亚裔美国学生应得到哈佛公平对待
To the Editor:
致编辑：Re “Is Harvard Unfair to Asian-Americans?” (Op-Ed, Nov. 25):
本文是对《哈佛大学是否歧视亚裔学生》一文的回应。I wholeheartedly support Yascha Mounk’s article, especially in its delinking of affirmative action for underrepresented minorities from the capping of Asian-American admissions. But by capping Asian-American admissions, if it is doing that, Harvard does more than recapitulate its own sorry history of anti-Semitism.
我完全赞同雅斯查·蒙克的观点文章，尤其是他把针对弱势族裔的平权运动和限制亚裔美国学生录取两件事分开来看的说法。但限制亚裔美国学生录取这件事，如果哈佛真的在这么做的话，此事更甚于重演那段反犹主义的耻辱校史。
It also recapitulates a sorry United States history of discrimination against Asians, from the Asian Exclusion Act of 1882 on. Right through the repeal of the Magnuson Act in 1965, the word “quota” has been featured.
此事也是美国另一端耻辱历史的重演：1882年的排华法案(Asian Exclusion Act)就开启了美国歧视亚裔的历史。GISH JEN Cambridge, Mass., Nov. 25, 2014
GISHE JEN 马萨诸塞州坎布里奇，2014年11月25日The writer, a Harvard alumna, is a novelist.
作者是一名小说家，哈佛校友。To the Editor:
致编辑：As the father of a son who graduated from Harvard (and who might not have been able to do so in the heyday of the restrictions on Jewish admissions that A. Lawrence Lowell, Harvard’s president nearly a century ago, put into place), and the son of a father who once led the New York chapter of the Japanese-American Citizens League, I can’t help but feel discomfort in reading about the continuing discrimination against Asian-Americans at Harvard.
作为一名父亲，我的儿子从哈佛毕业（若是生活在哈佛校长A·劳伦斯·洛厄尔[A. Lawrence Lowell]限制犹太学生录取的时期，我的儿子可能就无法做到这点了），作为一名父亲，我的儿子还曾是日裔美国公民联盟纽约分社的领导人，所以当我读到这篇关于哈佛一直歧视亚裔美国学生的文章时，真的感觉很难受。The prestigious institutions wishing to better represent underserved populations run the risk of accepting applicants whose admissions may be undeserved, at the expense of those (arguably) better qualified.
这家久负盛名的学校因为希望更多地照顾弱势群体，却因此冒着录取很多未达标的学生的风险，也牺牲了那些更达标的（有争议）学生。While I’m not suggesting that Harvard accept only applicants with perfect SAT scores (which it could), discounting merit sends a terrible message to Asian-Americans, whose forebears suffered from significant historical discrimination (internment camps and job and property rights restrictions).
尽管我不是在提议哈佛只录取那些有着完美SAT成绩的学生（它本可以这么做），但把择优录取的标准打折扣，却给亚裔美国学生传递了一个很糟糕的讯息，他们的先辈在历史上经受了严重的歧视（集中营，就业、财产权受限）。As for the “slightly less strong on extracurricular criteria” argument (put forward by a Harvard admission dean in 1988), I would recommend that the admission committee members visit the next music recital their children participate in and look for the (disproportionately large) number of Asian-American faces. Slightly less strong indeed!
至于“课余标准上的表现稍差”的说法（这是1988年哈佛大学一个招生主任提出的），我建议招生委员会的成员们到他们孩子参演的音乐会上看看，数一数里面有多少亚裔美国学生。还真是“表现稍差”啊！JOHN B. SPRUNG New York, Nov. 25, 2014
JOHN B. SPRUNG 纽约，2014年11月25日To the Editor:
致编辑：When I was a student at Harvard nearly 50 years ago, it was accepted as an article of faith that if admission were simply a matter of grade point averages and standardized test scores, Harvard could fill an entire class without venturing outside the greater New York area.
在50年前我还是哈佛学生的时候，大家都一致认同，如果学校的招生只是看平均绩点和统一考试成绩那么简单的话，哈佛不用在纽约大区以外招生就可以招满一个班级。But that is not and has never been the mission of Harvard College, which these days rejects nearly 95 percent of a self-selected group of high achievers, nearly all of whom could be academically successful there.
但这个标准不是，也从来不是哈佛大学的录取标准，哈佛今天依然拒绝了95%自认为都是极为优秀的学生，这些人里几乎所有人都能在哈佛取得好成绩。That mission, I believe, is to put together interesting, diverse young people who can teach and learn from one another in the training of the hearts and minds of future leaders.
我认为，哈佛的录取旨在把有趣、多元的年轻人聚集在一起，让他们可以相互学习，以培养未来领袖的心灵与智慧。Nobody is entitled to a seat at Harvard. And any unsuccessful applicant who presumes to attack the integrity of the world’s greatest educational institution only proves by his or her self-esteeming behavior that Harvard made the right decision.
没有人可以凭白在哈佛获得一席之位。任何申请失败的人对这一世界上最伟大的教育机构的公平公正发起的攻击，都只会因这种他/她这种自我的行为，证明哈佛做了正确的选择。Elite education is not a zero-sum game; an outstanding education can be achieved at any number of state and private institutions.
精英教育不是零和博弈；出色的教育在很多学校，在私立学校都能实现。VAUGHN A. CARNEY Stowe, Vt., Nov. 25, 2014
VAUGHAN A. CARNEY 佛蒙特州斯托，2014年11月25日To the Editor:
致编辑：Yascha Mounk points out that Harvard allots 13 percent of its admission slots to recruited athletes. With this revelation one wonders why Harvard spends its educational capital on entertainment of alumni rather than on preparing a new generation of talented, knowledgeable, serious students as well as giving Harvard College the opportunity to increase diversity.
雅斯查·蒙克指出了哈佛将13%的录取名额分配于招收体育生。这样一个现象被揭示不免让人疑问，为什么哈佛要把教育资本花在娱乐师生上，而不是用在培养有天赋、有知识、严肃的学生上，或是用于提高哈佛多元化上。A. JO PROCTER Chevy Chase, Md., Nov. 25, 2014
A. JO PROCTER 马里兰州切维塞斯，2014年11月25日
