Harvard Really Diverse, Except When It’s Really, Really Not

by Nick Summers | April 2, 2007 at 1:26 pm

Harvard Really Diverse, Except When It's Really, Really NotThe shepherds of diversity at Harvard surely cluck with approval at this morning's headine in the Crimson: "UNPRECEDENTED DIVERSITY IN CLASS OF 2011." Some stats to stroke: the 2,058 new kids make up "the most socioeconomically and racially diverse group [ever] accepted to Harvard," at 11 percent black, 20 percent Asian, 10 percent Latino, and 2 percent Native American -- "record highs for minority groups" -- and just under 20 percent are foreign/dual/etc citizens. And most significantly, fully one quarter will qualify for a program that waives or lowers tuition for families at certain income levels.

Attaway, Harvard. Hopefully the other Ivies' numbers will mirror yours when they come out. Credit is largely due to recent munificence from your admissions and financial aid offices, who should be feeling pretty swell today. But, um, when you're done toasting those guys, could you please send them the hell over to the athletics department?

Students on spring break last week may have missed this humdinger front-pager in the Boston Globe with an equally seismic headline about diversity at Harvard: "A COACHING VACANCY: HARVARD HAS 41 VARSITY SPORTS -- AND ZERO BLACKS AT THE HELM." Needless to say, there are also no African-Americans among the athletics director or his 13 senior administrators. "Harvard," the Globe reports, "has not employed an African-American head coach in any sport since Peter Roby guided the men's basketball team from 1985-91."

1985, you'll note, is the year before most members of the polychromatic Class of 2011 were born.

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