A regular reader noted this thread on College Confidential which references our discussion of the 13% statistic and suggests that there is a price for openness, that the College should not be excessively honest in reporting accurate data about itself.

I could not disagree more.

First, as the thread discussion makes clear, intelligent and involved consumers — which certainly describes most of the commentary at a place like College Confidential — can make their own judgments and, almost all of the time, those judgments will be reasonable ones. It is highly unlikely that anyone will read a number like 13% and not either consider the conext herself, or be exposed to such consideration. Moreover, it is not clear that Williams wants applicants who would be scared off for such shallow reasons.

Second, call me old fashioned, but I think that honesty is a good thing in and of itself. The College needs to be honest with itself, honest with its students, honest with it alumni. As Peter Murphy memorably put it, “Shaping hearts and minds is an important part of what we do around here.” If the College wants its graduates to be honest, it needs to walk the walk as well.

Third, I think that honesty, on average, helps the College’s yield. The types of students that Williams most wants are, I hope, smart and reflective. They appreciate an institution that is honest with them. They recognize that no place is perfect. Of course, I do not expect the College to advertize the less wonderful things about Williams. I don’t ever expect to see links to stories like this from the main web page.

But there is just no excuse for the Administration to make major policy changes (anchor housing) on the basis of data (only 13% satisfied) without making the data public. Net-net, I suspect that openness is a benefit, not a cost, but, even if it is a cost, we need to pay it.