The College of William and Mary has retained its title as the top small public college in the country. But a piece in Saturday's Washington Times by William and Mary sophomore Jeanne McDonnell suggests that there are some huge unacknowledged problems at the school. McDonnell's subject is the College's Summer Transition Program, a freshman orientation program specifically designed for minority students.

During the last few weeks before I began my freshman year at William & Mary, the school offered a learning experience that sounded like a pretty good deal.

It was a five-week seminar called the Summer Transition Program. It promised to help students "develop and enhance study habits, test-taking and time-management skills necessary for a successful college experience." It also sought to "create friendships" and a "lighter fall course load by offering three credits."

I couldn't participate, though. I'm white -- and the class was offered only to racial and ethnic minorities.

That raises a few questions: Is William & Mary saying only ethnic and racial minorities need extra help with study habits, test taking and time management? Do white freshmen already have these skills down cold? Wouldn't a class that counts as three hours of course work and thus could be used to lighten the first-semester workload help all novice collegians?

Furthermore, why on Earth would a friend of mine who scored 1490 on her SAT be invited to take such a course -- all expenses paid -- simply because she's Hispanic? You would think anyone who scores a 1490 on the SAT has a pretty good handle on study habits, time management and, especially, test taking. At least that's what my friend thought. She took the invitation as an insult.

And why would the college seek to foster "friendships" exclusively among minority students? Isn't one of the purposes of college to meet and learn from students of different backgrounds? Doesn't cloistering minority students together for the first five weeks of their college education constitute a signal from the college that they need not -- indeed, should not -- mix with others?

William and Mary's press release on its U.S. News ranking focuses heavily on how state budget cuts have hurt the school. The college is offering fewer total classes, and class size is increasing proportionately. ìThis is a result of reductions in state funding, which are hampering our efforts to provide small classes that foster exceptional teaching and learning,î said Timothy Sullivan, the president of the college. ìWilliam and Mary retains its national reputation and high rankings in the face of budget cuts primarily due to the efforts of dedicated faculty and staff who have mitigated the impact of inadequate funding on students.î The school's Summer Transition Program offers minority students an all-expenses paid five weeks at the college. It's worth noting that despite the budget crunch, this extraordinarily troubling program has not been cut. One would think that programs whose discriminatory character could jeopardize a school's public funding would be the first to go in an era of downsizing and scarce dollars.

Thanks to reader Fred R. for the link.