universities, Stetson said.

A committee headed by President Amy Gutmann and Provost Ron Daniels will conduct a search for a replacement.

"As hard as it may be to follow him, he shows us that the greatest deans of admissions are the ones who can help us chart the university's future, who don't just respond to whatever trends or fashions are out there right now, but are able to partner with the rest of the university's leadership to envision how we want Penn to look in the future," Daniels wrote in an e-mail. "What we're looking for in the next dean of admissions is someone who has that same kind of vision."

Still, Stetson noted multiple times that the progress that Penn admissions has made over the past 29 years could not have happened if it hadn't been for his staff and successive administrations.

"The leadership of the University has been overwhelming supportive and has helped this great university advance to where it is today," he said.

On that note, Cochran-Fikes added that "every institution needs good leaders and Penn has been lucky to have Dr. Rodin and Dr. Gutmann, but when they write the history of Penn, they have to have Lee's name in there too. He's done a great deal for this institution . and will be missed."

Comments (11)

Shame they stopped teaching math at Penn. 23,000 is not nearly quadruple 7,000, it's a little more than triple, which is impressive enough. And of course the story should have been framed "Stetson to retire after 30 years" and not "Stetson resigns after 29 years" when he's not leaving until next June. I hope the DP does something big on the guy when the time comes. Former assistants of his are now deans at other schools, Duke comes to mind, and when you think that he's overseen the admission of the last 70,000 or so students to enroll at Penn his importance can not be understated.

Stetson is a true titan in the admissions world, and his impact on Penn has been extraordinary. Let's hope his successor can build on what he's accomplished, and propel Penn admissions "from excellence to eminence."

That's a very surprising stat that only 29 foreign students were admitted at the dawn of the Stetson Era. It reminds us just how much college admissions has changed in our lifetimes. I remember Stetson for his sometimes rather blunt comments on the admissions process, especially when the haute Lords at the Cambridge Community College tried to goad us into dropping Early Decision and Stetson used some very tactful words to tell them where they could shove it. I'm grateful to Dean Stetson and his staff for giving me a chance at Penn. He will be missed.

No one should be allowed to remain in a position for that long - change is good and necessary. There are way too many entrenched administrators at Penn who have stayed way too long in their positions.

[QUOTE id="492dd26c-8acf-4fee-ad3a-131c7477d499"]No one should be allowed to remain in a position for that long - change is good and necessary. There are way too many entrenched administrators at Penn who have stayed way too long in their positions.[/QUOTE] good point. why don't we start by removing you?

[QUOTE id="5e44bc57-b277-4ef2-b8bc-b157636eab30"]That's a very surprising stat that only 29 foreign students were admitted at the dawn of the Stetson Era. It reminds us just how much college admissions has changed in our lifetimes. I remember Stetson for his sometimes rather blunt comments on the admissions process, especially when the haute Lords at the Cambridge Community College tried to goad us into dropping Early Decision and Stetson used some very tactful words to tell them where they could shove it. I'm grateful to Dean Stetson and his staff for giving me a chance at Penn. He will be missed.[/QUOTE] 29 foreign students per class sounds awfully low to me. When I was at Penn in the mid-70's, I personally knew quite a few foreign undergrads. Something tells me that 29 is an error or misprint (or else I just happened to move in exceptionally cosmopolitan circles).

[QUOTE id="5e44bc57-b277-4ef2-b8bc-b157636eab30"]That's a very surprising stat that only 29 foreign students were admitted at the dawn of the Stetson Era. It reminds us just how much college admissions has changed in our lifetimes. I remember Stetson for his sometimes rather blunt comments on the admissions process, especially when the haute Lords at the Cambridge Community College tried to goad us into dropping Early Decision and Stetson used some very tactful words to tell them where they could shove it. I'm grateful to Dean Stetson and his staff for giving me a chance at Penn. He will be missed.[/QUOTE] What do you mean by the "haute [haught] Lords" Early decision is elitist uppity and pretentious, not those who want to destroy it.

Wouldn't it be more appropriate to say he "retired"? 30 years in the position is often enough for retirement at many companies, and saying "resignation" suggests something like what happened at MIT

I wonder if things have changed at all. Back then, lots of idiots got in as legacy or ballplayers. Penn is where I learned about the myth of the American meritocracy. GW Bush is a prime example: As long as your daddy is somebody and your skin is white, success will be dumped on you, no matter what kind of drunken fool you were.

[QUOTE id="76fd8130-53de-4081-8725-54e60a54095e"]I wonder if things have changed at all. Back then, lots of idiots got in as legacy or ballplayers. Penn is where I learned about the myth of the American meritocracy. GW Bush is a prime example: As long as your daddy is somebody and your skin is white, success will be dumped on you, no matter what kind of drunken fool you were.[/QUOTE] I wonder which of the above noted criteria apply to acceptance of the 80's alum who posted this negative comment; if he/she read any of the materials provided to alumni by the University, or maybe deigned to do some volunter work for the University, or just lived in the present world, such a question would not be presented in the comment. In any case, it appears that the paranoia has not gone away since graduation from PENN.

I am a member of the class of 1982, the last class not admitted by Dean Stetson. I strongly doubt that 88% of my class was from NY, NJ or PA. I also doubt that there were so few international students. Also-I think that some of the least academically qualified people were the children of staff members, not legacies or athletes (I was neither). I remember several such people dropping out or taking forever to graduate, since they went to college for free. Nonetheless, congratulations to Dean Stetson on a job well done and a well deserved retirement.

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