To the editor:

Our conversation about the final clubs has made world headlines, arousing some mix of curiosity, perplexity and astonishment. It's time to think about what this means for Harvard's relationship to the real world, not just to the final clubs.

Some common-sense comparison points may illuminate outsiders' puzzlement.

My youngest daughter first attended a coed primary school but then asked to transfer to the next-door all-girls school because it was calmer. Later she attended coed schools but in her last two years experienced a special time at a UK girls school. No one in the UK had the effrontery to order her headmistress to admit males.

At Princeton she surveyed the eating clubs but found no congenial ambience so joined the 2D vegetarian coop where she and friends took turns cooking for themselves. No Princeton dean had the effrontery to order 2D to admit carnivores and let them cook meat in the vegetarian kitchen.

The use of threats and intimidation to force conformity on those with divergent views and different tastes happens elsewhere, but a perception of zealous overreach by Harvard's own leadership can diminish the sense of ease others need to feel to interact confidently with us, whether as student applicants, donors, or collaborators in a multitude of other ways. Others are listening intently. Think about this.

Jeffrey Race '65 received his PhD from Harvard in 1973, and was a fellow at the Kennedy School's Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation during the 2012-2013 academic year.