Amherst Director of Admissions Censures Rule Prohibiting Requests for Photographs

The rule forcing schools to stop requesting photographs with application forms is a "stupid requirement," according to Eugene S. Wilson, Director of Admissions for Amherst College.

Amherst has asked for photographs with applications in the past, but will not do so next year to comply with the Fair Educational Practices Act. Tufts, Williams, and Harvard College and Law School now require photographs.

Commenting on the rule, Wilson said that the first people hurt would be those the FEPA was trying to help. Since any restrictive admission policy involves discrimination, it's a question of discriminating fairly, he said. "Photographs might help us to recognize students from underprivileged backgrounds who have high potential," he suggested.

Ineffectual and Undemocratic

Wilson noted that those wishing to evade the law could simply require interviews. The law in "undemocratic," he remarked, in that it assumes the existence of prejudice and makes students fear their backgrounds will be held against them.

Walter H. Nolan, Executive Secretary of the Commission Against Discrimination, which is in charge of enforcing the FEPA law, said the effect on schools like Amherst and Harvard is unfortunate, but that he had to consider the "overall situation."

On the other hand, Wilson claimed the law merely "requires the destruction of evidence of discrimination." It would be better, he said, to require all schools to collect and publish information on the race and religion of their applicants and determine the presence of discrimination on that basis.