Haverford College

For the last 13 years, Joan Mazzotti has made a public career of helping low-income, first-generation students from Philadelphia's public high schools get into and through college. Quietly, she and her husband, Michael Kelly, also have made it a personal mission in the case of two Haitian-born orphans, who received their degrees Sunday at Haverford College, a selective, liberal arts school on the Main Line. In true fashion as the stand-in parents they have become to Ralph and Ruben Alexis, Mazzotti and Kelly got to the ceremony early and staked out seats in the fourth row. They took video as Ralph Alexis, 21, a French major, stepped on stage at the Alumni Field House to receive his diploma along with nearly 300 graduates.

Haverford College president Thomas R. Tritton announced yesterday that he would step down at the end of the next academic year, ending a decade-long term in which the small Main Line institution more than doubled its endowment and became one of the nation's most selective liberal arts schools. In a letter to Haverford's faculty and its 1,100 students, Tritton - the Quaker college's 12th president - said he was confident in the school's future but felt it was time for him to try something new. "Change, evolution and rejuvenation are important, both for individuals and institutions," he said.

No one would ever accuse Haverford College's soccer team of avoiding the trainer's room. Not when you consider that all 22 players on the squad visited it at least once this season. "The only person who hasn't stepped into that room is me, and I figure I'm about due any day now," said Fords coach Joe Amorim. "It's been a terribly frustrating year trying to get through all these injuries. " Amorim's 11-man unit will end its season tomorrow in the Middle Atlantic Conference title game against nationally No. 1-ranked Elizabethtown.

Haverford College will wait more than a year to get its first choice for a new leader, Lafayette College president Daniel H. Weiss. The prestigious Main Line liberal arts college on Tuesday announced that Weiss, an art history scholar who has led Lafayette since 2005, would become Haverford's 14th president in July 2013. Weiss, 54, asked for the time to finish his eighth year with Lafayette and oversee projects he had started, including the design and building of a new center for global education and a new arts campus.

Haverford College will use a $15 million gift - the largest in the school's history - to help pay for a new, five-story science center designed to enhance interaction among students and professors from all the science fields. The gift, which the school will announce today, comes from Daniel Koshland, 79, a professor emeritus of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and former editor of Science Magazine. In exchange, Haverford will name the new science center after Koshland's wife, Marian, an acclaimed immunologist who was among the first women in her field and whose work led to a cholera vaccine.

Arthur R. Kane Jr., 76, an active alumnus of Haverford College and a resident of Villanova, died Oct. 25 at Bryn Mawr Hospital. Mr. Kane was born in Bridgeport. He was a 1932 graduate of Norristown High School. In 1936 he received his bachelor of arts degree from Haverford College and went on to earn a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1939. During World War II, he was a lieutenant in the Navy. After the war, he opened a law office in Philadelphia, Weyl & Kane.

Haverford College ? one of the nation's top liberal arts schools - has selected a research scientist from the University of Pennsylvania as its next president. Stephen G. Emerson, himself a Haverford graduate, has worked at Penn for 12 years, where he became chief of the university's hematology-oncology division and established a stem-cell research program. It is a little unusual for a teaching-focused liberal arts school to choose as president a candidate whose career has been so devoted to scientific research.

For the last 13 years, Joan Mazzotti has made a public career of helping low-income, first-generation students from Philadelphia's public high schools get into and through college. Quietly, she and her husband, Michael Kelly, also have made it a personal mission in the case of two Haitian-born orphans, who received their degrees Sunday at Haverford College, a selective, liberal arts school on the Main Line. In true fashion as the stand-in parents they have become to Ralph and Ruben Alexis, Mazzotti and Kelly got to the ceremony early and staked out seats in the fourth row. They took video as Ralph Alexis, 21, a French major, stepped on stage at the Alumni Field House to receive his diploma along with nearly 300 graduates.

MATTHEW STITT CAN take apart a proposed bill and tell you if it's financially feasible, or translate the mayor's $3.75 billion budget into less-wonky language. But Stitt, the 25-year-old assistant chief financial officer for City Council, doesn't have to crunch numbers to see that his brother Edwin, 12, and the Chestnut Hill Youth Sports Club travel baseball team are kicking butt out there. And it's only the third inning. "He's pretty good. Faster than I was at his age. Strong arm," Stitt says Sunday, breaking down his bro's game like a scout.

It's final exam week at many colleges across the country, typically a high-pressure, nerve-racking period. But the pressure is a little less intense at Bryn Mawr College. Students schedule their exams for a time and day during the week that suits them and take the tests in rooms without proctors. Student volunteers distribute the exams, and test-takers are on their honor to use only the allotted time. "It's very empowering to be held accountable and to hold other people accountable in that way," said senior Emily Tong, 21, who handed out exams Monday at Guild Hall.

Former 76ers star Allen Iverson and onetime NBA rookie standout Jason Williams were added Tuesday to the roster of a team coached by Hall of Famer Nate "Tiny" Archibald that will play an exhibition game against the 2012 Chinese Basketball Association champion Beijing Ducks (with Stephon Marbury ) on Saturday in China. Iverson expressed interest last month in playing in China, according to a Hoops Hype translation of a Chinese article. "I definitely want to return to the NBA, but if I can't get back there, I'm hoping to play ball [in China]

Michele Pataia scored two goals to lead the host Drexel men's soccer team past previously unbeaten Old Dominion, 4-1, in a Colonial Athletic Association game at Vidas Field on Saturday. The Monarchs (6-1) came into the match ranked 11th in the nation in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Coaches Poll and fourth by Soccer America and College Soccer News. Mark Donohue and Fabio Machado also tallied for the Dragons (4-2-1). Goalkeeper Tim Washam (William Tennent)

A mistake involving Haverford College casts new doubts about the popular, but often criticized, rankings of colleges and universities by media. Forbes' annual list is out, and Haverford plummeted from No. 7 to No. 27 - for no obvious reason. Eyebrows might also be raised over the volatility of two other stable Philadelphia-area schools - the University of Pennsylvania, now No. 17, way up from 52 a year ago, and Swarthmore, now No. 10, up from 16. Princeton is back on top after finishing No. 2 to Williams last year.

Haverford College will wait more than a year to get its first choice for a new leader, Lafayette College president Daniel H. Weiss. The prestigious Main Line liberal arts college on Tuesday announced that Weiss, an art history scholar who has led Lafayette since 2005, would become Haverford's 14th president in July 2013. Weiss, 54, asked for the time to finish his eighth year with Lafayette and oversee projects he had started, including the design and building of a new center for global education and a new arts campus.

The president of Lafayette College in Easton will become Haverford College's 14th president, but he won't start the job for over a year, Haverford officials announced Tuesday. Dan Weiss, who has been president of Lafayette since 2005, was approved by Haverford's Board of Managers on Saturday, following a national search that began last fall. He starts at the 1,200-student liberal arts college in July 2013, which allows him to complete his eighth year of presidency at Lafayette, Haverford said.

The young Delco Christian basketball team found out on Saturday how much the squad has matured during the season. The Knights (15-12) captured their third straight District 1 Class A championship with a 39-32 victory at Haverford College against a Morrisville (25-3) team that had beaten Delco twice in the regular season. Junior Anna Evans scored all of her 10 points in the first half, and 5-foot-10 sophomore Jamie Barr collected seven rebounds and 10 blocked shots. On defense, Knights junior Jocelyn Chavous played effectively against Morrisville standout Kievanna Lacey, who scored seven points after scoring a combined 36 points against Delco in two previous meetings this winter.

When the dust finally settles - and that is expected to happen in the next week or so - no one can say that Amile Jefferson made a rash decision. Three months after most of the country's top recruits signed letters of intent to play at the college of their choice, the Friends' Central dynamo is still mulling his options and waiting for "that gut feeling" to arrive and signal his future home. "I'm close to ending the process," the 6-foot-8, 205-pound senior forward said Wednesday.