Opinion Board | Tell the truth about Stetson

Of all the things students look for in a university "ability to keep secrets" generally isn't a coveted quality. The administration (or at least the handful that are in the know) seem to be having trouble grasping this.

In September, in an effort to uncover the truth about Dean Stetson's mysterious resignation, we appealed to the administration's sense of accountability to the Penn community . to no avail. The administration seems to be under the impression that it can get away with being secretive and underhanded in its handling of the Stetson affair.

That strategy has utterly backfired.

For one, trustees and alumni aren't happy. One trustee was quoted in the days before the capital-campaign kickoff as saying that he "damn well better get some better information." An alumnus over Homecoming weekend aptly summed up the situation as "completely insane." Others echoed their sentiments.

Far be it from us to tell the experts how to run their capital campaign, but breeding resentment among donors would seem to be a less than optimal tactic.

The administration's silence has failed from a public-relations perspective as well. Two months after the resignation, blogs and college admissions Web sites have unsurprisingly been abuzz over the issue.

Indeed, public-relations experts warned against this very possibility in the DP ("Experts say honesty the best policy for Stetson," 10/12/07).

"When something has gone wrong, the quickest and simplest way to get it behind you is to disclose what you know, admit what went wrong and talk about what your next steps are," said Scott Barkett, senior vice president of crisis management for public-relations firm Dix & Eaton.

Last April, for example, MIT was refreshingly open about the reasons for its own dean of admissions' sudden resignation: It was discovered that she had fabricated her education credentials. The story made national news and then faded, doing no permanent damage to MIT's reputation.

Penn's administration has taken a decidedly different route and paid the price. Trustees are annoyed, alumni are furious, many students feel slighted and the story hasn't gone away.

The only statement President Gutmann has made on the matter was that the former dean's immediate resignation was in both the University's and Stetson's "best interests."

We're not PR experts, but we do know this: It's in the University's best interests for the administration to tell the truth and tell it now.

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