LETTERS: Mission of investigation team

To the Editor: First, I am not supervising the committee nor am I a member of it. The committee, chaired by Peter Hand, a member of the faculty of the School of Veterinary Medicine, will thoroughly examine the issue of academic eligibility in this case and issue a report to me. Hand is joined on the committee by Wayne Worrell, a member of the faculty of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, Bernard Lentz, who is director of Institutional Research and Analysis, and Debra Fickler, who is Associate General Counsel and who will serve as an ex-officio member of the committee. The committee has begun its work, and I expect that it will issue its findings within the next 10 days. Once it has done so, I will share the recommendations and our proposed action with the Ivy League and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. I will also report the findings to the campus community, mindful, though, of our responsibilities to the right of privacy guaranteed to students and to other members of the community under existing laws that govern the release of information. Second, I want everyone to understand the scope of the investigation. The committee is specifically charged with the responsibility to review the issue of academic eligibility as it relates to this case. If the student in question was ineligible to compete in certain games this fall, then the University needs to know when the ineligibility was discovered, by whom, by what means and what response was taken. The committee will also review the Athletic Department's procedures for monitoring student eligibility and its practices in dealing with eligibility issues in general. Finally, the committee will examine whether the actions taken to restore the eligibility status of the player were appropriate. The members of the committee are well-known to many of us for their integrity and fairness. There is no question in my mind that the committee will take a fair and deliberate approach to its task with respect to the student, to the administrators and members of the faculty involved, and with the DRIA. The charge given to the committee is to speak with all involved parties, sort out the facts, separate them from the emotional rhetoric that has permeated this story, and make appropriate recommendations. I have every confidence in this committee's commitment and ability to achieve that end. Stanley Chodorow Provost Center will unify service To the Editor: The student-led initiative to create a Community Service Center on campus is a fantastic plan which will contribute immensely to the University. Many of the facilities which currently serve as a base for community service activities, such as the Program for Student-Community Involvement office, Houston Hall and Irvine Auditorium, have already closed or will close within the year. The Community Service Center will be a place where a number of these activities will relocate. In addition to these logistical concerns, the center will serve to unify and strengthen community service at Penn as well as Penn's involvement with the Philadelphia community. As the umbrella organization for the community service groups, our member groups encompass most of the service groups at Penn. As such, the ideals facilitated by the community service center are some of the primary goals of the Penn Volunteer Network. 1)This center will serve as a space for groups to share resources. 2)The center will facilitate an exchange of ideas between many community-minded people. 3)A broad range of service activities will be coordinated under one roof; this will form a model program for communication and collaboration. 4)The center will be a place for people or organizations interested in community service to access information on potential involvement. 5)The integration of the Program for Student-Community Involvement and the Center for Community Partnerships will allow greater administrative support for student organizations. We strongly endorse this plan and feel it must be a priority for all University members: students, faculty, staff and administration. We want a visible presence on campus demonstrating that the University values service and collaboration between the various groups in our community. We believe that a center such as this one will actively do this for many years to come. Jessica Polansky College and Wharton '99 Penn Volunteer Network Chairperson