Lewis also credited the Undergraduate Admissions Office for choosing a talented group of students.
"It goes to tremendous efforts to identify the most talented minority students across the country, to admit the best students and then to recruit those who have been admitted," he said.
Aaliyah N. Williams '02, president of the Black Students Association, expressed a similar opinion.
"I think this speaks to the level of students that Harvard chooses. Harvard does a good job every year of choosing the best students, regardless of race," she said.
But she also said that the purpose and implications of a study like this are unclear.
"I think placing standards on a group simply because of race and then being surprised at the conclusion is ridiculous. Harvard is certainly going to have a high graduation rate for all students, but I don't think this study gives any insight to what the University is doing right, in particular," she said.