You have to wonder: Has Professor Espenshade never spoken with any of those Asian students? If he had, I think it would be impossible to (in good faith) maintain the argument that the apparent discrimination against them might actually be due to their weakness in those “soft variables” such as recommendations.

I got to know a number of my older son’s debate-team colleagues. Most were of Chinese, Indian, or other Asian ancestry. The notion that those students would have had lukewarm letters of recommendation or written sloppy essays is laughable. Espenshade is grasping at straws.