The following are readers' comments from DiverseEducation.com:

Surveying The Field

Roger Clegg on "Déjà vu: The Access/ Success Pendulum," Oct. 14 edition:

It is true that the playing field is not level and policies that help ensure access to deserving students at the "wrong" end of the playing field make sense, though liberals and conservatives can have good-faith disagreements about what the appropriate policies are. What is disturbing about the (Patricia) Gandara-(Gary) Orfield column is its insistence on using race and ethnicity as a proxy for being at the "wrong" end of the playing field. There are people of all racial and ethnic groups scattered all over the playing field and it is wrong to assume that all Blacks are from the ghetto, all Latinos from the barrio and all Whites and Asians from rich, gated communities. Accordingly, access programs should not discriminate on the basis of skin color or what country someone's ancestors came from.

Gone Too Soon

Nicholas Penning on "Obituary: William Arthur 'Buddy' Blakey," Oct. 15:

Buddy was a terrific boss and great friend to me during our years serving Sen. Paul Simon (D-IU.) together and in later years. I am terribly sad to learn of his passing. It was much too soon for a dedicated man with a passion and drive for better public policy, particularly for African-American students and the HBCUs dedicated to their success. As (William) Gray said, Buddy's knowledge will be sorely missed. God rest his soul.