In Response to: Identity Politics?

In the PAW article on the conference of black alumni, I read the following quote with some interest: "It's been important to me that the University has acknowledged and apologized for the harm that too many black students and students of color have experienced."

Personally, I think that this subject begs for greater discussion. What was the "harm" that the black students experienced? Were these negative experiences academic, extra-curricular, social or all of the above? Have these experiences improved for more recent black students, compared to the experiences of black students in the 1970s and 1980s? What have been the unintended consequences of the University's efforts to increase diversity?

PAW might consider revisiting what is obviously a sensitive, but vitally important, subject.

Peter Seldin ’76
New Canaan, Conn.