Letter from an alumnus posing Questions about admissions

Date Posted: 05/22/05

Re "A larger, more diverse class" (Notebook, May 11) that is "more diverse, with 41 percent coming from minority backgrounds." The United States has 12 percent blacks, 12 percent Hispanics, 4 percent Asians; so how is 41 percent appropriate? I'm all for lowering the bar for blacks and Hispanics (Asians are automatically more than proportional on strict merit). But how far did we lower it? What were the mean SAT scores for ethnic groups?

I guess I'm bitter because I interviewed five candidates, none of whom were accepted (four whites, one Asian). Two of these were extremely well-qualified (the other three were fairly well-qualified).

I must admit the top two candidates were much better qualified than I was (even though I graduated with high honors). Let's bare the hard facts of admission.

Charles E. Tychsen '43

Misawaka, Ind

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