Letters to the Editor
Reader Provides Different Story
I would like to address an issue brought up by Joey Cohen's letter to the editor (March 6, 2003). Mr. Cohen claims that "In 1967, there were only 150 black students on campus: 1% of the student body. Today, we enjoy a campus with an almost-10% black student body" and then goes on to claim that the increase in the black student population on campus is directly caused by affirmative action policies. However, Mr. Cohen provides no direct evidence that those figures are a result of affirmative action policies at Stanford. Additionally, though he provides us with an interesting statistic, what does this statistic really tell us? Nothing. Having more people of one race does not promote diversity on campus. Diversity isn't about having different races; diversity is about having different people with many different experiences and stories to share. Hopefully, these different experiences will help other students understand their own lives and the world around them a whole lot better. You may argue that having different races will bring in a variety of cultural perspectives, but there is simply no guarantee that more of any race will do so. One cannot equate a set of experiences with a race. One cannot simply say, "She's Hispanic, so she will bring in perspectives x, y, and z. We need more of x, y, and z so let's admit her instead of an equally qualified Black person whose q, r, and s perspectives are already present." Nor can this simplification extend to socioeconomic, religious, or any other types of backgrounds. In fact, it would make more sense for admissions to focus on the written portions of the application process because those portions are the best way to gauge the types of stories and experiences that a person has to share with others. I hope that this letter provides a different story, a diversity, for your readers to learn from.

Lee-Ming Zen
Undeclared '06

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