Asian Admissions

To the Editors of The Crimson:

We, the presidents of the Harvard Radcliffe Asian American Association, firmly believe that a hidden quota is not used by the Undergraduate Admissions Office in selecting qualified Asian Americans.

We are confident that Harvard-Radcliffe's admissions system is fair. First, the decentralized steps involved in the process of reviewing applications make a set quota unlikely. Our understanding of the mechanism of the procedure comes from Asian Americans who play integral parts in the admissions process. Susie Chao, a past steering committee member of the Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Association, has been a full-fledged Admissions Officer for the past three years. Additionally, Ms. Chao serves as Assistant Director of Minority Recruitment and works with two student recruiters/representatives who are permanent liaisons between the Admissions Office and us.

Second, we have watched the Admissions Office's growth in both its sensitivity to Asian American applicants and its recruitment efforts for Asian Americans of all socio-economic backrounds. The active schedules of minority student recruiters and the elaborate Minority Pre-Frosh Weekend every April are specific examples of the effort spent in trying to attract as many qualified Asian Americans as possible to Harvard. Having an upper-limit quota is clearly inconsistent with the time, energy and funds the Admissions Office invests in recruiting Asian Americans.

It is also clear that no matter how perfect the admissions process is, unconscious bias and subjective opinions of individuals in the Admissions Office will still play a part. Improvements can always be made. But if the Admissions Office deliberately employed unfair practices in selecting applicants, we believe that we would be aware of them through our close communication with the people within the system. We can assure the Harvard community that if there were discriminatory practices against Asian American applicants in the Admissions Office, we certainly would be one of the first to investigate and speak out.

We are glad that Harvard's admissions policy for Asian Americans is being scrutinized by the Department of Education. This investigation will clarify and eliminate the myths about Harvard's admissions process for many more people and urge Harvard to continually improve its admissions system. Hopefully, the findings of this inquiry will persuade other colleges across the country to follow Harvard's policy Asian American admissions. Mark H.F. Kuo '90   Eva Lum '89   Co-presidents, Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Association