One attribute the institute clearly lacks is a sizable Black community.

Only two of Caltech's 313 faculty members are Black -- and neither has tenure, although both are on a tenure track. Besides Hawthorne, there is only one other Black administrator and while the graduate student population usually includes a few more Black students, they seldom interact with undergraduates. The Caltech student population is two-thirds male, which for some students introduces an additional social problem.

Another potential explanation for the institute's low African American enrollment numbers lies in the admissions process itself. Unlike most colleges and universities, Liebau explains, Caltech's entire undergraduate admissions process was executed by faculty from its inception in 1891 until 1988. And while the institute now employs her and her staff, the faculty still has the final say on who gets admitted.

As is common for private institutions of its size, Caltech does not rely solely on SAT scores in screening applications, although as Liebau points out, "If SAT scores and academic achievement are out of whack, we ask, `Why?'"

Average SAT scores for Caltech freshmen are between 1430 and 1450 combined, but, according to Liebau, if academic performance is high, it is possible to be admitted with lower test scores.

The institute has no minimum advanced math and science course requirements, though it does expect applicants to maximize the opportunities available to them. On the surface, the admissions screening process appears to take a holistic approach -- which, theoretically, should prove favorable for African American and Latino students, against whom more rigid, "objective" admissions criteria are often the greater hindrance.

No one seated on Caltech's faculty admissions committee officially represents the interests of the campus's minority recruitment and retention effort. Nor are there any African Americans on that panel.