Eugene Robinson wrote that Harvard University President Lawrence H. Summers assumes "that diversity means lowering standards" ["Same Old Stereotyping," op-ed, Feb. 24]. No, what Mr. Summers indicated in his remarks is that hiring with an eye on improving a university's "diversity" can lower standards. Of course, he's right. If you weigh race, ethnicity and sex in hiring -- whether in a politically correct manner or in the old-fashioned, bigoted way -- you will be giving less weight to merit. That is a cold, undeniable fact.
ROGER B. CLEGG
General Counsel
Center for Equal Opportunity
Sterling
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As the mother of a daughter who is a Harvard University graduate and now a Harvard department fellow, I found the Feb. 21 column by Gerald Goldin, Rebecca Goldin and Andrea Foulkes and the Feb. 22 column by Eugene Robinson regarding Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers misleading and off the mark.
Neither piece dealt with the central thesis of the uproar surrounding the Summers speech -- namely that he raised a number of hypotheses for discussion. The fact that these hypotheses were antithetical to the op-ed authors' views has nothing to do with whether they were valid.
Mr. Summers, believing that universities were open to honest discussion and intellectual debate, had the temerity to suggest that such a debate should occur. For the sake of my daughter, whose Harvard experience has been all positive, and other students at Harvard and across the country, I hope that he proceeds with his valuable and courageous inquiries.
MARINA EIN
Washington
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The otherwise excellent column by Gerald Goldin, Rebecca Goldin and Andrea Foulkes missed one important point: Academic freedom, like freedom of speech, includes the right to say stupid things. However little empirical basis the comments of Lawrence H. Summers might have had, they should do little damage if scholars doing research in this area can refute them and communicate those findings to the public. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
Mr. Summers has said that his remarks were intended to spark debate. That they did. The quality of that debate will be greater if the media can focus less on the sensational and more on the substantive. Beyond the indignation on both sides lies a considerable body of research into women's underrepresentation in graduate math and science programs and many researchers who are eager to talk about their findings.
