Last week, in his column “Quietly and Mostly to Myself,” Erik Morales wrote the latest in a series of bitter diatribes directed toward the administration—more specifically, toward the Admissions Office. As a student who has worked with the Admissions Office in various capacities over the past four years, I would like to respond to several of his allegations and also make some general comments about the way he has conducted himself over the past year.

The first thing I would like to react to is his stance regarding the Posse program. He points out that our “rival,” Carleton, accepted this program, which is designed to help students of various backgrounds succeed in college. He claims that Macalester rejected that program because of excessive costs and a concern that the Posse group would form a separate subculture. He then condemns Macalester for not accepting this group, insinuating that Macalester is denying “marginalized” students the chance to apply.

What Morales failed to mention was the other main stipulation of the Posse program: all of its students must be accepted as a group. The students are chosen and prepared by the Posse program and then the university is required to accept all of them without the opportunity to individually review their applications for admission.

When I give tours, I am proud to tell potential students that, at Macalester, they will be more than just numbers. Statistically, many students at Macalester were not the “best” students in their high schools. We (I include myself) weren’t in the top of our class or we didn’t have the highest SAT scores. Macalester saw something special in us, some spark of potential and accepted us even when a traditional admissions “formula” wouldn’t have. That’s what’s so special about Admissions at Macalester—there is no formula. Every file is reviewed, every essay is read and more is considered than just test scores and GPAs. If you doubt this, go in the Admissions Office right now and watch the staff frantically reading! Allowing a group of students in without undergoing this type of review process would undermine the entire admissions system.

In addition, Morales recently complained that a multicultural event he attended was photographed for a Macalester publication. He claimed that this was the college’s attempt to exaggerate the presence of students of color at Macalester. I would respond to this allegation in two ways. As a white male student, I have been photographed countless times during my four years. I don’t think I have attended a single substantial event without a photographer present—they’re everywhere! Admissions keeps hundreds of such photographs on file. If the photographer was interfering with the event, that’s a reason to complain, but the simple presence of a photographer is not. In addition, one of Erik’s most basic complaints is that not enough students of color attend Macalester. How does he suggest Admissions recruit such students without taking these types of pictures? Just like they take pictures of athletes to recruit athletes and pictures of musicians to recruit musicians, they take pictures of different minorities to recruit more minorities!

On a more general note, I would like to request that Morales work on his sense of a journalistic “ethic.” Don’t only tell part of the story, and don’t act like you’re quoting something when you’re not. For instance, in last week’s column, Erik claimed that Macalester didn’t accept the Posse students because Admissions claimed they weren’t of the right “caliber.” He put the word caliber in quotes, and then proceeded to finish the article assuming that someone in Admissions had said that word—but he did not actually quote anyone! He constantly speaks for nameless people, be they from Macalester, Carleton or the administration, never actually identifying or quoting his sources.

I agree with many of the things Morales says, and there are many changes that need to be made. Safe spaces for students of color and other minority groups are important, and we do need to continue to work on recruiting a more diverse student body. However, constantly berating and insulting the entire Macalester administration will never solve anything. I suggest that Morales use his position to offer concrete, workable solutions to specific problems. I think he will find the administration, at least in Admissions, more responsive than he expects.