Interview with Lee F. Browne - Caltech Oral Histories

Browne–39
COHEN: Can you tell me?
BROWNE: Well, there were two kids I know of who were twins and their parents didn’t want
them to do certain things. They lived in Orange County and stuff like that and they [Caltech] let
them in. Of course, they couldn’t make it.
COHEN: Now, these were not minority students?
BROWNE: Yes.
COHEN: Oh, they were minority students.
BROWNE: Yes. There was no one that could talk to them. You see, most Caltech professors
don’t talk bluntly to kids or ask blunt questions or penetrating questions.
COHEN: You mean before they are students?
BROWNE: Yes. You have to ask certain kinds [of questions]. For instance, I would ask a kid
things like, “What if you were in this physics class and everybody passed the test but you? How
would you feel and what would you do?” And I would base my determination on admitting that
student on his answer. For instance, if he said, “Man, I would really be upset and I’d go home
and I’d redo that test fifteen times and I would just dig and dig and dig and try to understand why
I didn’t understand it before,” I’d say, “Well, that’s pretty good.” And another kid might say,
“Oh, man, I just would give up. I wouldn’t know what to do.” I wouldn’t care what his record
looked like; he couldn’t come here. See? Because there’s a certain mentality you have to have
to come to a place like Caltech. You have to be really motivated to succeed—at any cost. Stay
up all night. Redo it fifty times. [Chuckle]
COHEN: [Chuckle]
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