"President A. Lawrence Lowell was clearly very different from Eliot, and in some ways sought to limit Eliot's concept of diversity. For example, he called for quotas on the number of Jewish students admitted to Harvard. At the same time, he went further than Eliot in providing facilities that could sustain the more democratic ideals which had gradually been established at the university. In developing the residential House system during the late 1920s, Lowell specifically sought to diminish the tendency of students to form 'cliques based upon similarity of origin and upon wealth.'"

On President James B. Conant:

"Part of Conant's program involved a reenergizing of Harvard's academic life, especially in advanced learning and research. This initiative took many forms, but the conscious recruitment and enrollment of a more diverse student body was one of its important aspects...."

"The Harvard National Scholarships were created as part of this process.... Conant--like Eliot--stresses the clear linkage between certain values (such as tolerance) fostered in a residential college, and the civic virtues essential to citizenship and leadership in a democracy."

On Test Scores:

"There is broad consensus that standardized test scores can be valuable as one factor, among several, in helping to assess candidates for admission.... The correlation between SAT scores and future academic success, however, is far from exact. It is not uncommon for individuals to outperform (or underperform) what the tests 'predict'--often by significant margins. In addition, the predictive power of the tests diminishes over time."

On Equal Admissions Opportunities:

"Students who have had less consistent access to good education (and who lack the money to pay for extra 'prepping') will frequently do less well on standardized tests. Opportunities, not just abilities, are a critical issue here. Individuals who have unusual drive, curiosity, and a strong sense of purpose can compensate for lower test scores, and they regularly demonstrate that they can succeed admirably in a university--and in life--if they are given the chance."

On Racial Quotas in Admissions:

"In 1978, the Supreme Court in Bakke issued what remains its most significant statement concerning questions of race and admissions in higher education.... Bakke contended that he was not admitted because of his race: that as a white student, he had been unfairly excluded from competing for one of the 16 places reserved for minorities...."

"The clear separation of 84 'regular' admissions places from 16 'special' places for minorities, together with the use of different numerical cutoff points for the two groups, was held to be unlawful.... Under the Bakke ruling, it was judged permissible to take race explicitly into account as one factor in making university admissions decisions, provided that the institution can show that the practice is necessary to promote a substantial interest."

"Distinctions between the Harvard College program and the University of California at Davis program were discussed in some detail in Bakke. Justice [Harry A.] Blackmun ['29] wrote that, while he saw the advantages of the Harvard program, he was not convinced that the difference between the two was 'very profound or constitutionally significant'...."

"In his pivotal opinion, however, Justice [Lewis] Powell insisted on the fundamental difference between a two-track process involving setasides and a unitary process that judged all candidates by the same set of criteria, applied in a way that considered each applicant as an individual with a complex set of talents, interests, characteristics, qualities, and achievements."

On Affirmative Action:

"The main question to be addressed in this context is not so much affirmative action in itself, but the broader matter of diversity as it relates to the quality, breadth, and texture of student learning. The primary purpose of diversity in university admissions, moreover, is not the achievement of abstract goals, or an attempt to compensate for patterns of past societal discrimination...."