To the Editors of the Crimson:

Robert Hildreth '72 badly misquoted me in an unsigned article that he wrote in the Wednesday, October 20th, edition of the Crimson. I felt that my comments were clear. Obviously, this was not the case.

To set the record straight: I do not feel that it will hurt the incoming Freshman Class in any way if that class is cut by 25 to 50 men. The diversity in the class will not be altered and there will be no reduction in our effort to recruit students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

I did discuss with Mr. Hildreth the hypothetical question that if, at some time in the future, the number of men in the Freshman Class was reduced by 300 or 400 men our diversity would be affected since we would be cutting back in most categories. As examples, I said that there might be fewer Harvard sons and fewer men from disadvantaged backgrounds; but that, in my opinion, we would not reduce the number of top scholars even in a smaller class. Sincerely,   John P. Reardon