Minority administrators

Wealthy, white and male: a stereotype of the typical Princetonian that has defined perceptions of the University for much of its 258 years. Of course, for most of the University's history, this stereotype was largely true: It was not until World War II that the first African-American students were regularly admitted, and coeducation didn't arrive until 1969.

Fortunately, the University has made major strides in overcoming these stereotypes and making the campus more diverse. Now women make up nearly half of the student body, and last year 27 percent of Princeton students were minorities. On the administrative level, half of the highest ranking deans and other officials are women.

Though women are now well-represented at the University's highest administrative levels, there have been concerns recently that minorities are underrepresented. Statistics support this concern — only one of the 18 highest-ranking University officials is a minority.

This lack of minorities does not imply that the University is somehow discriminatory in its hiring procedures. After all, at one point during President Shapiro's term, three of the highest-ranking officials were minorities, and both Harvard and Yale have smaller percentages of minorities in high-ranking administrative positions.

What this does suggest, however, is that qualified minorities may be discouraged from applying for these positions by the same stereotypical impressions of the University that the administration has been trying so hard to overcome. Despite the diversification of the student body over the last half century, the perception of Princeton as the exclusive playground of white prep-schoolers can sometimes remain.

The University has not had much success in recruiting qualified minorities to apply for senior administrative posts. But its recent commitment to encourage minorities to apply to these posts should be applauded.