The number of Black students enrolling in the Class of 1996 is the lowest of any first-year class since Harvard's affirmative action admissions policy was implemented in 1969.

Although the College admitted roughly the same number of Blacks as in previous years, only 95 of them decided to attend Harvard. And just 27 of them are Black men.

In contrast, there were 132 Blacks in the entering class last year, and 127 the year before. Sixty-seven Black men enrolled in last year's first-year class.

Harvard admissions officers say Blacks are turning down Harvard this year because other schools are aggressively recruiting them with merit-based minority scholarships.

Harvard, which offers only need-based financial aid, says it cannot match the offers because many of the candidates don't demonstrate sufficient need.

President Neil L. Rudenstine said at a race relations workshop this week that the University may eventually be forced to offer special scholarships in order to lure Black students to Harvard. That would violate the Ivy League agreement to award financial aid strictly on a need basis.

As other universities pour scholarship money into building diverse campuses, topflight minority students increasingly have become hot commodities, courted and wooed like star quarter-backs.

"When we see people who are competitive enough to get in here, everyone is beating down the path to that person's door," says senior admis- sions officer David L. Evans.

But the University has been reluctant toabandon its longstanding need-based financial aidpolicy. Along with need-blind admissions,need-based aid pioneered Harvard's successfulrecruitment strategy in the early 1960s.

But this year, the need-based aid policyhindered Harvard in a bidding war for highlyqualified Black candidates.

Schools like Duke University and WashingtonUniversity successfully wooed students away fromHarvard with targeted scholarship packages fortalented African-Americans.

Need-based aid, once the cutting edge ofadmissions recruitment, may now be the Achillesheel of Harvard's diversity.

But critics say Black students may be rejectingHarvard for other reasons as well. Some point tothe racial tensions on campus, while others saythe University isn't committed to making Blackstudents feel comfortable here.

Alvin Bragg '95, vice-president of the BlackStudents Association, says Harvard doesn't "rollout the red carpet" like other schools do.

"As a Black student applying, you don't feelthat there's a commitment to you," says Bragg, whohelped recruit prospective first-years lastspring.

LaVonda M. Williams '93, co-founder of theHarvard Society of Black Scientists and Engineers,sees a direct correlation between recent tensionson campus and lower Black matriculation rates.

"News of the climate on this campus is nosecret," she says. "That, I'm sure, is adeterrent."

And mending the campus climate will be evenharder with fewer Black students. "It's a viciouscycle," Bragg says.

Kiernan B. Morrow was one of 78 Blacks whoturned down Harvard this year. She says she choseDuke because it offered more financial aid andrecruited her more aggressively than Harvard did.

"It was like [Harvard wasn't] making aneffort," says Morrow, who lives in Georgia. "Italmost seemed like they believed they didn't haveto make the effort because of their academicreputation."

Duke flew her into Durham, North Carolina tovisit the campus and "made a huge effort" toconvince her to enroll, including a freebasketball game. Morrow currently attends Duke ona full scholarship, which includes a specialsummer program at Oxford University.

Although the Harvard admissions office doesn'tfly minority students to campus on recruitmenttrips, Athletes are occasionally brought to theCollege.

Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R.Fitzsimmons '67 vigorously defends Harvard'sminority recruitment efforts, pointing to anational outreach program and the help of localalumni.

Fitzsimmons says most of the Black students whorejected Harvard this year cited financial aid asthe primary reason.

It's not that these students turn down Harvardbecause they can't afford it. Other schools simplyoffer more money than they need, Harvard officialssay.

Among students from low-income families forexample, Harvard's financial aid packages aregenerally competitive with those of other schools.

The admissions office surveyed 63 of the 78Black students who rejected Harvard to find outwhere they enrolled and why.

The office found the students choosing a widevariety of schools over Harvard, from the IvyLeague to public universities to historicallyBlack colleges.

Almost half of the students said they picked aschool that offered at least $10,000 more infinancial aid than Harvard did, according toEvans.

And Fitzsimmons says the difference infinancial aid isn't because colleges have beenforced to stop comparing financial informationabout students.

The biggest differences are between ivy schoolsand newly resurgent schools like Washington, Dukeand the University of Virginia.

"It was not even close in most of those cases,"Fitzsimmons says.

Only seven of the 63 surveyed students werefrom families with incomes below $30,000,according to Evans.

In contrast, 48 were from families earning morethan $40,000. And 13 were from families withincomes $100,000 or more.

Because so many of the Blacks accepted are fromthe middle class, Harvard ends up offering themless financial assistance than schools withnon-need-based scholarships.

Harvard determines a student's level of "need"based on a needs-analysis worksheet processed bythe Educational Testing Service.

But other schools go beyond a financial needformula to recruit minorities.

Washington University drew two potentialHarvard students away with Ervin scholarships forAfrican-American students. Ten Ervin scholarsreceive full tuition plus a stipend each.

Harold Wingood, Washington's dean ofadmissions, says the school has an edge overHarvard in terms of recruitment and the atmosphereof its campus.

"I do not think that in the final analysis astudent decides to come to Harvard instead ofWashington for money," he says. "Ultimately, thestudent selects the right match."

Duke wooed away three would-be members of theClass of '96--one with an untargeted Angier BiddleDuke scholarship, and another with theminority-targeted Reginald Howard scholarship.

The University of Virginia also draws Blackstudents away from Harvard with its Hollandscholarship for out-of-state African-Americans, aswell as another scholarship program for 50 BlackVirginians.

"If you want to get the best minority students,you have to provide some incentives," says MikeMallory, director of minority recruitment at theUniversity of Virginia.

The bidding war for students is a nationaltrend, and it's not limited to minority students.

Roger Banks, interim coordinator of minorityrecruitment at Harvard, says schools arerecruiting all types of students because there arefewer college-bound students.

"All of higher education is reaching out tothat smaller cohort of students that are going tocollege and talented and desirable," Banks says.

But it is the dearth of Black men in the Classof 1996 that worries admissions officials.

"Being a Black man is an endangered species,"says Evans. "People say that it's an inner-cityphenomenon. Would that it were. It's also amiddle-class phenomenon."

Jonathan R. Boughton '96 is one of 27 blackfirst-year men. He says only a dozen Blackfirst-year men attended BSA functions duringorientation week.

"It's probably going to require a lot moresticking together," he says.

Some students say the admissions office iscutting back on minority recruitment efforts.

Williams says the admissions office shouldn'thave eliminated its separate minority recruitmentpre-frosh weekend.

"One of the most important things for Blackstudents coming to a predominantly white campus isa support group," Williams says.

And while Bragg says he understands that theadmissions office is handcuffed by its need-basedfinancial aid policy, he insists that "there areother ways to woo students."

Admissions officials are skeptical. "Financesreally tended to drive their decision," saysBanks. "Whether that could have been altered byrecruitment activities, one does not know."

The question that students, administrators andadmissions officers alike are asking is: Is thisyear's drop just an anomaly or the first sign of adangerous trend?

Harvard officials insist they have not and willnever lower admissions standards in the interestsof diversity.

But Rudenstine's comments this week indicatethat the University will consider making anexception to the need-based rule if the problemworsens.

Otherwise, the University which touts diversityas its greatest strength may be left with atroubling dearth of Black men and women.Crimson File PhotoDean of Admissions WILLIAM R. FITZSIMMONS'67