John Polt ’49, in response to a trustee report criticizing the University for not coming “close to looking like America today,” laments that it no longer matters “who you are, what your intellectual and other talents are, what you’ve achieved, or how you think ... ” (Inbox, Nov. 13). Why does Mr. Polt assume that a more ethnically or racially diverse Princeton community will mean less exemplary individuals, without the intellect and other talents of white students, and who are low achievers and mediocre thinkers? Mr. Polt said that for the trustees, diversity was skin deep. There is no evidence for that. But there does seem to be some evidence for my suspicion that Mr. Polt thinks that intellect and talent are skin deep. If that’s true, that’s too bad, but kudos to the trustees.
In Response to: Defining Diversity