IOP Shows Strong Diversity On Many Fronts

To the editors:



Juliet S. Samuels’ opinions of the Institute of Politics (IOP) (“The Greasy Poll,” op-ed, Nov. 30) seem formed by her limited involvement and her hunger for formal debate. They are not bad opinions and are certainly interesting. However, the evidence she offers of diversity at the IOP is scanty at best and shows that she has not undertaken any serious investigation of IOP diversity.

While ethnic diversity at the executive-team level has suffered in recent years, it is not historically an all-white or even all-male province, as examination of IOP Student Advisory Committee reports shows. Any diversity at the IOP is necessarily limited by the diversity of its constituency—the Harvard student body. Yet some programs at the IOP are consistently more ethnically diverse than the Harvard student body itself, which is no small accomplishment based on a dramatically improving outreach operation.

I further dispute her characterization of the relationship between ethnic student groups and the IOP. Any cursory examination of the records available at the IOP shows that ethnic student groups very regularly co-sponsor IOP events, not just once per year. The IOP has recently taken steps to form ethnic caucuses to further solidify these relationships, and while leadership missteps this semester may have lead Samuels to form her allegations, her claims are factually unsupported.



PALOMA A. ZEPEDA ’06

November 30, 2005



The writer is a member at large of the IOP Student Advisory Committee.