01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, April 29, 2004

One can disagree with Jason Mattera and the Roger Williams University College Republicans about the propriety of establishing a whites-only scholarship, and still believe in the legitimacy of the concerns that prompted it. Remarks by University President Roy Nirschel ("Whites-only scholarship leads to lecture series," Providence Sunday Journal, March 28), perhaps unintentionally, revealed that they are indeed well founded.

One of President Nirschel's responses to the negativity engendered by the creation of the scholarship was to establish a lecture series treating all the related issues -- an idea that, in my opinion, all reasonable people would agree was excellent. However, when asked if conservative speakers would be welcome, the president answered yes -- provided they were "thoughtful." Mr. Nirschel didn't say whether such a stricture would be applied to liberal speakers, but -- count on it! -- it won't be.

Yes, political correctness -- by which I mean sympathy for left-leaning attitudes and policy prescriptions -- is in the saddle at Roger Williams University, as it is on most campuses. So sure am I of this that I will make the following assertion -- only a guess, but take it to the bank: Al Sharpton, an unreconstructed race hustler (only the utter cravenness of the Democratic National Committee allowed his serious participation in the presidential primaries), would be welcomed as a speaker to this lecture series with open arms; by contrast, David Horowitz -- author of Left Illusions and an articulate opponent of the slavery-reparations movement -- would be well advised not to wait by the phone.

I can hear President Nirschel's opinion of Horowitz now: "He's too unthoughtful"!

PAUL VINCENT

Bristol