In response to charges that European accomplishment in the sciences are exaggerated and that sources used to compile inventories are biased against non-European countries (about 97 percent of significant figures and events in the sciences are Western), Murray encouraged critics to augment the list of "giants" with non-Europeans, with one caveat: You must use the same rules by which European figures and events were included. He wrote:

"If the definition of 'significant event' or 'significant person' is relaxed to permit a dozen new non-European entries, hundreds of new entries will qualify for the European list, and the relative proportions assigned to Europe and non-Europe will not change. They may become more extreme, because the reservoir of non-trivial European accomplishment that did not get into the inventory is so immense."

In the same manner, colleges and universities that measure noncognitive qualities must apply the same rules to all applicants. If standards are relaxed to permit more minority admissions, more whites and Asians would qualify. If the relaxed standards increase only minority admissions, the noncognitive assessments are proxies for race, plain and simple.

"Colleges and universities should forget about race and ethnicity and focus simply on admitting the best students," said Roger Clegg, president and general counsel of the Center for Equal Opportunity. "That doesn't mean that they can't try to find diamonds in the rough, but those diamonds come in all colors."

Measuring noncognitive qualities is not objectionable per se. The intent behind the measuring can be objectionable. "If schools honestly believe that considering a particular factor will enable them better to select the best students," Clegg said, "then fine – but they should consider that factor for all students, and weigh it regardless of skin color or national origin. And if schools are considering a factor because they think it will result in more students of one color being chosen or fewer students of another color, then they are engaging in discrimination." <