She refused to elaborate.

Officials have defended the affirmative action policies of the department. A memo from Government Department Chair Kenneth A. Shepsle, circulated yesterday in University Hall, said affirmative action is necessary to sustain the intellectual diversity of the students.

"We want a well-rounded class of entering students, because...we believe that heterogeneity in the way people define and analyze problems is intellectually stimulating to all students and faculty," Shepsle wrote in the memo, which was obtained by The Crimson.

"We do not have separate admissions processes or separate standards for minorities and non-minorities," Shepsle continued.

"Diversity is an important goal, but it is weighed along with other goals in a highly nuanced process that seeks to assemble a group reflecting appropriate balance, range and academic and professional promise."

Shepsle did not return repeated phone calls to his home and office.

One of the department's most senior faculty members disagreed with Shepsle.

Kenan Professor of Government Harvey C. Mansfield Jr. '53, one of the campus's most outspoken critics of affirmative action, hailed the Weekly Standard article as quite accurate."

"As a department for graduate students, we're not in the business of making a community," Mansfield said yesterday. "We're just trying to find the best political scientists to teach political science."

Asked if the perspective minorities enjoy contributes to the intellectual diversity of the department, Mansfield said, "There's something to that, but it presupport that minorities all think the same. That's quite a weak argument for professional graduate education."

The Weekly Standard is backed by multinational media financier Rupert Murdoch and is edited by William Kristol, former chief of staff for former vice president Dan Quatle. It was launched last month