In Response to: In pursuit of the Rhodes

As the former Princeton Fulbright program adviser, I have a question: Is it possible that our students’ success in the competition for Rhodes scholarships in comparison with that of applicants from Yale (Notebook, May 12) is simply a fact of numbers? By which I don’t mean averages, but number of seniors. Yale has about 10 percent more undergraduate students than Princeton, as it has for a long time. When the Wythes Report recommendations are fully implemented, the undergraduate population of Princeton will approximate that of Yale now; but of course Yale is also planning to increase the size of its College by adding two new colleges. Presumably a larger number of Princeton seniors will yield a larger number of candidates — and eventually of successful candidates — for the Rhodes.

Our Rhodes record, seen in this light, doesn’t seem anything to be apologetic about, and in any case Frank Ordiway ’81 *90 and his staff deserve great credit for all the work they have done over the years to advise Princeton applicants for the Rhodes scholarship and for other prestigious fellowships.

John Logan ’66
Princeton, N.J.