Spreading The Word

There was a certain Irony about the 1981 appointment of Jennifer Carey '73 as a regular admissions officer overseeing minority recruiting. Carey, who spends much of her time trying to convince prospective that Harvard is a rewarding place, is herself an example of how effective minority recruiting can be in dispelling myths about the University. She attended a small Catholic high school in Brooklyn where her classmates evinced surprise and dismay when they found out she was accepted at Harvard. This reaction (which she now calls "outrageous") almost convinced Carey to change her mind, until her parents intervened to encourage the Ivy League choice.

Ever since that first experience with others' negative opinions about Harvard, Carey, as both a student and admissions recruiter, has devoted time to improving the University's image, especially among minorities. Because of the many misconceptions about Harvard, she says. "The recruitment effort is so vital."

Carey, who is Black, has been working to improve the admissions office's presentation of Harvard to convince more qualified minority students to apply. Since joining the admissions staff, Carey has increased the role of minority student recruiters and updated brochures; she is currently expanding recruitment to include high school sophomores and juniors.

As part of her duties, Carey oversees the activities of student recruiters who travel to selected areas around the country meeting with high school students interested in Harvard. In training the students, Carey discussed "what kinds of information will be useful on the road and what Harvard's minority policy is."

Carey directly attributes recent increases in Black applicants from the Washington, D.C. and Chicago areas to these undergraduate salesmen. The advantage of student recruiters, she says, is that as peers, they are more credible to the prospective applicant, and at the same time able to screen out "those students who don't have a shot."

Students presenting their own experiences at Harvard to high school students around the country help "break down the stereotypes at Harvard"--the same kinds of misconceptions she herself faced when she first walked into the Radcliffe Club in New York for a student reception 10 years ago.

Carey says she has many other plans for disseminating information to minority students around the country. For the first time this spring, minority recruiters will travel to certain cities to talk to interested sophomores and juniors, Carey says. With communication and information beginning their sophomore or junior year. Carey adds, seniors will be better prepared for the surge of information from the various colleges and the demands of the application process.

Carey notes that as an undergraduate she did some recruiting, but chose to devote most of her time to minority organizations on campus. She points to a change in the attitude of minority students at the College since she moved into Quincy House eight years ago. "There is less of a tendency to get involved in Third World organizations now," and instead, a trend towards involvement in House activities.

Carey insists that Third World organizations have not lost their appeal, but rather "even with the strong sense of community within each group, there is a lot more across the lines" activity.

After graduating from Harvard. Carey received her Masters in Education from the School of Education in 1979. She then worked at Ohio State University for two years as the assistant director of student life programs. While there, she organized special programs for minorities, student leaders, and fraternities. The students were quite different from those at Harvard, she adds, since Ohio State University is an open enrollment public institution.

Since returning to Harvard, Carey has taken on the role of a regular admissions officer as well as overseeing the minority recruitment efforts. She travels to upstate New York, New Jersey and Michigan as well as reading applicant folders from New York City.

While selling the College to minority prospective. Carey acknowledges that Harvard could do more for them. "Questions addressing the climate here for students" could be more effectively dealt with, she notes. "Harvard is not as responsive to the needs of the Third World as it could be," she says.

As a freshman proctor who lives in Greenough with her husband a student at the Med School--Carey gets to see how the prospective she has helped to choose turn out in person. "I have enjoyed watching the awakening process at some point in the freshman year when [students] realize there is life beyond academics and beyond the library."