Chicanos

There are presently 17 Chicano undergraduates in the University.

Martin R. Garay III '71-one of four UMAS members who will meet with Peterson today-said yesterday that the meeting was intended "to see where the admissions policy is headed" and to push for a significant increase in Chicano admissions within the next year.

"We find the present admissions policy toward Chicanos abhorrent." Garay said. "We [Chicano undergraduates in the College] recruited extensively to increase the number of Chicano applications this year, but there was no increase in acceptances despite the larger pool."

Garay said "it is obvious" to the 12 UMAS members who signed the letter to Pusey and Bok that "the admissions policy of the College is discriminatory against Chicanos."

In response to the UMAS letter, Peterson said yesterday that Harvard "has never had racial quotas for any good or bad reason, and there is nothing to gain by succumbing to them."

Distinctions

Peterson pointed up the distinction between recruitment and admissions, saying that once the consideration of applications begins, "all applicants are stripped of the rationale behind their recruitment and are obliged to survive in the admissions process on their own character and merits."

Peterson explained the number of Chicanos admitted to the Class of 1975 in terms of the candidates' strengths. "The number of strong candidates in the Chicano pool simply did not correspond to the increase in the size of the pool." he said.

Distance and cultural differences, Peterson said, are deterrents to spontaneous applications by Chicanos-most of whom live in the West and Southwest-and make it difficult to attract strong candidates to Harvard.

'Frankly'

As for the five Chicano suggestions, Peterson said the number of transfer openings for next year has not been determined, and that "no admissions officer deals with specific racial recruitment, and frankly, we don't want one because of the necessary limitations which would be placed upon such a person."

Cross-cultural adaptations, he said, are difficult, and there are limitations both on a student's ability to adapt to the College and on the College's ability to adapt to the student. Peterson denied that the University's policy towards Chicanos "is in any way racist."

"We have limitations and they have aspirations that can't be entirely coordinated," Peterson said, "but a community of confidence is a necessary and important thing in improving this coordination."