Issue date: 10/12/07 Section: News

Ben Jones, an MIT admissions spokesman, explained the reasoning behind it in a blog post on the MIT admissions Web site.

"Many are asking why MIT didn't accept Marilee's resignation quietly," he wrote. "The answer is simple: Transparency and openness … are the backbone of our culture. People needed to know the specifics to avoid the rampant speculation that would undoubtedly follow otherwise."

Contacted by e-mail yesterday, Ben Jones reiterated that rationale.

"It was in both MIT's and Marilee's best interest to simply tell it like it was," he said.

Marilee Jones' resignation became a national story, but as a result of MIT's openness, the school avoided major damage to its reputation.

But Klein and Norm Hartman of TMT Worldwide said an agreement might exist between Penn and Stetson that forbid either from giving reasons behind his departure.

University officials have not said any such agreement exists when asked why they refuse comment.

University spokeswoman Lori Doyle said that "the departure of a senior executive is not a crisis," and that it happens regularly at institutions like Penn, though she did not provide any examples of similar situations in which no explanation has been given for resignation.

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