Kurzman Responds

1) The ad hominem attacks on me are unnecessary, since the comment that the Admissions Office seems willing to sacrifice academic standards for athletic ability in selected sports cannot be attributed to any psychological weakness of mine. For the record, though, I am a sports fan, almost a sports fanatic, and my article was partially intended as self-criticism.

2) I am not opposed to entertainment or fun. Some of my best friends have fun. (See, a little humor there.) But the primary purpose of Harvard is educational and academic, and any exceptions should be made explicitly and open to debate.

3) I agree, and said in the article, that there are in fact some athletes at Harvard who confirm the scholar-athlete stereotype. I refuse to be misread as lumping all athletes together in the negative stereotype.

4) However, I don't believe the letter-writers would deny that there are some athletes at Harvard who do in fact confirm the negative stereotype.

5) The phrase "rumors say," rather than newsy attributions like "sources said," was used because the information was told to me when I was not acting in my capacity as a reporter. The piece was not intended as an investigative expose--others at campus news organizations are responsible for muckraking, and implicit in the article was a criticism of their lack of success.

6) The real fault, though, lies with a University that is unwilling to state publicly the extent of the problem. Several years ago, Harvard publicized a study which concluded in part that minority students were academic underachievers--Harvard would never, it seems, dare offend its athletes in a similar manner. Charles T. Kurzman