The result is that the pool of applicants from which Harvard selects its students contains many more highly qualified minority applicants than most schools, Fitzsimmons says.
"Recruiting could take on even greater importance in the future," Fitzsimmons says.
While there is not much Harvard can do now but wait, Rudenstine says that when the issue again enters the national consciousness, he will not hesitate to speak out.
"I wanted to wait to consider where the admissions process is under questioning, then we will take on the issues and take them on substantively," Rudenstine says.
He says he remains confident that if the issue is properly put into the context of the need for diversity in education and the actual mechanics of college admissions, affirmative action will prevail.
"I wonder to what extent people outside this issue know anything about admissions," Rudenstine says.