Admissions Can’t Be a Dirty Word

BY TOMMY BARONE

To fight for diversity on campus, we students have to talk about admissions. Behind every movement lies discourse. Only by the free exchange of ideas can we diagnose issues as worthy of action, identify solutions, and convince others to join us.

That’s why the thing that unsettles me most about today’s decision is that admissions remains a dirty word on Harvard’s campus. There exists a politics of politeness that proscribes honest discussion about Harvard College’s admissions practices. This reluctance has long held back reform; now, it could restrain the student response to the fall of affirmative action too.

Why, then, are we keeping mum about everything else wrong with admissions? The short answer is that we’re worried about being impolite.

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