Expert Says 'Bakke' Had Little Effect

The Bakke decision has had little effect on minority admissions to American universities, L. Fred Hargadon, chairman of the College Entrance Examination Board and dean of admissions at Stanford University, told a Faculty Club audience last night.

Hargadon said an increased tendency for other students to regard minority students as "being there by some special preference," is one of the few minor effects of the decision that he has noticed.

"We're very aware that that feeling has to be offset. Some of the brightest students at Stanford and elsewhere are minorities," Hargadon said. "The bottom quarter of our class includes a very diverse group of people, and we don't even have a hockey team," he added.

Hargadon said the other effect of the controversial decision, which endorsed minority preference in admissions without calling for quotas, is the new strength it has given to "the constituencies who say we don't have enough commitment to minorities."

Hargadon dismissed that charge as untrue, but added that it could turn into a "self-fulfilling prophecy."

"If enough people in the papers say we aren't interested in minorities, then eventually that is what will begin to happen," Hargadon said.

Hargadon also told the audience of 30 local admissions officials that "no matter how you cut it, we have made a lot of progress in minority admissions. Too much of what has been written is the pathology of it all," he said, adding, "hardly ever do you hear the success stories."

Success, however, is breeding new problems for minority recruiters, Hargadon said.

"Ten years ago, if an elite university recruited a black student, you could bet they'd come to your school," he said, adding that in contract black students have undergone a "normalization process" in the last five years that is "allowing them to choose state schools instead of private institutions for trivial reasons just like many other students."

He urged the admissions personnel to discuss minority issues with "a lot of courage and candor," adding that many people avoided facing questions about "what our goals for minorities should be for fear of looking like a racist, a villain."