Yield for Black Admits Stays High

The numbers speak for themselves: a record count of Asian American, Black, Hispanic and Mexican American student's were admitted to Harvard's Class of 1998.

In a time when "multiculturalism" and 'diversity" are buzzwords in college admissions office nationwide, Harvard has found success in its vigorous effort to recruit minorities.

But the College's success raises questions about the role race should play in a student's application. Though the University has successfully parried reverse discrimination charges filed with the Department of Education, the age-old question remains: in striving for a more diverse student body, is the College just aiming to increase its numbers?

As of last week, the Class of 1998 included a record 147 Blacks, a record 325 Asian-Americans and 712 women.

The Class also has 47 Mexican-Americans, 25 Puerto Ricans, 54 Hispanic Americans, and 11 Native Americans.

This year the yield of Black students was 71 percent, a figure just slightly below the overall yield of 75 percent.

Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons '67 attributes the increase in minority admits to the admissions office's continued recruiting effort to target minorities.

"We did a 'second search' again this year," Fitzsimmons says. "We did calling again, which we had done the previous year. The primary purpose is to get people we may have missed first time round."

He adds that recruiting for Black students is "probably the most intense of any ethnic group." The lowest number of Black Students since the College instituted affirmative action in 1969 matriculated in the Class of 1996. After that dip, the College has worked toward regaining minority representation and leveling the admissions playing field.

While Harvard only offers needbased financial aid, admissions officers and student representatives have been selling the virtues of Vritues across the country at high schools and college fairs to battle the tempting merit-based scholarships offered to Blacks by other schools.

Reverse Discrimination?

The intense recruitment of minorities has raised some concerns about reverse discrimination in the name of diversity.

Fitzsimmons toes the party-line about the importance of race or ethnicity in an applicant's folder: a student will not be admitted on the basis of race alone. But, if the minority student is qualified or has managed to achieve in the face of avdversity, then that student can add an important element of diversity to a class.

"Ethnicity of all kinds could turn out to be a positive factor," Fitzsimmons says. "It wouldn't have to simply be a person designated as a minority background by the U.S. government."

But Harvard's admissions policies, as well as those at other colleges across the country, are being questioned by some who allege that they are victims of a politically correct quest for multiculturalism.

A confidential report complied by the Consortium on Financing Higher Education, a group of 32 private colleges and universities, reveled last spring that the average SAT scores of Black students were lower compared to those of white students. The report stated that the average score for Black students in Harvard's Class of 1995 is 1290, while the average score of whites is 1400.

Fitzsimmons refuses to confirm or refute the consortium's statistics, but said last year that Harvard does belong to the consortium and participates in its studies. He also says that the scores of any particular subgroups show that "all minority groups are well within the normal range for the institution as a whole."

Mark Stonecypher, a white male student rejected by Harvard last year, filed a complaint last year with the Department of Education charging Harvard with reverse discrimination. Though the complaint was dismissed last year, the Stonecypher charges embody the ongoing debate in implementing affirmative action: is the "College sacrificing academic quality for diversity?

Stonecypher's complaint addressed "all Black minority students that applied to Harvard receiving special treatment." He singled out his high school classmate Eugenia Kay Harris, a Black female, who was accepted to Harvard. Stonecypher, a sophomore at Vanderbilt, was rejected by Harvard in the spring of 1993.

The complaint claimed that Harris had lower standardized test scores and took a less rigorous course load than Stonecypher. It also alleged that Harris failed to meet the application deadline.

Harris, the class valedictorian, denied that she took less demanding classes. Many teachers at the Birmingham, Alabama high school Harris and Stonecypher attended, said earlier this year that Harris was a "class leader" and was more outgoing and more involved in extracurricular activities than Stonecypher.

He charged that on the basis of academic merit, he should have been accepted to Harvard's Class of 1997.

But according to the Department of Education's Office of Civil Right's (OCR) report, obtained by The Crimson under the Freedom of Information Act, Harvard does not favor certain applicants based on their racial or ethnic background.

"OCR determined that the admissions policies and procedures do treat applicants differently on the basis of race, but that the University proffered its interest in diversity among its students as a legitimate nondiscriminatory justification for the different treatment," the report states.

"The University considers the applications of hundreds and sometimes more than 1,000 applicants who apply after the application deadline," according to a memo by OCR Branch Chief Ralph D'Amico.

D'Amico quoted Associate Director of Admissions Rosemary M. Green as saying the deadline is flexible because "18-year-olds are under enough pressure to meet deadlines as it is."

Fitzsimmons says he feels vindicated by the Department's findings.

"Our feeling is that we dealt with Mr. Stonecypher in the same straight-forward way we dealt with any applicant," Fitzsimmons says.