In the New York Post, columnist Deborah Orin tries to track down the rumor that Harvard has enrolled a former member of the Taliban, a man, even as it has allegedly denied entrance to female Afghanis.

Orin writes:

It took Harvard four days to come up with its weasel words. Faculty of Arts and Sciences spokesman Bob Mitchell finally returned a call - at the direction of university spokesman Joe Wrinn. But Mitchell adamantly refused to answer, claiming it would violate university policy to say if Harvard had admitted a Taliban-type applicant.

“I can’t say anything. We do not discuss applicants,” Mitchell said, sounding peeved that he’d even had to return the call.

Yup, that sounds like Bob Mitchell, all right. The press secretary who never met a question, no matter how innocuous, that he didn’t try to stonewall.

Here’s what Mitchell should have said: “I’m sorry, but for privacy reasons I can’t discuss individual applicants to Harvard. We have to make sure that people who apply here know that the process is confidential—after all, Harvard’s a pretty high-profile place, and lots of reporters want to know who’s trying to come here, who gets in and who doesn’t. I’m sure you can respect that.

“But more generally, Harvard is an international institution which believes that education has the power to make the world a better place. And if there was a former member of the Taliban whose presence in this country was approved by the US government, who qualified for entrance, why shouldn’t Harvard accept him? What better way is there to introduce the benefits of free speech and democracy to those who don’t understand Western values?”

This is yet another example where Harvard’s dogged reliance on press secretaries makes the university look arrogant, defensive and obstructionist, when it should look confident and engaged…. Bill Kirby should have just taken the phone call and answered Orin’s questions. What’s the worst that could happen—he could lose his job?