<p>I went and made a contribution to Smith today (rather than my alma mater) and asked that it be used for financial aid for international students.</p>
<p>Ms. Spurzem backtracks a bit.</p>
<p>[Woman</a> says Smith College comments misconstrued - GreenwichTime](<a href=“http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/Woman-says-Smith-College-comments-misconstrued-3365409.php#src=fb]Woman”>http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/Woman-says-Smith-College-comments-misconstrued-3365409.php#src=fb)</p>
<p>A friend and fellow alum emailed me about this, and I figured CC would have the latest info. I met Anne Spurzem several years ago, and she struck me as someone who embodies what I think of as the characterisitics of a Smith graduate – pleasant, hard working, articulate, and committed to volunteering to help others. She volunteered to take over the Westchester Smith Club, and she has worked hard to offer interesting programs for its members. </p>
<p>The link to her letter was broken; I read portions of it in the link provided above by Bossof51. While I do not agree with Anne’s comments or the way she chose to express them, I honestly believe Anne was motivated by a love of Smith and concern over the path she feels admissions is taking.</p>
<p>And for whatever it’s worth, in the fall of 1979, my own guidance counselor at my hyper-competitive prep school sneered when I said I wanted to apply to Smith. “It’s a safety for you” she said. I was accepted there, and at Cornell and William & Mary. I chose Smith. I’m glad I did.</p>
<p>It has been puzzling to me all along that Anne Spurzem, as president of the Smith Club of Westchester County, would be so negative about an institution that she theoretically supports. I tend to agree with you, Classof2015, about her motivations and I’d like to give her the benefit of the doubt on that score. However, I don’t agree with her assessment of the school at all; she’s deeply misguided in her assumptions. The school is thriving. My heart has been bursting with pride at the fierce love, pride and gratitude exhibited time and again on the tumbler website.</p>
<p>For the moment, Classof2015, I’ll assume you are correct: Ms. Spurzem was motivated by a love of Smith and concern over the path admissions is taking. I’d say her letter has provoked abundant proof that her concerns are unfounded and she can rest easy. </p>
<p>I am sort of glad Ms. Spurzem kicked the hornet’s nest. The outcry has made me prouder than ever to be the parent of a Smithie.</p>
<p>I do agree that this event has made me even prouder to be the parent of a Smithie. And I’m sure it’s created a fund-raising bonanza, too!</p>
<p>You don’t suppose that was Ms. Spurzem’s real objective and we’ve all been duped, do you?! If so, my money is on mini as the mastermind behind the operation.</p>
<p>Ta-DAH! I’ve been outed!</p>
<p>Semi-seriously, I could have done it better. Ms. Spurzem’s letter suggests she knows very little about what Smith was like while she was supposedly there! Perhaps she’s channeling her mother?</p>
<p>Mini,</p>
<p>You should find this article interesting. </p>
<p>[Richard</a> Buery: The Case of the Disappearing Black and Latino Student: Race and the Achievement Gap at Smith College and Stuyvesant High School](<a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>The Case of the Disappearing Black and Latino Student: Race and the Achievement Gap at Smith College and Stuyvesant High School | HuffPost New York)</p>
<p>It was.</p>
<p>The folks at the CollegeBoard figured out in the early 1990s how to adjust SAT scores based on race and class/income. They’d tested and backtested it. Then they figured out that their “target market” would be offended if they did so, so they fired the guy in charge of the project. </p>
<p>“Stereotype threat” as it relates to teh ability of African-Americans to score well on standard tests is so well-documented at this point that in the scholarly community it isn’t even debated anymore. It’s old news going back more than a decade. But in the college admissions community it has hardly made an impression at all. </p>
<p>The other thing that is well-known pertains to immigrant communities and their over/under performance relative to each other and to African-Americans. Folks who come from a social strata at the bottom of the totem pole in their “old” countries tend to do more poorly here. Dalits from India do poorly; brahmins do well. Upland Mien and Hmong people from South Asia do poorly; Laotions from Vientienne and Cambodians from Pnomh Penh do well. African-Americans? Where are they on the social totem pole?</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the outpouring among Smith students and alums has been nothing short of sensational. My own alma mater has had its administration trying to do “reclaiming” events in the face of a continuing decade-long series of racial, anti-Semitic, and homophobic incidents. The administration, faculty, and student body are all (or at least mostly) very well-intentioned, but the reality is that the effort has failed to acquire any real legs. It has taken a 30+ year commitment to diversity, beginning with Jill Ker Conway, for Smith to get where it is today, and they/we should be very, very proud of what the college (and students, faculty, and alums) have done indeed.</p>
<p>This article is priceless!! </p>
<p>[The</a> Associated Press: At some colleges, parental recommendations welcome](<a href=“http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gSAW-Fj2Fhrf1DSVK8b8Fm8TgrQg?docId=388817e43f5044728ba799616edfaecc]The”>http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gSAW-Fj2Fhrf1DSVK8b8Fm8TgrQg?docId=388817e43f5044728ba799616edfaecc) </p>
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