Diversity Distinguishes Princeton’s Class of 2024

In response to the letter on admission data (Inbox, June/July 2020), the comment that “Dean Richardson [’93] and her admissions staff apparently didn’t get [Martin Luther King Jr.’s] message” implies a belief that the Class of 2024 was admitted primarily on “the color of their skin,” not “the content of their character.” I question the underlying premise: Does evidence exist that the selection process adhered to less rigorous standards than the usual ones upheld by the Office of Admission? (Spoiler alert: No.)

What, then, elicited the admission comments this year, particularly, and not, say, last year when Jill Dolan was the acting dean of admission? The press releases for the classes of 2023 and 2024 were quite similar. Evidently, the University’s commitment to diversity has been explicit and well-documented for a while now.

We’ll never know if similar sentiments would have been expressed had Dean Dolan, who is white, delivered the exact same results this year. We know only that the letter appeared during the tenure of Dean Richardson, who is African American. While it surprised me to see a fellow alum rebuke a highly qualified dean for executing Princeton’s established recruiting strategy, something about the invocation of Dr. King in a pointed tone bothered me more. I’m confident that Dean Richardson and her team understand the letter and spirit of “I have a dream” perfectly. Thank you, Dean Richardson, for all your efforts, and your team’s, to manifest Princeton’s mission in the world’s service. And to every member of the Class of 2024, congratulations and welcome! You are right where you belong.

Once again, the University along with PAW touts the racial and ethnic diversity of the admitted class, rather than its academic accomplishments. I have long accepted the premise that I will never again see a headline announcing the brightest and best class ever admitted.

In the April 22, 2020, issue containing the article about the newly admitted class, there is no listing of any academic successes. There is no mention of SAT scores, class ranking, or leadership. This information has disappeared from the reporting long ago. Instead the article dissects the color and income of admittees.

Princeton has fallen in line with the national trend in academia where intellect and accomplishment are less important than background  in what has become social laboratories instead of learning bastions.

Following the certain pattern, I am sure that one year from now I will be reading how the Class of 2025 has racially and ethnically out-diversified all previous classes.

Regarding the “racially and ethnically diverse group” of admits to the Class of 2024, 61 percent of whom, according to Dean of Admission Karen Richardson ’93, self-identified as “people of color,” I was reminded of Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 dream “that [his] four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Dean Richardson and her admissions staff apparently didn’t get King’s message.