Princeton University has decided to build up its African-American-studies program, developing a new major and adding a number of faculty positions. Enhancing its program will not only allow Princeton to confront the challenge of racial inequality, it will also enable the university to attract some of the "talented students" that members of the faculty believe they are currently "losing" to other universities "because of the absence of the option to concentrate in African-American studies at Princeton." This article explains the strong association between attracting black students and an African-American-studies program. It also discusses how economic stratification at elite universities resulted to the underrepresentation of African Americans. The point of this article is that the commitment to African-American studies is a commitment to describing the social problems in a way that will make teachers as well as students, alumni as well as parents feel comfortable.