Two college house founders set to leave at year's end

At the end of the semester, Penn will say goodbye to two of the founding members of the three-year old College House system -- Harrison College House Faculty Master John Richetti and Dean of W.E.B. DuBois College House Sonia Elliott. Richetti will take an academic leave from Penn to focus on another project, while Elliott plans to apply to doctoral programs. College Houses and Academic Services Director David Brownlee said in a statement that both Richetti and Elliott had been influential in shaping the College House system. "Under John's leadership, Harrison was a high rise that became a home, earning a reputation as the big house with the big heart," Brownlee said. He also praised Elliott's contribution. "Under Sonia's leadership, DuBois has been an exemplary College House, and she has been an exemplary house dean," Brownlee said. Richetti will take an academic leave to complete a biography of Daniel Defoe for Blackwell Publishers and to edit the "Restoration and Eighteenth-Century" volume of the New Cambridge History of English Literature for Cambridge University Press. Richetti, English Department chairman and A.M. Rosenthal Professor of English, is largely credited with playing a significant role in the restructuring of the department over the last few years. Some of his other accolades include a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Lindback Award for teaching. Prior to the introduction of the College House system, Richetti served as Faculty Fellow in Van Pelt College House for two years. In 1998, Richetti moved to Harrison to assume to position of Faculty Master with his wife Deidre David, a Temple University English professor. "It's been fun, but it's time for me to move on," Richetti said. Richetti also said that although he enjoyed his time in the College Houses, the high rises weren't always the best place to build community atmosphere. "I have gotten to know a fair number of students, but it's frustrating not to get to know everyone," he added. Elliott will also step down from her post to pursue other interests. She plans to spend the coming year applying to doctoral programs in education and will be married in August. DuBois College House has played both a personal and professional role in Elliott's life. Elliott came to Penn as a freshman in 1984 and remained a DuBois resident for her entire undergraduate career. She later served as an administrator from 1992 on, becoming one of the original twelve House Deans when the new College House system was introduced in 1998. Under Elliott, DuBois has expanded its programs and activities, including a Saturday School program conducted for West Philadelphia children by DuBois residents. Elliott said she enjoyed interacting with students while in DuBois. "They give testimony to the claim that they could not have made it though Penn without the W.E.B. DuBois College House," Elliott said in statement.