Kudos for Gender Parity in Admits

Keep the women coming! The percentage of women admitted to the class of 2001 hit a record high of 48.5 percent, up from 45.5 percent admitted last year. We applaud Dean of Admissions William R. Fitzsimmons '67 and the entire admissions committee on continuing the long-standing trend of increasingly equal gender ratios and the necessary recruitment that has encouraged a larger talented female class to apply.

As Dean Fitzsimmons understands, although this continuing egalitarianism is incredibly encouraging, it should be seen as a milestone on which the College must build. 48.5 percent is great, but we aren't there yet. While we do not expect the College to admit a 50/50 ratio consistently, the College has not yet admitted a class with more than 50 percent women. We hope that the College will take this year's achievement as motivation for further outreach efforts and for continued recruitment of talented women. Gender parity will play a vital role in making Harvard an even more richly diverse academic community. We look forward to the day this page can congratulate the College on achieving gender parity.