Staff Editorial: Confusion, or worse?

Something strange happened at 4040 Chestnut Street this weekend.

After a Princeton University student on campus for a debate tournament was allegedly assaulted, doused in motor oil and threatened with immolation, everyone -- police officers, University officials, even Penn Public Safety Chief Maureen Rush -- seemed to think that a student -- a Penn student -- had been arrested in connection with the assault.

Now, however, it seems that all of these people were wrong. There apparently was no arrest, just a questioning.

The confusion is puzzling. How could so many people in the Public Safety and University hierarchy be completely wrong about so serious an incident?

Similarly, nearly a month ago the head of Penn's embattled Dining Services, Peg Lacey, left the University. During Lacey's tenure, she was the very public face of a very troubled system, yet Penn's chief spokeswoman, Lori Doyle, claimed to be unaware of Lacey's departure. Lacey seems to have slipped out without a sound, with University officials from Vice President for Business Services Leroy Nunery -- her former boss -- on down refusing to comment on "personnel issues."

Funny, then, that these same administrators did not hesistate to discuss former Executive Vice President John Fry's exit.

The confusion and uncertainty are, at best, a demonstration of bureaucratic incompetence and, at worst, something more sinister. But either way, the situation is unacceptable.

The University community -- particularly the undergraduates most directly affected by these issues -- deserves honesty and forthrightness from Penn's leaders. A potentially dangerous assault in the Quadrangle should not be hidden from those who reside within its walls, and the future of Dining Services should not be kept from those who eat in its halls.

The focus must be on openness rather than defining a party line. And it has to start at the top.

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