July 7, 2006

It Took Awhile, But Some Presidents Are Now Listening to Pleas for Admissions Reforms

By ELIZABETH F. FARRELL

Lloyd Thacker is a man in demand. After giving a presentation at a conference in Aspen one afternoon last month, he hopped on a red-eye flight to New York City. The plane touched down at 5:30 a.m., and he made a beeline for the Harvard Club in midtown Manhattan. A producer from CBS News was waiting there to confer with him about a forthcoming television segment on college admissions.

Mr. Thacker had two more meetings before noon, when he opened a conference for college presidents. In