Some Applauded, Others Wondered

When Harvard and Radcliffe put the finishing touches on their Classes of 1978 this week, the optimistic critics complimented the improvements: more blacks and Latins admitted to Harvard and more Latins accepted by Radcliffe.

But others were justifiably less generous with their praise. They saw the foremost failure on the Radcliffe side, where the number of blacks admitted dropped by five, despite a 15-per-cent jump--from 265 to 305--in black applications.

At Harvard the numbers made more sense. Black "admits" rose 8 per cent after a 10-per-cent increase in black applications. But the increase from 94 to 102 accepted could not obscure the fact that last year was a poor one for Harvard's black applications; two years before, 114 black males had been accepted.

At both colleges the Latin admissions were more encouraging. Harvard admitted about 15 per cent more Chicanos, and Radcliffe sent fat letters to twice as many students in the Latin category, which includes Chicanos, Puerto Ricans and Cubans.

Questioned about the apparently serious drop in black admits at Radcliffe, Albert B. Arthurs, dean of admissions, financial aid and women's education, called the decrease insignificant.

But it is unlikely that Radcliffe will ignore what happened to its black admissions this year. When minority applications go up, minority acceptances should follow, unless the quality of the larger applicant pool is abnormally low.

Last year, when black male admits dropped over 15 per cent, Harvard woke up and drew up what has turned out to be a partially successful recruitment campaign. How else would a serious artist react when he sees the quality of his works come under challenge?