Black Admissions

Recent trends as seen by the press, at Harvard and at the national level, have tended to remake the issues surrounding black admissions into higher education. Whereas it was once thought that the way to rectify past injustices was to open the doors of opportunity, to admit and to graduate more black students, we now see these doors being shut, and in a myriad of different ways. Substantial decreases in scholarship aid, inadequate or completely curtailed recruitment programs, and more recently the questions of non-uniform admissions criteria (such as those alleged in the DeFunis case) have begun across the nation to affect black enrollment at the undergraduate and graduate level. The questions of inadequate financial ability and of fairness once used to increase black admissions are now being manipulated to decrease black admissions.

One curious aspect of this whole contradiction is that some blacks--faculty, students, and administrators--who have argued for the last nine months both privately and in the nations press on what the black experience at Harvard should and should not be, have now begun to blame each other for the trend in admissions. ("On Contradictions," Crimson, April 29) It is no surprise that some black students are confused as to what the situation really is, and why it is that way. If one works with basic premises, and realizes that the voice of authority is not the voice of truth but only that of authority, the situation may be understood.

If indeed Harvard wanted to dramatically increase the number of black students admitted it could do so. In recent years admissions to several departments has been higher than it is presently. The number of black applicants for most departments has not decreased, but remained relatively steady. Most importantly many departments keep long waiting lists of "qualified" black students for whom "space is not presently available." The point is that there are black students who do apply, whom Harvard sees as "qualified" but who are not admitted due to an artificial "saturation point" which varies from department to department, year to year; and administration to administration. The black students at Harvard are absolutely not at fault for the low and/or declining admissions rate for black students.

Several black medical students have taken a very active role in recruitment of prospective Harvard medical students, and prospective black medical students specifically. We haven't done this because we are paid to do it (which we aren't), because we have reduced work loads to do it (which we don't), or because we have siblings applying for next year's class. We do it because we have, as most black students have, a positive and strong commitment to all of our brothers and sisters who want and need to become physicians.

We all must remember that none of us has the power to send letters admission or notices of financial aid. It is the Harvard administration who has that power, and it is the Harvard administration who presently decides how that power is to be used. It is totally ridiculous to think that black students here are restricting black admissions, but it is not ridiculous for us to think that we can have a significant influence in reversing and improving present trends. Although we may be here with 4.0 GPA's, and 800 SAT's, GRE's LSAT's and MCAT's, we must never forget that these achievements are not responsible for black presence at Harvard. We are here because people before us fought the racist system that excluded black students from Harvard and most other institutions for hundreds of years. "Qualified" black students were around long before 1968 and will be around long after 1974. It is up to blacks, while we are here, to do everything we can to increase and insure our presence and contributions.

Woodrow A. Myers is a first-year student at the Medical School and co-chairman of the Med School's Black Health Organization.